A pair of small amber and silver filigree chandeliers. - Lot 22

A pair of small amber and silver filigree chandeliers. The shafts of the chandeliers are formed by four faceted amber beads mounted in silver filigree. The six branches in silver filigree alternate with a décor of small faceted red glass cabochons supporting rock crystal drops. A rock crystal tassel and a faceted amber bead hang from fine chains below each bobeche. Some of the candle holders are missing. Italy, Trapani, 17th century Height: 20 cm. Width: 13.5 cm. Comparative bibliography: - M. C. Di Natale, Ori e Argenti di Sicilia, dal Quattrocento al Settencento, Milan, 1999. - V. Abbate et al. Wunderkammer Siciliana. Alle origini del museo perduto, Naples, 2001. - R. King, “Finding the Divine Falernian: Amber in Early Modern Italy”, in Victoria & Albert Museum Online Journal. N°5, Automne 2013. - A. Kugel & R. Kulka, Ambre. Trésors de la Mer Baltique, du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle. Exhibition catalogue, Galerie J. Kugel, Paris, 2023. Amber beads, probably of local origin, were traded in the city of Trapani (see King, p. 9) and used to make rosaries or miniature furnishings mounted in silver filigree. These two chandeliers are fine examples of this typically Sicilian production, which was usually used to decorate interior scenes with wax figurines of religious or secular inspiration. Some examples of chandeliers in silver filigree, decorated with amber beads and set in religious scenes, are in the Abbey of San Martino delle Scale in Monreale. Another chandelier, in silver filigree and gilt, probably from the same workshop as our pair and once part of the Hever Castle collections, was presented by the Galerie J. Kugel in Paris at its exhibition on amber in 2023 (cf. Kugel & Kulka, pp. 294-295, no. 36). We might also mention a pair of less elaborate chandeliers in the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia in Palermo (inv. 8285 & 8286, cf. Abbate, p. 265, no. II. 99). Finally, other miniature objects of similar workmanship, such as vases with amber beads on the body, are also in the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia (inv. 8268, cf. Abbate, p. 268, no. II. 111), as well as in private collections (Di Natale, pp. 264-265, no. II.116 & II.116a). THE LAST TWO PORTRAITS IN PRIVATE HANDS FROM ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS SUITES OF PAINTED ENAMELS OF THE RENAISSANCE Bibliography: - E. Bonnaffé. Inventaire des meubles de Catherine de Médicis en 1589. Paris, 1874. Mentmore. R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh, 1884 (private edition of the inventory), vol. II, p. 118, n° 44 & 46. - p. Verdier. Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1967, no. 105106, pp. 172-175. - T. Crépin-Leblond. ‘Une suite de portraits mythologiques émaillés par Léonard Limosin’, in the Revue de l'Art. 1997, n°116, pp. 17-26. - T. Crépin-Leblond & S. Deprouw. De la Lettre à l'émail. Léonard Limosin interprète Ovide. Exhibition catalogue, Musée National de la Renaissance, Château d'Écouen, 2010. These two large rectangular polychrome enamel plaques belong to a famous set of large polychrome bust portraits on a blue background, executed in around 1564 by Léonard Limosin, the greatest enameller of the Renaissance and painter to the king. Although they form a unique series of portraits, both in terms of the number of pieces (probably 32) and their large size, the Heroides plaques can only be the result of a commission from one of the most important collectors of the period. Today, they are still one of the most emblematic sets of painted enamels, alongside the famous plaques by the Master of the Aeneid. The figures are all depicted in bust form, with their faces either full-length or three-quarter-length, against a blue background. The clothes and hairstyles, a blend of antique and contemporary influences, are not intended to be historically accurate, but the figures are identified by their names inscribed in gold. Seventeen plaques from the series have survived. Thirteen are in French public collections, two are in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, and the two we are presenting today have reappeared after being considered ‘lost’ for over 40 years. They are the last known plaques to remain in private hands, since the Musée National de la Renaissance acquired the plaque depicting Pâris at the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé sale at Christie's in 2009, and the plaque depicting Ulysses from a collector in 2012, following its classification as a cultural work of major historical importance. Ovid's Heroides The text that inspired these plaques is Ovid's Heroides, a collection of fictional love letters written by heroines of antiquity. They feature 32 mythological and two historical characters, offering a female point of view that was unheard of at the time. This introspective and feminine epistolary approach represented a breakthrough in ancient poetry, contributing to its success in late medieval and Renaissance Europe. The first edition of the Heroides was published in Latin by Pierre Levet in around 1490, followed by editions in Lyon and Paris, some of which were translated into French by Octavien de Saint-Gelais between 1490 and 1493. The text inspired commentaries, imitations and translations, notably that of Charles Fontaine in 1552. A reference for the teaching of rhetoric and epistolary style, the number of editions of the Heroides in the 16th century even surpassed that of the famous Metamorphoses by the same author. This is the context for these plaques, which illustrate the fascination with this text among the most refined minds of the century, reinforced by the humanists' infatuation with the profane stories of Antiquity. Surprisingly, while artists, led by Limousin enamellers, drew much of their inspiration from ancient and mythological themes, the plaques by Léonard Limosin are one of the few known artistic representations of the Heroides in the second half of the 16th century (1). Footnote 1): In addition to manuscripts with miniatures from around 1500, such as those illustrated by Jean Pichore (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, inv. Fr.873 