After Michel Anguier (circa 1613 - 1686) and Louis Garnier (circa 1638 - 1728) French, circa 1700 Bacchus and Amphitrite bronze, dark brown patina stamped with the crowned C 37.5cm., 14¾ in. and 38cm., 15in. (2) ____________________________________________ France, vers 1700, d'après les modèles de Michel Anguier (vers 1613 - 1686) et Louis Garnier (vers 1638 - 1728) Bacchus et Amphitrite paire de bronzes à patine brun foncé marqués du C couronné Haut. 37,5 et 38 cm ; 14 ¾ et 15 in. (2)
After a model of 1652; on an associated Sienna marble rectangular base. Height 20 3/4 in (52.7 cm), height on base 24 1/4 in (61.5 cm) Rubbing to patination
Property from a Swiss private collection After models by Michel Anguier (Paris circa 1613 - 1686) and Louis Garnier (Paris circa 1638 - 1728) French, circa 1690 Amphitrite and Bacchus bronze, on black marble bases the bases respectively inscribed: 122 and 123 Bacchus: 37cm., 14½in. Amphitrite: 37cm., 14½in. bases: 12.5cm., 5in.
MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686) MELANCHOLIC PLUTO Bronze statue with golden brown patina H: 54,5 cm Provenance: - Baron de Vinck de Winnezeele (1907-1983) - By descent to the present owners To bid on this lot in the saleroom, by phone or on internet platforms, it is necessary to contact Olivia Roussev, associate director of Antenor Auction: olivia@antenor-auction.com 0032 495 74 63 62 After training with his father, a carpenter in Eu, Michel Anguier continued his apprenticeship between 1629 and 1633 in Paris in the workshop of Simon Guillain (1589-1658). From 1641 onwards, he stayed in Rome for about ten years. Alongside Nicolas Poussin and François Duquesnoy, he discovered and developed a passion for works from the Antiquity. He was introduced to the Baroque by Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654) and assisted for a time Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) in the nave of Saint Peter's Basilica and Saint John's Church in Lateran. On his return to France, Michel Anguier joined his brother François on the construction of the funeral monument of the Duke of Montmorency in Moulins (Allier). He then quickly obtained important orders. We also owe him the decoration of the summer apartments of Anne of Austria at the Louvre Palace, the statues commissioned by Nicolas Fouquet for his castle of Saint-Mandé and then for the gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte. He sculpted an important cycle of basreliefs for the Val-de-Grâce as well as the group of the Nativity commissioned by the Regent. He also made the ambitious groups adorning the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris. His exemplary career revolved around these major commissions and his involvement, albeit late, but intensive, within the Royal Academy of which he was assistant professor in 1668, then rector in 1671. If Michel Anguier is one of the custodians of the great style of Versailles sculpture instilled by François Girardon (1628-1715). He is also undoubtedly at the origin of the diffusion and the craze for independent statuettes cast in bronze, a typology of works that he had the opportunity to admire in Italy such as the famous ensemble of the Medici Studiolo in Florence. This art, until then often kept for church decoration only, developed in part thanks to the critical and commercial success of the famous Cycle of Gods and Goddesses, designed by Anguier shortly after his return from Rome. On May 6, 1690, at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, Guillet de Saint Georges reported about this cycle: "M. Anguier was occupied in 1652 with the models of six figures, each 18 inches (48.8 cm relating to the figure alone) which have been cast in bronze and which represent a thundering Jupiter, a jealous Juno, an agitated Neptune, a tranquil Amphitrite, a melancholy Pluto, a Mars who leaves