Ernest Dumonthier ed. - Lot 110

Ernest Dumonthier ed. Recueil de dessins de tapis et de tapisseries d'ameublement du mobilier de la Couronne. Paris, Ch. Massin éd, [1911]. One vol. broadside [460x645mm], containing a red faux-title, title, two text plates and 48 leaf plates on heavy wove paper. Heliotype (phototype) by the Berthaud brothers after watercolors by Saudé, some enhanced in gouache by the artist. Moisture rings, traces of glue, slight oxidation, soiling and minor edgewear to some plates. Marbled paper cover, spine broken. Edition of 500 copies. This collection provides invaluable documentation on carpet and tapestry decoration and designs for the imperial residences of the First Empire and the royal residences under the Restoration. "The documents contained in the present album are as yet unpublished reproductions of drawings and watercolors of carpets and upholstery tapestries created under the First Empire and the Restoration, to serve as models for the Gobelins and Beauvais factories, and in particular for the Savonnerie factory. The disruptions to the operation of the Manufactures Nationales during the revolutionary period, their financial distress, the disputes that often arose over their very usefulness, and finally the lack of workers and artists had, so to speak, brought production to a complete halt. So, in 1800, when Bonaparte, now in control, decided to move to the Tuileries and Saint-Cloud, Lecomte, the Consuls' architect, and then Percier and Fontaine were hard pressed to find the resources in the Manufactures' reserves needed to fit out these two palaces, however briefly. At the Savonnerie, only three carpets, two small and one large, remained in the store. What's more, most of the models and designs needed to get the looms moving again had disappeared: some had been sold or stolen, others damaged or mutilated as emblems of feudalism. As for those that remained, they were no longer in keeping with current tastes... Bonaparte's first concern was therefore to reconstitute a collection of new drawings and models". (E. Dumonthier, Preface).