Page 91 - Pascal Izarn catalogue 2024
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A LATE LOUIS XV GILT BRONZE CARTEL CLOCK, THE
DIAL SIGNED RANSONET A NANCY – CIRCA 1765-
1770
Michel Joseph Ransonet (1705-1778)
Height: 21 cm. (8 ¼ in.) Width: 30.5 cm. (12 in.) Depth: 8 cm. (3 ¼ in.)
PROVENANCE
Sold Fraysse, Paris, 4 December 2013, lot 135
Madame Bert
A PAIR OF LOUIS XV GILT BRONZE-MOUNTED EUROPEAN LACQUER (VERNIS MARTIN) AND
BRONZE CHINESE FIGURE PAPERWEIGHTS – CIRCA 1750
Height: 15 cm. (6 in.) Width: 14.7 cm. (5 ¾ in.) Depth: 8 cm. (3 ¼ in.)
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
A. Forray-Carlier and M. Kopplin (eds.), Les Secrets de la Laque Française, le Vernis
Martin, Paris, 2014, pp. 100-103, nos. 55, 57, 58, 59.
Bronze lacquered in Chinese taste was a creation widely commercialized by Parisian
marchands-merciers in the 1740s, a subject explored in depth by the 2014 exhibition
at the musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (Forray-Carlier and Kopplin, op. cit., pp. 100-
103).
Judging from contemporary sale catalogues, numerous 18th century collections
included these lacquered bronze figures commonly known as magots. While no
specific evidence can be found in the surviving bills of sale of the Martin frères
varnishers, dealers and marchands-merciers make frequent reference to their name
when mentioning these chinoiserie objects indicating that they were likely responsible
for much of the production. For example, using the term pagode interchangeably with
magot, the compiler of the catalogue for the 1767 auction of Jean de Julienne’s collection describes an item very similar to this pair:
« une pagode de goût Chinois, en vernis de Martin fond noir et or de relief, garnie de terrasse en bronze, formant presse à papiers »
(a figure group in the Chinese taste, japanned in vernis Martin in black and gold relief, furnished with a [gilt] bronze base, in the form of a paperweight).
The inventory taken in 1753 on the death of the Duchesse du Maine, a member of the high aristocracy married to Louis XIV’s grandson, reveals just how
fashionable these objects had become: she cleverly displayed them alongside of her collection of old Asian lacquerware within interiors in the latest taste.
Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie amusingly takes a less enthusiastic view, defining the term magot as follows:
“Short and fat bizarre imitations of Chinese or Indian figures in clay, plaster, bronze or porcelain which decorate rooms. These are the sort of precious
baubles which the country is obsessed with and which stubbornly continue to appeal. They have driven ornaments of much better taste from our
apartments. These days, Magots reign supreme.”
Nevertheless, the lacquering on this pair and comparable examples (see below) is of the highest quality. They have the particularity of being very finely
decorated in relief, the technique being sometimes also described as “japonné” or “en Japon” as opposed to the “faux” cited in the post-mortem inventory
of Guillaume Martin in 1749: « quatre figures chinoises en faux, prisées 18 livres pièces » (four faux Chinese figures, valued at 18 livres each). Here, the term
‘faux’ (‘fake’) denotes a lower quality of varnishing.
Magots were used as desired to decorate a multitude of extremely refined everyday objects. The touch of exoticism this brought to Western objects
illustrates the taste for Chinoiserie in the first part of the 18th century.
Examples of identical magots forming paperweights include:
- A pair in Partridge, London, Catalogue 1984, no. 38
- Single models in Partridge, London, Catalogue 1999, no. 34, and the Partridge sale, Christie’s New York, 17 May 2006, lot 1 then collection of Pierre-
Jourdan Barry, Paris
Examples of similar models include:
- A single one shown in the 2014 exhibition from the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (ibid., no. 57; inv. RI 2004.13.1)
- A pair from the collection of the Dillée family sold Sotheby’s Paris, 18-19 March 2015, lot 50
- A single one sold Aguttes, Paris, 25 November 2011, lot 122
77
DIAL SIGNED RANSONET A NANCY – CIRCA 1765-
1770
Michel Joseph Ransonet (1705-1778)
Height: 21 cm. (8 ¼ in.) Width: 30.5 cm. (12 in.) Depth: 8 cm. (3 ¼ in.)