arms and a tearful Ceres (... )”. (Unpublished Memoirs, 1855 p. 438). This "antiquomania", very fashionable in 17th century France, also occupied him intensely since it involved the '14 Tonnerre stone figures representing life-size Gods and Goddesses' he made for Nicolas Fouquet in the years 1655-1654. Our bronze, whose model belongs to this famous series of Gods and Goddesses, represents the Roman god of the Underworld. Michel Anguier was inspired by the famous antique Farnese Hercules (H. 317 cm, marble, currently kept at the Archaeological Museum of Naples) a cast of which was made by Poissant for the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1666 (Print integral of the Farnese Hercules, third quarter of the 17th century, overmoulding attributed to Thibault Poissant and Guillaume Cassegrain, Height: 326 cm, Paris, Louvre museum, n°inv.Gy1300) to design a Pluton as powerful and massive as it is pensive. He is accompanied by the dog Cerberus which derives from the ancient Canis molossus that Anguier was also able to study previously in Rome (now in the Pio Clementino Museo, Vatican). We know about the existence of this model and the intentions that accompanied its creation thanks to the very first lecture that Michel Anguier gave to the Academy, as was required by his position, on November 9, 1669. Taking the Farnèse Hercules as a subject, Michel Anguier introduces his personal theory based on the role of humoral physiology in the expression of feelings through physical characteristics. While this thesis was debated in Roman artistic circles in the 1640s, Michel Anguier was one of the first academicians (along with the painters Noël and Antoine Coypel) to grasp in France the ancient theory of humors drawn from the writings of the Greek physician Galen, and applied to three-dimensional art. This theory is also the subject of another of his lectures, “On the manner of depicting the deities according to their temperaments”, which was read in 1676. He invites the sculptors to make coincide the physiognomic aspect of the figure’s body to his inner state of mind. In this sense, his approach to art is innovative: he intends to go beyond the basics of academic teaching, which corresponds to learning in the ancient way by copying stricto sensu. He also recommends meditating "slowly and separately on the beautiful ancient figures" rather than simply copying them mechanically. To illustrate his personal application of this humoral theory, Michel Anguier presents during this conference a copy of Pluto to his audience (we know neither its material nor its dimensions): "I put forward all these particularities in order to warn to be careful, when we want to make the portrait of some divinities, to observe their temperament well. This observation will facilitate us to shape successfully the heads, the face’s expression, the action of the figure, the form of the flesh and even the draperies, as we see with this sculpture of Pluto which we have represented with a cold and dry melancholy, coarse, earthy and dripping, caused by sour, biting and cold water which the spleen has not been able to purify, and (which), driven to the bottom of the ventricle, excites a perpetual hunger”. In the light of this description and the humoral theory, the subjectivity of the adjectives chosen by the artist to designate his Gods and Goddesses takes on its full meaning: Melancholy Pluto is the literal transcription of his atrabilary physiognomy… The Melancholy Pluto, in its bronze version, is known to us in two distinct sizes; 23.5 cm and a larger version around 55 cm. Our bronze is part of this second corpus by its proportions and its casting characteristics. We note an exceptional imprint quality and a bronze patina nuanced with red, ranking it amongst the best examples known. Its dimension of 54.5 cm, including the base, also