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Lot Essay
Beyond the skill and technical prowess of the founder who cast them, these two busts shed light on two of the greatest French sculptors of the 17th century.
THE GRAND CONDÉ AND HIS BUSTS: DISAGREEMENTS OVER ATTRIBUTION
Sometimes accompanied by the Vicomte de Turenne (Sale Christie's, London, 22-23 March 2017, lot 32 and Wallace Collection, London, inv. S164), the Prince de Condé represented here bears witness to the extraordinary personality that was the cousin of King Louis XIV. Louis II de Bourbon-Condé, known as le Grand Condé (1621-1686), Prince du Sang, was very active during the Fronde, for which he was exiled. Later forgiven by his cousin, he returned to favor and continued an exemplary military career. His bust by Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720), a bronze version of which is in the Musée du Louvre (inv. MR 3343), has led some specialists to compare the model of this bust with the work of Antoine Coysevox. Chantilly houses a marble bust of Condé (inv. OA 366) with exactly the same features as the one presented here. It may have been exhibited at the Salon of 1704, then placed in the gallery of the King's Apartment in Chantilly in the 18th century, before being seized during the Revolution, returned to the Prince de Condé in 1816, exhibited in the Palais Bourbon and transferred by the Duc d'Aumale back to Chantilly. From the end of the 19th century, the discovery of the name of the sculptor and marble-maker Jérôme Derbais (1688-1715) when busts were delivered, including that of Condé (Musée Condé archives, Chantilly), led some to attribute the copy in the Musée Condé to Derbais. It seems, however, that Derbais was not a very productive artist, and that this representation of the royal cousin came from the hand of a renowned artist, given the extreme quality of the marble. The curator Nicole Garnier-Pelle at the Musée Condé in Chantilly, relying also on the theories of J. Pope-Hennessy, T. Hodgkinson and G. Bresc-Bautier, attributed the creation and production of this marble bust to Coysevox (loc. cit. N. Garnier-Pelle, 2016).
Antoine Coysevox was one of the most important sculptors of the reign of Louis XIV, and produced a number of projects for the Châteaux de Versailles and Marly, including La Renommée du roi montée sur Pégase and Mercure (Musée du Louvre, inv. MR 1824 and MR 1822), L'Hamadryade et un enfant (inv. MR 1819) and the funerary monument for Cardinal de Mazarin (inv. LP 548). Among these masterpieces is the bust of the Prince de Condé. Several bronze versions exist, based on the Musée Condé marble studied above. One example is in the Wallace Collection with some slight differences to the gilding of the cuirass (inv. S163), just like the one presented with the Maréchal de Turenne in the collection of the Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne Lauraguais (Sotheby's, London, 3 May 2012, lot 31). Another was sold in London (Christie's, London, Robert de Balkany collection, 22-23 March 2017, lot 32) and one is also in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore (inv. 27.415; bought by Henry Walters from Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co. in 1913). A fully patinated and ungilded example, such as in the Walters, now belongs to the English Royal Collections (inv. RCIN 33444). The Prince Regent purchased that version on 25 May 1811 and had it placed at Carlton House, which suggests that some of these casts were probably made quite early in the 19th century.
JEAN WARIN, SCULPTOR TO KING LOUIS XIV
A sculptor and medalist, very little is known about his training, but he settled in Paris around 1626 and engraved the great figures of his time, such as Louis XIII and Cardinal de Richelieu. Protected by the latter, he entered the Royal Academy. His very precise work with the material, developed during his years of practice as a medalist, is clearly visible in the portrait of the 'Sun King' attributed to him here. Very few of his bronzes are preserved, and numerous 'wrong attributions' have made his corpus very limited. The bust of Louis XIII (Musée du Louvre, inv. LL32) is now associated with the work of Francesco Bordoni (1580-1654) and that of the young Louis XIV at the age of five, also in the Musée du Louvre (inv. RF 2508), with Jacques Sarazin (1592-1660). However, Versailles still has two marble portraits of Louis XIV by Sarazin. The full-length antique portrait was bequeathed by the artist to the King (inv. MV 2667). The other, a bust, is close to our cast from the Rothschild collection, allowing it to be attributed to the artist (inv. MV 224). Produced around 1665-1666, it was placed on the Ambassadors' Staircase and was a resounding success because it introduced a classical novelty that broke with Bernini's Italian influences. Other bronze examples are known, such as the partially gilded bust in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (inv. 286 A).
These imposing busts have an interesting place in the collections to which they belonged. The magnificent gallery at Stratfield Saye House, Wellington's residence in Hampshire, contains a larger group than Condé and Louis XIV, and also includes the Maréchal de Turenne and King Henri IV, suggesting a cycle initially conceived around great men. In addition to Louis XIV, the Gulbenkian Museum also holds the bust of the Maréchal de Turenne, both of which came from the Holford collections at Dorchester House (purchased by Gulbenkian through Duveen at Christie's sale, London, 14 July 1927, lot 167) once again demonstrating the interest that English collectors had in this ensemble in the 19th century and the early 20th century.
Always given a place of honor in the Rothschild collections at the Château de Ferrières, this pair of busts can be seen in several places in various representations of the impressive central hall. The pair was first placed on either side of the door facing the monumental fireplace and can be seen in Eugène Lami's watercolors.
