Neoclassicism

Transcription

Neoclassicism

e
e
Neoclassicism dans les colonies européennes, XVIII -XIX siècles
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
www.regionreunion.com
I
Neoclassicism
in the European colonies,
of the 18th & 19th centuries
MADOI
MADOI
Musée des arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien
Neoclassicism
in the European colonies
I N T E R N AT I O N A L S Y M P O S I U M
15, 16 AND 17 OF DECEMBER 2011
REUNION ISLAND
MADOI
1
Only the texts of the participants
have been translated in English.
Legends, illustrations, footers
and bibliography remain in French
Translation by Barry Kacher
EN PREMIÈRE DE COUVERTURE
COLLOQUE ORGANISÉ DANS LE CADRE DE
« 2011,
ANNÉE DES OUTRE - MER
AVEC LE CONCOURS DU MINISTÈRE DE L ’ OUTRE - MER , COMMISSARIAT
2011
»
DES
OUTRE - MER FRANÇAIS ; DU MINISTÈRE DE LA CULTURE
& DE LA COMMUNICATION ,
- OCÉAN INDIEN ; DE LA RÉGION RÉUNION ,
DIRECTION DES AFFAIRES CULTURELLES ET SPORTIVES .
DIRECTION DES AFFAIRES CULTURELLES
Fauteuil de repos à dossier inclinable
Ébène sculpté, cannage, Sri Lanka,
région de Galle, v. 1830-35, MO 009.2093,
EN DERNIÈRE DE COUVERTURE
Carte de l’océan Indien
Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements
et du commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes,
Guillaume-Thomas Raynal, 1775, Tome 2, MFMC
3
REMERCIEMENTS
Nos remerciements
s’adressent en premier
lieu aux personnalités
qui ont permis
et soutenu, sans
réserve, la réalisation
de ce colloque et la
publication des actes
correspondants :
Murin-Hoarau
Mme Raïssa Dubois
M. Didier Robert,
Président de
la Région Réunion,
M. Frédéric
Mitterrand, Ministre
de la Culture et de
la Communication,
Paris, France
M. Jean-François
Sita, Vice-Président
en charge de la culture,
Conseil Régional, SaintDenis, La Réunion
Mme Marie-André
Faveur-Lacroix,
Présidente de la
Commission culture,
patrimoine, sport, vie
associative, Conseil
Régional, Saint-Denis,
La Réunion.
Nous remercions
également, très
chaleureusement, tous
les membres de cette
commission qui nous
ont honorés de leur
confiance dans cette
quête :
M. Yoland Velleyen
Mme Colette Caderby
Mme Marie-Jeanne
Elisabeth
M. Serge Camatchy
Mme Aline
4
Et nos partenaires
institutionnels pour
leur soutien dès
l’origine, et qui ont
donné une crédibilité à
ce projet :
M Marie-Luce
Penchard, Ministre
chargée de l’Outre-mer,
Paris, France
me
M. Daniel Maximin,
commissaire de « 2011,
année des Outre-mer »,
Paris, France
Mme Marie-Christine
Labourdette,
directrice des musées
de France, Paris, France
M. Patrick Léon,
chargé du suivi des
musées de société, des
Dom-Tom, et de l’Outremer, direction des
musées de France, Paris,
France
M. Marc Nouschi,
directeur des affaires
culturelles-océan
Indien, Saint-Denis,
La Réunion
M. Mohammed
Ahmed, Directeur
général des services,
M. Patrice Bertil,
directeur des affaires
culturelles et sportives,
qui ont su répondre
favorablement à nos
besoins.
Et tous ceux qui à divers
titres nous ont aidés en
apportant leurs conseils
avisés et précieux dans
cette quête :
Mme Patricia Kane
(Yale University Art
Gallery, Philadelphie,
Etats-Unis)
Prof. Anupa Pande
(National Museum,
New-Dehli, Inde)
M. Jan Veenendaal
(collectionneur
et historien d’art,
Belgique)
M. Oscar Hefting
(New Holland
Fundation, Amsterdam,
Hollande)
M. Louis Mézin
(directeur des Musées
de Nice, France)
Prof. Peter
Borschberg (National
University of
Singapore, Singapour)
Mme Luisa Penalva
(Museu Nacional de
Arte Antiga, Lisbonne,
Portugal)
Dr Ron Van Oers
(Unesco)
M. Georges Lory
(Alliance Française,
Durban, Afrique
du Sud)
Prof. Bird Randall
(University of
Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg,
Afrique du Sud)
Mme Ernestina
Carreira (université
d’Aix-en-Provence,
France)
Mme Ludmilla
Ommundsen (Alliance
Française de Cape Town,
Afrique du Sud)
Mme Amina Okada
(Musée national des
arts asiatiques-Guimet,
Paris, France)
Dr Steven
Engelsman (Museum
für Völkerkunde,
Vienne, Autriche)
Dr Karina Corrigan
(Peabody Essex
Museum, Salem,
Etats-Unis)
M. Emmanuel
Schwartz (Ecole
Nationale Supérieure
des Beaux-Arts,
Paris, France)
M. Han GrootenFeld (Ambassade du
Royaume des Pays-Bas,
Paris, France)
M. Hinkert
(Gouvernement
général des Antilles
Néerlandaises,
Curaçao)
M. William Gelius
(Thorvaldsen
Museum, Copenhague,
Danemark)
M. Raphaël
Malangin (Lycée
Français de
Pondichéry, Inde)
M. Phiroze Vasunia
(Universty of Reading,
Grande-Bretagne)
Sans oublier :
Mlle Aurélie
Martin, M. Vincent
de Menthière,
M. Vincent
Giovannoni, qui ont
assuré avec beaucoup
d’efficacité et de
pertinence leur rôle de
modérateur,
M. Jean-François
Rebeyrotte, pour
son aide à la logistique
informatique
Anglophonic pour la
traduction simultanée
des entretiens
M. Alain Bernard,
assisté de M. Serge
Nativel qui ont su
répondre à nos besoins
techniques et qui nous
ont toujours utilement
conseillés
L’équipe du Musée
des arts décoratifs de
l’océan Indien pour son
implication totale et
sa collaboration sans
faille tout au long de ce
parcours : Mme MarieGilles Hoarau,
Mme Sophie Thibier,
Mlle Huguette
Dorilas, M. Nicolas
Brisso
La traduction en anglais
des actes a été assurée
par M. Barry Kacher
et Mme Sophie Thibier
Ainsi que…
5
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Only the texts of the
participants have been
translated in English.
Legends, illustrations,
footers and bibliography
remain in French.
Translation by Barry Kacher
G E N E R A L ST U D I E S
A R C H I T E CT U R E
32
98
156
At the heart of the neoclassic
theory : the imitation
Neoclassicism as a federative
element in the european
colonies of the 18th and 19th
centuries.
Variations of neoclassical
architecture in French Guyana :
from colonial’s construction to
creole villas
Rio de Janeiro,
portuguese imperial city
1808 – 1821 : urban
transformations
CLAIRE BARBILLON
Professor, University of Paris Ouest
Nanterre, France
41
FOREWORD
11
Opening speech
DIDIER ROBERT
President of Reunion Island regional Council.
Saint-Denis, La Réunion, France
The archaic and exotic
in the aulic architecture
of Percier and Fontaine
JEAN-FRANÇOIS BÉDARD
Lecturer, Syracuse University,
New-York, USA
64
13
Starting works
VINCENT GIOVANNONI
Cultural adviser - DAC-OI.
16
Introduction
THIERRY-NICOLAS TCHAKALOFF
Curator, Museum of decorative
arts from Indian Ocean.
Saint-Louis, La Réunion, France
20
Colonial cartography
Curator, Museum of decorative
arts from Indian Ocean.
6
Dwelling and ornamentation,
the graphic lessons
of Percier and Fontaine
JEAN-PHILIPPE GARRIC
Scientific adviser.
Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art,
Paris, France
84
The visibility of the colonies
in metropolitan France during
the 19th century, by way of
exhibiting industrial products
and of the universal exhibition
SYBILLE BELLAMY-BROWN
Lecturer. Ecole du Louvre,
Paris, France
CÉLINE FRÉMAUX
Regional Curator for inventory
of cultural heritage.
Cayenne, Guyane, France
117
Antiquity at the origins of
creole architecture : private
architecture at Reunion Island
from the end of the 18th century
to the mid 19th century
JOSÉ MANUEL FERNANDÈS
Architect, professor. Faculty of architecture
of the technical University,
Lisbon, Portugal
168
Neoclassicism at Pondicherry
in the 18th century.
Revealing cultural and social
dynamics at a franco indian
trading post
KEVIN LE DOUDIC
PhD in Modern History, University
Bretagne Sud, CERHIO CNRS, Lorient, France.
188
Colonial neoclassicism :
St Louis de Maragnan
in Brazil and Goa in India, two
138
portuguese colonial capitals
The role of the king of France’ s in the 18th and 19th centuries
engineers in the spread
RAFAEL MOREIRA
Professor. Universidade Nova,
of classical and neoclassical
Lisbon, Portugal
esthetic
BERNARD LEVENEUR
Art and architecture historian.
ANNE-MARIE NIDA
Art and architectural historian
Centre de recherche en histoire
internationale et atlantique (CRHIA)
Marseille, France
7
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
F U R N I T U R E , D E C O R E T O R N A M E N TAT I O N
206
288
The origins of industrial art.
Its conception and uses
in ornamental moulded
architecture at the beginning
of the contemporary period
Neoclassical furniture
from South Africa, sources
and interpretations
VALÉRIE NÈGRE
Teacher-researcher. ENSA - Paris La Villette,
Centre d’Histoire des Techniques
et de l’Environnement, CNAM, Paris, France
228
The place of neoclassicism
in the collections of the
Museum of decorative arts
from indian Ocean
Curator. Museum of decorative arts from
Indian Ocean, Saint-Louis, La Réunion, France
250
Neoclassical taste
in Louisiana, 1790-1840
KATHERINE HALL
Curator. Louisiana State Museum,
New-Orleans, USA
272
North american
interpretations of british
neoclassicism in the late 18th
and early 19th centuries
DAVID BARQUIST
Curator Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia, USA
8
SOPHIE THIBIER
Art historian. Museum of decorative
arts from Indian Ocean,
309
Brazilian interiors.
Furniture at the time
of the Portuguese court,
at Rio de Janeiro. Reception,
assimilation and creation.
JOSÉ DE MONTERROSO TEIXEIRA
Deputy Director. Instituto do Patrimonio
Arquitectonico, Lisbon, Portugal
328
Neoclassicism influence
in the West Dutch Indies
GEORGETTE NIJE VAN EPS
Leiden, Pays-Bas
342
Bibliography
T H E SY M P O S I U M
356
Symposium programme
361
Participants
Neoclassicism
FOREWORD
in the European colonies
I N T E R N AT I O N A L S Y M P O S I U M
15, 16 AND 17 OF DECEMBER 2011
REUNION ISLAND
9
OPENING
SPEECH
DIDIER ROBERT
President of Reunion Island Regional Council.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please, let me first, on behalf of myself and on behalf of the Regional
Council, welcome you all to Réunion Island for this conference entitled
Neoclassicism in the European Colonies during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
No one can ignore, that on these maritime routes dedicated to major
international commerce since the earliest of times, the models and
images, which have fashioned these new societies were established
during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
It appears important, not to say essential, to turn not only towards the
future, but with due care and attention to the past, in order to better
appreciate our common origins. Also the necessary reflection on the
cultures which shaped our civilizations that cannot be undertaken,
without having, first of all, been highlighted.
In the context, which interests us here, this specificity is above all,
architectural in the largest sense of the term, including the theoretical
aspects, concerning both construction and decoration. It is therefore
natural that it is in these directions that the Musée des arts décoratifs
de l’océan Indien (MADOI) proposes to undertake your findings.
The role assigned to our museum is precisely to explain the lifestyle
in the tropics by way of these multiple components, and to explain its
conception in order to permit us to appreciate and understand these
diverse elements even more precious than little known, dispersed and
few in number.
The welcome and enthusiasm received from the experts, curators, and
university professors from around the world is proof demonstrating
just how much you share these same preoccupations. Your work does
10
11
not just have, as a single object the illustration of an epoch, a society,
a historical or artistic phenomenon. It intends rather to offer here, and
in a certain measure to shed light upon the connections by way of time
and space.
These encounters would not have been possible without the impetus of
the following of whom it is my happy task to acknowledge :
I would therefore like to thank the Prefecture of Réunion Island and
notably the Direction of Cultural Affairs of the Indian Ocean, which has
supported this project from the start.
The Overseas department Minister as well as the Commissariat for the
Overseas Departments for these projects, since receiving the official
title as a manifestation within the framework of the « 2011, year of the
French Overseas Territories ».
Prior to concluding, I cannot forget those who are unable to be present
today; the art historians, and curators for the confidence that they have
shown since the start of this adventure but which, for various reasons
cannot free them from their diverse professional obligations, and so it
is that I will outline the themes : the influence of neoclassicism at Curacao and the Dutch East Indies, Scandinavians in the Indies between
French and English references, The re-productions of models of European furniture within the artwork of the Tipou Saïd Palace, Antiquity
rediscovered within Empire furniture references imitations and variations, Neoclassical gold and silver work in Portugal and Brazil, Neoclassicism in the West Dutch Indies.
But I have no doubt, given the abundance of announced conferences,
the diversity of subject matter, and the richness of the debates that will
follow, that these meetings will be a complete success which will enable
you to find here a source of personal enrichment and, I hope, a desire
to return.
Ladies and gentlemen ; I declare open this conference on Neoclassicism in the European Colonies during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
DIDIER ROBERT
12
S TA R T I N G W O R K S
VINCENT GIOVANNONI
Cultural adviser - DAC-OI.
The Representative of the
Regional Council, Mr. Curator of
the museum of decorative arts of
the Indian Ocean, ladies and gentlemen invited speakers, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
Before I start, I would like to apologize on behalf of the Director
of Cultural Affairs from Indian
Ocean, Marc Nouschi, actually in
a mission in Guyana, and can not
be with us today. Great friend of
the museum and heritage, a man
found of culture, he would have
loved to be here today, and sincerely beg you to excuse his absence.
I am personally very happy to
be here to inaugurate this symposium dedicated to neoclassicism in the European colonies, at
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, symposium, which, once
it has been requested, the State
required to provide support financial, but also including it into
national events of « 2011 years
of French Overseas Territories ».
These points are particularly
important to emphasize that the
State is increasingly demanding,
and if the demands are many elected, officials are rare.
The topic that we will meet the
next three days is ambitious, complex, and its title, could give the
impression that the topic would
have interested only a few intellectuals. In the tropical world where
we are, the neoclassical style
belong to the familiar landscape,
whether in architecture or for furniture, and when it comes to learn
about the history from which we
come, and even make designs that
fit harmoniously into the landscape in the city or in the home
decoration, references, often lack.
In the particular place of architecture, supervised in France
by the heritage architects, it is
regrettable that there is actually,
no specific training in tropical
architecture, its specific items
and its history. In restaurating
schools, in institutions for craftmen and for furniture restoration
13
is never taught either of the neoclassical style that developed in
a way singular over the centuries
in the former European colonies.
Thanks to Thierry-Nicolas Tchakaloff, to have gathered us here
today, and I have to tell you he is
a very surprising person. In addition to its museographers talents
and its great culture, he has the
great ability to make his interlocutors smarters. I mean at least
for me! In the position I’m holding,
I should have better be armed to
catch the sens of its collection,
which is the direction he tracks
for years, since this island in the
middle of the Indian Ocean. In the
reality of things, and although
there have been three years that
I lived and worked here, I’m still
impressed by each of its exhibitions, projects or acquisitions.
We are so far from ancient doctrines taught in our ancient
Europe, and art history, and the
circulation of men and mentalities. We need an outstanding
temper for imagine building a
decentered progress. Taking into
consideration that the Indian
Ocean is a world one its own, we
have reoriented our perceptions
in a radically way, but also on the
History with a capital H, as it is
written in the Mare Nostrum,
with and without Europeans.
Researchers today can not know
everything about the journey of
the Erythraean Sea, which details
the first centuries of our era,
14
maritime trade way that connected Egypt to the Roman ports of
India, or merchants the ancient
kingdom of Axum, in modern
Ethiopia, which traded with Egypt
and India for much longer, and
will discover the Roman use of the
monsoon winds.
This story and the reality proved
far removed from the official discourse, which would mean that the
discoveries of the world and its
cultures was only the fact of the
West, is still scouring the replay
that Thierry-Nicolas Tchakaloff
offers about history exchanges
between people.
Topics include, from this point of
view very new to our thinking, our
culture, and our imaginations are
rich and numerous, and I welcome
the initiative once again allowing
us to work for three days together
to start thinking in new ways.
Region Reunion Council wished
to give the collections of decorative arts museums in the Indian
Ocean, a place in its extent, and
the Ministry of Culture and Communication has identified the project in its plan «museum Region
2011-2013», the collections will
soon be presented on the dwelling of Maison Rouge, classified
as historical monuments, as the
very last area of french overseas
coffee estate, in a new building.
In November 2011, held in SaintDenis a major symposium, coorganized by the State and the
Region Reunion Council, entitled
« First interview of the heritage of
the Indian Ocean », which brought
together 35 researchers and practitioners heritage from more than
twelve countries, to discuss the
unit still too little known cultures,
and history of the countries
surrounding the Indian Ocean.
The purpose built by Thierry-Nicolas Tchakaloff, and which brings
us to the symposium that opens,
is even broader in that it encompasses not only the Indian Ocean,
but all former European colonies
on the shores of the entire planet.
When we now know, by the recent
work of historians, the Mediterranean world of the ancient European source, at least the classic,
is linked for several millennium
including Asia, but also Africa
(with Sahara), we understood that
neoclassicism is not here more
than anywhere in foreign lands. It
is simply developed in a singulary
way, that is to say different from
its European development and to
become a strong marker in the old
world.
Poorly defined, little known,
we will work during these
three days to gather scattered knowledge, and begin to
build together a perspective on
what unites history as today,
cultures and styles but still present that we still know very little.