indicates it as being possibly the dimension of the oldest models in the 2008 exhibition catalog of the “French Bronzes” of 2008 (pp. 205-205). Finally, the metallographic analysis (performed on April 11, 2023 by the CARAA laboratory), which also distinguishes it from the other works already studied and corresponding to more "refined" editions of 1700 or later, suggests that it could be an early casting, perhaps one of the first examples, dating back to the years 1660-1670. The present work, from the estate of Baron de Vinck, was previously unpublished. Bibliography: -Julia K. Dabbs, “Humoring the Antique. Michel Anguier and the physiological interpretation of the Ancient Greek Sculpture”, Critical Perspectives on Roman Baroque Sculpture, ss dir. Anthony Colantuono and Steven F. Ostrow, Penn State Univ. Press, 2014, pp. 203-218 -Conférences de l’Académie royale de Peinture et Sculpture, 1648-168, Édition critique intégrale sous la direction de Jacqueline Lichtenstein et Christian Michel, Paris, Beaux-Arts de Paris éditions, 2007, vol 2, P323—339 et pp. 593— 605, vol 1:377—87. -Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Guilhem Scherf (sous la dir.), Bronzes français de la Renaissance au Siècle des Lumières, Paris, Musée du Louvre éd., 2008, pp. 212- 215 et pp.204-205 ; -Olga Raggio, Sculpture in the Grand Manner : Two Goups by Anguier and Monnot, in Apollo , nov. 1977, pp. 364-375; -H Stein, « les Frères Anguier, notice sur leur vie et leurs œuvres d’après des documents inédits ». Réunion des sociétés des Beaux-arts des départements, XIII, E Plon,1889, pp.527-609 ; -Armand Samson, Les frères Anguiers : deux sculpteurs normands, E. Cagniard imprimeur, Rouen, 1889 ; -Guillet de Saint Georges, Mémoires inédits sur la vie et les ouvrages des membres de l’académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, Paris, 1854, I, p440 - Dézallier d’Argenville, Vie des fameux Sculpteurs depuis la renaissance des arts : avec la description de leurs ouvrages, Paris, 1787, II, pp.159-172 ; -Comte de Caylus, Vie d’Anguier et de Regnaudin [conférence du 3 mai 1749], dans Mémoires inédits…, p. 451-478. Related works : For the large version : -Michel Anguier, Pluton mélancolique, bronze, H. 57 x L. 19,9 x P. 15,8 cm, Paris, collection particulière reproduit in Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Guilhem Scherf (sous la dir.), Bronzes français de la Renaissance au Siècle des Lumières, op.cit., p. 212, cat. 58A. -Anonyme, Pluton mélancolique d’après le modèle de Michel Anguier, bronze, H. 59 cm, Paris, musée Carnavalet, n° inv. S3293. For the small version : -Michel Anguier, Pluton mélancolique, bronze, H. 23,9 x L. 11,1 x P. 9 cm, Dresde, Staatliche Kunstammlungen, Grünes Gewölbe, n° inv. IX.37.
MICHEL ANGUIER (Eu 1612 - Parigi 1686) SOLDATO Busto in marmo bianco, cm. 34 x 16 x 16 Firma incisa al retro della base Base cubica pertinente alla scultura PROVENIENZA Famiglia romana
Sculptures ANGUIER Michel (1612 - 1686). D'après. "Amphitrite" et "Pluton mélancolique" en bronze à patine brune. D'après Michel Anguier. Travail français. Epoque : fin XVII-Début XVIIIème. H. : +/- 23,5 cm.
PAIRE DE FIGURES EN BRONZE REPRÉSENTANT BACCHUS ET AMPHITRITE D'APRÈS LES MODÈLES DE LOUIS GARNIER (1635-1715) ET MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686), H.: 36 cm. (14 1/5 in.)
DESCRIPTION: French marble nude sculpture after Michel Anguier. Nude woman draped in cloth. One of a kind museum piece and very well carved. Comes with French booklet. CIRCA: 19th ct MADE IN: France DIMENSIONS: H: 22.25" L: 7.75" W: 5.50" CONDITION: See lot description for details on item condition. More detailed condition requests can be obtained via email (info@akibaantiques.com) or SMS (305) 333-4134. Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Akiba Antiques shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.
