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Lot Essay
THE ATTRIBUTION TO BOULLE
This remarkable pair of coquilliers, from the collection of Louis-Léon Pajot second comte d’Ons-en-Bray (1678-1754), can be confidently attributed of the workshop of the celebrated ébéniste, André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) with their unique form sitting comfortably amongst his oeuvre. Their bold and innovative design is certainly characteristic of the work of Boulle himself - and indeed the comte d'Ons-en-Braye is known to have favored Boulle's furniture. In his article on 'The scientific cabinet of Comte d'Ons-en-Bray' (Op. cit), Augarde records the fact that Pajot's collection contained amongst other superb furniture, several pieces by André-Charles Boulle including a 'large chandelier of bronze gilt with ormolu & made after drawings by Boule', and a pair of Socrates and Aspasia Médaillers.
The attribution to Boulle is further confirmed by the distinctive and beautifully drawn line of the cabriole legs terminating in paw feet. This accentuated design was first introduced by Boulle on the commodes supplied for the King's Bedchamber at the Grand Trianon in 1708-09 (D. Meyer, Versailles, Furniture of the Royal Palace, Paris, 2002, Vol.1, p.54, and the feet used here are near identical to those illustrated in a design by the celebrated ébéniste of circa 1715 held by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (inv. 723 B 3). Boulle subsequently employed this same concept, as illustrated by the identical acanthus-wrapped paw feet, to the commode attributed to Boulle sold from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 78 as, well as on two consoles by Boulle at Waddesdon Manor (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, London, 1974, 1, no.85, pp.414-5) and the Wallace Collection (F56). Interestingly, the present sabots have been cast with cire-perdue (lost-wax), a technique used by sculptors and exclusively permitted to be employed amongst the ébéniste by André-Charles Boulle and his sons on account of the Royal privilège of lodging their workshop within the Galeries du Louvre, a fact which firmly supports the attribution.
THE COMTE D'ONS-EN-BRAY'S CABINET
The scientific cabinet of Louis-Léon Pajot (1678-1754), second comte d'Ons-en-Bray is arguably the most famous of the early 18th century. Born in Paris in 1674, Pajot was initially educated at the College Louis le Grand until he was forced to leave due to illness. From a family of distinguished noblemen, he rose to the position of Intendant Général des Postes et Relais de France in 1708. He was highly regarded by Louis XIV who sent him on secret missions, admitted him into his inner circle and presented him with the now famous 'burning mirror'. In this lucrative position Pajot had no financial limitations and was able to indulge his personal interests without restraint, namely his scientific collection. His primary inspiration stemmed from a trip to Holland in 1697 where he met the humanist Herman Boerhaave and the anatomist and botanist Frederic Ruysch, whilst accompanying French negotiators to the Congress of Ryswick. He began collecting around 1700 and by 1716 he had gained such respect in the field of science that he was elected honorary member of the Académie Royale des Sciences in 1716.
Pajot's scientific cabinets, housed in his country house at Bercy, were described in the memoirs of the duc de Saint-Simon in 1717 'as full of all sorts of rarities and curiosities, natural as well as mechanical', indeed the cabinet filled most of the house leaving only a small personal apartment for Pajot himself. The collection consisted of everything from the simplest specimens to the most complicated of objects with cupboards dedicated to the display of natural history, mathematics, astronomy and mechanics, to name but a few. Grandjean de Fouchy commented on Pajou's cabinet that 'there was not a single unusual machine, new piece of horology, hydraulics, geolosy, or other discipline of which he did not have at least one model'. Drawn by the esteemed reputation of Pajot and his cabinet, at Bercy he entertained everyone from Ambassadors, Princes and Lords to amateurs and friars.
It was in the third salon, principally for the display of horology and mechanics that this pair of coquilliers were displayed. These were described in the 1754 inventory, translated by Augarde (ibid.), as ‘two bureaus in the form of cabinets of mahogany for use as seashell cabinets, each containing eighteen drawers and each supported by six hoof feet, lion’s paws decorated with filets, handles, key holes, and keys also of ormolu, the top of said bureaus covered with green velvet, with a cover of black leather, the whole estimated at 2.4000 livres’ – They were placed centrally in the room and accompanied by three other ‘shell cabinets’ containing over six hundred pieces with cupboards filled with astronomical and mathematical instruments. On his death in 1754, Pajot bequeathed his collection to the Académie Royale des Sciences.
This information on the comte d'Ons-en-Braye's cabinet is an abbreviated version of the article by Jean-Dominique Augarde, 'The Scientific Cabinet of comte d'Ons-en-Bray', published by Cleveland Museum of Art in 2003 (Op. cit.). This article expanded on the earlier paper given by Augarde, 'Nobles Seigneurs and Scientific Instruments in 18th Century France: Louis-Léon Pajot, comte d'Ons-en-Bray (1678-1754)'.