I wish you, and because I am
staying with you, I wish us all a
fruitfull and friendly work.
VINCENT GIOVANNONI
15
INTRODUCTION
Curator, Museum of decorative arts from Indian Ocean,
As part of the 2011-Year of the overseas department, the Region of
Réunion Island under the impetus of the Musée des arts decoratifs
de l’Ocean Indien (MADOI) — museum of decorative arts from Indian
Ocean — has accepted to host the symposium for which we are gathered
here today and which is entitled Neoclassicism in the European colonies during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Our research findings show that neoclassicism appears, in effect, as
an artistic movement of great importance. It has brought together an
architectural language, an ornamental vocabulary, and a decorative
vocabulary which was circulated throughout the tropical belt between
1800 – 1850 and in particular, and which concerns us, the Indian Ocean
together with the British control of the Indian Territory, of which this
influence has profoundly marked the ancient European possessions.
And still today the vocabulary finds itself in traditional creole architecture be it knowledgeable or vernacular in its composition or in the
associated modern accessories.
In the decorative arts, citing one particular example, it has profoundly
affected the evolution of seats of which the most remarkable example
remains the design of the armchairs (please note the use of the plural)
with rolled arms or flat arms these were incredibly successful thanks
to their comfort so perfectly adapted to the local environment that they
were considered icons of a tropical lifestyle.
In gathering both French and foreign researchers around this movement which was able to develop in the European Colonies during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these days have as an objective:
16
— to ascertain first of all an overall level of knowledge
— to clarify by way of available sources in order to better anticipate the
diffusion and reception of neoclassicism in the European Colonies
— to enable one then to resituate this work within the artistic context
of the first half of the nineteenth century
Our meetings will take place according to three themed sessions.
The first theme will be the theory of neoclassicism, the establishment
of antique collections following the Revolution and the role of French
theorists highlighting the work of architects, archeologists, and decorators having travelled to Italy, Rome and Naples, and whose role was a
determining factor throughout Europe.
The second highlights architecture. It classifies a panorama of
constructions both private and public from North America and the
Caribbean, Guyana, and Brazil on to India with Goa and Pondichery passing the Cape of Good Hope and Réunion Island. Evoking the diffusion
and reception of metropolitan models enables us to reflect upon the
cultural atmosphere of the time.
The third and final theme is centered upon interior decoration and the
decorative arts.
By way of our interventions, it sheds light upon European influences in
furniture and decoration in the overseas departments, as well as highlighting or by précising according to each case, the emergence of hybrid
variations of multiple types. This allows a putting into perspective the
comparison of works of art by exposing their particularities parallel
with the phenomenon’s of prime, at first distant, but whereby the structural analysis both formal or decorative can reveal similarities.
Shapes and production methods do not always follow the same path
and can adhere to a certain distorted logic. The originality of a region’s
productions rests upon the articulation between imported shapes and
those locally produced. However they do not appear in the light of day
unless they benefit from a comparative point.
17
COLONIAL
CARTOGRAPHY
Carte de l’océan Indien
Histoire philosophique et politique des établissements et du commerce des Européens dans les
deux Indes, Guillaume-Thomas Raynal, 1775, Tome 2, MFMC
18
19
Traité de Saragosse 1529
Traité de Tordesillas 1494
Mexico
Océan Pacifique
Macao
Calcutta
Ormuz
Océan
Atlantique
Bombay
Goa
Manille
Madras
Malacca
Batavia
Océan Indien
Rio de Janeiro
LE 1 er PARTAGE DU MONDE
DU XV e AU XVII e SIÈCLE
Possessions espagnoles
Le Cap
Possessions portugaises
Possessions hollandaises
Possessions françaises
CHART
1
15 -17 TH CENTURIES
THE FIRST DIVIS ION OF WOR LD T E R R ITOR IES
AND THE IBERIAN E M P I R ES
TH
Encouraged by the Papal Benediction (bull inter caetera of Pope
Alexander the 6th, in 1493) and by
the agreements made by the Chancellories (Treaty of Saragossa,
1529), Spain and Portugal shared
the World, considerate as terra
nullis then known free territories.
The Treaty of Tordesillas aimed
at ending the conflicts caused by
the discovery of the New World
by Christopher Columbus. It ran
north to south along a demarca20
tion line 100 nautical miles west
of the Cape Verde Islands.
Antagonizing Portugal, Jules II
on another bull, modified the
limit to 370 nautical miles, about
1700 kilometres along a meridian which is today situated at 46°
- 37’ West. These new lands are
still little known and the measurements approximate; America was
theoretically under total Spanish
acquisition.
That said, when Pedro Alva-
res Cabral discovered Brazil in
1500, its tropical region was thus
accorded to Portugal.
With Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world completed in
1522, a new dispute broke out concerning where to localize the oriental part of the meridian which
itself circumnavigated the globe.
One of the disputed lands between
the two opposing parties was the
Islands of Moluccas, an important
trading station for spices. Following further negotiations the
treaty of Saragossa, signed the
22nd April 1529, established that
the continuation of the meridian situated at 297.5 leagues to
the West of this archipelago, and
to Portugal’s profit with Spain
receiving a sizeable financial
compensation.
The other European maritime
powers (France, England and the
Netherlands) were refused any
rights to these new lands. They
had no option but to resort to
piracy and trafficking in order
to gain any profit from the New
World, having, before the birth of
Protestantism rejected the Papal
Authority.
In 1519, with 600 men and 16
horses, Herman Cortez claimed the
Aztec Empire in Mexico. Ten years
later Francisco Pizzaro decided,
with 200 men and 27 horses to
do likewise with the Inca Empire
in Peru. In one generation, Central and Tropical America became
Latin America under control of
the Spanish and Brazil under
control of the Portuguese. In the
1540’s together with the discovery
of the silver mines in Mexico and
Peru, the Spanish began assuring
50 years of political and military
hegemony in Europe.
The Portuguese pushed south
keeping to the western coast of
Africa, remounting the oriental coast and entering the Indian
Ocean. In the first half of the 16th
century, the Portuguese assured
control of the Indian Ocean having
beaten off the fleets of the Muslim States (The Ottoman Empire,
The Sultan of Mamelouk, and of
Gujurat). Between 1505 and 1511
Francisco de Almeida, the first
Viceroy of India, founding father
of the Portuguese Empire of Asia
established a series of fortified
trading stations and imposed in
this way a Portuguese presence
in the commercial routes of the
Indian Ocean, hitherto dominated
by the Moslems. His successor,
Alfonso de Alberquerque set out
to make the Indian Ocean a Portuguese dominated zone by taking the three points overseeing
the passage of merchandise. Hormuz (1507 – 1517), at the entrance
to the Persian Gulf, Goa (1510)
capital of the Indian trading stations on the Malabar and Cochin
coasts and Malaca (1511) which
dominated the entrance to the
straits bearing the same name.
The Portuguese extended their
21
domination as far as Chaul (bay of
Bombay), then on to Gujurat with
Cambay, and the fortified peninsula of Dui. They were at Moluccas, in 1512, islands rich in spices,
before losing ground to Japan in
1543 and then to China in 1557.
They landed at Ceylon in 1505,
partly ruined following successive invasions by Arab pirates, and
there they made an alliance with
the Cinghalese Kings of Kandy.
In 1578 the Portuguese gained
strongholds at Colombo and Galle
and, shortly afterwards claimed
the whole of the coast from the
Cinghalese. At the same time they
colonized Brazil, which became
a major sugar producer between
1530 and 1700.
However the Northern European
countries, richer in material and
human resources together with
more modern state and social
structures entered the fray. Confined to the Northern American
territories seeking the mythical
passage to the Indies, the French
and Dutch established themselves
where they could. The French
found themselves in the St Laurent valley and the great Lakes,
PROVINCES UNIES
Fort Orange
Kirun
Océan Atlantique
Aruba
Curaçao
Bonaire
Chirãz
Iles Vierges
Saint-Martin
Maranhão
Ayuthia
Malacca
Colombo
CEYLAN Tiku
Palembang
Axim
Recife
Océan Indien
Fort Maurice
Bahia
Ile Maurice
Le Cap
22
Océan Pacifique
Bandar Abbãs
Cannanore
Cochin
Quilon
Nelle Amsterdam
Paramaribo
BRÉSIL
Isfahãn
Masulipatam Siriam
Tobago
SURINAM
Fort Zelandia
L’EMPIRE COLONIAL
DES PROVINCES-UNIES
VERS 1650
Possessions hollandaises
MOLUQUES Céram
Amboine
Batavia
CÉLÈBES
also in Brazil at the French Ant- where they would be permanently
arctic in the Bay of Guanabara expelled in 1614. As for the Dutch
opposite Rio in 1560, and the they landed in the Hudson Bay.
French equinoctial at St-Louis,
CHA RT 2
1 5 9 5 – 1689
T H E CEN T U RY OF U N I T ED P ROV I N CES
The rise of firearms as weapons
enabled the Portuguese to impose
themselves for almost a century
on the seas and notably in India.
They couldn’t however extend
their monopoly in comparison
with their competitors and the
avidity of the other European powers whose were also attracted by
this immense wealth.
As from the beginning of the 17th
century, the Dutch penetrated the
Indian Ocean. In order to reach the
spice production regions a preliminary expedition force financed
by the Far East Trading Company
sailed past the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1602, the East India Company
(VOC) regrouped several smaller
companies. In 1605, they gained
a foothold at Moluccas and established a garrison at Amboina. In
1616, they obtained a commercial
monopoly with Japan. In 1619 they
occupied Jakarta and founded Batavia on the island of Java, which
became the capital of its colonial
Empire.
In 1624, the Dutch established
a base at Formosa. Eliminating
the English competition (the
Amboina massacre of 1624), they
ran the Portuguese from Moluccas
in 1641. Colombo fell in 1656 and
the rest of Ceylon two years later,
swiftly followed by Cranganor, and
Cochin, then Indonesia and a part
of Timor fell under Dutch rule.
The Dutch frequented Mauritius
and installed themselves at the
Cape of Good Hope in 1652, this
refueling station subsequently
becoming a populated colony. The
quest for new trading routes led
Janzoon in 1606 and Pierre de
Nuyts in 1628 to Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642.
The East India Company (1621)
confirmed their aims to America. They founded, on the island
of Manhattan, New Amsterdam
in 1626, and 200 kilometres further North, Fort Orange Albany, in
order to trade in furs.
In 1644, the English occupied
these territories founding New
York. Incapable of remaining at
Bahia and, attracted by the sugar
trade, the Dutch took Recife and
extended their domination along
2100 kilometres of coastline. The
independence of Portugal, in 1642
along with the collapse of the
sugar index in Amsterdam, the
23
Lahore
SIND
1700 - 1761
Delhi
Zone d’influence
française
Zone d’influence
anglaise
Agra
Ahmadabad
GUJARAT
OUDH
Cambay
1805
Diu
Territoire
sous administration
britannique
Lucknow
Surat
Bombay
Bénarès
Patna
BENGALE
Hooglhy
Goa
Dacca
Chandernagore
Calcutta
Mahé
Vizagapatam
MYSORE
Cochin
Tanjore
Colombo
Masulipatam
Pulicat
Madras
Pondichery
Tranquebar
Negapatam
Jaffna
CEYLAN
Galle
general unrest amongst the Portuguese volunteers in 1644, and
the drying up of sources of slave
labour in Angola put an end to
Dutch domination.
The Dutch retreated to Curacao,
which was an active commercial
centre together with the Spanish
colonies.
C H A RT 3
18 TH CENTURY
eign and can impose taxes in order
to gain revenue, and vice versa).
England, at war with France, could
not leave the way clear for France
who could become a territorial
power in India.
Misunderstood by the East India
Company, Dupleix was stripped of
his power in 1754. The neutrality
of Dupleix enabled the English to
launch a policy of conquest copied directly from Dupleix’s own
strategy. Master of Bengal, following Robert Clive’s victory at
Plassey in 1757, indirectly benefitting from the decisive defeat of
the Marathes and Mongols by the
Afghan Ahmed Khan in 1761 at
Panipat, the East India Company
wrested from her French rival,
the supremacy of India and, at
the Treaty of Paris in 1763, kicked
France out of India.
To prevent an eventual return to
power by France, of which her possessions were reduced to five trading posts (Mahé, Pondichery, Karikal, Yanaon, and Chandernagor)
and to crush any Indian uprisings,
the agents of the East India Company progressively spread their
domination throughout India,
notably following the leadership
of Warren Hastings (1772 – 1785).
In 1796 the English seized Ceylon from the Dutch, in 1815 the
Kings of Kandy (central southern
Ceylon) also submitted to the British: Ceylon fell under total British
control.
Operating from a territorial base
in Bengal, the company, as from
the end of the 18th century, in particular under the impetus of Richard Wellesley, who became Governor General in 1798, and then
by a number of his successors,
progressively established their
supremacy throughout India by
way of a series of battles against
the Mysore of the successor to
Haidar Ali the famous Tipu Sultan (killed in 1799), Nepal of the
Gorkha dynasty and, above all,
the Marathe Confederation, who
would soon reveal itself to be a
most redoubtable rival.
The final defeat of the Marathe,
in 1818, ushered in the period of
British supremacy, which would
be consolidated in the mid 19th
century by the repression of the
grand uprising of 1857 known
in French as the « Revolt of the
Cipayes ».
BAT TLES BETWE E N T H E F R E N C H A N D E N G L I SH I N I N D I A
As from 1742 Dupleix, Governor of
the French Colonial Company of
India began a strategy of territorial expansion which culminated
with the obtaining of a jagir as
well as the title of Nabab (a jagir is
24
a small piece of land given by the
King to the Army’s Chief in recognition of military success, this
for a fairly short term, in general
three years, and the recipient of a
jagir becomes the region’s sover-
CHA RT 4
T H E EU ROP EA N S I N A M ERI CA A N D T HE CREAT I ON
O F T HE U N I T ED STAT ES OF A M ERI CA
The ferocity of the commercial ued struggles in which the possesrivalry between France and Eng- sion or control of certain colonial
land largely explains the contin- lands constituted an essential
25
GUADELOUPE
MARTINIQUE
ÉTATS-UNIS
BAHAMAS
GUYANES
Mississipi
CUBA
S t DOMINGUE
Saint-Louis
Bélem
JAMAÏQUE
Pernambouc
Fort Maurice
Bahia
Amazone
BRÉSIL
Rio de Janeiro
L’AMÉRIQUE COLONIALE
Les 13 Colonies
États-Unis en 1783
Zone d’influence française de 1713 à 1755
Zone d’influence hollandaise
Zone d’influence espagnole
Zone d’influence portugaise
stake.
This bitter struggle between
France and England found itself
in the Caribbean and in North
America where hostilities broke
out in 1754 with the Franco Indian
War, otherwise known as the seven
year war in Europe (1754 – 1763).
France was hampered by its European engagements. Great Britain assured the control of the
North Atlantic and isolated the
French fleet. Lacking reinforcements, Louisbourg (Royal Island
at the mouth of the St-Lawrence
river), fell in 1758, and Quebec in
1759. Following the British Naval
26
Victories at Quiberon (France)
and Lagos (Portugal) the taking
of Montreal in 1760 heralded the
fall of French Canada. The signing of the Treaty of Paris, in 1763,
deprived France of its American
possessions. France lost its lands
in Canada and the Oriental part
of Louisiana. In the Caribbean,
the English controlled the Spanish trading post of Havana, and
the whole of the French Islands
except Santo Domingo. These were
restored after the Treaty of Paris.
Between 1763 and the American
War of Independence (1776 – 1783)
France rebuilt its maritime force
and renewed its alliances. However
the war had left England deeply in
debt and the political hesitations
of the English Crown dealt a blow
to its colonial interests. Tensions
rose culminating in the breakout
of the first hostilities in 1775.
In 1776, the second continental
congress signed the Declaration
of Independence of the United
States of America. In 1781 confronted by a coalition of France,
Spain and the United Provinces,
Great Britain ceded control of the
North Eastern American waterways and recognized the Independence of the 13 colonies of America in accordance with the Treaty
of Versailles in 1783.
That said, the unity of the new
states was fragile. Over and above
the internal wrangling between
Loyalists and Patriots, the ancient
colonies were divided on the question of territories, commerce,
autonomy of each confederate
state and of central power. The
governors also had to contend
with farmer revolts and those of
craftsmen hampered by excessive
taxes.
Reunited in 1787 at Philadelphia,
the largest town at the time, the
delegates of the 13 States drew up
a constitution, which established
a strong central state all the time
ensuring via a federal bias, the
relative sovereignty of each state.
Individual liberties were guaranteed, Negro slavery was main-
tained and the Native Indian lands
considered as a foreign nation and
thus excluded from the American
Nation.
In 1789, George Washington
became the inaugural President
of the United States of America. During his two mandates,
and those of his successor, John
Adams, the federalist conservatives strengthened central power.
In 1801, Thomas Jefferson, at the
head of the republican democrats
was elected third President of the
United States. In 1803, Louisiana
was purchased from Napoléon
Bonaparte and in 1819 Florida was
purchased from Spain.
In South America the Napoléonic
Wars profoundly altered the
course of Brazilian history. In
1808, faced with the threat of the
Napoléonic Armies the Prince
Jean, Regent of Portugal, set sail
from Lisbon with his entire court
(almost 14,000 people) for Rio
de Janeiro, capital of the Viceroy,
which would subsequently become
capital of the Portuguese Colonial
Empire. It was thus that the country lost its colonial status and
could trade with all the countries
(Carta Regia). The embargo to create manufacturing plants was
lifted and the first University was
founded. England assured the protection of Brazil in exchange for
commercial contracts.
In 1816, the Prince Jean became
King of Portugal, taking the name
27
Jean VI and named his second son
Dom Pedro, Regent of Brazil. In
March of the same year, the Mission Artistique Française arrived
to establish the École Royale des
Sciences Arts et Métiers. This mission of which the leader Joachim
Lebreton had been stripped of his
position as secretary to the Institut de France consisting of architects, painters, artists, sculptors,
woodworkers, engravers, smiths,
locksmiths, mechanic professors… all of whom introduced
the country to neoclassicism. In
August 1826, a decree created the
28
École Royale des Sciences, Arts et Métiers.
