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- Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723 - 1805)
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- Place of Birth: France
- Place of Death: France
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Results: 5
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- Vase
- Jacques Adam
- France
- 1761-3
- F354
- Grand Staircase
- Bookmarkable URLDesigned by the architect Charles de Wailly (1730-98) for Marc-René d’Argenson, marquis de Voyer (1722-1782), a distinguished soldier who had also been director of the royal stud farms, this vase and its associated pedestal were displayed in the sumptuous Hôtel de Voyer in Paris which was remodelled in an advanced neo-classical style by de Wailly in early 1760s. Tremendous skill was required to carve porphyry, a very hard rock first used in ancient Egypt and later beloved by the Romans. The vase was an old one, considered to be Antique, in the marquis de Voyer's possession but remodelled to de Wailly's designs by Jacques Adam (maitre 1746), best known for his later collaboration with Pierre Gouthiere on pedestals, chimney-pieces and a table for the duchess de Mazarin.
De Wailly had studied at the French Academy in Rome and these designs are some of the first and most important early neoclassical works of French decorative art. His statement of account indicates that he employed some of the foremost artists of the day, who went on to become celebrated for their work in the neoclassical style. The mounts of the vase were chased by the goldsmith, Robert-Joseph August (1723-1905), who may perhaps have cast them as well, working after sculptural models by Augustin Pajou (1730-1809). The mounts were fire-gilded by Jean Lafeuillade (maitre 1747).
The pedestal on which it stands (F291) and the porphyry vase were recorded by Sir William Chambers in a drawing, annotated 'Various decorations in the Hôtel de Voyer, Ecole Militaire &tc', probably executed in 1774.
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- Vase and cover
- Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723 - 1805)
- France
- 1760 - 1765
- F355
- Front State Room
- Bookmarkable URLThe interest in archaeological excavations of the Roman world in the first half of the 18th century strongly influenced the decorative arts in France and from the late 1750s designs were produced which looked to antique sources for their inspiration. Of particular importance were vases, many of which had survived since antiquity or were represented in decorative wall paintings. Architects and designers produced hundreds of designs for vases for all types of materials, and some of the most costly were made in hardstone and mounted with gilt bronze ornament.
This vase was probably carved in Paris, using porphyry that had been brought back from Rome. The gilt bronze mounts were cast, and possibly also chased, by the goldsmith Robert-Joseph Auguste. The employment of a goldsmith to cast the mounts is unusual but not exceptional. Auguste was also employed by the architect Charles de Wailly for the mounts of a pedestal and vase made for the marquis de Voyer in 1763-4 (also in the Wallace Collection, F291 and F354).
Although the mounts, with the Greek key pattern and grotesque masks, may seem fairly typical of the early 1760s, their design probably derives in part from a 17th-century source: the serpent handles are reminiscent of those in one of the etchings in Stefano della Bella’s (1610-64) ‘Raccolta di Vasi Diversi’, published in about 1646. This handle design was influential in the Louis XVI period, for example it is found on the pair of vases of petrified wood which belonged to Marie-Antoinette and are now in the Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris.
This vase is probably the one noted by the commentator Hébert in 1766 in the salon of the hôtel of the noted collector and art patron, Blondel de Gagny. Hébert specifically mentioned Auguste as the author of the gilt bronze mounts.
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- Vase
- Attributed to Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723 - 1805)
- France
- c. 1765 - 1770
- F357
- Large Drawing Room
- Bookmarkable URL
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- Vase and cover
- Possibly Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723 - 1805)
- France
- c. 1765 - 1770
- F356
- Large Drawing Room
- Bookmarkable URL
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- Pedestal
- Charles de Wailly (1730 - 1798)
- France
- 1761-3
- F291
- Grand Staircase
- Bookmarkable URLDesigned by the architect Charles de Wailly (1730-98) for Marc-René d’Argenson, marquis de Voyer (1722-1782), a distinguished soldier who had also been director of the royal stud farms, this pedestal and the vase (F354) with which it is associated were displayed in the sumptuous Hôtel de Voyer in Paris which was remodelled in an advanced neo-classical style by de Wailly in early 1760s. The caryatid figures of the Erechtheion in Athens played a key role in the decoration of the hôtel’s interiors, as well as being the reference for the female terms of this pedestal. Tremendous skill was required to carve porphyry, a very hard rock first used in ancient Egypt and later beloved by the Romans. The vase was an old one, considered to be Antique, in the marquis de Voyer's possession but remodelled to de Wailly's designs by Jacques Adam (maitre 1746), best known for his later collaboration with Pierre Gouthiere on pedestals, chimney-pieces and a table for the duchess de Mazarin.
De Wailly had studied at the French Academy in Rome and these designs are some of the first and most important early neoclassical works of French decorative art. His statement of account indicates that he employed some of the foremost artists of the day, who went on to become celebrated for their work in the neoclassical style. The mounts were chased by the goldsmith, Robert-Joseph August (1723-1905), who may perhaps have cast them as well, working after sculptural models by Augustin Pajou (1730-1809). The mounts were fire-gilded by Jean Lafeuillade (maitre 1747).
The pedestal and the porphyry vase were recorded by Sir William Chambers in a drawing, annotated 'Various decorations in the Hôtel de Voyer, Ecole Militaire &tc', probably executed in 1774. The pedestal originally had white marble busts in place of the gilt-bronze busts that are now on it, which were substituted at some time after 1825, presumably for reasons of taste or, more likely, damage.
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