Michel Anguier Eu, 1612 - Paris, 1686 Neptune agité Bronze à patine brune Hauteur : 52 cm (20,50 in.) Neptune, bronze, brown patina, by M. Anguier Provenance : Collection Marcel Bissey ; Collection Thierry Feray ; Collection particulière Expositions : 'Louis XIV, fastes et décor', Paris, musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Pavillon Marsan, mai - octobre 1960, p. 138, n° 700 Bibliographie : " Un collectionneur remet au goût du jour le savant désordre des cabinets du curieux ", in 'Connaissance des Arts', janvier 1958, visible sur les photographies de la p. 81 Philippe Jullian, "Tradition et éclectisme dans une maison du XVIIIe siècle au coeur de Paris", in 'Connaissance des Arts', n° 140, octobre 1963, p. 78, le bronze est visible sur l'une des photographies du "Salon vert" Bibliographie en rapport: Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, " Le petit bronze ", dans 'Un temps d'Exubérance : Les Arts décoratifs sous Louis XIII et Anne d'Autriche', Paris, 2002, p. 426-431 Paul Labesse, 'Les frères Anguier, sculpteurs eudois', Eu, 2008, p. 84 Geneviève Bresc-Bautier et Guilhem Scherf (dir.), 'Bronzes français de la Renaissance au Siècle des lumières', cat. exp. Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2008, p. 208, n°56 Jeremy Waren, 'Beauty and Power, Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Peter Marino Collection', Paul Holberton publishing for the Wallace Collection, Londres, 2010 Commentaire : Après s'être formé auprès de son père menuisier à Eu, Michel Anguier poursuit son apprentissage entre 1629 et 1633 à Paris dans l'atelier de Simon Guillain. A partir de 1641 il séjourne à Rome pendant une dizaine d'années et découvre avec Nicolas Poussin et François Duquesnoy les œuvres de l'Antiquité pour lesquelles il se passionne. Il s'initie au baroque auprès d'Alessandro Algardi et assiste Le Bernin pour un temps. A son retour en France, Anguier obtient rapidement d'importantes commandes. On lui doit la décoration des appartements d'été d'Anne d'Autriche au Louvre, des statues commandées par Nicolas Fouquet pour son château de Saint-Mandé puis pour les jardins de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Il sculpte un important cycle de bas-reliefs au Val-de-Grâce et signe les ambitieux groupes ornant la porte Saint-Denis à Paris. Sa carrière, exemplaire, s'articule autour de ces grandes commandes et de son implication au sein de l'Académie royale dont il est professeur adjoint en 1668 puis recteur en 1671. Si Anguier est l'un des dépositaires du grand style de la sculpture versaillaise insufflé par François Girardon, il est aussi sans doute à l'origine de la diffusion et de l'engouement pour les statuettes indépendantes jetées en bronze. Cet art, jusqu'alors souvent réservé aux décors d'églises va se développer en partie grâce au succès critique et commercial du fameux cycle des dieux et des déesses conçu par Anguier peu de temps après son retour de Rome. Le 6 mai 1690, à l'Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture, Guillet de Saint Georges rapporte : " M. Anguier fut occupé en 1652 aux modèles de six figures, chacune de 18 pouces (48,8 cm se rapportant à la figure seule) qui ont été jetées en bronze et qui représentent un Jupiter foudroyant, une Junon jalouse, un Neptune agité, une Amphitrite tranquille, un Pluton mélancolique, un Mars qui quitte les armes et une Cérès éplorée (… )1". Michel Anguier est ici clairement influencé par 'Neptune et Triton' du Bernin qu'il a vu et admiré à Rome (Londres, Victoria and Albert Museum). Dans notre groupe, 'Neptune', le dieu des mers, est puissamment campé sur ses jambes dans un mouvement dynamique vers l'avant. II enjambe le cheval marin avec autorité, son buste est large, ses épaules puissantes, ses flancs saillants et son sillon inguinal marqué, soulignant sa force physique et sa colère. Les proportions sont élégamment allongées. Les veines des pieds et des mains qui s'animent sous la tension musculaire affleurent sous l'épiderme et les mèches sont soulignées avec vigueur dans l'épaisse chevelure. Le bronze est fondu d'un seul jet, solidairement d'une base carrée, par la méthode de la cire perdue. On remarque quelques pièces de bouchage caractéristiques de l'ancienneté du mode opératoire de la fonte. L'ensemble de l'empreinte, d'une belle nervosité, est remarquablement inscrite dans la cire et très peu reprise à froid. Au sein du cycle des dieux et des déesses, le 'Neptune agité' occupe une place particulière. Son évidente influence baroque et le dynamisme de sa composition s'opposent en effet au calme et à la sérénité de l'Amphitrite tranquille' à laquelle il est souvent apparié. Dans sa grande version, neuf exemplaires en plus du nôtre sont aujourd'hui connus². La qualité de notre groupe, ayant appartenu au grand collectionneur Thierry Ferray (fig.1) et fait l'objet d'un prêt lors de l'exposition 'Louis XIV, faste et décors' de 1960, se rattache aux plus belles réalisations de Michel Anguier et plus généralement des bronzes français du Grand Siècle. 