In Portugal a violent opposition
was formed against the reforms
undertaken in the Viceroy. The
Portuguese assembly, les Cortes,
voted a series of laws destined to
returning Brazil to its former status of colony.
In 1822 Dom Pedro proclaimed the
independence of Brazil. The same
year he was proclaimed emperor
of Brazil under the name of Pierre
The 1st.
29
SUB JECT 1
GENERAL
STUDIES
Rhyton apulien en forme de tête de sanglier, vue et profil
Collection complète des Antiquités du Cabinet de Sir William Hamilton,
Pierre-François Hugues d’Hancarville, 1772-73, Londres
30
31
GENERAL STUDIES
AT T H E H E A R T O F T H E N E O C L A S S I C
T H E O R Y : T H E I M I TAT I O N
CLAIRE BARBILLON
Professor, University of Paris Ouest Nanterre, France
Quatremère de Quincy was,
in André Chastel’s opinion « the
man who formulated the dogma
of the beautiful, according to
Winckelmann » 1.
At the same time purpose and
method to reach this beautiful
ideal, the heroic nude was the
heart of the theoretical building
created by the neo-classics.
Inspired by the antique statues,
so indifferent as possible for the
changes caused by the everyday
life, it constitutes a metaphor,
which according to Quatremère
allows « to assimilate the famous
men into divine character » 2.
In him is embodied an upper order,
a symbol of an exalting pure, ideal
existence.
The considerations on the artistic
nature of the drawing in France
1. André Chastel, L’Art français, le temps de
l’éloquence, 1775-1825, Paris, Flammarion, 1996, p. 20
2. Mission que David d’Angers, puis Baudelaire et
Charles Blanc asssignent à la sculpture, cf David,
Carnets, Baudelaire, Salon de 1859, Charles Blanc,
Grammaire des arts du dessin.
32
(1791) already expose this principle and the Essay on the nature,
the purpose, the means of the
imitation in the fine arts (1823) 3
develops it.
We know that Quatremère did not
support this ideal, far from it, he
believed that it was necessary to
organize the meeting, in Paris, a
meeting of the masterpieces of
the classic antiquity.
Worried about the scale taken by
the practice of spoils, he had drafted the Letters on the damage
that would cause to the arts and
to the science the movement of
the monuments of the art of Italy,
the dismemberment of its schools
and the despoilment of its collections, galleries, museums, etc. 4,
including in a more general political reflection his distrust towards
the revolutionary seizures : « The
3. Nous nous référerons ici à l’édition de Léon Krier
et Démetri Porphyros, Paris, Archives d’architecture
moderne, 1980.
4. Paris, 1796 ; rééd. Lettres à Miranda, introd. et
notes par E. Pommier, Paris, Macula, 1989.
spirit of conquest in a republic
and subversive of the spirit of
freedom » 5.
He did not invent 6, but developed a
concept which had to firmly establish the developments of the neoclassic aesthetics which showed
themselves, as much from a theoretical point of view as an artistic one, in the latter 19th century,
although they have been darkened by the multiplication of the
avant-gardes and the mix of the
styles from 1850. It is about the
theory of the imitation, expressed
in the Essay of 1823. This doctrine became one of the pillars on
which leaned several artists’ generations in particular in sculpture,
and against which were determined the others, which felt it as a
drying up obstacle.
Let us try an approach of this
central principle elaborated by
Quatremère by questioning ourselves on the meaning and the
stakes, before evoking some echo,
prevalent late in the 19th century.
The imitation is a concept which
it is necessary to tread with the
caution which we observe towards
the « false friends » in the field of
the translation of the languages,
because it is close but separated
of the notion of copy.
Nevertheless we know how much
the practice of the copy was
valued in the educational system
of the academic teaching of the
fine arts.
Throughout the 19th century and
in spite of an important reform
which was introduced within the
School of Fine Arts, in 1863, the
practice of painting, of the sculpture and the architecture, the
drawing according to classic art
remained one of both daily fundamental exercises practiced by
the pupils (the other one being
the drawing according to the live
model).
We indeed had in private study
rooms plasters of the biggest
classic arts dedicated by the tradition, and the pupils had to realize
the drawing during 10 sessions,
distributed over two weeks.
Besides and to give only a second
example, the boarders of the Villa
Médicis, winners of the prize of
Rome, had the obligation, as sending for the first year, the realization of a copy in the artistic discipline which was theirs 7.
Intended for the future artists,
and even for the cultivated general
5. Cité par André Chastel, op. cit., p. 13
6. Contentons-nous de noter la parution, au milieu
du XVIIIe siècle, des Réflexions sur l’imitation des
œuvres grecques en peinture et en sculpture de
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1756), traduit de
l’allemand par Marianne Charrière, Paris, Jacqueline
Chambon, 1991.
7. Sur ces sujets, on consultera : Antoinette
Le Normand, La Tradition classique et l’Esprit
romantique, les sculpteurs de l’Académie de France
à Rome de 1824 à 1940, Rome, ed. dell’ellefante,
1981 ; France Leichleter, Les envois de Rome des
pensionnaires peintres de l’Académie de France à
Rome de 1863 à 1914, thèse non publiée, soutenue
sous la direction du Pr Bruno Foucart en 2008.
33
public, the museums of copies
were a fundamental ambition
of the art historians of the 19th
century 8.
The exhibition to copy to create
of the Musée du Louvre besides
very well showed how much the
practice of the copy continued to
be common and fertile throughout
the 19th century and even beyond.
It is not however the copy but
indeed the imitation that constitutes the key concept of Quatremère de Quincy. Two sentences,
seemingly harmless, put at once
the reader of his treaty on the
track of the wealth of this notion :
— « the pleasure which produces
the sight of the works of the imitation proceeds of the action to
compare » 9.
— « what there is of fictive and
incomplete in every art is what
exactly constitutes it in art, and
becomes the competence of the
pleasure of the imitation » 10.
It gets free a permanent paradox
of the definition of the notion of
imitation, because is assigned
to the work of art the mission
to « look like, in spite of the disparity » (p.108). This paradox is
enlightened by the criticism of the
intervention of the reality in the
art in whom Quatremère is engaged, or « too nearby appearances
8. Voir par exemple Pierre Vaisse, « Charles
Blanc und das Musée des Copies » Zeitschrift für
Kunstgeschichte, 1976, p. 54-66.
9. Quatremère, p.5.
10. Idem, p. 93.
34
of the effective thing » in his representation. This criticism makes
anticipate the wild opposition
of its author to any illusionist
approach, in the extreme realism
of the trompe-l’œil, in whom according to him, the effect of imitation becomes null again because
there is nothing more to compare.
Quatremère condemns without
appeal an artistic approach, which
would become confused with the
copy, in every case the idea of complete and absolute resemblance
is for him only an abstraction,
unless it consists of the repetition
of the object, what would place
the question except the artistic
domain. The resemblance is thus
only a condition of the imitation 11,
which takes place with the aid
of an image, which is « an appearance of the represented object » 12.
Quatremère analyzes, this way,
the difference between the means
appropriate for painting and for
the sculpture, being situated
in the tradition of the paragon,
this putting in report, in rivalry, of painting and the sculpture which livens up the artistic
debates since the revival widely
for the benefit of the rest of painting. « One (of the arts) represents
bodies by their color, and the other
one by the relief of their forms,
however the model which is of use
to each of them gathers the relief
and the color, and these two things
11. Idem, p. 8.
12. Idem, p. 10-11
are melted there so confidentially
together as we can them divide
only by the thought » 13. It is in its
fundamental spirit that each of
these two arts respects its appropriate means, as well as its limits ;
what is one of conditions to reach
the « charm of the imitation », not
« the fraud of the imitation » 14. So
he banishes polychromes in sculpture : « the artificial color on an
isolated body will never appear
true exactly because all which will
surround it being real will never
be possible that to convince it of
being imitation. This is the way
the imitation nullifies instead of
getting developed » 15.
Quatremère thus gathers in the
principle of the imitation that of
the separation between the arts.
He applies it to painting and to
sculpture but also to poetry, trying
hard to limit the impact of the « ut
pictura poesis « of Horace, in a
long justified comment as besides
that of the Laocoon de Lessing, on
the opposition between space and
time, reminding that contrary to
the narrative development appropriate for the literary work, « painting gives only a unique moment
of any action » 16.
Having defined his nature, Quatremère dedicates the two other
parts of his treaty respectively to
the purposes and to the means of
the imitation.
13. Idem, p. 18.
14. Idem, p.20.
15. Idem, p. 18.
16. Idem, p. 71.
However surprising it can appear
in the context of an austere renowned doctrine, a general objective of
the imitation can recover from the
domain of the pleasure. Quatremère distinguishes three degrees
from it. A first level of pleasure
is got by the instinct to find the
reality which lives in every spectator of an artistic work, a second
finds its birth in the search for a
resemblance which reduces the
distance between the model and
the image, the third finally more
subtle consists of an intellectual apprehension of « reports on
which the senses have no grip ».
It is obviously this third level of
pleasure more intellectual than
the others that the theorist interests : Quatremère opposes so
Téniers, which represents according to him a rather low level of
imitation, because addressing the
senses to Raphael or to Poussin.
In a more general way he does not
estimate the Flemish painting :
« the Flemish paintings are paintings of genre which by presenting
us the biggest perfection of mechanism of the art, have however only
the claim to speak to eyes silently
without saying anything to the
spirit » 17 but he prefers the imitation of the ideas, the ideal, this
« ideal style » which, according to
Winckelmann existed in the art of
the classic Greece.
This kind of imitation, which he
advocates excessively, rests on the
17. Idem, p.172.
35
common notion, which is at the
heart of the third part of the work,
and deserve a small clarification
as far as both concepts can appear
at first sight as contradictory.
Indeed, the respect for a convention interns to a system of representation, pulls far from the reference to an external model, which
is included in the notion of imitation. In fact, for Quatremère, every
artistic discipline possesses its
appropriate conventions : « There
is for every art a class of abstractions and metaphors inherent to
its mechanism, and which are
untranslatable in another art » 18.
Representing a fire (for Raphael)
or representing a deluge (for Poussin) makes, for example, operated
by these common painters which
would not know how to be transposed into the other arts. As for
the sculpture, Quatremère considers that it integrates a convention of particular representation :
the allegory. « The secret of this
art, is to say all the more that it
speaks less ; and this secret is, as
we saw, that of the allegory which
means more thing than it shows :
It is the secret of any metaphor, of
any fiction, that carries the strong
spirit beyond the object which is
under the eyes » 19.
This prevalence of an abstracted
operation on the reproduction of
the reality leads Quatremère to
distance him with regard to the
apologue of Zeuxis : « Of many
of the beautiful parts taken in
diverse faces, by supposing them
copied with the greatest accuracy,
we could make a very ridiculous
one. The truth is that a beautiful
face must have been conceived,
imagined, consisted for itself and
must be made without the help of
no kind of meeting settled as effective and real. Otherwise it would
be only an assembly of beautiful
fragments » 20. For Quatremère
the work exists at first, entirely,
in spirit, and it is only in passing
in the realization that the artist
consults diverse models. « He asks
them for indications of details
and forms, reports of proportions,
impressions of feeling, movement,
harmony, partial beauties, which
he assimilates to the type whom
his imagination has formed 21. This
ascendancy of the conception of
the work of art « in the thought »
of the artist condemns in advance
in any case it seems, all the sorts
of realism and, even more the
photography.
But the big enemy at whom aims
the whole treaty of Quatremère
is romanticism. Because he is
really opposed to it that the theorist mobilizes all the arguments
which, we have just analyzed. The
romantic taste, which he does not
name in his first development,
but only when he exposed the
principles of its central concepts
18. Idem, p. 291
19. Idem, § XV, p. 390 et suiv.
20. Idem, p. 312.
21. Idem, p. 315.
36
exchanges is exactly on the side
of the copy and not near the imitation. The romantic artist values
the description of the nature : it
is « the descriptive spirit applied
in a bigger style to the physical
nature » 22. The criticism of Quatremère extends in all the artistic
domains concerned by the romanticism because they appear to him
furthermore as affected by a dangerous indecision, a confusion
which harms in each of their identities. So the romantic poet seems
according to him, to aspire to the
immediate and almost graphic
copy of the objects of the material,
it looks like he wanted to exhaust
the vocabulary of the art to paint
in paraphrasing paintings » 23.
The romantic enemy is also the
one the other theorist. If Quatremère builds his argumentation
around the concept of imitation,
four years only after the publication of his work appears in French
language an essay to the more
reduced audience but in fertile
offspring. It is about the Essay
on the unconditional signs of the
art published in Leyde in 1827 by
Humbert de Superville 24 whose
in a quite various way, even opposite to that of Quatremère feeds
the arguments of the idealistic
camp, opposing too in the expansion of the romanticism. It is
however built around a slightly
22. Idem, p. 81.
23. Idem, p. 82.
24. Leyde, C.C. van des Hoek, 1827.
different theoretical presupposition. Indeed, it asserts that the art
has to establish itself on a system
of unconditional signs, only guarantors of the expansion. At the
heart of this system is the notion
of « direction » allowing to order
and to characterize any representation. The direction, which
becomes confused with the use
of straight line, can be vertical,
horizontal or oblique. The vertical
line and the horizontal are intangible. The third one, the oblique
may on the contrary of an infinity of modifications in the way
of more or less of obliquity. The
application with the face of the
man allows the author, under the
cover of experiment, to fix in an
almost mnemonic way its interpretative theory. Three sketches
become so many paradigms declined : on both sides of a vertical
axis which calls back the place of
the nose in the face, parallel lines
are organized either horizontally,
either in « expansive oblique directions » 25 that is ascending towards
the outside either still « convergent oblique directions « that is
downward towards the outside.
Humbert considers these signs
as constituent of « a subjective,
initial and decisive principle »
in the Kantian way of universal subjective of the sensibility.
The face livened up by horizontal
lines expresses the ataraxie, and
from the one, that the ascending
25. Humbert 1827, p. 6.
37
lines structure, emanates a sensation of enjoyment and from
the third one an opposite sensation of sadness. To illustrate these
types, Humbert chooses three
paradigmatic faces : Pallas, Venus
and Juno. Pallas whose face is of
the first type embodies « peace »,
« order », « balance », « dignity ».
Venus presents ascending lines
and reveals « lively passions », the
« movement », « the excitement »,
« the inconstancy ». Juno quite on
the contrary evokes « reflection »,
« depth of the thought », « solemnity », « sublimates » 26. Humbert
does not limit himself to this association of meanings in directions.
He builds according to an analogical principle a system of interpretation, which includes « all the
visible perceptions ». So colors are
associated with the meanings of
lines. The red for the ascending
oblique, the white for the horizontal, the black for the downward
oblique.
The character assertorique of the
proposals lets perceive the dogmatism without defect of the system.
Let us see what are the applications for example in the sculpture.
For this shape of artistic expression, balance, order, solidity and
duration are the values advocated
by Humbert. This eulogy of a symmetry and a greatness recovers
from the use of the sign which
shows the absence of feeling : The
horizontal line, inseparable of the
26. Humbert 1827, p. 7
38
postulate which defines the sculpture as monumental by definition,
this relative opinion originally
Egyptian of the sculpture rejects
without appeal and confusedly the
Greek statuary (by a plan reducing
the Hercule Farnèse to segments
of directed rights, Humbert tends
to prove the deficiency of statics
of this statue, and sets it against
the Egyptian giants, always stable
and symmetric), Michel-Ange, but
above all the Bernin. It is in fact
any shape of realism that is so
condemned, in the name of the
requirement first and absolved
of greatness and symbol. « Misfortune in any statue which calls
back rather the model than the granite rock », exclaims Humbert, criticizing radically any attempt of
the sculptor, whatever the period
is, to deviate from the monumental statuary on condition still that
it limits itself to the creation of
noble and quiet forms, that is privileging in an otherwise colossal
at least monumental size, a symmetry and « a horizontalisme » 27.
Towards an art, which he considers as imitative, susceptible to
go away too easily from the simple
sign - because this is the way he
defines at first painting - Humbert de Superville can only be suspicious. He denounces the appeal
made for the imagination, the
seduction operated on the senses
to the detriment of the thought. It
27. L’expression est dans le texte, Humbert, 1827,
p. 56
is there naturally that shows itself
the scale of the criticism of any
romantic art.
Humbert much less read and
known that Quatremère at the
appropriate time, knew a common
offspring with him in a fundamental work for the generation of the
artists of the last third part of the
century, which appeared under
its definitive shape in 1867 : The
grammar of Charles Blanc’s arts
of drawing 28. This work was, in
its domain one of the most spread
and the most read of its time both
by the artists and by the amateurs.
It constitutes one of the first references of formal structure, which
exists in the field of the artistic
culture. Yet it presents a resumption pushed enough by the theory
of the unconditional signs of the
art of Humber de Superville 29.
But it also makes use of concepts
of imitation and of convention
by being inspired directly by the
Treaty of Quatremère. He indeed
reaffirms with strength the distinction between copy and imitation, in particular in his condemnation of the polychromy in
sculpture, the molding on natural
28. Publiée in extenso en trente-huit articles
publiés dans la Gazette des beaux-arts entre 1860
et 1866, elle parut en version complète en 1867 et
fut considérée comme « une œuvre capitale »,
« l’ouvrage d’esthétique pratique le plus important
qu’eût produit notre pays » écrit Eugène Guillaume.
L’édition disponible est celle de l’ENSBA, Paris, 2000.
29. Voir à ce sujet Claire Barbillon, « L’esthétique
des lignes ou Charles Blanc lecteur d’Humbert de
Superville », La Revue de l’Art, n° 146 / 2004-4.
or the worse still of the introduction of foreign materials : « Let us
suppose that the sculptor dares to
put on the face of a hero a real helmet, a real shell, a real linen and
real materials, he will not make
an imitation but a pure pleonasm,
because all the times when there
is identity of material between the
represented thing and what represents it, there is no imitation in
the sense of the art, there is repetition ». This sentence which can
be inspired by the use of fabrics
in the effigies of the popular
art (we think of the dressed Virgins worshipped in sanctuaries)
is really prophetic if we think of
the caused scandal, about fifteen
years after the publication of this
text, by The small 14-year-old dancer of Degas, dressed in a real tutu
and presented to the impressionistic exhibition of 1881. « So that
the works of the artist carry the
imprint of its genius, it is important that they distinguish themselves from natural works, and
that far from trying an impossible
deceit, they accuse a human origin
by expressing human feelings, and
something that the nature does
not possess, the thought. What do
I say ? The more an art is similar
to the nature by certain sides, the
more he has to differ from it under
other aspects, hardly to lose its
quality of art imitator, to become a
simple process of repetition » 30.
