![BRACQUEMOND, Félix (1833-1914). Album de planches gravées de motifs pour le décor d'un service de la maison Rousseau. [Paris : François-Eugène Rousseau, 1866].](https://staging.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/PAR/2018_PAR_16843_0017_001(bracquemond_felix_album_de_planches_gravees_de_motifs_pour_le_decor_du113956).jpg?w=1)
![BRACQUEMOND, Félix (1833-1914). Album de planches gravées de motifs pour le décor d'un service de la maison Rousseau. [Paris : François-Eugène Rousseau, 1866].](https://staging.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/PAR/2018_PAR_16843_0017_002(bracquemond_felix_album_de_planches_gravees_de_motifs_pour_le_decor_du102541).jpg?w=1)
![BRACQUEMOND, Félix (1833-1914). Album de planches gravées de motifs pour le décor d'un service de la maison Rousseau. [Paris : François-Eugène Rousseau, 1866].](https://staging.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/PAR/2018_PAR_16843_0017_003(bracquemond_felix_album_de_planches_gravees_de_motifs_pour_le_decor_du102549).jpg?w=1)
![BRACQUEMOND, Félix (1833-1914). Album de planches gravées de motifs pour le décor d'un service de la maison Rousseau. [Paris : François-Eugène Rousseau, 1866].](https://staging.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/PAR/2018_PAR_16843_0017_000(bracquemond_felix_album_de_planches_gravees_de_motifs_pour_le_decor_du113946).jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
BRACQUEMOND, Félix (1833-1914). Album of engraved plates to be used as the decoration of a service made by the maison Rousseau. [Paris: François-Eugène Rousseau, 1866].
One of the ten copies, on Japan paper, of this stunning set of etched plates by Bracquemond, a leading figure of japonism in France. In March 1866, in a letter sent to engraver and ceramic artist Felix Bracquemond, François-Eugène Rousseau mentioned his project to create an earthenware service. More than just giving him technical advice, Bracquemond decided to draw the Japanese motifs, taking inspiration from previous works by Hiroshige and Hokusai to bring animals, insects and plants to life. He engraved these subjects himself: they were then printed on paper, to be cut and directly applied on the earthenware pieces.
The service was manufactured in Montereau and Creil, where the workers applied the colours.
The finished product was met with great applause when it was first unveiled at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where Rousseau was awarded a bronze medal for his work. Four years later, when it was exhibited once again in London, none other than Stéphane Mallarmé praised « this service created by master-engraver Bracquemond, decorated with lively coloured inhabitants of farmyards and fishponds », which he described as the « perfect translation of Japanese charm, made by a very French spirit ».
Such copies of the complete set on Japan are extremely scarce, seeing that Beraldi believed only « ten copies at best » were printed. The kami-kawa binding is a great symbol of the japonist craze which spread in Paris in the second half of the 19th century. This interest was also shared by bibliophiles, who closely followed the footsteps of the Goncourt brothers and their « habit of binding their books with blindstamped Japanese motifs ». Une Vie, une collection - Bibliotheca Wittockiana : p. 97 ; Beraldi : Les graveurs du XIXème siècle, III, 143-144 & XIII, 12 ; Thirion : "Le japonisme en France dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle à la faveur de la diffusion de l'estampe japonaise", Cahiers de l'AEF, 1961, pp. 117-130.
Oblong folio (316 x 492 mm). 28 original etchings by Bracquemond, on Japan paper. One of « 10 copies at best » according to Beraldi (marginal foxing, marginal folding on the lower right corner of plate no 6). Contemporary kami-kawa binding (Japanese leather-paper), Japanese-inspired blindstamped motifs on the boards and the spine, hara-kami endpapers with plant-like motifs (worn hinges and headbands, a bit of foxing on the endpapers). Provenance : Charles Royer (inscribed by Bracquemond on the first plate : "A mon ami Ch. Royer" [To my friend Ch. Royer]). Exhibited : Musée National Adrien-Dubouché, Limoges, 5 April - 4 July 2005 (cat. 13, pp. 45-53).
One of the ten copies, on Japan paper, of this stunning set of etched plates by Bracquemond, a leading figure of japonism in France. In March 1866, in a letter sent to engraver and ceramic artist Felix Bracquemond, François-Eugène Rousseau mentioned his project to create an earthenware service. More than just giving him technical advice, Bracquemond decided to draw the Japanese motifs, taking inspiration from previous works by Hiroshige and Hokusai to bring animals, insects and plants to life. He engraved these subjects himself: they were then printed on paper, to be cut and directly applied on the earthenware pieces.
The service was manufactured in Montereau and Creil, where the workers applied the colours.
The finished product was met with great applause when it was first unveiled at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where Rousseau was awarded a bronze medal for his work. Four years later, when it was exhibited once again in London, none other than Stéphane Mallarmé praised « this service created by master-engraver Bracquemond, decorated with lively coloured inhabitants of farmyards and fishponds », which he described as the « perfect translation of Japanese charm, made by a very French spirit ».
Such copies of the complete set on Japan are extremely scarce, seeing that Beraldi believed only « ten copies at best » were printed. The kami-kawa binding is a great symbol of the japonist craze which spread in Paris in the second half of the 19th century. This interest was also shared by bibliophiles, who closely followed the footsteps of the Goncourt brothers and their « habit of binding their books with blindstamped Japanese motifs ». Une Vie, une collection - Bibliotheca Wittockiana : p. 97 ; Beraldi : Les graveurs du XIXème siècle, III, 143-144 & XIII, 12 ; Thirion : "Le japonisme en France dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle à la faveur de la diffusion de l'estampe japonaise", Cahiers de l'AEF, 1961, pp. 117-130.
Oblong folio (316 x 492 mm). 28 original etchings by Bracquemond, on Japan paper. One of « 10 copies at best » according to Beraldi (marginal foxing, marginal folding on the lower right corner of plate no 6). Contemporary kami-kawa binding (Japanese leather-paper), Japanese-inspired blindstamped motifs on the boards and the spine, hara-kami endpapers with plant-like motifs (worn hinges and headbands, a bit of foxing on the endpapers). Provenance : Charles Royer (inscribed by Bracquemond on the first plate : "A mon ami Ch. Royer" [To my friend Ch. Royer]). Exhibited : Musée National Adrien-Dubouché, Limoges, 5 April - 4 July 2005 (cat. 13, pp. 45-53).