and 874) or Robinet Testard (inv. Fr.875 ), we should mention a small oval enamel plaque, which can be dated to the last quarter of the 16th century, and which awkwardly reproduces the portrait of Hippolyte (Piasa sale, Paris, 27 November 2009, lot 80), or the eight niches painted by Nicolas de Hoey, around 1596, in the Chambre de Diane at the Château d'Ancy-le-Franc, but for which the attribution of the theme to the Heroides is uncertain. A unique work by Léonard Limosin Of the plaques that have been identified, only that of Hippolyte bears the monogram L.L. of Léonard Limosin (Musée Crozatier, Puy-en-Velay, inv. D 364). However, as Thierry Crépin-Leblond points out, ‘the interplay between the copper, the layers of the white and black ground and the use of paillons could only lead to the attribution of the piece to the famous Limoges enameller’ (Crépin-Leblond, p. 18). Indeed, the quality of the faces, combining technical mastery and aesthetics, unquestionably attests to a work by the master. However, it is likely that Limosin delegated certain parts of the ornamentation and clothing to his workshop, where we can sometimes detect weaknesses that are not characteristic of his work. Catherine de’ Medici As suggested in the hypothesis by Thierry Crépin-Leblond and Stéphanie Deprouw, this series of portraits may have been a gift to Catherine de’ Medici from Louise de Clermont, a close confidante whose husband, Antoine de Crussol, was the dedicatee of Charles Fontaine's 1552 edition of Les Héroïdes. It is also possible that Catherine herself commissioned these works (Crépin-Leblond & Deprouw, pp. 44-45). The plaques combine the theme of feminine distress linked to abandonment - a subject very dear to the inconsolable widow of Henry II - with Limousin enamelling, a great passion of the queen collector. Her after-death inventory, drawn up in 1589, mentions 259 pieces of Limoges enamel, including a series of 32 large portrait plates set in the panelling of the ‘cabinet des émaux’ in her Parisian residence (2:) ‘trente-deux portraictz d'environ ung pied de hault de divers princes, seigneurs et dames enchâssez [...] dans ledict lambris’ (Bonnaffé, p.156). The mixture of antique and contemporary costumes in Limosin's plaques may justify the vague title ‘divers princes, seigneurs et dames’ (various princes, lords and ladies) suggested by the rather imprecise editor of the inventory, who was probably more accustomed to recording portraits of contemporary figures, who were very fashionable and already very numerous in Catherine's collections. The number of 32 plates, as opposed to 34 characters in the Heroides, could be explained by the absence of the only historical lovers, Sappho and Phaon, in order to focus solely on the heroes and heroines of fable (Crépin-Leblond & Deprouw, p. 45). L’hôtel de la Reine, later known as the Hôtel de Soissons, Israël Silvestre, circa 1660 Musée Carnavalet – Wikimedia Commons Footnote (2) The Hôtel de la Reine, built from 1570 under the direction of Jean Bullant, bore several names until it was demolished in 1748. It is best known as the Hôtel de Soissons, named after one of its owners, Charles de Bourbon, Count of Soissons, a cousin of Henri IV. From 1889 onwards, the Bourse du Commerce has stood on this same site. The famous ‘Colonne Médicis’ is the only remaining vestige of Queen Catherine's residence. Mentmore Towers Acquired by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1818-1874) in the first half of the 19th century, our enamel plaques were installed at Mentmore Towers, the sumptuous house he had built in Buckinghamshire to house his collections. There, they took pride of place alongside the other enamels in a dedicated room, the Limoges Room. When the Baron died, his daughter Hanna (1851-1890) inherited the property and his collections, making her the richest woman in the United Kingdom. She lived at Mentmore Towers with her husband, Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847-1929). Their son, Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery, inherited the property in 1929. After the latter's death in 1974, the executors of his will negotiated to have the estate and its collections returned to the public domain, but without success, leading to the dispersal of the property at the ‘Auction of the Century’ in May 1977. Selling for £5,700, they crossed the Atlantic before reappearing in 1981 at Sotheby's in New York. Hannah, Countess of Rosebery by Frederic, Lord Leighton, circa 1880 - Wikimedia Commons View of Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire - Wikimedia Commons Archibald Primrose, 5th Count of Rosebery by John Everett Millais - Wikimedia Commons Hannah, Countess of Rosebery in the Great Hall at Mentmore Towers by E. Macimer, circa 1869 - Wikimedia Commons Dating and the model Initially dated to around 1540, it is now agreed that the plaques were made around 1564, not least because of the obvious similarity between the portrait of Medea and a drawing of Anne d'Este in the Fontette collection at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. This drawing, possibly by Léonard Limosin himself, shows Anne d'Este in mourning dress and calls her Madame de Guise, which means that it was produced between 1563, the date of her widowhood, and 1566, the date of her remarriage to the Duc de Nemours (Crépin-Leblond & Deprouw, pp 36-40). As Thierry Crépin-Leblond and Stéphanie Deprouw point out, there is also a certain similarity between the drawing of Alfonsine Strozzi and the enamelled portrait of Déjanire in the same collection. However, no other drawing in this collection seems to have been used for the other enamelled portraits of the Heroides, at least not those that have survived. With the exception of Médée and Déjanire, the models for these portraits were considered to be original creations by Léonard Limosin. However, research carried out on our two plaques has identified a number of engravings that inspired several of them. This shows the richness and eclecticism of the sources used by Léonard Limosin, who drew his inspiration from both drawings and engravings, particularly by the Italian school, which provided the iconographic basis of his studio.