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Lot Essay
THE PROVENANCE - MENTMORE
These magnificent white marble figural torchères were formerly in the collection of the Rothschild family at Mentmore, Buckinghamshire. Mentmore was built between 1852 and 1854 by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (d. 1874), the fourth and youngest son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, who founded N. M. Rothschild & Sons, the English branch of the renowned Rothschild banking empire. Baron Mayer needed a house near to London and in close proximity to other Rothschild homes at Tring, Ascot, Aston Clinton and later Waddesdon and Halton House. The plans for the mansion, which imitated Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire, were drawn up by the architect, Joseph Paxton, 'the new Christopher Wren' and creator of Crystal Palace completed a year earlier.
From circa 1852, the interior decoration of Mentmore was directed by Alexander Barker (d. 1873), the celebrated antique dealer and collector with a 'taste that was as fastidious as it was good' ('Bric-a-Brac, a Rothschild's Memoir of Collecting', Apollo, July & August 2007, p. 60). The house was sumptuously furnished with extraordinary works of art in every field, much of which was supplied by Barker to compliment the 'regal tone of the goût Rothschild' (John Fleming, 'Art Dealing in the Risorgimento II', The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 121, No. 917, August 1979, p. 505, footnote 77). Ferdinand de Rothschild, the Baron's nephew, referred to Barker and the importance of his contribution to the furnishing of Mentmore as 'having purveyed most of the fine works of art' in his autobiographical account of dealers and collectors, Bric-a-Brac ('Bric-a-Brac, a Rothschild's Memoir of Collecting', p. 60) and it is possible that the present example, originally a set of four, were acquired by Barker for Mentmore.
Baron Mayer had refined French taste lining the walls of the Dining Room with Régence boiseries taken from the Hôtel de Conti in Paris, and one of the torchères offered as the present lot was photographed in this room in 1884, photograph reproduced above.
THE PROVENANCE - CHÂTEAU DE NEUILLY
In the 1884 catalogue of the contents of Mentmore, the catalogue note states that these marble figures came from the château de Neuilly outside Paris, the preferred residence of Louis-Philippe 1er (d. 1850), King of the French from 1830 to 1848 (ibid. p. 50). In 1848, the château was ransacked and burnt with about two thirds of the furnishings estimated in its entirety at more than two million francs being destroyed. Those furnishings that escaped the pillage were sold in 1850. Certainly, Barker was purchasing decorative art from the preeminent collections of France and many of his acquisitions were made following the European revolutions of 1848. In an undated extract from a letter sent to Baron Mayer, Barker writes that 'The fine collection of precious objects you have, have been obtained in consequence of the disasters of the royal family of France and the misfortunes of other connected with them and if not purchased at the time they could never have been obtained and I am sure you will remember how often we have consulted as to how you would like each room [at Mentmore] decorated' (John Fleming, 'Art Dealing in the Risorgimento II', p. 505, footnote 78). However, similarly, the present example may have been acquired by the Earl and Countess of Rosebery for Mentmore. On the Baron's death in 1874, he left Mentmore and a fortune of some £2,000,000 to his daughter, Hannah de Rothschild (d. 1890). Four years later Hannah married Archibald Philip, 5th Earl of Rosebery, who added considerably to the collections assembled by his father-in-law. The decorative arts of France were almost certainly largely the work of Baron Mayer in furnishing the house, but many artworks were purchased by Lord and Lady Rosebery (Michael Hall, 'The English Rothschilds as Collectors', Ed. Georg Heuberger, The Rothschilds: Essays on the History of a European Family, Woodbridge, 1995, p. 272). Barker having remained on friendly terms with this branch of the family was a regular and welcome visitor both during the time of Baron Mayer and the Roseberys, and it is equally feasible that Barker supplied the present example to the latter during a later period. The four figures remained at Mentmore until the dispersal of the contents in 1977. The pendant pair (the other two from the original set of four) was subsequently offered at Sotheby's, Monaco on 23 February 1986, lot 733, whereabouts presently unknown.
THE MODEL
These figural torchères were possibly inspired by the one sculpted in 1773 by royal sculptor to Louis XV, Augustin Pajou (d. 1809), who created 'a figure in white marble four feet two inches in height, depicting a young girl holding a horn of plenty, which was meant to carry lights' for Madame Du Barry, the King's mistress, for her new pavilion at Louveciennes (James David Draper & Guilhem Scherf, Augustin Pajou Royal Sculptor 1730-1809, New York, 1997, p. 237, Fig. 160). The lamp was commended when it appeared at the Salon of the same year, and Pajou received ten thousand livres for the sculpture in July 1774. Although its whereabouts are unknown today, the Horvitz collection preserves an image of it, shown here.
