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Lot Essay
THE PROVENANCE
The château de Saint Leu had a distinguished history of ownership, including the wealthy banker-collectors Jean-Joseph de Laborde and Nicolas Beaujon and the duc de Chartres, also known as Philippe Egalité and father of the future King Louis-Philippe, who sold Saint Leu to the Marquis de Giac. In 1804 it was acquired by Napoleon’s brother Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846) and his wife Hortense de Beauharnais (1783-1837). Hortense’s mother was Joséphine de Beauharnais, who in 1796 had famously married Napoleon and was later to become Empress. Napoleon arranged for the marriage of his stepdaughter Hortense to his brother Louis in 1802, and they soon set themselves up in great style, acquiring in 1804 an hôtel in Paris on the rue d’Artois (later the rue Cerutti), which they acquired already furnished with treasures from the ancien régime including the celebrated lacquer suite by Riesener said to have been supplied to Marie-Antoinette (sold from the collection of Akram Ojjeh; Christie’s Monaco, 11-12 December 1999, lot 35), but which they supplemented with newly commissioned furnishings for the hôtel. In 1804 they also acquired the château de Saint Leu and embarked on an extensive renovation, uniting two domaines into a property of more than 80 hectares. Napoleon appointed them King and Queen of Holland in 1806 and Hortense was forced to leave the fashionable Parisian life she so enjoyed. Their marriage was sadly an unhappy one, and they separated soon after their return from Holland in 1810, when Hortense took up residence at Saint Leu and continued to entertain in great style. She was made duchesse de Saint Leu in 1814.
Other recorded pieces with the Saint Leu inventory mark include a pair of ‘retour d’Egypte’ candelabra sold Christie’s, New York, (marked ‘St. L. No. 2’) and a pair of candelabra with Bacchic figures sold Osenat, Fontainebleau, 1 April 2012, lot 40 (marked ‘St. L. No. 7’). In the absence of further documentation, it is unclear whether these pieces were specifically supplied to Saint Leu, or were already in the collection of Louis and Hortense
THE PORCELAIN
The Parisian firm of Dihl et Guérhard, the favorite of Hortense’s mother, was responsible for the impressive gold-ground Service des Grands Tableaux, made for Josephine during the last years of her life when she lived outside Paris in the château de Malmaison. However, it was biscuit porcelain on which the reputation of the firm was grounded. The company was incorporated on 25 February 1781 with Christophe Dihl, his neighbor Antoine Guérhard, and his wife Mme. Guérhard as the principals, initially operating under the protection of the duc d’Angoulême (six years old, at the time). Dihl, himself a sculptor and owner of many models and molds, brought technical expertise to the arrangement; M. et Mme. Guérhard experience and funds as well as knowledge of the porcelain business. It was no small enterprise. And certainly its reputation for the finest in biscuit porcelain arguably rivaled that of the royal manufactory at Sèvres.
The present clock is an example of production at its height. For a detailed history of the firm and, in particular, its biscuit production, see R. Pinval de Guillebon, Les biscuits de porcelain de Paris XVIIIe-XIXe siècles, pp. 242-247, also the published lecture given to The French Porcelain Society in 1988, cited above.The figures, known also as Strength and Truth, were also available as pairs of biscuit figures on rectangular plinths decorated in low relief with classical motifs. At least two such pair are extant – that from the collection of Maréchal Berthier, Prince de Wagram, now in the Montreal Museum of Fine Art [sale Sotheby’s, Paris, 29 April 2014, lot 167, the figures described as Truth (La Verité) and Strength (La Force); and that from the collection of Eugene V. Thaw, now in a private American collection [sale Christie’s, New York, 30 October 2018, lot 220, figures described as Omphale and Venus].
Charles Gabriel Sauvage, known simply as Lemire or Lemire père, was almost certainly responsible for the present models of Strength and Prudence, both of which are listed in the factory’s inventory under these titles. Strength is noted as edited in two sizes and specifically as a clock (pendule); Prudence only in the smaller size.
The themes of Strength, Prudence and Peace - all attributes valued by the Bonaparte family - are carried through in other decorative elements of the clock. Below the dial is an inset gilt-bronze plaquette depicting a female figure seated beneath an olive tree, emblematic of Peace or Reconciliation, and holding a cornucopia, emblematic of Plenty and, by extension, Peace. At her feet are a wolf and a lamb, a biblical reference to Peace (Isaiah 11:7). Fasces, symbolizing the strength of many when unified, are here entwined with a snake, emblematic of Wisdom, and an oak bough, emblematic of Leadership, Power and Strength.