1. 'Mémoires inédits sur la vie et les ouvrages des membres de l'Académie royale (…)', Paris, 1854, p. 438 2. Londres, Victoria & Albert Museum (H. 51,50 cm) ; Londres, Collection Jennifer Montagu (H. 52,30 cm); New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Altman Collection, H. 53,70 cm) ; Paris, musée Carnavalet (H. 50 cm) ; Washington, National Gallery of Art (H. 51,50 cm) ; Toulouse, fondation Bemberg (H. 52 cm) ; Londres, vente Sotheby's, 10 décembre 1987, n°64 (H. 50,50 cm) ; Paris, collection particulière (exp. Paris, 2001, n° 53, H. 57 cm) ; Paris, collection particulière (exp. Paris, 2008-2009, n° 56, H. 52 cm) Estimation 400 000 - 600 000 €
Bacchus et Pomone dans l'esprit de Louis Garnier (1638-1728) et Michel Anguier (1612-1686), XVIIIe s Paire de personnages en applique surmontant probablement à l'origine des feux de cheminée, bronzes à patine brune, H 32 cm
DESCRIPTION: French marble nude sculpture after Michel Anguier. Nude woman draped in cloth. One of a kind museum piece and very well carved. Comes with French booklet. CIRCA: 19th ct MADE IN: France DIMENSIONS: H: 22.25" L: 7.75" W: 5.50" CONDITION: See lot description for details on item condition. More detailed condition requests can be obtained via email (info@akibaantiques.com) or SMS (305) 333-4134. Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Akiba Antiques shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.
ÉCOLE FRANÇAISE du XIXe siècle D'APRÈS MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686) Amphitrite à la langouste Marbre. (Restaurations). Amphitrite withlobster, a 19th century french school marble after M. Anguier. HAUT. 57,5cm - 22 5/8 IN.
AFTER MICHEL ANGUIER (FRENCH, C1612-1686): A 19TH CENTURY BRONZE FIGURE OF AMPHITRITE looking down at a lobster in her hand, her left foot raised on the head of a dolphin, raised on a circular base, mid brown patination, 56cm high This bronze is after Michel Anguier's full size marble figure of Amphitrite which was installed at Versailles and is now in the Louvre. A further bronze cast of the same height as the present example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Inv. No. 14.40.690 Related Literature: F. Souchal French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries, Faber & Faber, London.
A BRONZE MODEL OF JUNO BY MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686), AFTER A MODEL OF 1652, LATE 17TH CENTURY Depicted standing, her proper left arm raised and a peacock at her feet, on a hexagonal base 21 7/8 inches (55.5 cm.) high
NEPTUNE AGITÉ FRANCE, XIXE SIÈCLE, D'APRÈS UN MODÈLE DE MICHEL ANGUIER (1612/14-1686) A FRENCH, 19TH CENTURY PATINATED BRONZE FIGURE OF NEPTUNE, AFTER A MODEL BY MICHEL ANGUIER (1612/15 - 1686) la jambe gauche en avant munie d'un trident, le rabat de la draperie de son manteau battu par les vents marins court le long de l'encolure du cheval marin dont la partie antérieure émerge des flots. bronze à patine brune haut. 52 cm; larg. 20 cm; prof. 19 cm; height 20 1/2 in ; width 7 3/4 in ; depth 7 1/2 in
PAIRE DE BRONZES DE PLUTON ET VÉNUS FRANCE, XVIIIE SIÈCLE, LE PLUTON D'APRÈS UN MODÈLE DE MICHEL ANGUIER (1612/14-1688) A PAIR OF FINE FRENCH 18TH CENTURY BRONZE STATUETTES OF PLUTO AND VENUS Pluton portant sa main gauche au visage jouant avec sa barbe, la tête tournée vers la droite et légèrement orientée vers le bas dans une attitude mélancolique ; Vénus, sa tête coiffée d'un diadème et son corps enveloppé en un drapé, à moitié dévêtue, tient une grenade dans la main Quantity: 2 haut. 24 cm height 9 1/2 in
A FRENCH BRONZE FIGURE OF AMPHITRITE LATE 19TH CENTURY, AFTER MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686) Depicted holding a crayfish in her left hand and a length of drapery in her right, with a dolphin by her feet, on a gilt-bronze mounted Siena marble plinth The bronze - 20½ in. (52 cm.) high; 28 in. (71 cm.) high overall
FIGURE REPRESENTANT AMPHITRITE D'APRES MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686), FIN DU XVIIEME OU DEBUT DU XVIIIEME SIECLE En bronze, représentée nue, debout en contrapposte, tenant un homard dans la main gauche, un dauphin à ses pieds; reposant sur une base rectangulaire entièrement moulée, et un socle d'époque postérieure en marbre vert de forme rectangulaire et à gradins; patine brun noir à rehauts brun-chocolat, petits éclats au socle Hauteur: 36 cm. (14¼ in.)