PROVENANCE
Sold Fraysse, Paris, 4 December 2013, lot 135
Madame Bert
A PAIR OF LOUIS XV GILT BRONZE-MOUNTED EUROPEAN LACQUER (VERNIS MARTIN) AND
BRONZE CHINESE FIGURE PAPERWEIGHTS – CIRCA 1750
Height: 15 cm. (6 in.) Width: 14.7 cm. (5 ¾ in.) Depth: 8 cm. (3 ¼ in.)
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
A. Forray-Carlier and M. Kopplin (eds.), Les Secrets de la Laque Française, le Vernis
Martin, Paris, 2014, pp. 100-103, nos. 55, 57, 58, 59.
Bronze lacquered in Chinese taste was a creation widely commercialized by Parisian
marchands-merciers in the 1740s, a subject explored in depth by the 2014 exhibition
at the musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (Forray-Carlier and Kopplin, op. cit., pp. 100-
103).
Judging from contemporary sale catalogues, numerous 18th century collections
included these lacquered bronze figures commonly known as magots. While no
specific evidence can be found in the surviving bills of sale of the Martin frères
varnishers, dealers and marchands-merciers make frequent reference to their name
when mentioning these chinoiserie objects indicating that they were likely responsible
for much of the production. For example, using the term pagode interchangeably with
magot, the compiler of the catalogue for the 1767 auction of Jean de Julienne’s collection describes an item very similar to this pair:
« une pagode de goût Chinois, en vernis de Martin fond noir et or de relief, garnie de terrasse en bronze, formant presse à papiers »
(a figure group in the Chinese taste, japanned in vernis Martin in black and gold relief, furnished with a [gilt] bronze base, in the form of a paperweight).
The inventory taken in 1753 on the death of the Duchesse du Maine, a member of the high aristocracy married to Louis XIV’s grandson, reveals just how
fashionable these objects had become: she cleverly displayed them alongside of her collection of old Asian lacquerware within interiors in the latest taste.
Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie amusingly takes a less enthusiastic view, defining the term magot as follows:
“Short and fat bizarre imitations of Chinese or Indian figures in clay, plaster, bronze or porcelain which decorate rooms. These are the sort of precious
baubles which the country is obsessed with and which stubbornly continue to appeal. They have driven ornaments of much better taste from our
apartments. These days, Magots reign supreme.”
Nevertheless, the lacquering on this pair and comparable examples (see below) is of the highest quality. They have the particularity of being very finely
decorated in relief, the technique being sometimes also described as “japonné” or “en Japon” as opposed to the “faux” cited in the post-mortem inventory
of Guillaume Martin in 1749: « quatre figures chinoises en faux, prisées 18 livres pièces » (four faux Chinese figures, valued at 18 livres each). Here, the term
‘faux’ (‘fake’) denotes a lower quality of varnishing.
Magots were used as desired to decorate a multitude of extremely refined everyday objects. The touch of exoticism this brought to Western objects
illustrates the taste for Chinoiserie in the first part of the 18th century.
Examples of identical magots forming paperweights include:
- A pair in Partridge, London, Catalogue 1984, no. 38
- Single models in Partridge, London, Catalogue 1999, no. 34, and the Partridge sale, Christie’s New York, 17 May 2006, lot 1 then collection of Pierre-
Jourdan Barry, Paris
Examples of similar models include:
- A single one shown in the 2014 exhibition from the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (ibid., no. 57; inv. RI 2004.13.1)
- A pair from the collection of the Dillée family sold Sotheby’s Paris, 18-19 March 2015, lot 50
- A single one sold Aguttes, Paris, 25 November 2011, lot 122
77