THE TASTE FOR CABINETS DE CURIOSITÉ
Some sense of the extravagance of mid-18th century French cabinets de curiosités can be drawn from the drawings of the hôtel belonging to Joseph Bonnier de la Mosson (1702-44), executed by Jean-Baptiste Courtonne in 1739 (now in the Bibliothèque d'Art et d'Archéologie, Paris – illustrated). A colonel in the Dragons-Dauphin, Bonnier de la Mosson inherited his father's fortune and official role as Trésorier des Etats du Languedoc at the age of 24. This allowed him to indulge his most elaborate and extravagant fantasies in the pursuit of science and the arts, as well as the sponsorship of music and opera. But his cabinets de curiosités were as extensive in number as they were wide-ranging in subject, forming a succession of rooms designed and categorised by Jean-Baptiste Courtonne in 1739-40, with the assistance of Alexis Magny. The suite embraced a laboratory, a cabinet des drogues, a cabinet d'astronomie, a cabinet of stuffed animals, a cabinet for disected animals, a cabinet d'histore naturelle (where he kept both shells and plants) and, finally, a cabinet méchanique. Tragically, the collection was shortlived, and was dispersed by auction in 1745. For a comprehensive discussion of Bonnier de la Moisson's hôtel, see 'Le Faubourg Saint-Germain la Rue Saint-Dominique', Exhibition Catalogue, 11 October-20 December 1984, pp.150-64.
THE LATER PROVENANCE
Arguably the most famous and influential dynasty of art dealers the world has yet seen, during the course of more than a century the Wildensteins amassed an important collection of magnificent French furniture and objets d'art. The remarkable collection which adorned the rooms of the Wildensteins Paris headquarters, the hôtel de Wailly in the rue de la Boetie, was largely the creation of one man—Nathan Wildenstein (1851-1934), a leviathan in the history of taste and the founder of the Wildenstein dynasty. These magnificent coquilliers formed the focal point of the Grande Gallerie of the palatial Louis XVI town house designed by the architect Charles de Wailly in 1776 for his own use and acquired by Nathan Wildenstein in 1905 (illustrated in situ). The coquilliers were part of the collection of important furniture and works of art sold during a landmark two day sale of The Wildenstein Collection at Christie’s, London, 14-15 December 2005, where acquired by the late owner.
This remarkable pair of coquilliers, from the collection of Louis-Léon Pajot second comte d’Ons-en-Bray (1678-1754), can be confidently attributed of the workshop of the celebrated ébéniste, André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) with their unique form sitting comfortably amongst his oeuvre. Their bold and innovative design is certainly characteristic of the work of Boulle himself - and indeed the comte d'Ons-en-Braye is known to have favored Boulle's furniture. In his article on 'The scientific cabinet of Comte d'Ons-en-Bray' (Op. cit), Augarde records the fact that Pajot's collection contained amongst other superb furniture, several pieces by André-Charles Boulle including a 'large chandelier of bronze gilt with ormolu & made after drawings by Boule', and a pair of Socrates and Aspasia Médaillers.
The attribution to Boulle is further confirmed by the distinctive and beautifully drawn line of the cabriole legs terminating in paw feet. This accentuated design was first introduced by Boulle on the commodes supplied for the King's Bedchamber at the Grand Trianon in 1708-09 (D. Meyer, Versailles, Furniture of the Royal Palace, Paris, 2002, Vol.1, p.54, and the feet used here are near identical to those illustrated in a design by the celebrated ébéniste of circa 1715 held by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (inv. 723 B 3). Boulle subsequently employed this same concept, as illustrated by the identical acanthus-wrapped paw feet, to the commode attributed to Boulle sold from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 78 as, well as on two consoles by Boulle at Waddesdon Manor (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, London, 1974, 1, no.85, pp.414-5) and the Wallace Collection (F56). Interestingly, the present sabots have been cast with cire-perdue (lost-wax), a technique used by sculptors and exclusively permitted to be employed amongst the ébéniste by André-Charles Boulle and his sons on account of the Royal privilège of lodging their workshop within the Galeries du Louvre, a fact which firmly supports the attribution.
THE COMTE D'ONS-EN-BRAY'S CABINET
The scientific cabinet of Louis-Léon Pajot (1678-1754), second comte d'Ons-en-Bray is arguably the most famous of the early 18th century. Born in Paris in 1674, Pajot was initially educated at the College Louis le Grand until he was forced to leave due to illness. From a family of distinguished noblemen, he rose to the position of Intendant Général des Postes et Relais de France in 1708. He was highly regarded by Louis XIV who sent him on secret missions, admitted him into his inner circle and presented him with the now famous 'burning mirror'. In this lucrative position Pajot had no financial limitations and was able to indulge his personal interests without restraint, namely his scientific collection. His primary inspiration stemmed from a trip to Holland in 1697 where he met the humanist Herman Boerhaave and the anatomist and botanist Frederic Ruysch, whilst accompanying French negotiators to the Congress of Ryswick. He began collecting around 1700 and by 1716 he had gained such respect in the field of science that he was elected honorary member of the Académie Royale des Sciences in 1716.