30. Grammaire des Arts du Dessin, Sculpture,
chapitre XIV.
39
Blanc develops the autonomy of
the plastic language, in a rigorous separation of the arts (which
he organizes into a hierarchy
moreover quite as Quatremère
and Humbert, placing the architecture before the sculpture then
painting. His modernity, the use
which made the neo-impressionists of some passages of the
Grammar, in particular those who
in the part dedicated to painting,
allowed to dread under a clear and
understandable shape of the theoretical reports of Goethe, Newton,
Chevreul was worth to the qualification of modern. The wide
quotations of the Grammar inserted by Signac into from Eugène
Delacroix to the neo-impressionism bounce, certainly, on the
theories presented and analyzed
by Blanc, those of Delacroix in
particular 31.
31. Paul Signac, D’Eugène Delarcoix au néoimpressionnisme, introduction et notes par
Françoise Cachin, Paris, Hermann, coll. Savoir, 1987.
Charles Blanc y sert d’introduction à la Delacroix,
dans les citations introduites p. 57 et 85
40
But it would not know how to
mask his fundamental classicism
and his idealism. It is a little forced however also to summarize
like that was made in the name
of the Academy, the objectives
of Charles Blanc in a Manichean
fight between materialism and
spiritualism in the art, which
he would have embodied. But it
seems relevant to see in his work
a big manual worker of classic
aesthetics and to remind that it
draws widely its foundations to
Quatremère, what we risk to forget in the reading of a letter of
Théo Van Gogh to his brother Vincent, in 1885.« I put the work of
Ch. Blanc in the box containing
the studies, as well as a Bible on
behalf of Moe ».
CLAIRE BARBILLON
GENERAL STUDIES
THE ARCHAIC AND EXOTIC
IN THE AULIC ARCHITECTURE
O F P E R C I E R A N D F O N TA I N E
Lecturer, Syracuse University,
New-York, USA
Champion of the pre-revolutionary monarchy during the Restoration, the Comtesse de Genlis
despised Napoléon’s court. She
found the protocol ridiculous,
so different from the customs
established by the French court,
even insinuating that the artificiality of imperial ritual could
be explained by the use of actors,
brought in by Napoléon’s masters of ceremony. The Comtesse
also hated the decorative art of
the Empire. According to her, the
heavy forms and pretentious iconography of Empire furniture
could never match the elegance of
royal furniture. For the Comtesse,
the garish interior of the Empire
poorly masked the lack of political
legitimacy and social responsibility of its sponsors.
This Napoleonic etiquette is in
fact based on entirely different principles from those of the
monarchy before. While the protocol of the former regime governed the rank and favour of the
courtiers according to a time scale
which specified the duration of
their attendance with the sovereign, that of the Empire tended
to advocate a more spatial measurement. As with other European courts, including that of
Rome, guests would have their
status proclaimed more or less
just before entering an enfilade,
of which the last was reserved for
the exclusive use of the emperor.
The King of France was constantly
visible to all his subjects, and his
favour was marked by the length
of his discussion with guests ;
the appearances of the French
Emperor, hidden deep in enfilades,
meticulously followed a protocol
which was based on architecture.
This transformation of the ritual
came from a decisive change that
occurred in the 18th century : the
desacralisation of the monarch. In
fact, from the middle of the century, the religious model, which
had cultivated the concept of royal
absolutism - a model by which the
41
physical body of the King was at
one with the realm’s political body
- gave way to a more utilitarian
concept of power. Victim of the
decline of religiousness and the
progress of critical thinking, the
Christ-like aura of the royal presence dissipated in favour of a representation of the state which was
based on the separation of the
leader’s body from the exercise of
his authority.
The decline of the majesty of
the sovereign’s body in favour
of a mise-en-scène of his actions
would have profound implications
on the Aulic space of the French
court. With a more spatial ritual
came an increased formality of
the room, and a more meticulous
attention brought to the role of
furniture, decorative objects and
their arrangement. The forfeiture of the King’s physical body
incited architects to neglect his
apartments, especially the design
of his bedroom, in order to focus
on places where he appeared in
public. Thus, the architects at the
end of the century showed little regard for the King’s bed, but
would display a renewed interest
in his throne. This represented a
dramatic change. Contrary to what
was happening in other European
monarchies, in France, it was the
King’s bed and not his throne,
which traditionally symbolized
his temporal authority. Louis XIV,
for example, only used his throne
in exceptional circumstances,
42
such as for the reception of important ambassadors. The Kings of
France presided over the Assembly of the Parliament of Paris, during which the royal edicts were
recorded while sitting on a bed
as opposed to a throne ; this ceremony was also called « the bed
of justice ». Despite the fact that
the royal bed dominated French
ceremony, the most innovative
architects towards the end of the
Ancien Régime reduced its importance within their palace projects.
In their sketches for Versailles,
Marie-Joseph Peyre (1730-1785)
and his brother Antoine-François
(1739-1823) - known respectively
as Peyre the Elder and Peyre the
Younger - thus designed grandiose settings for large public ceremonies, multiplying in their plans
the series of lounges, the spacious banqueting halls and, most
especially, the splendid throne
rooms. Called in by Napoléon to
design the material structure of
his court, students of Peyre the
Younger, the architects Charles
Percier (1764-1838) and PierreLéonard Fontaine (1762-1853) followed in the footsteps of their
master. To meet the needs of the
imperial court, they adapted the
enfilades of rooms, the banquet
halls and throne rooms designed
by their teacher. Paradoxically,
Percier and Fontaine shaped the
new imperial ritual by repeatedly
referring to the past. As the Peyre
brothers had done before them,
they essentially sought inspiration in classical antiquity, but
also in the Grand Siècle, the decor
itself serving to legitimize the
new regime resulting from this
revolutionary turmoil. They simplified and standardized the layout of imperial palaces in order
to establish monumental compositions in the spirit of imperial
Roman architecture. In their furniture, as with their decorative
projects, they favoured the purity
of geometric shapes and volumes
while multiplying the number of
smooth and unsculpted surfaces,
which they contrasted with bright
colours and gilded surfaces. After
analysis one may even claim that
a certain primitiveness guided
their drawings of buildings and
furniture. Rejecting the ceremonial protocol and forms of the
early 18th century, Percier and Fontaine wished to eliminate what
they identified as the pernicious
influence of Louis XV’s architects
and decorators on palace architecture. They aimed to improve
the Grand Siècle by purifying it
with references to classical Antiquity enhanced by aesthetics of
the sublime. Their new layouts
and archaic decorative forms were
enough to call into question the
famous words of Madame de Staël,
according to whom Napoléon had
only to ‘have the walls re-done’ to
restore the monarchy when he
took possession of the Tuileries
palace 1. By consciously moving
away from the ceremonies of the
Bourbons, Napoléon and his architects instead wanted to orchestrate a renewal of the aulic space
in France, a project whose origins
date back, paradoxically, to the
bold designs of the architects of
the old court.
THE REFORM OF THE FRENCH
AU L I C SPACE U N DER
T HE A N CI EN RÉGI M E
The Palace of Versailles was the
French monarchy’s emblematic
residence, yet suffered nonetheless from an erratic layout.
Louis XIV himself had regretted
these flaws; following the great
King’s example, his successors
also worked hard to correct this.
Inheriting his father’s position as
Louis XV’s head architect in April
1742, Ange-Jacques Gabriel proposed several projects in order
to improve Versailles. His plans
for a « grand design", of which
the first date back to 1743-1744
according to the historian Christopher Tadgell, aimed to correct
the palace’s most glaring imperfections 2. As his predecessors in
1. Anne-Louis-Germaine de Staël, Considérations
sur les principaux événements de la Révolution
Françoise, ouvrage posthume de Madame la
Baronne de Staël, 2e éd., Ed. Duc de Broglie et
Baron de Staël. 3 vol. (Paris : Delaunay, Libraire
et Bossange et Masson, Libraires, 1818), vol. 2,
pp. 256-57; quoted by Philip Mansel, The Eagle in
Splendour : Napoléon I and his Court (Londres :
George Philip, 1987), p. 11.
2. Christopher Tadgell, «Gabriel’s Grands Projets»,
The Architectural Review 157, n° 937 (March 1975),
155-64 and Christopher Tadgell, Ange-Jacques
43
the service of the Royal Buildings,
Gabriel sought to harmonize the
garden facade with that of the
court, thus providing the latter
with the central element, which
it lacked. Gabriel also wished to
replace the Ambassadors’ Staircase, which was close to collapsing; he proposed a new staircase,
which he brought further forward
in the royal court so that its angle
would lead off to the Hercules
salon, a new antechamber, which
was added to the large apartment
as of 1710. Finally, the royal family longed for better adapted living areas : state apartments, inner
and private apartments were necessary to improve the incongruous arrangement left by Louis
XIV. Going against etiquette, the
King in fact used his regular bed
from 1701 for ceremonies, which
would normally have taken place
in his chamber of state. In November 1771, Louis XV gave the order
to implement Gabriel’s project.
As in his previous sketches, the
architect retained the ‘envelope’
constructed by Le Vau and Hardouin-Mansart [FIG. 1]. However,
he replaced all of the rooms facing the Marble court and the
royal court with a composition
centred around a vast gallery of
paintings and a large cabinet. On
each side of this cabinet, Gabriel
Gabriel (Londres : A. Zwemmer, 1978), 32-36 et 68-94.
Christian Baulez adds nothing new to Tadgell’s
analysis; Christian Baulez, « Le Grand Projet», in
Les Gabriel, directed by Michel Gallet and Yves
Bottineau, 2nd Edition (Paris : Picard, 2004), 182-93.
44
placed two symmetrical apartments, one to the north for the
King, the other to the south for
the Queen. Behind this sequence,
around two inner courtyards,
there were the sovereigns’ private
apartments. Although it would
never be finished, Gabriel’s ‘grand
design’ inspired many architects
in their own reconstruction projects for Versailles. Among them,
the Peyre brothers drew up plans
in which large public rooms would
supersede these royal apartments.
Unlike their predecessor, the Peyres aimed primarily at establishing a setting worthy of a monarch
of the Enlightenment, even at the
expense of comfort.
In a paper entitled Dissertation comparing layouts of the
Ancients and the Moderns, and
their use of columns, published in
the Mercure de France in August
1773 and part of the second edition of his Œuvres d’Architecture,
Marie-Joseph Peyre criticized the
attention given to the residential
aspect of palace architecture 3. He
rejected the supposed expertise of
the Moderns as far as layout was
concerned, which was the architectural part that the teacher and
3. Marie-Joseph Peyre, « Dissertation sur les
distributions des Anciens comparées à celles
des Modernes, et sur leur manière d’employer les
colonnes», Le Mercure de France. Dédié au Roi (août
1773), pp. 161-80. Republished in the second edition
of his treatise, the Œuvres D’Architecture de MarieJoseph Peyre, Ancien Pensionnaire De L’Académie A
Rome. Nouvelle Édition, Augmentée d’un Discours
sur les monuments des anciens, comparés aux
nôtres, et sur leur manière d’employer les colonnes
(Paris : Chez l’Éditeur, 1795), pp. 9-18.
FIG. 1
Plan des appartements de Versailles
par Ange-Jacques Gabriel, architecte à la cour de Louis XV.
theorist Jacques-François Blondel
considered as France’s most
important contribution to the art
of construction. A strong advocate of imperial Roman architecture, notably that of large
Roman baths, Peyre argued that
the Classical architects were able
to marry a comfortable layout
with grandiose spaces, unlike his
contemporaries, who would only
conceive buildings which were
cramped 4. For Peyre, the layout
4. «We could at least have imitated the grand genre
of the Ancients from time to time, and used it in the
of the Chateau de Versailles perfectly illustrated this defect. The
architecture deplored the lack of
suitable areas for the ceremonies,
which took place there, a problem that Gabriel sought to remedy by adding new states rooms.
Peyre also condemned the palace’s
cramped rooms, according to him
insufficient to accommodate the
large numbers of visitors who
palace of the sovereigns; but we did not dare. The
Romans treated the common houses as grand; we
treat the houses of Princes as little.» Peyre, Œuvres
d’architecture (1795), p. 12.
45
would flock there at any time 5. If
Gabriel sought to harmonize the
sovereign’s personal needs with
those of the royal spectacle, Peyre
the Elder focused exclusively on
the mise-en-scène of the monarch’s public life.
Thanks to his Plan of a Sovereign’s Palace, Peyre intended to
improve Versailles by drawing
on inspiration from Roman thermal architecture, which he had
studied in Rome in the 1750s
[FIG. 2] 6. Instead of long twinned
sequences forming Versailles
large and small apartments, the
latter of which took sunlight
from the inner courtyards, Peyre
considered a more compact plan,
in the centre of which he raised
large vaulted rooms lit by high
windows in the manner of Roman
frigidaria. The architect assigned
these ‘stunning ceremonies’ with
grand vessels finished off with an
apse and adorned with columns 7.
On either side of these volumes
he placed smaller rooms designed
for convenience. Although he kept
the parade apartments facing the
garden he moved the alignment of
their doors, shifting them towards
the midpoint of each room.
Thanks to this explorative composition bringing together vast
halls covering several floors with
more intimate rooms, in which he
varied the geometric shapes and
FIG. 2
Projet de plan d’un palais pour un souverain
Marie-Joseph Peyre
46
5. Ibid.
6. Peyre, Œuvres d’architecture (1765), image 16.
7. Ibid., p. 23
multiplied the number of axial
circulations and screens of columns, Peyre took the elements of
Roman architecture, which had
had such an impact on him during
his stay in Italy, and adapted them
to Versailles.
Peyre’s reformist aims for the layout of French palaces enjoyed a
wider audience with the Versailles
reconstruction project started
under Louis XVI by the last director general of the Ancien Régime’s
royal buildings, Charles-Claude
Flahault de la Billardrie, Count of
Angiviller. Promoter of an energetic artistic propaganda in the
service of a vacillating monarchy, Angiviller organised a consultation at the beginning of the
1780s, aiming to review Gabriel’s
‘Grand Design’, which was curtailed after the accession of the
new king. Angiviller invited several renowned architects to collaborate with this venture, including
the Peyre brothers 8. Made responsible by Napoléon in 1807 to draw
up plans for the restoration of
Versailles, Fontaine lamented the
dismal quality of projects which
had been submitted to Angiviller 9. Among these proposals, only
8. Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, Journal
1799-1853. 2 vols. (Paris : École nationale supérieure
des Beaux-arts; Institut français d’architecture;
Société de l’histoire de l’art français, 1987), p. 179
and pp. 1074-1075. On Angiviller’s consultation and
subsequent projects, see the comments made by
Annick Heitzmann in Napoléon et Versailles (Paris :
Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux,
2005), pp. 44-46.
9. Fontaine, Journal, p. 179.
47
that of Peyre the Younger showed
enthusiasm. He was full of praise
for his master’s plan, claiming it
was « so perfect, it is impossible,
even in the smallest details, to
recognize obstacles or defects of a
restored work.» 10. Fontaine specifically designated the proposal as
a model of different sketches for
the palace of the king in Rome,
which he developed with Percier,
this vast dynastic residence that
Napoléon wished to have built
on the hill of Chaillot in Paris.
Had it been completed, the King’s
palace in Rome would have seen
the materialization of some of
the most accomplished ideas of
Napoléon’s architects concerning
ideal Aulic forms.
The plans, which Peyre the
Younger drew up for the reconstruction of Versailles, anticipated in effect the regularity and
formality of the layouts adopted
by Percier and Fontaine at Chaillot. In 1818 Peyre the Younger
published two of his proposals
in his Œuvres d’Architecture 11. In
its first project [FIG. 3], he amplified the Chateau’s central body
10. Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard
Fontaine, Résidences de souverains. Parallèle entre
plusieurs résidences de souverains de France,
d’Allemagne, de Suède, de Russie, d’Espagne, et
d’Italie, 2 vols. (Paris : Chez les auteurs, 1833), p. 118.
11. Antoine-François II Peyre, Œuvres d’Architecture
de A. F. Peyre, Architecte, membre de l’Institut,
de l’Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, Chevalier
des ordres royaux de Saint-Michel et de la Légion
d’Honneur (Paris : Chez l’auteur, 1818). Plans drawn
up for the first project, corresponding to picture
n°7 are preserved at the Versailles archive service,
Liasse 5, n° 10
48
in order to provide it with new
royal apartments. It included new
enfilades on the periphery of
two new courts, to the north and
south of the Marble Court, itself
expanded and regularized. Like
Gabriel, he kept the main gallery
and the grand apartments of the
king and queen of Louis XIV’s chateau. He also provided for two new
monumental staircases at the
entrance of the royal court. However, he completely rebuilt large
apartments, expanding each room
within them to transform them
into salons with no particular purpose. He replaced the circulation
of this enfilade, which was relegated to the outside wall by axial
paths, in the same manner, which
his brother Marie-Joseph had
adopted in his project for the ideal
palace. [FIG. 2] 12.
Similar to Percier and Fontaine’s
design for Chaillot, the second
draft of Peyre the Younger is
doubtlessly the one, which Fontaine considered so successful. In
this design, Peyre followed Gabriel
closely : the eastern half of the
new building he had planned for
the royal court was an exact copy
of the plan of Louis XV’s architect.
As with Gabriel, Peyre featured
two royal apartments on the main
facade on either side of a central
hall, respecting the only directive
12. Marie-Joseph Peyre, Œuvres d’Architecture De
Marie-Joseph Peyre, Architecte, ancien Pensionnaire
du Roi à Rome, Inspecteur des Bâtiments de Sa
Majesté (Paris : Chez Prault et Jombert, 1765),
illustration 16.
