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An extremely fine Empire gilt bronze mounted mahogany and bleu turquin marble guéridon attributed to Jacob-Desmalter et Cie with superb mounts attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire, the moulded circular bleu turquin marble top above a circular frieze decorated with three sets of mounts between the legs featuring a cartouche flanked by winged classical female figures playing double pipes issuing from foliate scrolls interspersed by three other mounts featuring a central thyrsus flanked by a pair of eagles above a pair of outward facing sphinx heads issuing from foliate scrolls enclosing a central rosette, each of these mounts above three caryatid legs headed by a gilt bronze classical female beauty wearing a headdress with ringlets of hair falling down either side and a double row of beads at her neck, above a tapering rectangular support adorned at the top by a gilt bronze mount composed of a pair outward facing swans upon a lambrequin plinth hung with laurel sprays and terminated by a palmette boss, each of the supports terminated by gilt bronze feet wearing open sandals, upon a concave sided tripartite stretcher mounted below each support with a gilt bronze rosette and on each side by a gilt bronze rosette flanked by foliate scrolling palmettes, on castors
Paris, date circa 1805-1810
Height 74 cm, diameter 97 cm.
Provenance: Paul Ernest Boniface comte de Castellane and his wife Anna née Gould (later Anna Talleyrand-Périgord) at the Palais Rose, Paris. Violette de Talleyrand duchesse de Sagan, daughter of Anna Talleyrand-Périgord, who married Gaston Palewski.
The more recent history of this fine guéridon is as colourful and as sumptuous as the piece itself. Its ownership can be traced back to Paul Ernest Boniface comte de Castellane, better known as Boni Castellane (1867-1932) who belonged to one of France's most historic noble families. In 1895 he married the American heiress Anna Gould (1878-1961), daughter of the railway tycoon Jay Gould; theirs was one of the most celebrated marriages, combining wealthy and heritage. Typifying the Belle Epoche and celebrated for his style, taste, and wit, Boni took full advantage of his wife's wealth to purchase several chateaux, a schooner and even once took over the whole of the Bois de Boulogne to host a lavish party. But his greatest extravagance was the building of the Palais Rose (1896-1902) on Avenue Foch at a cost of about 4 million gold francs, which was modelled on the Grand Trianon and designed by Ernest Sanson. The grand marbled staircase, beneath a painted vaulted ceiling was the grandest of its type and was based on the Ambassadors staircase at Versailles. This led to the main reception rooms which included a dining room that could accommodate 180 guests and the Salon des Arts inspired by the Salon de Guerre at Versailles. The house looked out over beautifully landscaped gardens designed by Achille Duchêne, who created the water parterres at Blenheim Palace (later home of Princess Diana). Even the servants' quarters had running water and central heating. No expense was spared in furnishing the interior, which was filled with the finest historic works including the present guéridon with its majestic lines and high quality mounts. During their years at Palais Rose from 1902-6, Boni and Anna Castellane hosted some of the most lavish parties of the Belle Epoche including a reception for 2000 guests in honour of the Spanish and Portuguese leaders, 1905. But the following year Anna, urged by her family, asked for a divorce after her husband had spent about $10 million of her money. Assailed by creditors, Boni then had work for a living and thus became a journalist, writer and antiques dealer.
In 1908 Anna married Boni's cousin Hélie Talleyrand-Périgord, duc de Sagan (1859-1937) by whom she had two children, Howard (1909-29) and then Violette (1915-2003). Anna, having stayed at the Palais Rose after her divorce then had to sail to America in 1939 in the wake of the German invasion. Her mansion was then occupied by General Karl Heinrich von Stülpnagel, later by the Soviet delegation during the Conference of Four, 1949 and then from 1955 was used by the ministry of Foreign Affairs but Anna herself continued to live there during her various visits from the States. In 1962, the year after her death her heirs, including Violette, decided to sell the palace. Successive attempts failed for it to be purchased as an historic monument or other such venture so in 1968 it was sold to a building contractor who demolished the building replacing it with a modern structure. The majority of the marbles, wrought iron, architectural ornaments and other memorabilia were purchased by an American buyer, who recreated the Palais Rose on the outskirts of New York. Meanwhile many of the paintings and works of art were sold in a series of auctions yet this guéridon obviously had particular appeal to Anna's youngest and only daughter Violette de Talleyrand and her second husband, the Statesman and art connoisseur Gaston Palewski (1901-84) and remained in the family until Violette's more recent death.
Violette's relationship with Palewski began long before they married in 1969, he counting among other great loves the socialite and writer Nancy Mitford. Of Polish birth, Palewski was educated at the Sorbonne and Oxford and spoke impeccable English which was to great advantage when he played a leading role in negotiations between General de Gaulle and Britain during WWII. Chief of State under de Gaulle from 1942 to 1946, he also served as Vice President of the National Assembly and then under Pompidou as minister of State in charge of scientific, space and atomic energy. One of his great passions was the arts; his eclectic collection ranged from Old Master paintings to modern works by Walter Sickert and Rodin and from Louis XV furniture to the Empire and thus the present work would have appealed to his and Violette's aesthetic judgment.
The quality and style of the guéridon has all the hallmarks of the leading Parisian ébéniste firm of Jacob-Desmalter, whose Empire furniture from consoles, commodes and guéridons often featured similar female caryatid pilaster supports. Likewise the firm's furniture was always made of the finest materials such as bleu turquin and especially mahogany which was nearly always offset by the finest gilt bronze mounts. Many of these were supplied by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), whose quality as a master fondeur-ciseleur was rarely surpassed. Another characteristic of Jacob-Desmalter's work were the strong yet simple architectural lines and forms which in themselves were inspired by antique prototypes. Likewise the mounts, which incorporate sphinxes, eagles, thyrsuses, swans and palmettes echo the classical emblems associated with Emperor Napoleon, for whom both Jacob-Desmalter and Thomire worked for. The esteemed firm of Jacob-Desmalter et Cie at rue Meslé was run by François-Honoré-Georges Jacob (1770-1841) and his father Georges Jacob (1739-1814). Georges, who had made his name as one of the very finest menuisiers during the pre Revolutionary years retired in 1796, after which he handed his business on to his two sons, Georges II (1768-1803) and F-H-G Jacob. However the former died prematurely and thus Georges senior went back into business with the younger son up until his final retirement in 1813.
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