Page 97 - Pascal Izarn catalogue 2024
P. 97
THE COLLECTIONS OF THE DUKES OF CHAULNES, THEIR PASSIONS FOR
SCIENCE AND CHINA
The Asian arts avidly collected by the Dukes of Chaulnes are the result of two
generations of very great amateurs: Michel-Ferdinand d’Albert d’Ailly (1714-1769)
and his only son Marie-Joseph-Louis (1741-1790), eminent members of scientific
circles and learned societies in Paris and London. Michel-Ferdinand, 5th Duke of
Chaulnes had married the sister of the financier Joseph Bonnier de La Mosson and
had a brilliant military career. Being close to Madame de Pompadour, he was often
distinguished by King Louis XV, and was received in 1743 as an honorary member
of the Académie royale des Sciences as a physicist. His Parisian hôtel was an
essential meeting place for meet scholars, and through his work, he contributed to
numerous publications, including the Encyclopédie.
His son Marie-Joseph-Louis d’Albert d’Ailly, who became 6th Duke of Chaulnes on
the death of his father, was better known as the vidame d’Amiens (fig. 1).
Forced to marry a distant relative, Marie-Paule-Angélique de Luynes (1744-1781),
Marie-Joseph-Louis fled to Egypt straight after his marriage, and the couple
separated in 1768. Considered extravagant by his contemporaries, he was close
to his tutor the artist Carmontelle, and changed address frequently. He devoted
himself to his true passion for chemistry and amassed an important collection of
natural history1 as well as one of the most beautiful cabinets of Chinese curiosities
in Europe.
Thanks to the help of his friend Henri-Léonard-Jean-Baptiste Bertin (1720-1792),
Minister and Secretary of State to both Louis XV and Louis XVI, the Duke of
Chaulnes possessed Chinese bronzes, lacquers and musical instruments, a vast
library, and a set of the famous prints of the Conquêtes de l’empereur de Chine
(Conquests of the Chinese emperor) engraved in France under the direction of
Charles-Nicolas Cochin (1715-1790) at the request of the Qianlong Emperor.
Fig. 1 – Louis Carrogis de Carmontelle (1717-1806) There are several sources and testimonies by which we can understand this vast
Marie-Joseph-Louis d’Albert d’Ailly, dit Monsieur le vidame collection. One is the description of his apartment in the rue de Bondi published
by Thiéry in 1787,2 where appear: « quantités de pagodes, de cabinets, et de cabarets
d’Amiens, puis 6e duc de Chaulnes (1741-1790) chinois[…] beaucoup de vases de porcelaines de la Chine et du Japon » (several
Watercolour, gouache, graphite and sanguine pagodas, cabinets, and Chinese cabarets[…] many porcelain vases from China
and Japan). Another is the catalogue of the sale of his collections just before his
on paper, circa 1758. 27.1 x 18.5 cm death in 1790, where are cited porcelains with Chinese decors made by the Royal
Chantilly, musée Condé (inv. Car119) Manufacture of Sèvres, and quantities of rare porcelains from China or Japan,
« ces morceaux si difficiles à rassembler » (these pieces so difficult to collect) which
proved to be « d’un choix de la plus grande distinctions » (a choice of the greatest
distinctions).3
The Duke of Chaulnes was no doubt very attached to these two vases, seeing as
they did not appear in the 1790 sale catalogue. Indeed, they remained with Marie-
Anne Lambert, his second wife, who died on 28 February 1792 at the château
de Chaulnes in the Somme region. It was during the writing of her post-mortem
inventory that we find them very precisely described in a house located in rue de
Limoges in Paris:
Fig. 2 – Extract from the post-mortem inventory « Item. Deux vases en porcelaine céladon du Japon à dessins de branchages et
of the Duchess of Chaulnes, 1792 fleurs avec gorge à gaudron pied à tore de laurier, posé sur des tortues avec socle brettés
guirlandes de laurier et jeunes tritons formants anses, le tout en bronze doré, prisé
Paris, Archives nationales, M.C., ET/LXXV/881 ensemble la somme de 100 livres » (fig. 2)4
(Item. Two Japanese celadon porcelain vases with designs of branches and
flowers, with gilt bronze gadrooned necks, laurel wreath feet placed on turtles
upon pedestals with grooved bands, and laurel garlands and young tritons forming
handles, priced 100 livres the pair)
The price was noted under the dictation of the bailiff-auctioneer, Charles-Henry
Poussin.
The confusion between Japanese and Chinese porcelain is due to the high
quality of the celadon forming these vases and is explained by the fact that during the 18th century, Japanese porcelains were much more famous.
The description’s other distinctive elements, such as the gadrooned necks, the handles formed by young tritons and the presence of the four turtles
correspond perfectly. The determining element in the identification of these vases is the socle bretté (pedestal with grooved bands), because this pair is
the only one known with this type of base.
In the 20th Century, the 6th Duke of Chaulnes’s celadon vases were owned by important amateurs fascinated by classical French taste. Acquired at
the end of the 1970s by the antique dealer Maurice Ségoura, they then appeared among the collections of Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905-1993),
President of the Ivory Coast. Later, they adorned the living room of the recognized decorator and knowledgeable collector, Ann Getty (1941-2020) at
her residence in Pacific Heights in San Francisco.