FIG. 3
Œuvre d’architecture de Antoine-Francois Peyre
Plan du premier projet pour la reconstruction de Versailles, 1818
49
FIG. 4
Plan du 1er étage des appartements royaux, Versailles
Antoine-Francois Peyre
50
given by Louis XVI at the beginning of the consultation : that
the royal apartment be located on
the chateau’s main facade, as had
been the case for his predecessor
[FIG. 4]. Still following Gabriel’s
example, Peyre developed a central
axis perpendicular to this enfilade, and inserted a gallery with
overhead lighting between two
courtyards flanked by two smaller
rooms. However, he distanced himself from his predecessor by doubling Gabriel’s plan, thus creating
a cruciform gallery located at the
centre of four indoor courtyards.
Peyre’s interest in the renewal
of Aulic ceremony could explain
this radical transformation of
Gabriel’s part. While Louis XV’s
first architect had created several
distinct apartments for the royal
couple (according to his plan, the
king and queen would have each
had a parade apartment, interior
apartment and a private apartment), Peyre limited royal housing to two royal suites located
on the new building’s facade. He
accompanied this reduction in the
monarchs’ comfort by a prolonged
ceremonial route to be taken by
visitors. Despite a more narrowed
design - made possible by the
overhead lighting with which he
had equipped the new gallery, as
Gabriel and Peyre the Elder had
both done [FIG. 5] - Peyre the Younger achieved the same objective
as in his first plan : to enlarge and
monumentalize the path of royal
guests. This was in fact longer in
his second proposition than in his
first : to gain access to the royal
chamber, visitors would have had
to cross not only the five rooms
of one of the original large apartments, but also half of the Hall of
Mirrors, the entire length of the
new gallery provided for by Peyre,
the new large cabinet, and the new
first royal antechamber before
reaching their goal. Peyre completed the extension of this route by
adding sumptuous rooms based
on new designs : he provided for
an extensive banqueting hall and
a grandiose Throne room in the
north and south wings of the cruciform gallery. He gave pride of
place to the royal throne, which
he incorporated into his longitudinal section of the new gallery.
Flanked by columns and statues
and covered with a semi-circular
arch, the throne stood out on a
dais imitating a heraldic mantle
surrounding the royal arms and
surmounted with a pavilion. By its
grandiloquence, this architectural
and decorative composition was
in sharp contrast with the Throne
rooms, which had been designed
in French palaces up until then,
rooms whose soberness distinguished them from the majestic parade chambers. The Throne
room designed by Peyre for Versailles served as an inspiration
for that of the Tuileries by Percier
and Fontaine.
51
Even though he had been strongly
influenced by Gabriel, Peyre the
Younger’s second project completely transformed the plans of the
first architect. In going beyond
these plans, he shook up Gabriel’s
meticulous layout and transfigured it into a composition, which
was both archaic in its forms and
unusual for the material context
of the French court. The little interest, which Peyre showed for the
royal apartments, represented a
radical departure from the practices of royal architects such as
Gabriel, one of whose main tasks
was the constant redevelopment
of the royal apartments. His multiplication of salons with no particular usage (that is to say, not
part of any specific apartment)
in order to lengthen the chateau’s
enfilades destroyed any temporal measure, which had characterized the Ancien Régime. The
central position given to the banqueting hall and the Throne room
is also unprecedented at Versailles. The « Grand Couvert » ceremony, which would have been held
in the first one, usually took place
in the antechambers, which had
been specially arranged for these
proceedings and not in a specific
room reserved only for this use.
Similarly, the Throne room at Versailles never reached neither the
dimensions nor the importance of
that proposed by Peyre ; it remained simply part of the parade
apartment. Peyre accompanied
52
his innovative interpretation
of the French Aulic space with
archaistic usages and forms. By
proposing a single royal bed (instead of two, as Gabriel had done),
he restored to Versailles the uneven layouts adopted by Louis XIV.
He also increased nostalgic references to the Grand Siècle by keeping those parade apartments and
Hall of Mirrors constructed by the
great king. In wishing to eliminate the dross accumulated throughout the 18th century, he refined
the layout of Louis XIV’s chateau
by subjecting it to values from
Antiquity.
P E R C I E R A N D FO N TA I N E A N D
I M P E R IA L R ES I D E N C ES
Percier and Fontaine carried on
the exotic and archaistic vision of
the Peyre brothers in their proposition for the palaces of Napoléon.
Their works began during the Consulate, even before the constitution of the royal court. As of October 1801, three years before the
accession of Napoléon to the title
of French Emperor, the First Consul ordered his architects to renovate the Château of Saint-Cloud 13.
Plans for Saint-Cloud remained
unpublished up until now, and
may be associated with these
works [FIG. 6] 14. On a considerably
smaller scale, one can see the debt
13. Fontaine, Journal, p. 34
14. I express my sincere thanks to Michaël
Decrossas for having shared with me these plans,
conserved at the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud.
FIG. 5
Vue de la Nouvelle galerie, Versailles,
Antoine-François Peyre
which Percier and Fontaine owed
towards Peyre the Younger. As
with that of Versailles, the First
Consul’s architects simplified
and monumentalized the plans of
Saint-Cloud. As with their professor, they removed many internal
partitions in order to standardize
the rooms and make them symmetrical. They also introduced new
elements, including a banqueting
hall and rooms adapted to the consular, militaristic and anti-clerical
regime (a suite for the State Secretary, a topographic cabinet, and
the transformation of the chapel
into a library). Finally, just like
Peyre, Percier and Fontaine featured a new axis at the centre of
the building, transforming the
building’s original configuration
into a . shape. In order to do this,
they opened the rooms located at
the centre of the chateau between
court and garden (the salon for
Ministers and Hearings, an open
space and a banqueting hall), and
then articulated them, once again
following their master’s example
by using groups of columns.
53
The formalization of usages,
and therefore of spaces, of the
Napoléonic court entered a new
phase with the decree of May
1804 which placed Bonaparte at
the head of the Empire. This accession was sealed by a grand coronation, celebrated at Notre-Dame de
Paris in December of the same
year. A more precise imperial ceremony – codified in a textbook entitled Étiquette du Palais Impérial,
of which the first edition was
published in March/April 1805 replaced the unclear usage of the
Consulate 15. The Étiquette du Palais Impérial aimed not only to
modify the behaviour of the courtiers of the Empire ; it also made
the Tuileries Palace, the Parisian headquarters of Napoléonic
power, a model for the layout of
all the other imperial residences 16.
Despite its many flaws, the Tuileries became the privileged field
for exploration of the Aulic project
of Napoléon and his architects, at
least up until the Emperor started
to entertain more ambitious projects such as the refurbishment of
FIG. 6
Plan pour Saint-Cloud
Percier et Fontaine
54
15. Étiquette du Palais Impérial (Paris : Imprimerie
impériale, Germinal an XIII [March-April 1805]);
Étiquette du Palais Impérial (Paris : Imprimerie
impériale, 1806); Étiquette du Palais Impérial
(Paris : Imprimerie impériale, 1808); Organisation
de la maison de l’Empereur et de l’Impératrice, et
Règlement sur l’étiquette du palais impérial (Paris :
De l’Imprimerie impériale, 1810); Organisation
De l’Imprimerie impériale, 1811).
16. « Autant que cela est possible, les Palais
impériaux sont distribués comme celui des
Tuileries. » Organisation de la maison de l’Empereur
(1810), p. 131.
Versailles or the construction of
an entirely new palace in Paris 17.
Ever present, Peyre’s influence
started however to fade during the
work of Percier and Fontaine at
the Tuileries. The Empire would in
fact not last long enough to enable
the architects to complete all the
changes necessary to adapt the
palace to imperial usages. Napoléon’s architects could not come
up with plans as ambitious as
those of Louis-Philippe when he
planned to reside at the Tuileries
after his accession to the throne.
The spatial logic of imperial ceremony called for an increase in
the number of rooms in which
the courtiers could or could not
stay, depending on their status,
and Percier and Fontaine limited
themselves to restoring, or sometimes extending, the Tuileries’
existing enfilades.
Changes made to the Tuileries followed in line with the growing precision of imperial ceremony, itself
derived from an emulation of the
customs of other European courts.
We can classify the five editions
of the Étiquette du Palais Impérial
17. For the Tuileries under the Empire, read
Guillaume Fonkenell’s Le Palais des Tuileries
(Paris : Éditions Honoré Clair, 2010), and its
bibliography. For the furnishing of this palace
under the Empire and the Restoration period, read
Colombe Samoyault-Verlet’s « Les appartements
des souverains en France au XIXe siècle, » dans Hof,
KulturundPolitikim 19. Jahrhundert : Akten des
18. Deutsch-französischen Historikerkolloquiums
Darmstadt vom 27. - 30. September 1982, ed. Karl
Ferdinand Werner (Bonn : Ludwig RöhrscheidVerlag,
1985), pp. 121-137.
55
into two groups (see table I) 18. The
first, including the publications
of 1805, 1806 and 1808, was developed in the wake of the coronation. It laid the foundations for the
layout of Napoléonic residences
by designating the three types
of apartment needed by the royal
couple. The ceremony thus recognized one large apartment for
representation and two ordinary
apartments, one for the Emperor
and the other for the Empress,
which in turn were divided up into
an apartment of honour and an
interior apartment. A manuscript
entitled Regulations for the furnishing of Imperial Palaces of July
25th, 1805 specified the necessary
furnishing for every room of the
apartment 23 Consisting of a guard
room, a first and second salon, a
Throne room, the Emperor’s salon
and a gallery, the large apartment
for representation was the only
one of the three suites renovated
at Versailles during the Empire
which would remain the same,
despite changes in usage which
can be noted by consulting the
various editions of the Étiquette.
It would retain the form adopted
under the regency of Anne of
Austria.
18. Étiquette du Palais Impérial (Paris : Imprimerie
impériale, 1806); Étiquette du Palais Impérial
(Paris : Imprimerie impériale, 1808); Organisation
De l’Imprimerie impériale, 1810); Organisation
De l’Imprimerie impériale, 1811).
56
A lack of time and resources prevented Percier and Fontaine from
reproducing the ambitious projects of Peyre the Younger. They
were nonetheless inspired by the
work of their master, especially
for the Throne room of the Tuileries, a central element of the apartment of representation. In fact,
the decor they designed for the
imperial throne bore a striking
resemblance to that adopted by
Peyre [FIG. 7] As its model before,
it included a dais matching the
shape of a heraldic mantle. However, Percier and Fontaine moved
away from their source of inspiration in the design of the throne.
Composed of simple geometric
shapes - a cubic seat surmounted
by a round back -, Napoléon’s
throne evokes the age-old and primitive origins of imperial power.
The second group of editions of
the Étiquette, made up from the
versions of 1810 and 1811, coincided with the second marriage of
the Emperor to the Arch-Duchesse
Marie-Louise of Austria in March
1810. The arrival of a Habsburger
to the Parisian court marked a
turning point in the formalities
of protocol. In a competitive spirit between the imperial houses
of France and Austria, the regulation describes more accurately
the houses of the Emperor and
Empress. The same concern for
emulation between the French
empire and European monarchies led Percier and Fontaine to
FIG. 7
Décor du Trône de l’Empereur
Salle du Trône, Palais des Tuileries, Paris
Percier et Fontaine, 1805-1810
57
FIG. 8
Salon de Maréchaux, Palais des Tuileries, Paris
58
document the key palaces of the
continent. Published late in 1833,
under the title of Résidences de
Souverains, this collection of
drawings consisted solely of plans,
the type of architectural representation best suited to revealing the
differences between the ceremonies of European courts.
Due to a greater solemnity of
usages, the most significant
changes at the Tuileries were
made to the ordinary apartments
of the Emperor and Empress.
Thus, between 1805 and 1810, the
two sequences of rooms forming
the Emperor’s ordinary apartment
were lengthened considerably. In
1805, the Emperor’s apartment
of honour only included a guard
room, as well as a first and second
salon, while the interior apartment consisted of a bedroom, a
study, a back room and a topographical office. As of 1808, this enfilade was extended. The architects
moved the Emperor’s bedroom
to the penultimate place in the
sequence, in a new room formed
by the fusion of Louis XIV’s former
bedroom and cabinet. They transformed the Emperor’s old bedroom
into an extra cabinet of the apartment of honour. The Étiquette du
Palais Impérial indicated that the
Emperor’s bedroom would mark
the boundary between the two sections of his ordinary apartment;
the apartment of honour was
thus magnified, going from three
to five rooms. This also served to
extend the register governing spatial limits to which the Emperor
could have recourse.
In order to extend the Emperor’s
ordinary apartment at the Tuileries, Percier and Fontaine removed
these small rooms, of which the
expert rearrangement had long
been regarded as a French specialty. The architects thus aligned
their work with that of MarieJoseph Peyre in order to repudiate any excessive refinement in
the layout. In their comments concerning the Chateau de Versailles
published in Résidences de Souverains, they protested against
the changes undertaken at Louis
XIV’s chateau by a successor who
was too enamoured by comfort 19.
In the same document, they
showed a more favourable judgment towards the layout of the
Chateau de Compiègne. They nevertheless justified to removing
the ‘small divisions’ of the plans
on the grounds that the old royal
usages were incompatible with
the new imperial practices 20. Aiming above all for the truly majestic,
they reasoned, should not Aulic
architecture be only concerned
19. « The corruption of morals, of which the arts, and
especially of architecture, are too often subject to
the most baneful of influences, had under Louis XV
created a need for small mysterious apartments,
the use of secret boudoirs, hidden staircases,
winding corridors, and all the little conveniences
of caprice that weakness and depravity require,
but which is difficult to obtain without offending
the correct code of artistic practice.» Percier et
Fontaine, Résidences de souverains, p. 117.
20. Ibid., pp. 150-151.
59
with size 21? Their master also subscribed to this aesthetic of the sublime. Seeing beauty only in places
of large dimensions, Napoléon
would always be opposed to the
subdivision of the vast square
that a fusion of the Tuileries and
the Louvre would have formed if
it had been completed during his
reign. Rejecting the arguments of
his architects who claimed that a
compartmentalization would be
necessary to hide any misalignment between the two palaces,
the emperor instead argued that,
on the contrary, « its scope and
immensity can make one forget
the many defects» 22.
The archaic layouts forcing Percier
and Fontaine to condemn the use
of small apartments in royal residences, accompanied by the preservation and even the pastiche of
decorative elements from the 17th
century. In his plans for Versailles,
Peyre the Younger had kept few of
the original decorative elements except that of the Hall of Mirrors
which had been included [FIG. 5].
Moreover, it is hard to see how the
architect could have kept the decoration of the other rooms while
the proposed changes there were
so significant. Unlike their master, Percier and Fontaine sought
to highlight the most ornamental fragments, which remained at
the Tuileries. Napoléon himself
doubtlessly wanted to preserve
these relics, witnesses to this palace’s role as « sanctuary of the
monarchy,» as he put it 23. Percier
and Fontaine would mention with
pride that, thanks to them, the
large apartment of representation
at the Tuileries has regained the
very appearance it had presented
under the regency of Anne of Austria 24. Only the Salon des Maréchaux, the apartment’s former guard
room, featured a brand new decor,
although it evoked a much older
royal architecture, that of the 16th
century, with its replicas of caryatides sculpted by Jean Goujon
for the guard room of the Louvre
under Henri II [FIG. 8].
However, the decors that Percier
and Fontaine had designed for
the Tuileries were never accurate
archaeologically speaking. While
their new compositions were
inspired by forms from the Grand
Siècle, they were also purged of
any influence from the Baroque.
Thus, for the guard-room of the
Emperor’s ordinary apartment,
the architects deemed it untimely
to restore the paint of the trompel’œil ceiling, even though it had
been ordered by the Regent herself. Finding this decor somewhat
unsuitable for an apartment, they
replaced it with a pattern with
compartments, similar to the one
they had made for the Emperor’s
new bedroom [FIG. 9]. In both cases,
their geometrical compositions
21. Ibid., pp. 341-342.
22. Ibid., pp. 55-56.
23. Ibid., p. 66.
24. Ibid., pp. 49-50.
60
FIG. 9
Décor du plafond de la chambre de l’Empereur
Palais des Tuileries, Paris
61
enriched with robust ornaments
were reminiscent of those that
Charles Errard and Charles Le
Brun had featured under the
Regency in other rooms of the palace 25. Fontaine stated in his Journal how their taste for decorative
forms, inspired by the 17th century,
had earned them the wrath of the
Empress Joséphine. A fashionable
woman, she had in fact reproached
them, according to him, « that
instead of the pretty things which
she had requested we have overloaded on the paneling and the
heavy and unfashionable ornamental ceilings» 26. The Empress
had probably misunderstood the
political aims of these archaistic
decors of Napoléon’s architects.
For the Empire to be seen as a
golden new age, it had to be even
more outstanding than the century of Louis XIV had ever been ;
only a wise emulation of the very
best models from Antiquity could
lead to this end.
of the French court, Peyre had
indeed proposed a reconstruction
plan for Versailles in which he put
in place a new form of ceremony.
This foreign protocol was primarily intended to introduce a ranking measurement based on space
and not time. To this end, Peyre
had designed long enfilades of
rooms in order to establish markers, which would denote privilege
or favour. For the courtiers of Versailles, accustomed to constant
eye contact with their king, these
endless sequences must have seemed just as exotic as the vast
public rooms, which Peyre had featured at the centre of his plans.
The architect adorned this innovative layout with archaic forms.
Having destroyed the greater part
of Louis XIV’s chateau, he nevertheless retained significant parts
of the decor from the 17th century,
including the Hall of Mirrors. He
combined these elements with
other forms originating from a
primitivist vision of Antiquity,
a taste, which he shared with the
CONCLUSION
other French ‘Piranesians’ and one
While serving Napoléon, Percier which he transmitted to his pupils
and Fontaine transformed the Percier and Fontaine.
aulic space in France. They did
so by drawing on the projects of On a much humbler scale than
their master, Antoine-François that envisaged by their master,
Peyre, which were both exotic and Percier and Fontaine put architecarchaic. Contrary to the customs tural policies in place at the Tuileries which were similar to those
undertaken by Peyre at Versailles.
