WORKSHOP OF PIERRE REYMOND, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY

Details

A CIRCULAR LIMOGES ENAMEL CHARGER DEPICTING THE STORY OF PSYCHE
WORKSHOP OF PIERRE REYMOND, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY
Parcel-gilt and polychrome enamel; the central narrative section with initials 'P. R.' and inscribed 'LAMOVR.DE.CVPIDO.ET DE.PSICHE.MERE.DE VOLVTE.' and with a raised circular element to the center with a portrait of a female member of the Valois court; the borders to the front and central section of the reverse decorated with scrolling foliage and mythological figures
18 in. (45.5 cm.) diameter

Provenance

Probably Collection Achille Seillière (1782-1850).
Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1827-1905), in the Entresol, hôtel Saint-Florentin, Paris.
Baron Édouard de Rothschild (1868-1949).
Confiscated from the above by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg following the Nazi occupation of France after May 1940 (ERR no. R 3891).
Recovered by the Monuments Fine Arts and Archives Section from the Altaussee salt mines, Austria, and transferred to the Munich Central Collecting Point, 23 June 1945 (MCCP no. 398/29).
Returned to France on 23 May 1946 and restituted to the Rothschild family.
By descent to the present owners.

Literature

L. de Laborde, Notice des émaux, bijoux et objets divers exposés dans les galeries du Musée du Louvre, 1ère partie : Histoire et description, Paris, 1853, pp. 214-215.
M. Ardant, Emailleurs limousins. Les Reymond, Paris, 1861, p. 22.
A. Darcel, 'Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance au Trocadéro', in L'art ancien à l'Exposition de 1878, Paris, 1879, p. 318.
P. Verdier, Catalogue of the painted enamels of the Renaissance, Baltimore, 1967, p. 248.
S. L. Caroselli, The painted enamels of Limoges, A Catalogue of the Collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1993, p. 102.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
P. Verdier, Catalogue of the painted enamels of the Renaissance, Baltimore, 1967, pp. 244-248.
P. Verdier, M. S. Dimand, K. C. Buhler, The Frick Collection : an illustrated catalogue. Volume VIII : Enamels, rugs and silver, New York, 1977, pp. 140-145.
S. L. Caroselli, The painted enamels of Limoges, A Catalogue of the Collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1993, pp. 98-103.

The Rothschild Archive, London, Inventaire après le décès de Monsieur le Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, A. Cottin Notaire, 16 October 1905 (hôtel Saint-Florentin, Entresol, ‘Grand plat rond à ombilic épisode de Psyché - Limosin [sic] -15,000 francs’).

Exhibited

Paris, Palais du Trocadéro, Exposition rétrospective also named Exposition historique de l'art ancien during the Exposition universelle, 1st May-31st October 1878.

Conditions of sale

Lot Essay

The front of this charger focuses the story of Psyche, the mythological figure known for her beauty who underwent tests to be with her love, Eros and eventually become immortal. The circular design shows various scenes from her story with Psyche portrayed in blue. Prominently placed below the central effigy is a depiction of the Bath of Psyche where she prepares for marriage. Pierre Reymond is known to have treated this subject in examples such as the Toilet of Psyche at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. 04.6.8.
As a painter known for his modeling, Reymond worked for much of his career in grisaille but returned to colored enamels in his late career. A close comparison can be drawn to Ewer Stand: Moses Striking the Rock (fig. 1) at the Frick collection, New York, acc. 1916.4.25. Note the similarities in the garland on the front and the motif of Fame on the underside which only vary slightly from the present example. The Fame motif relates to a fresco at the Château de Fontainebleau by Rosso Fiorentino ‘Il Rosso’ (1494-1540) which the enamel painter would have had ready access to through engraving by Domenico del Berbiere (1506-1565). The winged figures representing Fame hold a short and long trumpet, which represent celebrity and renown, respectively.

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