ID 1336106
Lot 35 | FRANCE OU ITALIE, VERS 1820
Estimate value
€ 20 000 – 30 000
Buste représentant Antoinette-Joséphine Davout d'Auerstaedt (1805-1821)
marbre
H. 46 cm (18 in.), H. totale : 56 cm (22 in.)
Provenance
Probablement commandé par le père du modèle, Louis Nicolas Davout, duc d'Auerstaedt, prince d'Eckmühl (1770-1823), ou son époux, Achille Pierre Vigier, pair de France (1801-1868),
Transmis à la sœur du modèle, Adèle Napoléone Davout d’Auerstaedt (1807-1885), puis à son fils unique,
Louis Napoléon de Cambacérès (1832-1868), puis sa fille aînée,
Zénaïde Napoléone Louise Lucienne de Cambacérès (1857-1932), puis son fils,
Louis Joseph Suchet d’Albufera (1877-1953), 4e duc d'Albufera, puis par descendance jusqu'à nos jours.
Further Details
A MARBLE BUST REPRESENTING ANTOINETTE-JOSÉPHINE DAVOUT D'AUERSTAEDT (1805-1821), FRENCH OR ITALIAN, CIRCA 1820
Louis Davout and Aimée Leclerc’s wedding was blessed by Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine. Aimée was the sister of General Leclerc, who was Pauline Bonaparte's first husband and the First Consul's brother-in-law. This union was a means for Bonaparte to make Davout, his future famous Marshal of the Empire, a member of his family.
In 1804, Louis Davout (1770-1823), Duke of Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmühl, was appointed Marshal of the Empire by the Emperor. Moses Mendelssohn’s niece and Fanny Sebastiani’s governess, Miss Henriette Mendelssohn wrote the intimate portrait of this man of war. She describes him as a loving husband and devoted father : ‘Seeing this man at home with his children, his political life escapes me. […] he puts his whole heart into playing with them. His eldest daughter, who is fourteen, is the sweetest creature I know. (Louise Adélaïde d'Eckmühl, Le maréchal Davout, prince d'Eckmühl, correspondance inédite,, Paris, 1887, p. 265)
His young daughter mentioned in this quotation was named Antoinette-Joséphine (1805-1821). According to her parents, she seemed to possess many qualities : her mother, in her correspondence, evoked her ‘intelligence, amiability and perfect grace’ (Letter of 24 June 1808, Louise Adélaïde d'Eckmühl, Le maréchal Davout, prince d'Eckmühl, vol. 1, Paris, 1879, pp. 99-100), while her father praised ‘her always perfect character’ (Letter of 31 December 1819, private collection). In 1820, she married to Achille Pierre Vigier (1801-1868), a future peer of France and member of parliament.
Reflecting the sitter’s grace and beauty, this bust was probably commissioned when she got married, before her untimely death. She died just a few months after this sculpture was made. Although its authorship remains difficult to determine, the sculptor must have been one of the artists usually commissioned by this illustrious Empire family (François-Joseph Bosio, Buste du maréchal Davout, Auxerre, Hôtel de ville). Exalting the purity and the idealisation characteristic of neoclassicism, it was certainly made by an artist working in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Since its creation, the bust has remained in the sitter’s family. It was exhibited for a while in the Salon Bleu of the Château de Bizy. Built in the 17th century, this château was first transformed by the Duc of Belle-Isle in the 18th century. After the Revolution, it was rebuilt by its successive owners, including General Le Suire, then the Duchess of Orléans and her son, the future King Louis-Philippe, and finally Baron Fernand de Schickler. It is the Suchet family who brought this bust to Bizy. Louis Joseph Suchet d'Albufera, 4th Duke of Albufera, exhibited the bust he had inherited from his great-grandmother, Adèle Davout d'Auerstaedt, in the château inherited from Baron de Schickler.
Medium: | Marble, Stone |
---|---|
Place of origin: | Western Europe, France, Italy, Europe |
Category: | Bust |
Auction house category: | Sculptures, Statues & Figures |
Medium: | Marble, Stone |
---|---|
Place of origin: | Western Europe, France, Italy, Europe |
Category: | Bust |
Auction house category: | Sculptures, Statues & Figures |
Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London United Kingdom | |
---|---|---|
Preview |
| |
Phone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | |
Buyer Premium | see on Website | |
Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase |
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.