25. For these decors, see Nicolas Sainte Fare
Garnot, Le décor des Tuileries sous le règne de Louis To respect the imperial protocol
XIV (Paris : Éditions de la Réunion des musées
laid out in the Étiquette du Palais
nationaux, 1988).
Impérial, they altered the plans of
this palace in order to lengthen
the enfilades. They rearranged
unused rooms in the royal residences of the Ancien Régime,
such as the luxurious Throne
room. The geometric forms stripped from the throne that they had
designed for the Tuileries joined
the archaic spirit of their decor in
other parts of the palace. Wishing
to preserve as many historic features as possible, but also appreciating the simplicity of classical
forms, as their master had taught
them, Percier and Fontaine suc-
ceeded in creating a harmonious
synthesis of Antiquity and the
Grand Siècle. Insofar as the exotic and the archaic of Percier and
Fontaine’s palace architecture
took their roots from the Versailles reconstruction projects of
Peyre the Younger and his brother, it was Louis XVI, rather than
Napoléon I, who presided over the
transformation of the Aulic space
in France.
26. Fontaine, Journal, p. 218.
62
63
GENERAL STUDIES
D W E L L I N G A N D O R N A M E N TAT I O N ,
THE GRAPHIC LESSONS
O F P E R C I E R A N D F O N TA I N E
Scientific adviser.
Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Paris, France
Charles Percier (1764-1838)
and Pierre Fontaine (1762-1853)
count amongst the leading French
authorities on neo classical tastes.
By way of their three major publications, the first having as a subject palaces, houses and churches
of modern Rome 1, the second
dealing with interior decoration
and furnishings 2, and the third
dealing with country houses and
their gardens 3, they contributed
greatly in adding to the architectural models and decorative arts
1. Charles Percier et Pierre Fontaine, Palais, maisons
et autres édifices modernes dessinés à Rome, Paris,
les auteurs, 1798. Pour une mise en perspective
critique, on pourra se reporter à notre réédition
de cet ouvrage : Charles Percier et Pierre Fontaine,
Palais de Rome, Palais, maisons et autres édifices
modernes dessinés à Rome, présentation par JeanPhilippe Garric, Wavre, Mardaga, 2008.
2. Charles Percier et Pierre Fontaine, Recueil de
décorations intérieures, Paris, les auteurs, 1801-1812.
3. Choix des plus célèbres maisons de plaisance de
Rome et de ses environs, Paris, Pierre Didot l’aîné,
1809. Pour une mise en perspective critique, on
pourra se reporter à notre réédition de cet ouvrage :
Charles Percier et Pierre Fontaine, Villas de Rome.
Choix des plus célèbres maisons de plaisance de
Rome et de ses environs, reproduction intégrale de
l’édition de 1809 présentée par Jean-Philippe Garric,
Wavre, Mardaga, 2007.
64
of the epoch. In models, rather
than in principles and rules, for
those three volumes are anthologies, that is to say albums of
engraved templates accompanied
by brief commentaries where the
essential part of the contents is
explained by the engravings without the methods, precepts, or the
project’s conception being developed in a written format. This
type of theory by image was just
as capable of assuring the silent
demonstration of the principles
of compositions to student architects already more or less at ease
in the art of drawing or stenciling.
Students who were preparing for
the Rome Entrance Exam, rather
than spreading formal plans liable
to be copied more or less summarily by site managers without any
formal artistic training.
These books, in other words even
if they became standard reference works on the subject for the
majority of the 19th century and
even though they were widely pub-
lished were not available to everybody’s budget, nor were available
in all of the French regions containing houses, and even less so in
the French overseas territories and
colonies. These particular books,
did they come as far as Reunion
Island? And even if we could find
their trace, could we establish if
they were used by such and such
an architect or consulted by the
client? In fact as we will show, the
question of the model’s distribution cannot be resumed by a direct
knowledge of these major works,
their message circulated in a far
more indirect fashion, thanks to
far more accessible and modest
printed supports. The neoclassic
period characterized itself in effect
notably in France by a rapid expansion in the number of architectural
books published which allowed
one to approach more diverse and
numerous themes, and to reach a
wider and more varied readership 4.
That said, at the same time, as it
became more fashionable the theory of architecture became baser
and more vulgar; the examples of
production that addressed itself
to the craftsman or small private
owners were conceived from more
prestigious works by leading exponents of the arts of which they contributed to the spreading of the
message at the cost of more consequential deformations.
4. Jean-Philippe Garric, « La théorie de l’architecture
pour tous », in Philippe Grandcoing (dir.) Fermes
idéales en Limousin, Limoges, Editions Culture et
Patrimoine en Limousin, 2010, p. 15-30.
The lessons of Percier and Fontaine were therefore given directly
for both their students and for the
architects who were in contact and
who consulted their books and
who also belonged to Parisian academics circles which dominated
at this time, indirectly when they
were copied and distributed by
contemporaries who found inspiration. But this message, whatever it was, was more complex
than it appeared. Even though
three large volumes « in-folio»,
each treating a different scale of
the project, that of the edifice for
Palaces, houses, and other modern
edificies, that of interior decoration and furnishing an anthology
of Interior Decoration and that
of the grand designs of gardens
and parks in a choice selection of
famous holiday homes, they were
consulted by a common approach
as one would accord a major ornament and a detailed sculpture.
Neoclassics ? The two authors kept
with the antique models a connection that could seem paradoxical.
On one hand it seemed as if they
would deviate from the lesson of
the grand classical Roman monuments the study of which represented for their predecessors and
likewise for many of their successors at the Académie de France at
Rome, the key piece of the architect’s training, to take more attention to palaces and houses of the
Renaissance to which they would
devote two anthologies. Neither
65
their engravings or their projects
built or not, bear witness to a real
interest for the system of orders,
which had been the foundation
of academic theory under the old
regime and since the Renaissance
or for the model of the temple
which had place of honour at Paris
under the Directoire and then
under the Empire for projects as
diverse as the Assemblée Nationale, the Bourse, or that which has
become the Eglise de la Madeleine.
For them, neoclassical art did not
go hand in hand with « a return
to the column». On the contrary,
their actions led them more to
take a determining factor in the
re-definition of domestic architectural models and those just for
the more modest program. But at
the same time if they deviated in
large part from the study of major
monuments, Percier and Fontaine
accorded no less than constant
attention to antique sculpture by
way of the studies they devoted
to sculpted fragments and ornaments, the major lesson of Rome,
which they judged indispensible
in the way of hundreds of sketches
of registering all of the refined
details.
with the work of their predecessors and that of their disciples.
Whereas the latter kept to the routine of antique edificies concentrating without state of feeling
on the examination and analysis
of ruined temples and monuments
already largely studied by past
generations, the two friends had
on the other hand decided to turn
their attention resolutely towards
works issued in more recent periods, the edifice of « modern Rome»
and to lead an enquiry not sporadically as others had been able to
do before them, but more systematically. Their project contained
the first Christian basilicas, the
palaces of the Renaissance period
and of the Baroque, the country
houses of the prominent Roman
families and their gardens, even
simple modest dwellings where
they researched with a penchant
for archaism « the traces of good
taste which, since the fifteenth
century have reigned in Italy.» 5
In its overview a project of this
type prepared the contents of
their future publications on Rome
even if the drawings of Charles
Percier conserved at the Institut
de France bear witness to a spectre
far bigger than the anthologies of
engravings. Fifty years later as
ORIGINAL ROMAN ST UD IES
Fontaine came to take stock of
Pierre Fontaine, who described his work, correspondence a lettheir roman studies in his autobi- ter between Viollet-le-Duc, travelography, Mia Vita, presented their
roman studies as entirely new or 5. Pierre Fontaine, Mia Vita [Autobiographie
at least as marking a real rupture inédite], Version partielle dactylographiée par
Albert Laprade, p. 18.
66
ling in Italy, and his father who
was also employed in the court of
Louis Philippe bore witness to the
success which this strategy had
known, and the pride of which the
old architect had conserved would
lead one to believe that he had
accomplished that with his old
friend and associate a real breakaway. On the 18th April 1836 the
father confided to his son: « He
spoke greatly of you and the desire
of which he felt to see you upon
his return these effects which you
had brought beck. Always, he told
me, the architects were followed
on their trips to Italy so closely
that he used the term up one’s arse,
copying the same monuments, taking the sides and making restoration: an absurd system. Antiquity,
he continued, is great to see and
study, even to get to know the subject well but not just to copy; the
habits, the uses, the religion of
these ancient people are not ours,
they worked for themselves, and
we must work for ourselves all
the time taking advantage of that
which we could make use of in
our work without simply copying.
That way, he continued, I suffered
when I saw good old Percier being
lifted to the summit of a Trojan Column, to the tangle of columns of
Jupiter’s temple, in order to rigorously measure the dimensions and
of which these measurements once
laid down on paper destroyed the
entire physiognomy of the monument. Also he said, convinced that
I would find everywhere the measures and dimensions of which I
had need, and of which I left the
work to be done by practitioner,
couldn’t I occupy myself with what
seemed to be useful to my habits,
and my needs, and whilst we measured the Pantheon, and gave back
the Golden Palace of Néron, I made
the town and surrounding countryside of Rome.» 6
Viollet-le-Duc’s reply betrayed a
certain annoyance and above all,
a need to retain the lesson of his
elder rather than to take himself
off elsewhere than his predecessors. The young man revealed
this way the same caustic wit of
Percier and Fontaine all the time
breaking out of a certain academic tradition, not having taken
much time in founding another.
Taking an farmlike expression of
Fontaine he denounced the sheeplike behavior of his students and
their upholders: « One, up the other’s arse (Fontaine’s expression) of
the two pioneers, they poured models of Roman Houses so much so
that you would be forgiven if all
you could see were the roofs of terraces, carved tiled balconies, and
doorways rapidly dulled by the
Parisian fog. Moreover thousands
of sketches of shack and houses
of Rome, Genoa, and Florence cluttered the stamp merchants.» 7
6. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Lettres d’Italie 1836-37,
Paris, Léonce Laget, 1971, p. 89-90.
7. Ibid., p. 97.
67
In fact the works that the apprentice architect presented on such
a dull day would prove to be
successful.
THOUSANDS OF O B J ECTS
CLUT TER THE STA M P S E LL E R S
Already hampered by a certain disregard, the remarks made by Viollet-le-Duc confirmed the success
of the « theoretical» enterprise of
Percier and Fontaine. Not only had
their publications been favorably
received by the public, but several
of their students had been driven
to follow their example, publishing themselves, after trips to Italy,
anthologies devoted to towns and
cities other than Rome or anthologies that deepened certain aspects
that expanded upon such and such
an aspect of Rome 8. These former students of the Académie de
France in Rome searched to complete what in effect was to become
a collective work of knowledge
as well as an inventory of Italian
architecture from the modern
period, taking advantage of the
prestige accorded by their printed
works and their trips to Italy to
rise to levels enjoyed by their masters. Their large format books
were destined for an expert public
readership whereas other publishers produced books whose content
8. Sur cette vogue des recueils consacrés à
l’Italie par les élèves de Percier et Fontaine, voir
Jean-Philippe Garric, Recueils d’Italie. Les modèles
italiens dans les livres d’architecture français,
Sprimont, Mardaga, 2004.
68
was often simplified destined for
a public of more modest means.
The first of these authors who
chose to reproduce the works of
Percier and Fontaine was Jean
Nicolas Louis Durand (17601834) a professor of architecture at the École polytechnique.
Durand wasn’t a minor architect,
rather he was a member of the
Royal Architectural Academy, and
someone who continued the work
of the most prominent « theorist» of the 18th century, Etienne
Louis Boullée. 9 He had nevertheless opted for a teaching career
turning his back upon the idea
of building and construction in
order to ensure the training of
the students of the École polytechnique where architecture was just
one subject amongst others and
therefore the time devoted to the
apprenticeship was restricted.
That said, his role, less important
than one would have thought for
training the profession’s elite was
non the less considerable in the
less prestigious but bigger school
of engineering where the programme echoed his actual work.
This preparation and the architectural culture of the civil 10 and mil9. Werner Szambien, Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand,
1760-1834 : de l’imitation à la norme, Paris, Picard,
1984.
10. Valérie Nègre, « Architecture et construction
dans les cours de l’École centrale des arts et
manufactures (1833-1864) et du Conservatoire
national des arts et métiers (1854-1894) », in
Jean-Philippe Garric (dir.), Bibliothèques d’atelier.
Édition et enseignement de l’architecture, Paris
1785-1871, Paris, INHA (« Les catalogues d’exposition
de l’INHA »), 2011, [En ligne], mis en ligne le 29 avril
itary engineers who occupied key
posts in each of mainland France’s
departments and also in the development of the French overseas
departments was a determining
factor in the development of a
pragmatic neo classicism lasting
far beyond the mid 19th century.
The facades sculpted by Percier
and Fontaine from the elevated
casino at the Villa Giulia on the
Via Flaminia was a perfect illustration of the way that the figures
published by the two architects
had sometimes found an echo in
the publications of the time thus
widening the readership. The
chain of adaptions made it possible to understand the routes taken
by such and such motif and therefore influencing such and such
an architect, engineer, or stone
mason etc responsible for more
ordinary everyday forms of architecture. The façade in question
was originally published by Percier and Fontaine towards the end
of their first publication (sketch
89) [FIG. 1]. Notwithstanding a relative simplicity this composition
does reveal a certain grandness, a
monumental character due to its
large ground floor. The contrast
between its height and the size of
its windows is its principal dimension. The height of major part of
its loggia allows us to apprehend
the intuitive way of ostentation
in the generosity of its volumes,
2011, consulté le 29 mai 2012. URL : http://inha.
revues.org/3189
which distinguishes the more aristocratic Roman Architecture from
the more rational and economic
architecture of the 19th century.
A short time afterwards in 1802
Durand took for an example the
fa
« Précis des leçons d’architecture
données à l’École polytechnique» 11,
2nd part 7th sketch. The edifice
which had attracted the attention of Percier and Fontaine was
also included in a manual used by
all the students at the École polytechnique and the École des Ponts
et Chausées during the first part
of the 19th century; An influential
book in the elite artistic and architectural circles it also became a
popular book often full of utilitarian and common construction
throughout the Empire.
Durand had taken advantage of
this to remodel his way notably
transforming the entry porch
where the bumps, typical of
renaissance roman palaces were
replaced by one simple frame,
which we can surmise were bricks.
The principal opening layer in proportion gave the impression of a
scaled down edifice. The ground
floor pilasters lost their pedestals
just as the columns of the loggia.
Finally the whole seem more banal
in composition and reduced the
monumental character, it added
a transformation of the windows,
11. Jean Nicolas Louis Durand, Précis des leçons
données à l’école polytechnique, Paris, l’auteur,
1802-1805.
69
FIG. 2
En haut, façade du Casino de
la Villa Giulia sur la via Flaminia
réinterprétée par Jean Nicolas
Louis Durand dans le Précis des
leçons (2e partie, planche VII) ;
en bas modèle de maison de
maître composé à partir du même
motif par Charles Normand,
dans Recueil varié de plans
et de façades, pl. 23bis.
FIG. 1
Façade du Casino de la Villa Giulia sur la via Flaminia
Charles Percier et Pierre Fontaine, Palais, maisons et autres édifices modernes dessinés à Rome, pl. 89.
which had since been crowned
with small borders.
The next step in the adaptation of
the 16th century palace, in order
that it could serve the conception
of the master’s house intervened
in the third book by a third author
the « Recueil varié de plan et de
facades» that Charles Normand
(1765-1840) published in 1815. 12
Normand, who knew Charles Percier very well, and who was just
one year younger, and a fellow student at the École gratuite de dessin around 1780 was also one of
the principal engravers employed
by Durand to produce his work.
Architect, winner of the Grand
Prix on the eve of the revolution,
he specialized in engraving and
12. Charles Normand, Recueil varié de plans et de
façades, motifs pour des maisons de ville et de
campagne, des monumens et des établissemens
publics et particuliers, Paris, l’auteur, [1815]-1823.
Like most collections published at the time it was
published in deliveries which explain some copies
of this unique editions are dated 1815, the other
in 1823. This chronology is important because it
demonstrates that Normand, who engraved in
1821 the graphic part of the Durand architecture
lesson’s, used models of the latter in the «Recueil
gravé» varied with his consent.
70
then in printing. In his anthology « Receuil varié» he chose to
represent certain motifs of composition published by Durand in
order to make complete models.
The façade on the via Giulia which
figures in sketch 23 bis of the new
anthology became, in this way, a
« country house» [FIG. 2]. This time
the ground floor decorated in
boss and pierced by bays whereas
the windows on the upper floor
were made larger conforming to
the balance between the edifice’s
mass and the piercing thus rendering the building grander, more
bourgeois in style.
anthology of Percier and Fontaine, the « maison de la Vigne
Papa Giulia» was no longer in
the manual by Durand where it
became an example amongst others of a sketch laconically entitled « Loges» and which was also
not included in the collection by
Normand. Even if there has been
eventual imitators following the
publication that they used, should
we recognize this Roman origin or
ignore it entirely?
But this scheme of a composition crowned by a central loggia
on the upper floor had also known
another fortune. It had, in effect,
been used from 1803 for the conOne must underline that the orig- struction of a house in Paris at 9
inal edifice highlighted in the rue de la Lepelletier, a house that
71
FIG. 3
Façade d’une maison construite par Claude Bernier 9 de la rue Lepelletier
publiée dans Louis Marie Normand, Paris moderne, t. 1, pl. 64.
was built for him by the architect
Claude Bernier (1755-1830), himself a friend of Percier and Fontaine, and who had always lived
in their shadows, they would even
be buried together in the same
tomb. He was also the hidden collaborator of the anthology on the
palaces of Rome and someone
who knew this work by heart. The
façade, which consisted of the
entry porch, and the loggia, only
two sets of windows represented
a more liberal interpretation
whereby the link with the Roman
reference was evident [FIG. 3].