These magnificent white marble figural torchères were formerly in the collection of the Rothschild family at Mentmore, Buckinghamshire. Mentmore was built between 1852 and 1854 by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (d. 1874), the fourth and youngest son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, who founded N. M. Rothschild & Sons, the English branch of the renowned Rothschild banking empire. Baron Mayer needed a house near to London and in close proximity to other Rothschild homes at Tring, Ascot, Aston Clinton and later Waddesdon and Halton House. The plans for the mansion, which imitated Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire, were drawn up by the architect, Joseph Paxton, 'the new Christopher Wren' and creator of Crystal Palace completed a year earlier.
From circa 1852, the interior decoration of Mentmore was directed by Alexander Barker (d. 1873), the celebrated antique dealer and collector with a 'taste that was as fastidious as it was good' ('Bric-a-Brac, a Rothschild's Memoir of Collecting', Apollo, July & August 2007, p. 60). The house was sumptuously furnished with extraordinary works of art in every field, much of which was supplied by Barker to compliment the 'regal tone of the goût Rothschild' (John Fleming, 'Art Dealing in the Risorgimento II', The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 121, No. 917, August 1979, p. 505, footnote 77). Ferdinand de Rothschild, the Baron's nephew, referred to Barker and the importance of his contribution to the furnishing of Mentmore as 'having purveyed most of the fine works of art' in his autobiographical account of dealers and collectors, Bric-a-Brac ('Bric-a-Brac, a Rothschild's Memoir of Collecting', p. 60) and it is possible that the present example, originally a set of four, were acquired by Barker for Mentmore.
Baron Mayer had refined French taste lining the walls of the Dining Room with Régence boiseries taken from the Hôtel de Conti in Paris, and one of the torchères offered as the present lot was photographed in this room in 1884, photograph reproduced above.
THE PROVENANCE - CHÂTEAU DE NEUILLY
In the 1884 catalogue of the contents of Mentmore, the catalogue note states that these marble figures came from the château de Neuilly outside Paris, the preferred residence of Louis-Philippe 1er (d. 1850), King of the French from 1830 to 1848 (ibid. p. 50). In 1848, the château was ransacked and burnt with about two thirds of the furnishings estimated in its entirety at more than two million francs being destroyed. Those furnishings that escaped the pillage were sold in 1850. Certainly, Barker was purchasing decorative art from the preeminent collections of France and many of his acquisitions were made following the European revolutions of 1848. In an undated extract from a letter sent to Baron Mayer, Barker writes that 'The fine collection of precious objects you have, have been obtained in consequence of the disasters of the royal family of France and the misfortunes of other connected with them and if not purchased at the time they could never have been obtained and I am sure you will remember how often we have consulted as to how you would like each room [at Mentmore] decorated' (John Fleming, 'Art Dealing in the Risorgimento II', p. 505, footnote 78). However, similarly, the present example may have been acquired by the Earl and Countess of Rosebery for Mentmore. On the Baron's death in 1874, he left Mentmore and a fortune of some £2,000,000 to his daughter, Hannah de Rothschild (d. 1890). Four years later Hannah married Archibald Philip, 5th Earl of Rosebery, who added considerably to the collections assembled by his father-in-law. The decorative arts of France were almost certainly largely the work of Baron Mayer in furnishing the house, but many artworks were purchased by Lord and Lady Rosebery (Michael Hall, 'The English Rothschilds as Collectors', Ed. Georg Heuberger, The Rothschilds: Essays on the History of a European Family, Woodbridge, 1995, p. 272). Barker having remained on friendly terms with this branch of the family was a regular and welcome visitor both during the time of Baron Mayer and the Roseberys, and it is equally feasible that Barker supplied the present example to the latter during a later period. The four figures remained at Mentmore until the dispersal of the contents in 1977. The pendant pair (the other two from the original set of four) was subsequently offered at Sotheby's, Monaco on 23 February 1986, lot 733, whereabouts presently unknown.
THE MODEL
These figural torchères were possibly inspired by the one sculpted in 1773 by royal sculptor to Louis XV, Augustin Pajou (d. 1809), who created 'a figure in white marble four feet two inches in height, depicting a young girl holding a horn of plenty, which was meant to carry lights' for Madame Du Barry, the King's mistress, for her new pavilion at Louveciennes (James David Draper & Guilhem Scherf, Augustin Pajou Royal Sculptor 1730-1809, New York, 1997, p. 237, Fig. 160). The lamp was commended when it appeared at the Salon of the same year, and Pajou received ten thousand livres for the sculpture in July 1774. Although its whereabouts are unknown today, the Horvitz collection preserves an image of it, shown here.