The château de Saint Leu had a distinguished history of ownership, including the wealthy banker-collectors Jean-Joseph de Laborde and Nicolas Beaujon and the duc de Chartres, also known as Philippe Egalité and father of the future King Louis-Philippe, who sold Saint Leu to the Marquis de Giac. In 1804 it was acquired by Napoleon’s brother Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846) and his wife Hortense de Beauharnais (1783-1837). Hortense’s mother was Joséphine de Beauharnais, who in 1796 had famously married Napoleon and was later to become Empress. Napoleon arranged for the marriage of his stepdaughter Hortense to his brother Louis in 1802, and they soon set themselves up in great style, acquiring in 1804 an hôtel in Paris on the rue d’Artois (later the rue Cerutti), which they acquired already furnished with treasures from the ancien régime including the celebrated lacquer suite by Riesener said to have been supplied to Marie-Antoinette (sold from the collection of Akram Ojjeh; Christie’s Monaco, 11-12 December 1999, lot 35), but which they supplemented with newly commissioned furnishings for the hôtel. In 1804 they also acquired the château de Saint Leu and embarked on an extensive renovation, uniting two domaines into a property of more than 80 hectares. Napoleon appointed them King and Queen of Holland in 1806 and Hortense was forced to leave the fashionable Parisian life she so enjoyed. Their marriage was sadly an unhappy one, and they separated soon after their return from Holland in 1810, when Hortense took up residence at Saint Leu and continued to entertain in great style. She was made duchesse de Saint Leu in 1814.
Other recorded pieces with the Saint Leu inventory mark include a pair of ‘retour d’Egypte’ candelabra sold Christie’s, New York, (marked ‘St. L. No. 2’) and a pair of candelabra with Bacchic figures sold Osenat, Fontainebleau, 1 April 2012, lot 40 (marked ‘St. L. No. 7’). In the absence of further documentation, it is unclear whether these pieces were specifically supplied to Saint Leu, or were already in the collection of Louis and Hortense
THE PORCELAIN
The Parisian firm of Dihl et Guérhard, the favorite of Hortense’s mother, was responsible for the impressive gold-ground Service des Grands Tableaux, made for Josephine during the last years of her life when she lived outside Paris in the château de Malmaison. However, it was biscuit porcelain on which the reputation of the firm was grounded. The company was incorporated on 25 February 1781 with Christophe Dihl, his neighbor Antoine Guérhard, and his wife Mme. Guérhard as the principals, initially operating under the protection of the duc d’Angoulême (six years old, at the time). Dihl, himself a sculptor and owner of many models and molds, brought technical expertise to the arrangement; M. et Mme. Guérhard experience and funds as well as knowledge of the porcelain business. It was no small enterprise. And certainly its reputation for the finest in biscuit porcelain arguably rivaled that of the royal manufactory at Sèvres.
The present clock is an example of production at its height. For a detailed history of the firm and, in particular, its biscuit production, see R. Pinval de Guillebon, Les biscuits de porcelain de Paris XVIIIe-XIXe siècles, pp. 242-247, also the published lecture given to The French Porcelain Society in 1988, cited above.The figures, known also as Strength and Truth, were also available as pairs of biscuit figures on rectangular plinths decorated in low relief with classical motifs. At least two such pair are extant – that from the collection of Maréchal Berthier, Prince de Wagram, now in the Montreal Museum of Fine Art [sale Sotheby’s, Paris, 29 April 2014, lot 167, the figures described as Truth (La Verité) and Strength (La Force); and that from the collection of Eugene V. Thaw, now in a private American collection [sale Christie’s, New York, 30 October 2018, lot 220, figures described as Omphale and Venus].
Charles Gabriel Sauvage, known simply as Lemire or Lemire père, was almost certainly responsible for the present models of Strength and Prudence, both of which are listed in the factory’s inventory under these titles. Strength is noted as edited in two sizes and specifically as a clock (pendule); Prudence only in the smaller size.
The themes of Strength, Prudence and Peace - all attributes valued by the Bonaparte family - are carried through in other decorative elements of the clock. Below the dial is an inset gilt-bronze plaquette depicting a female figure seated beneath an olive tree, emblematic of Peace or Reconciliation, and holding a cornucopia, emblematic of Plenty and, by extension, Peace. At her feet are a wolf and a lamb, a biblical reference to Peace (Isaiah 11:7). Fasces, symbolizing the strength of many when unified, are here entwined with a snake, emblematic of Wisdom, and an oak bough, emblematic of Leadership, Power and Strength.