72
Thanks to its publication in 1837
in the first volume of « Paris
moderne» 13 it was able to benefit
from a large amount of publicity,
so much so that this book would
lead to a certain amount of copying liegoise which spread throughout France and abroad. 14
13. Louis Marie Normand, Paris moderne ou Choix de
maisons construites dans les nouveaux quartiers de
la capitale et dans ses environs ; levées, dessinées,
gravées et publiées par Normand fils, tome I, Paris,
l’auteur, 1837, pl. 64.
14. Louis Marie Normand, Paris moderne ou Choix
de maisons construites dans les nouveaux quartiers
de la capitale et dans ses environs. Levées et
dessinées par Normand fils, Liège, D. Avanzo, sans
date [1834-1844]. 3 volumes in-4.
On a completely different subject,
at long last the same Roman building was unveiled, without it being
possible to establish the drawing’s
origins, during a lesson of industrial drawing during the 1830’s,
this would add another hypotheses to the list of possible sources
for a building using this method
of composition [FIG. 4] 15. This brief
investigation into the world of
contemporary printed output has
already allowed us to find five
very different publications, as
much as in their aspect as for their
intended public, whereby everybody could give a plausible explanation of the origin of a central
loggia with columns or pilasters
in a two storey edifice built somewhere in 19th century Europe or in
the colonies. Such a variety could
easily be highlighted for other
recurring themes in the neo classical architectural period, be they
inspired by the modern buildings
of Rome, or be they closer to the
Palladian traditions. This fusion
of plans and models, more or less
simplified, rarely mentioned in
the original buildings leads on to
reconfirm the importance of the
pioneers such as Percier and Fontaine, and yet it underlines just
how difficult it is to establish
with any degree of certitude the
origin of a design or a plan of construction. Therefore we must be
prudent in our analysis.
15. Auteur non identifié, [Cours de dessin
industriel], vers 1830, « seizième tableau », fig. 15.
P ERCI ER A N D FON TA I N E
A N D T HE A N T I C L ESSON
OF ORNAMENTATION
Even though Fontaine, as we have
already noted, defended once
again his shared interest with Percier for the architecture of modern Rome, and at the same time
whilst affirming a certain disdain
for the more academic, formal,
conformist studies of his co-disciples and contemporaries. Antiquity was not entirely absent from
the academic timetable of the
two architects, as their drawings
brought back from Italy testify.
Contrary to Fontaine, who wasn’t
a boarder, but simply admitted to
the pension’s benefit, Percier had
to respond to a series of real academic obligations in which he had
chosen to study the Triumphal
Arch of Septime Sévère, a monument of which it would later be
remembered at the same time as
the building Carrousel’s Arc. He
had already arranged that they
would build for him a scaffold,
which would enable him to measure and sketch each detail. But,
following the terms of the new
laws passed in January 1788, the
choice of subject was no longer the
prerogative of the live in student
and he was accorded another subject for study, this time the restitution of the Trajane column. This
imposition, which was a landmark
in the student’s working habits at
the Académie de France in Rome,
also proved to be a key moment in
73
his personal training.
It would be pointless to take too
much time discussing the perilous nature of the work in which
the young architect labored in a
basket suspended from the chateau’s roof, and this thanks to a
scaffold of which the construction and placement had caused
the death of one worker 16. However, one must underline the fact
that to approach the Column of
Trajane necessitated inclining
oneself to work on the sculpture
and ornamentation, plus a solid
amount of know how and expertise for the work. But with an
almost clairvoyant sense of timing coupled with a growing reputation as an exceptional artist,
and on the recommendation of the
academic Pierre Adrien Pâris who
knew the talents of perkier having already employed him himself.
The first stage of this perilous
project would take place outside,
to be more exact suspended several metres over the Rome paving stones. The young man had to
endure several months of severe
physical discomfort. The ordeal
began in April 1788 with several outbreaks of fever, yet on the
6th of August that same year the
Director of the Académie Ménageot could announce to Paris the
start of the pointing for drawings, which would last throughout
16. Sur cet épisode, on pourra se reporter à : JeanPhilippe Garric, Percier et Fontaine, les architectes
de Napoléon, Paris, Belin, 2012, p. 38 et suivantes.
74
1789. On the 20th January 1790 the
precious documents finally left
for France. These weren’t the only
ones Percier and Fontaine would
devote to the study of antiquity,
which filled a considerable part of
their Roman portfolios, but these
wouldn’t be typical example as we
shall now see.
« A N A RT I ST O F MY
AC QUA I NTA N C E »
In his highly important book for
the distribution of neoclassical
furniture in the world of AngloSaxon furniture « Household furniture», Thomas Hope mentions
on three occasions Charles Percier. In a fairly long introductory
passage, he congratulates the
French, and highlights the importance of « Recueil de décorations
intérieures» for the field where his
own company is inscribed. Then
he cites two other publications in
his inventory. The first collection
from Percier and Fontaine devoted
to Modern Italian buildings and
the in-folio editions of the works
of Horace published by Pierre
Didot the elder in 1799 of which
Percier had drawn the ornamental
vignettes and which Thomas Hope
had described as being « exquisite representations of the mode
in which ancient Romans used to
decorate their town and country
houses» 17.
It concerned just the twelve small
17. p. 53
FIG. 4
Perspective du Casino de la Villa Giulia sur la via Flaminia
dans un cours anonyme de dessin industriel, vers 1830.
engravings. [FIG. 5]. But these
constituted an important contribution for their subject, their
form, and the precocious character. 1799 was the year where
Bonaparte seized power via the
putsch of the 18 Brumaire thus
putting an end to the period of the
French revolution. Parisian society welcomed this return to law
and order and, in the intellectual
and artistic spheres one watched
the outpouring of architectural
publications. It was notably that
year that « Recueil et parallèle des
édifices» by Jean Louis Nicolas
Durand was published just as the
death of Boullée marked the end
of the age of Light.
Since their return to Rome, eight
years before, Percier and Fontaine
had already forged a reputation.
Their work included, not only the
decorations of the theatre, and the
furnishings of the convention, but
the interior decorations of several
private residences. In August 1799
Josephine de Beauharnais, later
Mme Napoléon Bonaparte, purchased the Chateau de Malmaison
for her principal house and asked
Percier and Fontaine to decorate
it. Their first book on the palaces
of Rome had been published, and
began to be read: it was widely
acclaimed. However, for the first
time the sketches of Horace gave
a certain notoriety in their new
style of interpreting the major
works of antiquity in the field of
75
FIG. 5
Charles Percier, vignette ornementale pour les œuvres d’Horace
publiée par Pierre Didot l’aîné en 1799.
decorations and furnishings.
Without doubt the distribution
of these engravings was modest
compared to today’s criteria. The
publication of Pierre Didot was
in effect limited to 250 copies.
But this modest number of copies was enough to reach a large
number of people who counted.
As « Household furniture» would
prove, this enabled Charles Percier’s reputation to cross the channel, and Thomas Hope to study his
compositions. The volume of Horace’s works touched a fashion conscious elite who was also attentive to the latest trends, a public
of buyers rather than architects.
Lastly it placed Percier on an even
footing with other artists, students of David, who worked for the
other volumes of this prestigious
collection published by Pierre
76
Didot senior, therefore his friend
Girodet. The engravings of Horace
enabled him to make known his
particular approach to the antique
models and style as well as his personal tastes in matters of furniture, but also to demonstrate his
talent for graphic composition
and to impose himself as a real
artist of this book.
This first printed contribution to
the theory of furnishing and interior decoration took a very roundabout/convoluted route. In effect
it described in a literary work conceived at first as a masterpiece
of edition where it took the form
either of small views or of background landscapes. The engraved
strips illustrate the works of Horace presenting an antique atmosphere. They offered a general
atmosphere rather than a precise
decoration. All the same, the care
with which Percier represented
several pieces of furniture had
not escaped the attentive eye of
Thomas Hope. Several objects so
represented precluded the engravings of « Receuil de décoration
intérieure». The table on the tenth
engraving for example, [FIG. 6]
resembled that of strip 16 of the
last edition. Their particularly
fluid drawing with its simplicity, even their decorative spread,
bears witness to the rejection of
the ostentatious luxury particular to the old regime following the
revolution. It attached itself to the
more rigorous tastes at the end
of the 18th century, without either
embracing the wealth or pomp
of the Empire.
It is also significant that these
illustrations had opened the way
for Charles Percier to a long term
activity, firstly working for Didot
for a publisher of the works of La
Fontaine, and then by working on
his own books. The illustration
of this 17th century poet revealed
a little known facet of Charles
Percier. He expounded, with the
same talent for assembly, an eclectic taste for periods and artistic expressions far removed from
the principles of neoclassicism.
As from 1802, he offered thus an
early witness account of the interest held by the romantics for the
Renaissance, The middle ages,
and even the Orient, which, incidentally, reminds us that Percier
also collaborated at the same time
FIG. 6
Charles Percier, vignette ornementale pour les œuvres d’Horace
77
as Alexandre Lenoir’s company
at the Musée des monuments
français. [FIG. 7]
This talent for drawing, Percier
also put into practice for books
written with Pierre Fontaine
giving these architectural publications an additional artistic
dimension in terms of content
as well as format. This we can
find in « Choix des plus célèbres
maisons de plaisance de Rome»,
published from 1809 with strips
inspired from antique fragments
assembled by cardinal Albani in
the same style as illustrations by
Horace and La Fontaine.
He same importance was given to
sculpture and antique ornaments
in the anthology dedicated to
modern villas and their gardens
which served several purposes;
firstly it ensured the illustrative
content of the books just as real
sculptures ensure the ornamentation of a garden; secondly it
became evident within the confines of a book of a dimension particular to roman villas, which were
often places which housed significant collections, kinds of museums. The reality of these country houses containing works of
art was reflected in a book, which
reunited the representations
offering the reader an equivalent
to the beauty of antique marble
in its graphic form. This aspect
of the publication is evidence of
the abundance of studies undertaken by Percier and Fontaine in
78
sculpture and ornamentation during their stay in Italy. The quality owed much to those architectural representations. Within
the albums of Charles Percier
today conserved at the Institut de
France, as well as in the drawings
of Fontaine kept to this day by
his descendants, the study of the
artistic richness of the Villas taking considerable space.
Lastly, this explains that: these
ornaments ensures the presence
of the antique model in this publication devoted to the buildings
of the Renaissance and Baroque
periods; these two periods were
also evoked at two distinct levels;
one for major compositions and
the disposition of the architecture, and the other for its detail
of sculptures and furnishings.
The same association of antique
and modern examples was equally
present in the volume devoted to
the palace which explains why
Thomas Hope was mentioned
amongst its references.
The publication of Percier’s and
Fontaine’s first book began in
1798. The funding of this project
was made by subscription, the
book appearing distribution in
deliveries of six strips.
A commercial advertisement on
the covers of the deliveries gave
the details: « each booklet would
contain pages of both ancient and
modern fragments, four pages of
maps, sections and elevations as
well as views taken from the interior». The content of the book was
therefore distributed in line with
the book’s production with each
booklet beginning with a special page also serving as the front
page» On one hundred strips, the
volume took up six strips, dedicated to ornamentation and
antique sculpture. As in the volume dedicated to the villas, the
buildings studied dealt mainly
with the Renaissance and the 17th
century, whereas the details and
the works of art are principally
issues of antique collections. Certain front pages, such as the one
concerning strip 50 show [FIG. 8],
not only architectural fragments
and sculptures, but also some
examples of furniture, others,
such as strip 68 are compositions
of antiquity which gives one the
idea of a museographic set.
The reason for this preference for
the Antiquity period, as soon as it
concerns details where the sculptures are clearly expressed by Percier and Fontaine, is that they considered the legacy of the elders of
antiquity as unsurpassable. «We
tried in vain, they wrote in the
preface of their «Recueil de décoration», to find preferable forms to
those that the elders had left us, be
it in civil arts or in those dedicated
to decoration and industry» 18. This
formal perfection was thus for
them a schooling of taste, a way of
refining their judgment and the
elegance of their drawings: a conviction which explained the care
FIG. 7
Charles Percier, vignette ornementale pour les œuvres de La Fontaine
18. Charles Percier et Pierre Fontaine, Recueil de
décorations…, op. cit., p. 13.
79
FIG. 8
Charles Percier, frontispice du 9 e cahier du recueil de Percier et Fontaine,
Palais, maisons et autres édifices modernes dessinés à Rome.
80
and abundance of studies that
they devoted to fragments of decoration and antique sculptures during their roman sojourn.
The front covers of the book on
the palace demonstrate a graphic
inventiveness, which bears witness to a new approach to architecture. Since the Renaissance,
the composition of antique elements in the new projects was the
main principle of Antiquity. In
order to codify this, the theorists
of «Cinquecento», used a system
of orders rather like grammatical
tables, this controlled the assembly of fragments from the analysis of antique buildings: roofs, columns, cornering, pedestals, etc.
These traits of classical architecture had a central place within
this theory, the «règle des ordres»
found their place in the numerous
publications dedicated to other
areas/fields such as stonecutting
or the art of the engineer because
that was the be all and end all of
architectural design and its understanding was primordial if one
wished to be considered a theorist.
The front covers of Percier and
Fontaine’s books replaced the old
theory of orders. Following Piranèse and other architect cum artists of the second half of the 19th
century, they took up the same
materials as their predecessors
but broadly speaking in a free style
composition where their judgment became the sole reference.
The front pages borrowed a sys-
tem of orders as its main principle
of assembly but without associating it with a main rule. Leaning on
the main part, the same antique
roots/sources they demonstrated
an alternative method and know
how, replacing the precise knowledge of modular systems and
meticulous respect of proportions
by the combined invention of sensibility and esthetic judgment.
In the view of the roman house,
today the Louvre museum, that
Charles Percier imagined in
1792, the architectural project
was based upon an assembly of
sculpted fragments deviated from
their original destination, and
reunited following a creative fantasy indifferent from established
academic rules. If the author borrowed from the painter his equipment he made his architecture
a plastic assembly of sculpted
fragments. Of such compositions
of which the front pages are the
model was intrinsically bound up
with the designers expertise, the
invention and taste of the composers and the knowledge of the
antique vocabulary. Percier and
Fontaine, although not the inventors, contributed greatly by instituting these methods and values
at the heart of academic practice;
taken on by their disciples, their
methods imposed themselves
for the whole of the 19th century
amongst the students of the Fine
Arts academy as an exercise fundamental in the development of
81
their talents.
CONCLUSIONS
The printed works of Percier and
Fontaine, gives one a new perspective on two parallel fields, that of
the models of houses and other
private buildings, and that of ornamentation and decoration. At the
heart of the neoclassical period,
just when imitating antiquity was
at its most fashionable, the two
architects distanced themselves
from the most classical of references concerning temples and the
system of orders in order to suggest two new alternatives; one in
the matter of the type of edifice,
the other concerning vocabulary
and architectural detail.
But this novel approach wasn’t
limited to the subjects placed in
the hands of the architects of
the time; often copied by contemporary authors, or by the following generations; it was also present in the way of associating and
transforming these two themes
tightly bound, one to the other
in the architectural literature of
the preceding century. Modern
buildings and antique details,
the Renaissance and the ruins
of Rome were brought together
in contribution to offer an alternative to the theory of the modern period. But their binding was
a simple exchange of which we
couldn’t risk evoking the parallel
with the ornaments applied to the
82
furniture directory. The structure,
even in the books, disassociated
the decoration from the architectural structure of the buildings. It
was a powerful metaphor of a new
relationship between an ornamental vocabulary, now more and more
frequently used in series and sold
by catalogue, and an architectural
organism generally restricted
to elementary and functional
schemes reproduced in great number throughout the European
nations and their colonies.
FIG. 9
Charles Percier,
vue imaginaire d’une
maison romaine, 1792
Musée du Louvre.
83
GENERAL STUDIES
THE VISIBILITY OF THE COLONIES
I N M E T R O P O L I TA N F R A N C E D U R I N G T H E
1 9 T H C E N T U R Y, B Y W AY O F E X H I B I T I N G
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS AND OF THE
UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION
Lecturer. Ecole du Louvre, Paris, France
This study offers one an
insight into visibility and to the
regard given by the French on
colonial art. Is there an art form
influenced by European models ? What ideas do metropolitan
people have concerning the colonies ? Does art and the colonies go
hand in hand in the opinion of the
developed nations ?
Concerning this form of communication printed matter was voluntarily scarce and limited to
catalogues of colonial products
present at universal exhibitions
as well as catalogues of industrial
products. The visibility of the colonies has been a recurring theme
in our museums for several years
now. Numerous books and several
exhibitions have evoked the colonial past by way of these exhibitions. The latest, Exotic Exhibitions published in 2010 at the
Cité de l’Immigration (Paris), had
for a theme the regards of colo84
nial «ultra» Europeans. This exhibition leaned towards architecture and enhanced the political
and cultural aspects of the time.
The source material comes courtesy of the National Archives F21
and F12. These revealed relatively
few elements exposed in the colonies. As for the Musée du Quai
Branly, exposing until June 2012
is the exhibition « Exhibitions,
l’invention du sauvage » evoking
the notion of the good savage as
well as the human zoos of the 19th
century. We should also note the
work of researchers led by of Dominique Jarassé on the domains of
the French overseas and the colonies (University Michel Montaigne Bordeaux 3).
Colonial representation concerning exhibitions of industrial products prior to 1855 was virtually
non existent. The organization of
exhibitions in view of regulations
taken up with the catalogues list-
ing the exhibitors, offered no possibility of colonial counters. Each
exposant was at first selected by
the departmental committee for
industrial products; therefore
there wasn’t any direct exhibitor
from the colonies or the overseas
departments.
That said, following a study of the
lists, products issued from the colonies were presented via the intermediaries of companies situated
not only at the ports of Rouen,
Le Havre and Bordeaux, but equally from other major towns and cities. The simplest examples to identify were without doubt exhibitors
of agricultural products such as
coffee, cereals rum, or sugar cane
as well as chintz.