Continued overleaf »
83
SCIENCE AND CHINA
The Asian arts avidly collected by the Dukes of Chaulnes are the result of two
generations of very great amateurs: Michel-Ferdinand d’Albert d’Ailly (1714-1769)
and his only son Marie-Joseph-Louis (1741-1790), eminent members of scientific
circles and learned societies in Paris and London. Michel-Ferdinand, 5th Duke of
Chaulnes had married the sister of the financier Joseph Bonnier de La Mosson and
had a brilliant military career. Being close to Madame de Pompadour, he was often
distinguished by King Louis XV, and was received in 1743 as an honorary member
of the Académie royale des Sciences as a physicist. His Parisian hôtel was an
essential meeting place for meet scholars, and through his work, he contributed to
numerous publications, including the Encyclopédie.
His son Marie-Joseph-Louis d’Albert d’Ailly, who became 6th Duke of Chaulnes on
the death of his father, was better known as the vidame d’Amiens (fig. 1).
Forced to marry a distant relative, Marie-Paule-Angélique de Luynes (1744-1781),
Marie-Joseph-Louis fled to Egypt straight after his marriage, and the couple
separated in 1768. Considered extravagant by his contemporaries, he was close
to his tutor the artist Carmontelle, and changed address frequently. He devoted
himself to his true passion for chemistry and amassed an important collection of
natural history1 as well as one of the most beautiful cabinets of Chinese curiosities
in Europe.
Thanks to the help of his friend Henri-Léonard-Jean-Baptiste Bertin (1720-1792),
Minister and Secretary of State to both Louis XV and Louis XVI, the Duke of
Chaulnes possessed Chinese bronzes, lacquers and musical instruments, a vast
library, and a set of the famous prints of the Conquêtes de l’empereur de Chine
(Conquests of the Chinese emperor) engraved in France under the direction of
Charles-Nicolas Cochin (1715-1790) at the request of the Qianlong Emperor.
Fig. 1 – Louis Carrogis de Carmontelle (1717-1806) There are several sources and testimonies by which we can understand this vast
Marie-Joseph-Louis d’Albert d’Ailly, dit Monsieur le vidame collection. One is the description of his apartment in the rue de Bondi published
by Thiéry in 1787,2 where appear: « quantités de pagodes, de cabinets, et de cabarets
d’Amiens, puis 6e duc de Chaulnes (1741-1790) chinois[…] beaucoup de vases de porcelaines de la Chine et du Japon » (several
Watercolour, gouache, graphite and sanguine pagodas, cabinets, and Chinese cabarets[…] many porcelain vases from China
and Japan). Another is the catalogue of the sale of his collections just before his
on paper, circa 1758. 27.1 x 18.5 cm death in 1790, where are cited porcelains with Chinese decors made by the Royal
Chantilly, musée Condé (inv. Car119) Manufacture of Sèvres, and quantities of rare porcelains from China or Japan,
« ces morceaux si difficiles à rassembler » (these pieces so difficult to collect) which
proved to be « d’un choix de la plus grande distinctions » (a choice of the greatest
distinctions).3
The Duke of Chaulnes was no doubt very attached to these two vases, seeing as
they did not appear in the 1790 sale catalogue. Indeed, they remained with Marie-
Anne Lambert, his second wife, who died on 28 February 1792 at the château
de Chaulnes in the Somme region. It was during the writing of her post-mortem
inventory that we find them very precisely described in a house located in rue de
Limoges in Paris:
Fig. 2 – Extract from the post-mortem inventory « Item. Deux vases en porcelaine céladon du Japon à dessins de branchages et
of the Duchess of Chaulnes, 1792 fleurs avec gorge à gaudron pied à tore de laurier, posé sur des tortues avec socle brettés
guirlandes de laurier et jeunes tritons formants anses, le tout en bronze doré, prisé
Paris, Archives nationales, M.C., ET/LXXV/881 ensemble la somme de 100 livres » (fig. 2)4
(Item. Two Japanese celadon porcelain vases with designs of branches and
flowers, with gilt bronze gadrooned necks, laurel wreath feet placed on turtles
upon pedestals with grooved bands, and laurel garlands and young tritons forming
handles, priced 100 livres the pair)
The price was noted under the dictation of the bailiff-auctioneer, Charles-Henry
Poussin.
The confusion between Japanese and Chinese porcelain is due to the high
quality of the celadon forming these vases and is explained by the fact that during the 18th century, Japanese porcelains were much more famous.
The description’s other distinctive elements, such as the gadrooned necks, the handles formed by young tritons and the presence of the four turtles
correspond perfectly. The determining element in the identification of these vases is the socle bretté (pedestal with grooved bands), because this pair is
the only one known with this type of base.
In the 20th Century, the 6th Duke of Chaulnes’s celadon vases were owned by important amateurs fascinated by classical French taste. Acquired at
the end of the 1970s by the antique dealer Maurice Ségoura, they then appeared among the collections of Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905-1993),
President of the Ivory Coast. Later, they adorned the living room of the recognized decorator and knowledgeable collector, Ann Getty (1941-2020) at
her residence in Pacific Heights in San Francisco.
Continued overleaf »
83