FIGURE REPRESENTANT AMPHITRITE D'APRES MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686), FRANCE, XVIIIEME SIECLE En bronze, représentée debout, tournée vers la gauche, tenant un homard de la main gauche et un pan de draperie de la main droite, un dauphin à ses pieds; reposant sur un piédestal rapporté, plaqué de marbre veiné noir et de blue john, à motif de rosaces, patine marron foncé à rehauts brune rouge Hauteur: 52.7 cm. (20¾ in.), Hauteur totale: 75.3 cm. (29¾ in.)
A PAIR OF BRONZE FIGURES OF AMPHITRITE AND BACCHUS AFTER THE MODELS BY MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686) AND LOUIS GARNIER (1635-1715), LATE 18TH OR EARLY 19TH CENTURY Amphitrite depicted facing to sinister, standing on a dolphin and holding a lobster in her left hand, Bacchus depicted facing to dexter and holding a tazza in his right hand and bunch of grapes in his left; each on an integrally cast naturalistic plinth and an associated rectangular panelled verde antico, siena marble and lapis lazuli pedestal; medium brown patina with lighter high points 14½ in. (37 cm.) high; 22¼ in. (56.5 cm.) high, overall (2)
A BRONZE GROUP OF CERES IN SEARCH OF PROSERPINE ATTRIBUTED TO MICHEL ANGUIER (1612-1686), SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY Depicted holding a flaming torch in her right hand, drapery billowing behind her and standing above a dragon on a hexagonal stand, with a paper label to underside of base inscribed in ink 'lot 105 3/5/77' 21 in. (53 cm.) high
Each of ovoid shape decorated with scrolling foliage and classical masks, surmounted by a stiff-leaf wrapped and basket-weave cast waisted neck and a gadrooned lid with floral finial, flanked by a lion-handle and a dragon's head handle, the gadrooned base cast with guilloche and husks, the waisted socle with a floral wreath, on a spreading circular fluted and gadrooned base and a square plinth with inset palmette-cast panels and beaded turned feet 18in. (46 cm.) high; 8in. (21 cm.) wide; 6in. (15 cm.) deep (2) PROVENANCE Acquired in Paris by George Byng M.P. (d. 1847), for Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire, in 1823. Thence by descent to Julian Byng, sold in these Rooms, 10 June 1993, lot 103 NOTES These magnificent ewers were inspired by the Louis XIV examples attributed to Michel Angiuer, which the dealer Madame L‚gŠre purchased at the celebrated Blondel de Gagny sale in 1776. Amongst the greatest collectors and amateurs of his age, the financier Augustin Blondel de Gagny (1695-1776) was particularly noted for his interest in Boulle furniture. Of the six vases listed in Blondel de Gagny's sale, the first two are described as having been made by Louis XIV's silversmith Lardoizeau. They are listed as lot 495:- Deux buires, par Michel Anguier elles sont compos‚es richement et trŠs bien executes: hauteur chacune de 14 po. 394 livres … L‚gŠre. The ewers were again sold in the sale of the stock of Mme. L‚gŠre on 15 December 1784: No. 13- Deux buyres, couvertes, anse form‚e par une lionne debout, les deux pattes appuy‚s sur une console, le bec t‚te de cheval ail‚, le corps mosaiques, mascarons et bustes de relief, culot godron et piedouche cannel‚, sur socle de bois dor‚: hauteur 14po (37.9cm.). Ces deux vases r‚par‚s par Michel Auguier, m‚ritent attention & sont peu r‚p‚t‚s. The bronzier Michel Auguier (1612-1686) worked for the duchesse de Montmorency, Fouquet and Anne of Austria. Amongst his most celebrated commissions was the pair of bronze vases delivered for the parterre du Nord at Versailles. RELATED VASES A vase with very similar handle signed by the silversmith Nicolas Delaunay and dated 1697 is in the