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Lot Essay
This fabulous pair of exquisitely mounted candélabres aux cigognes has an intriguing provenance, probably beginning with their acquisition by Louis XV’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour (d. 1764), from the marchand-mercier, Lazare Duvaux in 1752. Madame de Pompadour possibly then gave them to one of her protégées, Abbé Le Blanc, and they were sold following Le Blanc's death to the painter and marchand, Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun. In the early 20th century, they re-emerged in the collection of Consuelo Vanderbilt, 9th Duchess of Marlborough after she had married the aviator, Lt. Col. Jacques Balsan.
MADAME DE POMPADOUR
A pair of candelabra are recorded in the Livre-Journal of the marchand-mercier, Lazare Duvaux, which he supplied to Madame de Pompadour; on 14 February 1752, she acquired, '1049. Une paire de grandes girandoles à trois branches, ciselées & dorées d'or moulu, sur des cigognes de porcelaine, 1,320 l. - Les ports, 6 l' (1748-1758, tome II, reprinted Paris, 1873, pp. 66, 114). Although the château for which they were intended is not known, the modest carriage charge of 6 livres suggests they were delivered to a residence in the environs of Paris, possibly the château Bellevue at Meduon; Duvaux charged a similar amount the previous week to deliver a lantern there. Louis XV acquired Bellevue in 1748, and the following year gave it to Madame de Pompadour who, assisted by her architect, Jean Cailleteau, undertook extensive renovations, completed in 1750. Alternativelty the candelabra may have been sent to Madame de Pompadour's apartment at Versailles, located above the State apartment of the King, which she occupied from 1745 to 1750; the Livre-Journal records a charge of 18 livres to deliver three tables to L'Ermitage at Versailles (ibid., no. 964).
The Inventaire des biens de Madame de Pompadour, taken posthumously in 1764, records ‘2312. Deux grands oyseaux, d’ancienne porcelaine, montés en girandolles de cuivre doré d’or moulu; prisés trois cens livres’ at the château de Menars, almost certainly describing these candelabra with their unusual and exquisitely tooled gilt-copper drip-pans above ormolu branches (J. Cordey, reprinted Paris, 1939, p. 189, no. 2312).
These candelabra were then quite possibly a gift from Madame de Pompadour to Jean Bernard, abbé Le Blanc (d. 1781), art critic and member of the Parisian literati. She was Le Blanc’s patron, selecting him to accompany her brother and heir, Abel-François Poisson de Vandières (d. 1781), the future marquis de Marigny, on a Grand Tour to Italy between 1749 and 1751, undoubtedly to prepare him for his forthcoming role as director of the Bâtiments du Roi. She was also influential in Le Blanc’s appointment as Historiographe des Bâtiments du Roi, responsible for state expenditure and official policy in the arts. The sale of Le Blanc’s Cabinet de feu on 14 February 1781 included, ‘128. Deux Oiseaux d’ancienne Porcelaine, posés sur des pieds de Bois tournés & garnis de cercles de Bronze doré. Hauteur des Oiseaux 10 pouces’. The Le Blanc candelabra sold for 54 livres to Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun (d. 1813), peintre/marchand, and spouse of Marie Antoinette’s favourite artist, Élisabeth Louis Vigée Lebrun (d. 1842); Lebrun was probably acting for a client.
However, other pairs of ormolu mounted cigognes are recorded in sales after Madame de Pompadour's death; and an anonymous sale, on 10 February 1773 (actually the property of La Reynière, Donjeu, the marquis de Chevigné) lists, '66. Une paire de Girandoles à trois branches dorées & supportées par des Cicognes d’ancienne porcelain blanche’. Additionally, the sale of de Jullienne, of 20 March-22 May 1767 cites '1575. Deux petites Cigognes, d'ancien & tres beau blanc de japon, garnies de pieds à gaudron de bronze'.
CONSUELO VANDERBILT, 9TH DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH
The candelabra are next recorded in 1936 in the Parisian hôtel overlooking the Champ-de-Mars of Madame and Colonel Balsan, where they were photographed in the dining room (L.H. Prost, Collection de Madame et du Colonel Balsan, privately printed, 1936, pl. XIV and XV). Consuelo Balsan (d. 1964) was a member of the prominent and enormously wealthy American Vanderbilt family. Her marriage to Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, became an international symbol of the socially advantageous but loveless marriages common during the Gilded Age. Renowned as a society beauty Sir James Barrie said of her ‘I would wait all night in the rain, to see Consuelo Marlborough get into her carriage’ (C. Vanderbilt Balsan, The Glitter and the Gold, New York, 1952, p. 198). In 1921, she divorced the 9th Duke, and remarried later that year Lt. Col. Jacques Balsan, a French record-breaking pioneer balloon, aircraft, and hydroplane pilot who once worked with the Wright Brothers.
CIGOGNES EN PORCELAINE
The sale catalogues and inventories of Parisian nobility and significant marchands-merciers of the 1750s-70s illustrate the popularity of oriental porcelain figures, specifically animals and birds, often ormolu mounted. While the most prevalent figures are cats, monkeys, and deer, some of the more highly prized are cockerels and birds of prey such as eagles and sparrow hawks. Cranes (Les Grues), herons (les hérons) and storks (les cigognes) are much rarer particularly when ormolu-mounted as candelabra, and are thus especially treasured. Two ormolu-mounted cigognes are listed in the Julliot sale, in November 1777, ‘259. Une cygogne, de genre piquant, d’un excellent blanc foncé… [with] un léger pied de bronze doré’, and ‘397. Une cigogne, fond blanc foncé… sur un pied octogone, à godrons & à huit boules de bronze doré’, while a second pair is listed in the aforementioned de Jullienne sale, ‘1446. Deux Cigognes, d’ancien Chine, blanc foncé, sur pieds à gaudron de bronze’.