Pajot's scientific cabinets, housed in his country house at Bercy, were described in the memoirs of the duc de Saint-Simon in 1717 'as full of all sorts of rarities and curiosities, natural as well as mechanical', indeed the cabinet filled most of the house leaving only a small personal apartment for Pajot himself. The collection consisted of everything from the simplest specimens to the most complicated of objects with cupboards dedicated to the display of natural history, mathematics, astronomy and mechanics, to name but a few. Grandjean de Fouchy commented on Pajou's cabinet that 'there was not a single unusual machine, new piece of horology, hydraulics, geolosy, or other discipline of which he did not have at least one model'. Drawn by the esteemed reputation of Pajot and his cabinet, at Bercy he entertained everyone from Ambassadors, Princes and Lords to amateurs and friars.
It was in the third salon, principally for the display of horology and mechanics that this pair of coquilliers were displayed. These were described in the 1754 inventory, translated by Augarde (ibid.), as ‘two bureaus in the form of cabinets of mahogany for use as seashell cabinets, each containing eighteen drawers and each supported by six hoof feet, lion’s paws decorated with filets, handles, key holes, and keys also of ormolu, the top of said bureaus covered with green velvet, with a cover of black leather, the whole estimated at 2.4000 livres’ – They were placed centrally in the room and accompanied by three other ‘shell cabinets’ containing over six hundred pieces with cupboards filled with astronomical and mathematical instruments. On his death in 1754, Pajot bequeathed his collection to the Académie Royale des Sciences.
This information on the comte d'Ons-en-Braye's cabinet is an abbreviated version of the article by Jean-Dominique Augarde, 'The Scientific Cabinet of comte d'Ons-en-Bray', published by Cleveland Museum of Art in 2003 (Op. cit.). This article expanded on the earlier paper given by Augarde, 'Nobles Seigneurs and Scientific Instruments in 18th Century France: Louis-Léon Pajot, comte d'Ons-en-Bray (1678-1754)'.
THE TASTE FOR CABINETS DE CURIOSITÉ
Some sense of the extravagance of mid-18th century French cabinets de curiosités can be drawn from the drawings of the hôtel belonging to Joseph Bonnier de la Mosson (1702-44), executed by Jean-Baptiste Courtonne in 1739 (now in the Bibliothèque d'Art et d'Archéologie, Paris – illustrated). A colonel in the Dragons-Dauphin, Bonnier de la Mosson inherited his father's fortune and official role as Trésorier des Etats du Languedoc at the age of 24. This allowed him to indulge his most elaborate and extravagant fantasies in the pursuit of science and the arts, as well as the sponsorship of music and opera. But his cabinets de curiosités were as extensive in number as they were wide-ranging in subject, forming a succession of rooms designed and categorised by Jean-Baptiste Courtonne in 1739-40, with the assistance of Alexis Magny. The suite embraced a laboratory, a cabinet des drogues, a cabinet d'astronomie, a cabinet of stuffed animals, a cabinet for disected animals, a cabinet d'histore naturelle (where he kept both shells and plants) and, finally, a cabinet méchanique. Tragically, the collection was shortlived, and was dispersed by auction in 1745. For a comprehensive discussion of Bonnier de la Moisson's hôtel, see 'Le Faubourg Saint-Germain la Rue Saint-Dominique', Exhibition Catalogue, 11 October-20 December 1984, pp.150-64.
THE LATER PROVENANCE
Arguably the most famous and influential dynasty of art dealers the world has yet seen, during the course of more than a century the Wildensteins amassed an important collection of magnificent French furniture and objets d'art. The remarkable collection which adorned the rooms of the Wildensteins Paris headquarters, the hôtel de Wailly in the rue de la Boetie, was largely the creation of one man—Nathan Wildenstein (1851-1934), a leviathan in the history of taste and the founder of the Wildenstein dynasty. These magnificent coquilliers formed the focal point of the Grande Gallerie of the palatial Louis XVI town house designed by the architect Charles de Wailly in 1776 for his own use and acquired by Nathan Wildenstein in 1905 (illustrated in situ). The coquilliers were part of the collection of important furniture and works of art sold during a landmark two day sale of The Wildenstein Collection at Christie’s, London, 14-15 December 2005, where acquired by the late owner.