Cathedral Museum at Poitiers, France 'Les Tr‚sors des Eglises de France', Exhibition Catalogue, Mus‚e des Arts D‚coratifs, Paris, 1965, p. 187, no. 347). Another pair with this handle is illustrated in The French Bronze 1500-1800, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1968, no. 30. Various elements in the design of these ewers, notably the winged spout, the mask supporting the handle and the espagnolette mask on the frieze appear in three drawings attributed to Jacques de Meaux from the Tessin Collection in Stockholm, illustrated in 'Versailles … Stockholm', Paris, 1985, Exhibition Catalogue, pp. 196-198. Jacques de Meaux was the half-brother of Nicolas Delaunay, uncle of Robert de Cotte and brother-in-law of Corneille van Cleve. A bronze ewer of this form appears in a still-life by Chardin of musical instruments with a parrot of about 1730 and in two of his later works of 1765 and 1766 (P. Conisbee, Chardin, Oxford, 1986, pls. 89, 202 and 19 respectively). Two bronze ewers of identical form, one of which was said to be of the Louis XIV period and stamped with the C couronn‚ poi‡non and the other of later date were offered Sotheby's London, 5 July 1990, lot 138. A pair of vases of this form in the collection of Matthew Uzielli of Hanover Lodge, Regent's Park, London, is illustrated by way of an engraving in the privately printed catalogue of his collection, published in London in 1850, nos. 603 and 604. GEORGE BYNG AND WROTHAM PARK The vases were acquired in Paris in 1823 by George Byng (d.1847), for the enlarged State Rooms at Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire. Designed circa 1754 by Isaac Ware (d. 1766) for the unfortunate victim of 'Judicial murder' Admiral John Byng (d. 1757), Wrotham was inherited by the ' neither learned, eloquent or profound ' (Gentleman's Magazine, 1847, p. 309) George Byng on the death of his father in 1789. This harsh dismissal of the Father of the House and Whig Member of Parliament for Middlesex, a tenure which he held for fifty-six years, does not fairly reflect this connoisseur's broad, though selective taste. Following the 1811 improvements, whereby the wings flanking Ware's central block were raised to provide further State Rooms, Byng proceeded to enrich the furnishings of the house in the French taste. The predominance of 'Buhl' furniture, as well as Louis XV and Louis XVI ormolu-mounted objets, typified the fashionable 'go–t' expounded by the marchand-mercier Edward Holmes Baldock (d. 1854). Patronised by George IV, Purveyor of China, Earthenware and Glass to William IV (1832-37) and Purveyor of China to Queen Victoria (1838-45), Baldock was responsible for the formation of many of the great early 19th Century collections of French furniture, including those of the Dukes of Buccleuch and Northumberland and William Beckford, and it is highly probable that these pieces were supplied by him. Certainly the remarkable picture collection clearly reveals that Byng was a connoisseur of considerable merit who was prepared to pay high prices for top quality pieces. These characteristics are shared by Baldock's principal clients and are reflected in the furnishings acquired by Byng for Wrotham up until his death in 1847 at such great sales as Wanstead, Essex in 1822 and the Duke of York's (d.1827) Collection (which was sold at Christie's London, 5-8 April 1827). SALESROOM NOTICE These ewers are mentioned in the 'List of furniture, Porcelain, Paintings, etc, prchased by George Byng, Esq., for Wrotham Park 1816-1843', where they are described as 'A pair of superb Ormolu Ewers formed from the Antique on Verde plinths and glass shades œ 44 2s 0d.'.