MADAME DE POMPADOUR
A pair of candelabra are recorded in the Livre-Journal of the marchand-mercier, Lazare Duvaux, which he supplied to Madame de Pompadour; on 14 February 1752, she acquired, '1049. Une paire de grandes girandoles à trois branches, ciselées & dorées d'or moulu, sur des cigognes de porcelaine, 1,320 l. - Les ports, 6 l' (1748-1758, tome II, reprinted Paris, 1873, pp. 66, 114). Although the château for which they were intended is not known, the modest carriage charge of 6 livres suggests they were delivered to a residence in the environs of Paris, possibly the château Bellevue at Meduon; Duvaux charged a similar amount the previous week to deliver a lantern there. Louis XV acquired Bellevue in 1748, and the following year gave it to Madame de Pompadour who, assisted by her architect, Jean Cailleteau, undertook extensive renovations, completed in 1750. Alternativelty the candelabra may have been sent to Madame de Pompadour's apartment at Versailles, located above the State apartment of the King, which she occupied from 1745 to 1750; the Livre-Journal records a charge of 18 livres to deliver three tables to L'Ermitage at Versailles (ibid., no. 964).
The Inventaire des biens de Madame de Pompadour, taken posthumously in 1764, records ‘2312. Deux grands oyseaux, d’ancienne porcelaine, montés en girandolles de cuivre doré d’or moulu; prisés trois cens livres’ at the château de Menars, almost certainly describing these candelabra with their unusual and exquisitely tooled gilt-copper drip-pans above ormolu branches (J. Cordey, reprinted Paris, 1939, p. 189, no. 2312).
These candelabra were then quite possibly a gift from Madame de Pompadour to Jean Bernard, abbé Le Blanc (d. 1781), art critic and member of the Parisian literati. She was Le Blanc’s patron, selecting him to accompany her brother and heir, Abel-François Poisson de Vandières (d. 1781), the future marquis de Marigny, on a Grand Tour to Italy between 1749 and 1751, undoubtedly to prepare him for his forthcoming role as director of the Bâtiments du Roi. She was also influential in Le Blanc’s appointment as Historiographe des Bâtiments du Roi, responsible for state expenditure and official policy in the arts. The sale of Le Blanc’s Cabinet de feu on 14 February 1781 included, ‘128. Deux Oiseaux d’ancienne Porcelaine, posés sur des pieds de Bois tournés & garnis de cercles de Bronze doré. Hauteur des Oiseaux 10 pouces’. The Le Blanc candelabra sold for 54 livres to Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun (d. 1813), peintre/marchand, and spouse of Marie Antoinette’s favourite artist, Élisabeth Louis Vigée Lebrun (d. 1842); Lebrun was probably acting for a client.
However, other pairs of ormolu mounted cigognes are recorded in sales after Madame de Pompadour's death; and an anonymous sale, on 10 February 1773 (actually the property of La Reynière, Donjeu, the marquis de Chevigné) lists, '66. Une paire de Girandoles à trois branches dorées & supportées par des Cicognes d’ancienne porcelain blanche’. Additionally, the sale of de Jullienne, of 20 March-22 May 1767 cites '1575. Deux petites Cigognes, d'ancien & tres beau blanc de japon, garnies de pieds à gaudron de bronze'.
CONSUELO VANDERBILT, 9TH DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH
The candelabra are next recorded in 1936 in the Parisian hôtel overlooking the Champ-de-Mars of Madame and Colonel Balsan, where they were photographed in the dining room (L.H. Prost, Collection de Madame et du Colonel Balsan, privately printed, 1936, pl. XIV and XV). Consuelo Balsan (d. 1964) was a member of the prominent and enormously wealthy American Vanderbilt family. Her marriage to Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, became an international symbol of the socially advantageous but loveless marriages common during the Gilded Age. Renowned as a society beauty Sir James Barrie said of her ‘I would wait all night in the rain, to see Consuelo Marlborough get into her carriage’ (C. Vanderbilt Balsan, The Glitter and the Gold, New York, 1952, p. 198). In 1921, she divorced the 9th Duke, and remarried later that year Lt. Col. Jacques Balsan, a French record-breaking pioneer balloon, aircraft, and hydroplane pilot who once worked with the Wright Brothers.
CIGOGNES EN PORCELAINE
The sale catalogues and inventories of Parisian nobility and significant marchands-merciers of the 1750s-70s illustrate the popularity of oriental porcelain figures, specifically animals and birds, often ormolu mounted. While the most prevalent figures are cats, monkeys, and deer, some of the more highly prized are cockerels and birds of prey such as eagles and sparrow hawks. Cranes (Les Grues), herons (les hérons) and storks (les cigognes) are much rarer particularly when ormolu-mounted as candelabra, and are thus especially treasured. Two ormolu-mounted cigognes are listed in the Julliot sale, in November 1777, ‘259. Une cygogne, de genre piquant, d’un excellent blanc foncé… [with] un léger pied de bronze doré’, and ‘397. Une cigogne, fond blanc foncé… sur un pied octogone, à godrons & à huit boules de bronze doré’, while a second pair is listed in the aforementioned de Jullienne sale, ‘1446. Deux Cigognes, d’ancien Chine, blanc foncé, sur pieds à gaudron de bronze’.