THE GRAND CONDÉ AND HIS BUSTS: DISAGREEMENTS OVER ATTRIBUTION
Sometimes accompanied by the Vicomte de Turenne (Sale Christie's, London, 22-23 March 2017, lot 32 and Wallace Collection, London, inv. S164), the Prince de Condé represented here bears witness to the extraordinary personality that was the cousin of King Louis XIV. Louis II de Bourbon-Condé, known as le Grand Condé (1621-1686), Prince du Sang, was very active during the Fronde, for which he was exiled. Later forgiven by his cousin, he returned to favor and continued an exemplary military career. His bust by Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720), a bronze version of which is in the Musée du Louvre (inv. MR 3343), has led some specialists to compare the model of this bust with the work of Antoine Coysevox. Chantilly houses a marble bust of Condé (inv. OA 366) with exactly the same features as the one presented here. It may have been exhibited at the Salon of 1704, then placed in the gallery of the King's Apartment in Chantilly in the 18th century, before being seized during the Revolution, returned to the Prince de Condé in 1816, exhibited in the Palais Bourbon and transferred by the Duc d'Aumale back to Chantilly. From the end of the 19th century, the discovery of the name of the sculptor and marble-maker Jérôme Derbais (1688-1715) when busts were delivered, including that of Condé (Musée Condé archives, Chantilly), led some to attribute the copy in the Musée Condé to Derbais. It seems, however, that Derbais was not a very productive artist, and that this representation of the royal cousin came from the hand of a renowned artist, given the extreme quality of the marble. The curator Nicole Garnier-Pelle at the Musée Condé in Chantilly, relying also on the theories of J. Pope-Hennessy, T. Hodgkinson and G. Bresc-Bautier, attributed the creation and production of this marble bust to Coysevox (loc. cit. N. Garnier-Pelle, 2016).
Antoine Coysevox was one of the most important sculptors of the reign of Louis XIV, and produced a number of projects for the Châteaux de Versailles and Marly, including La Renommée du roi montée sur Pégase and Mercure (Musée du Louvre, inv. MR 1824 and MR 1822), L'Hamadryade et un enfant (inv. MR 1819) and the funerary monument for Cardinal de Mazarin (inv. LP 548). Among these masterpieces is the bust of the Prince de Condé. Several bronze versions exist, based on the Musée Condé marble studied above. One example is in the Wallace Collection with some slight differences to the gilding of the cuirass (inv. S163), just like the one presented with the Maréchal de Turenne in the collection of the Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne Lauraguais (Sotheby's, London, 3 May 2012, lot 31). Another was sold in London (Christie's, London, Robert de Balkany collection, 22-23 March 2017, lot 32) and one is also in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore (inv. 27.415; bought by Henry Walters from Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co. in 1913). A fully patinated and ungilded example, such as in the Walters, now belongs to the English Royal Collections (inv. RCIN 33444). The Prince Regent purchased that version on 25 May 1811 and had it placed at Carlton House, which suggests that some of these casts were probably made quite early in the 19th century.
JEAN WARIN, SCULPTOR TO KING LOUIS XIV
A sculptor and medalist, very little is known about his training, but he settled in Paris around 1626 and engraved the great figures of his time, such as Louis XIII and Cardinal de Richelieu. Protected by the latter, he entered the Royal Academy. His very precise work with the material, developed during his years of practice as a medalist, is clearly visible in the portrait of the 'Sun King' attributed to him here. Very few of his bronzes are preserved, and numerous 'wrong attributions' have made his corpus very limited. The bust of Louis XIII (Musée du Louvre, inv. LL32) is now associated with the work of Francesco Bordoni (1580-1654) and that of the young Louis XIV at the age of five, also in the Musée du Louvre (inv. RF 2508), with Jacques Sarazin (1592-1660). However, Versailles still has two marble portraits of Louis XIV by Sarazin. The full-length antique portrait was bequeathed by the artist to the King (inv. MV 2667). The other, a bust, is close to our cast from the Rothschild collection, allowing it to be attributed to the artist (inv. MV 224). Produced around 1665-1666, it was placed on the Ambassadors' Staircase and was a resounding success because it introduced a classical novelty that broke with Bernini's Italian influences. Other bronze examples are known, such as the partially gilded bust in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (inv. 286 A).
These imposing busts have an interesting place in the collections to which they belonged. The magnificent gallery at Stratfield Saye House, Wellington's residence in Hampshire, contains a larger group than Condé and Louis XIV, and also includes the Maréchal de Turenne and King Henri IV, suggesting a cycle initially conceived around great men. In addition to Louis XIV, the Gulbenkian Museum also holds the bust of the Maréchal de Turenne, both of which came from the Holford collections at Dorchester House (purchased by Gulbenkian through Duveen at Christie's sale, London, 14 July 1927, lot 167) once again demonstrating the interest that English collectors had in this ensemble in the 19th century and the early 20th century.
Always given a place of honor in the Rothschild collections at the Château de Ferrières, this pair of busts can be seen in several places in various representations of the impressive central hall. The pair was first placed on either side of the door facing the monumental fireplace and can be seen in Eugène Lami's watercolors.