Lot 14: LOUIS TESSIER

LOUIS TESSIER PARIS CIRCA 1719 - 1781 ALLEGORY OF THE ARTS; ALLEGORY OF DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE Quantity: 2 the latter inscribed: Voet a pair, both oil on canvas each: 27 by 34 1/2 in.; 68.5 by 87.5 cm.

London, Chaucer Fine Arts, Paintings and Drawings, Sculpture, works of Art, 26 May-14 July, 1985, no. 25.

Paintings and Drawings, Sculpture, works of Art, exhibition catalogue, London 1985, cat. no. 25, reproduced no. 25.

With Chaucer Fine Arts, London;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's 31 May 1990, lot 144 (as Attributed to Tessier);(1)
There purchased by the present collector.

The present pair of paintings, An Allegory of the Arts and An Allegory of Design and Architecture are representative of the eighteenth century French artist Louis Tessier, whose oeuvre consists mostly of still life compositions with elements of architecture and design. The foreshortened presentation of the objects depicted indicates that these works were likely created as overdoors; however, it is the probable commission of these works by a Dutch patron that distinguish them.

All the inscriptions are in Dutch and the book has been identified as a popular volume of poetry titled Trou-ringh (Wedding Ring) by the celebrated Dutch author Jacob Cats. Furthermore, the architectural floor plan's measurements are in voeten, and the floor plan is characteristic of the long, narrow grachtenhuis (literally "canalside house") found alongside the canals in Amsterdam. It has been suggested that the floor plan might even represent the home in which the present paintings were to hang, with the book of poetry inferring that the home might be for a newly married couple.

The presence of the various objects in each of the paintings lends to an allegorical interpretation. Items such as the lyre, the quills, the book, foliage, palm spray, and the Mask of the Comedy used in theatrical performances all refer to the arts while the architectural floor plan, instruments, maps and diagrams represent the elements of design.

1. An alternate attribution to the French painter the Marquise de Grollier, neé de Fuligny-Damas was suggested by Michel Faré at the time.