At the industrial products exhibition of 1802 1 these ties between
the metropolis and the colonies
appeared at stand 47. Benoit
Mérat, Desfrancs, and MingreBagueneau for their bonnets made
in Tunis (…) Thoron Pascal from
the environs of Carcassonne for
his cloths for the commerce with
the Levant (…) Thoron d’Omfroy
from Carcassonne for the cloths
for the treaty of negroes. Then
«at stand 48 and 49» were exhibited «handkerchiefs in the Indian
style», «Siamese, Indian and Nankinettes of houses» as Despeaux
from Rouen.
1. Catalogue des productions industrielles qui seront
exposées dans la grande cour du Louvre, Paris,
Imprimerie nationale, 48 p, 1802
Commercial relations with the
Levant, the overseas departments,
and the Maghreb were both evident yet masked by the metropolitan exhibitors. It appeared
however, evident that these commercial activities were the catalyst for these exhibitions. Before
turning our attention solely upon
the Universal Exhibitions it is
important to underline the fact
that these exhibitions started in
around 1851 2. Indeed Bordeaux
could discover arts and crafts as
well as industrial machinery in «a
universal market» in the alleys of
Tourny. Other provincial exhibitions developed during the Second
Empire and Third Republic. These
different articles within this
theme highlighted the difficulty
in presenting these objects in comparative halls and being able to
reconstruct African Palaces. The
main part of this research for this
debate leaned towards the Great
Exhibitions at Paris between 1855
and 1900, based upon several key
points: the location of the exhibition, the artwork exposed, and the
exhibitors themselves. It is neces2. Les travaux de Christelle Lozère sont une source
importante pour cette visibilité des objets africains
et antillais lors des expositions universelles et
provinciales. Citons ici sa thèse « Mise en scène de
l’objet dans les salons coloniaux de province 18501896. Vers l’émergence de modèles d’expositions
coloniales. » qui a reçu très récemment le prix du
musée d’Orsay 2011. L’article « Regard sur l’Objet
Africain dans les Expositions Internationales
provinciales françaises de 1850 à 1927 » lors de
la première rencontre du Réseau des études
africaines en France en 2006 revient sur le regard
porté sur les objets coloniaux.
85
sary to sketch out a state of knowledge and to propose several further fields of study.
Four exhibitions were held at Paris
between 1855 and 1900. At each
new exhibition there were increasing numbers of exhibitors and a
bigger area. One should remember
that in 1855, twenty-five countries
participated at the exhibition in
an area of nearly five hectares.
Five million people visited the
exhibition. In 1867 the exhibition
took on a new dimension because
more than sixty-eight hectares
were placed at the disposition of
the exhibitors. The Esplanade des
Invalides was the focal point of the
exhibition with a central building
of five hundred and eighty-five
metres in length and three hundred and eighty six metres wide,
created by Le Play, Krantz and
Hardy as well as peripheral buildings surrounding the central
building under construction. Fifteen million visitors were able to
stroll along its various alleys.
In 1878 seventy-five hectares welcomed the thirty-six participating countries (minus the German
and Ottoman Empires) to the Palais du Trocadero, which housed
the Ethnographic arts. The last
two exhibitions were the most surprising with between ninety six
to one hundred and twenty hectares being allocated for up to fiftyeight participating countries and
fifty-one million visitors. These
visitor numbers must however be
86
taken at word as no efficient system of counting entries existed.
They are therefore purely estimations, which also do not take into
account the same visitor coming
and going several times. 3
This difficulty of accountancy
was keenly felt. For the 1855 exhibition, the chief of police noted
that one hundred and thirty six
thousand six hundred and seventy six more people than the
previous year occupied furnished
lodgings and hotels, and that one
third of those people were foreigners. Finally we must note the political context and notably that of
the 1889 exhibition marking the
100th anniversary celebrations of
the French revolution, but also by
the scandal brought about on the
eve of the exhibition concerning
the bankruptcy of the Panama
Canal company presided by Ferdinand de Lesseps.
T H E A R C H I T ECT U R E
OF T H E E X H I B I T I O N S
The most visible part of the colonial period had to be architecture.
Immediately accessible it afforded
one a vision of the outside world.
Following the 1855 exhibition, the
Algerian Palace attracted keen
3. Delaporte Guillemette, L’exposition universelle
de 1855 à Paris : apports des pays non-occidentaux
dans le contexte de l’art industriel européen, Paris
1984, mémoire de maîtrise d’Histoire de l’art.
Citons également, Leprun Sylviane, Le théâtre
des colonies, scénographie, acteurs et discours
de l’imaginaire dans les expositions 1855 – 1937,
L’Harmattan, 1986, 308p.
interest from the visitors. Then in
1878 the Cochin-China and Angkor Vat received a multitude of
honours. In 1889, a life size colonial village was built on the Esplanade des Invalides.
The more spectacular is the architecture and stimulating for the
imagination, the more the building will beguile the visitor. The
atmosphere of Angkor Vat was
thus recreated based on the latest
archeological research, however
the pavilions of ten remained a
diverse group of buildings as well
as the most eclectically appealing. The architects, the majority of whom were metropolitan,
were without any knowledge of
the country’s buildings they were
copying. The buildings astonished
and captivated the most exotic of
imaginations. The exhibition’s
area however, remained very limited. In the report of the 1855 exhibition the surface area attributed
to the French colonies was fixed
at only three hundred and seventy
seven square metres whereas the
pavilion erected for Algeria measured one thousand two hundred
and fifteen square metres. The
French exhibition in 1855 was
spread out over nearly fifty four
thousand square metres.
The small area dedicated to the
French colonies reflects this
unwillingness to associate with
the will of the nation the colonies. At the same exhibition, comparison with the British Empire
is eloquent: 14 722 m2, 2 659 m2
including for their colonies. The
report is substantially identical to
the Dutch Empire.
The development of the French
Empire was long, regularly separated of the metropolitan governments. The growth takes place
during the 1889 when the French
colonies have on the Esplanade
des Invalides twenty-five thousand meters square. Often the term
«first colonial exhibition» appears
with space dedicated solely to the
French colonies. Pavilions gather
at the discretion of the wandering
visitor. Three doors allow explorers to enter this part of the event.
Description of the site in 1889
surprised by the variety of proposals: the visitor passes through
a garden, greenhouses and gardens containing the rarest species of tropical plants. The palace
was built colonies on a square with
a central courtyard occupied by
a rich canopy sheltering a genius
representing the Great Buddha of
Hanoi.
The building that houses the main
collections is all wood seventy-five
feet by twenty-six domed thirty
meters flanked by two bell towers.
The exhibition area of the building reached two thousand two
hundred square meters. The collections are primarily exotic woods
... Around the building, in a random order settled flags of CochinChina, Annam, Martinique, Guadeloupe, cafes and theaters…
87
The plan, attached, to the Universal Exhibition of 1889 reflects
this enclosure management by the
Ministry of War and the Colonies.
The central palace was surrounded
by the main building of the Ministry of War, the prison service and
the flag of Settlers dealers. The
more detailed study of this part
of the exhibition also highlights
the proximity of houses hygiene
Housing, Public Assistance and
the social economy. Issues of the
colonial empire are reaffirmed.
However, this need for anthropol-‐
ogy and ethnography spring all exposures. Colonies quickly carica-‐
tured as cliches architecture exhibit
tours, sun-‐dried brick. Inhabited by «native», craftsman, jewelers, tan-‐
ŶĞƌƐ͕ƉŽƩĞƌƐ who succeeded in the
colonial entrance exam rubbed
shoulders with manservants and
soldiers. Rapidly the idea of presenting to the French reserves of
manpower for the overseas French
Army became essential.
«Nothing more curious and
strange was there than this
anthropological mixture uniting
from the four corners of the world.
From the beautiful and noble features of the Tahitians with their
almost indo European features
to the yellow hued grimacing features of the Annamites, and on to
the large ebony black faces of the
Senegalese». 4
4. Exposition universelle de 1889 : colonies
françaises et pays de protectorat ; catalogue
officiel, op. cit
88
B R I E F SK ETC H ES
OF E X H I B ITO R S
That said, even more than architecture, the study of the exhibitors revealed itself to be precious.
Numerous exhibitors appeared to
be either collectioners or French
dealers. The French administration was not to be excluded. The
prison’s administrators were one
of the largest money lenders. Collectors and regional governors
furnished heir counters by means
of lending. The Colonial central
committee became the principal
lender. Were there not therefore
any Colonial exhibitors? During
the Colonial exhibition of 1894
held in Lyon 5, the jury of the class
49 left his notebook behind. There
were very few mentions of the
colonies often only the salesmen
and the importers presented their
products. However, despite these
details several names appeared
such as M. Jusselain, in Carbet at St
Pierre of Martinique, represented
by Cherblanc, Max and Company,
22 rue de Chauchat, Paris. Four
entries exotic products in front
of the Colonial Pavilion and then
just about six names of colonials.
The exhibitors sent these mostly
to metropolitan France.
Excepting the governmental personalities, other loans came from
private collectors, who were linked
to colonial land. Henri Dierx
exhibited in this way during the
5. Exposition universelle et coloniale de Lyon, 1894,
jury de la classe 49, manuscrit
1862 exhibition in London, a ring
case varnished in Mapou wood.
Equally M. Armand Bouquet exhibited some bobre and cayambes
(«negro musical» instruments). M.
Hoareau Lasource with carbonate
of soda, M. Rouillard with a piece
of cable wire. The Misses Ernestine Manes and Denort de Sérignan, some collars and rope made
from sisal hemp; by M. Desclines
a small rug made from agave, as
many objects bearing witness to a
singular degree of skill and singular know how. The exhibitors were
therefore either collector themselves, like Henri Dierx, or craftsmen who had come to be present
and give honour to their skills.
Their number grew with the succession of exhibitions. The types
of exhibitors multiplied. Mentions of artists are rare, virtually
inexistent. Craftsmen were preferred to them, as pedagogical systems to be found in the schools,
missions, and religious institutions as well as Colonial administrations established there and
presented their products and
activities. The craftsmen’s know
did not always allow for an industrial or commercial application of
their work, the singularity of the
techniques was often a revealing
sign of the exhibitors.
PRESENTATION OF THE
COLLECTIONS, ARTWORK
T YP OLOGY
Concerning the presentation
of the objects, eclectic was «de
rigueur»: firearm trophies, statues, and regional products. During the 1855 exhibition a statue
of Mme Josephine De Bray, a chest
sculpted on Réunion Island with
the indigenous woods, as well as
a «charming collection of tropical fruits imitated in wax to a
rare perfection» by Mr Grimaud,
still from Reunion Island. In the
same style was found pell mell
some Senegalese bubu and ivory
handled knives from India. We
mustn’t forget the element, which
most marked our spirits during
the 1855 exhibition, that of the
Raja’s tent and its splendid decorations, housed in the British Colonies stand. Chaise-longue, red
velvet carpets embroidered with
silver, monumental hookah studded with precious stones, tables
and small box, finished in a mosaic
of ivory coral and silver.
The majority of the collections
served to augment their own economic importance. Agricultural
trade was largely represented with
fruit, sugar cane, chocolate, coffee,
spirits, and even fishing equipment from St Pierre et Miquelon.
The same lists of products were
grouped depending on the colonial origins, wood, textiles, tanned
prints, cottons, balms, rubber,
sticky soapy products, crop seeds,
89
medicinal goods, flour, yeast,
mineral products, and animal
foodstuffs.
In order to remain at the heart of
the conference theme, only fine
art products and industrial products were studied. The notion of
style appeared with the organization and presentation of the collections. In 1855 the inventory by
the colonies largely evoked the
«universal bazaars». The comparison of the objects was delicate but
this organization permitted one to
underline the importance of certain regions. As from 1862 for the
Great Exhibition of London, the
catalogues seemed more reasoned.
In 1867, the collections followed a
precise line of organization. The
first group corresponded with
works of art, the second group
with equipment and the application of liberal arts, the third group
with furniture and other objects
destined with the home. Finally
the fourth group concerned material and clothes. The following
groups were related to foodstuffs,
vegetation including plants used
for dyeing, for medicine and wood
etc. Sub categories existed for
each collection. Only groups 1 and
3 caught my attention.
If the catalogue of the French
Colonial products in 1867 was
presented group by group, that of
1878 had as reference the name
of the colony whilst keeping all
along the system of hierarchical reading. The 1889 exhibition
90
offered a varied panorama made
common by the colonial palace.
In 1867 6 several works of art
were mentioned in the first
group. These works of art were
never quantifiable. View from the
French colony of Martinique were
exposed (without mentioning figures), oil paintings and watercolours by Cazabon, watercolours
representing different types of
race, industrial process and landscapes by Nousveaux from Senegal, paintings from Cochin-China
or again several statues and background sketches originating from
the ruins of Indian pagodas.
All the exhibitor names were
well known. However, the mention of the artist, even the merest notion of the artist could lead
to his unmasking, for notoriety
was unthinkable throughout the
colonies and at the great exhibitions of the 19th century. The artist and the exhibitor were often
mistaken. Only the metropolitan
artists working for the pavilions
or for colonial representation
were mentioned. That way, Couteau an architect domiciled at 63
rue du Bac; Chassevent, painter,
domiciled 111 rue du Bac; Minard,
place St. Thomas d’Aquin, could
be named as the decorators of the
pavilion working under the leadership of the colonial commission.
6. Catalogue des produits des colonies françaises
précédé d’une notice statistique, op. cit.
In the second group, material
and the application of liberal artwork, the catalogue insists on the
fact that each colony was in possession of printworks belonging
either to the government or to
the missions, or more specifically
to private owners. From these
presses came the local newspapers and sometimes some books
in French or in the local dialect.
The reporter of 1867 indicated
nevertheless that only Réunion
Island had applied this technique
of the reproduction of drawings
and lithographic examples. It was
thus that the album of Roussin
was present at the exhibition of
1867. The French establishments
in Asia produced indigenous
engravers, sculptors and sanders. The newspapers published
locally compared to their edition.
In this category the missions and
the schools exposed equally in an
exhaustive manner the work of
the community school’s children.
School books, evangelical books,
sometimes handkerchiefs reproduced like those in Guyana in
1867. The 8th class completed this
group by notes taken on the teachers’ equipment, the scientific missions which compiled the colony’s
statistics, the historical data, scientific research for topographical data concerning mining, economic and human resources.
In 1878 7, several mentions of
painters appeared here and there
as for Senegal where Barret presented several representations of
indigenous examples. The most
important notice remained that
of Cochin-China where the critics
exclaimed «The Annamites paint
little in oil, the decorative paintings of sumptuous apartments or
the barges are made with an oles
resinous matter diversely coloured
dominated by reds and blues. The
harmony of the colours was often
most agreeable. The Annamites
drew and painted watercolours following conventional rules, which
often made their artwork seem
naïve. In general the coloured
drawings were often or not made
without shadowing and nearly all
of them depicted scenes of Buddha
or mythological warlords». The
mention of cotton based printing reminded one of the diversity of the material and appeared
important because other artists
painted on ivory for brooches or
medallions or painted on talc, or
watercolours linked to the French
Indian colonies.
With regard to the furniture and
the manufactured objects, exoticism was obligatory. An ethnographic regard towards the colonies incites one to present chests,
tools, bowls and crockery. Then
came the craftsmen’s know how
in art forms such as sculpture and
7. Catalogue des produits des colonies françaises,
Exposition universelle de 1878, op.cit.
91
metalwork. This exhibition had as
its main aim to promote and highlight the adaptability of the models from France and the assimilation of neoclassic tendencies and
forms. It was necessary to retain
«the exotic aspect», foreign and
distant. The conclusions of the
exhibitions commissioner’s written report in 1878 in the Moroccan
pavilion is edifying: «there exists
an artistic folklore which must be
conserved intact and unspoiled
from all aspects of European art,
not only by fear of art itself but
in the economic interests of the
country».
This remark was equally valid for
the Malagasy pavilion where the
commissioners concluded that the
Malagasy craftwork was in no way
inferior to that of modern style
furniture «the simplicity of theirs
lines is harmonized with the style
of Malagasy art».
That said, during the exhibition of 1867, in the 14th category of luxury furniture, several
comments concerning pianos
made by M. Rinaldi, rue St-Maur,
using wood from Guadeloupe,
and Tahiti, wooden panels and
wardrobes sculpted in Guyana,
numerous other furniture, wardrobes, sculpted tables and chests
from Cochin chine, incited one to
reflect upon new shapes and the
adaptation of more metropolitan
shapes. It is mentioned in any case
the efforts of the French administration on this point : « Luxury
92
Cochin-China furniture were made
only in Tonkin. Since few times,
and thanks to the French administration, we had some few competent craftsman for wood carving
and layering of nacre.»
Sometimes the mention of commercial roads around the French
Indian colonies suggests several
elements of a structured network:
«There exists at Chandernagor
a large furniture manufacturing
plant, directed by the agents of the
Cheroutre, from Calcutta. Commercialized on our territory the products of this establishment, which
employs more than two hundred
craftsmen, received the last finishing touches, which are applied on
English soil. Pondichery counts
as large a number of craftsmen
of wooden sculptures art that we
import principally from Réunion
Island.» This is a somewhat relative assertion as the furniture
industry in Réunion Island was
non-existing except for one or
two isolated cases. The style of
the furniture didn’t seem to submit to any form of European neoclassicist influence. No mention
of a so called style was borrowed
or influenced. In 1855 in front of
the chests sculpted at Réunion
Island the remark was unequivocal : «this is surely a local product
and it will looked very good at the
Tahan exhibition». 8
We find ourselves, as in 1867,
describing various furnishings
from the colonies exposed more
often than not in trading metropolitan houses without any particular attention if it wasn’t for
a small mention of Martinique
concerning a Louis xv table made
from local wood and exposed by
Ludovic Lapeyre at St-Pierre.
The only other mention indicating
a particular «style» was made during the study of the catalogues.
This concerned the catalogue for
the 1862 exhibition in London. 9 In
the chapter dealing with products
from Guadeloupe, it is mentioned,
that «an upright piano made from
green ebony and finished in rosewood and copper, decorated in the
style of Louis XV, a new model with
three vertical cords, and a beautifully tuned pedal keyboard.» The
exhibitor was Montal, from Paris,
who had since turned towards
trading with metropolitan France
rather than with the Antilles.
For 1889 and 1900 the presentation of the colonies rejects the
image of chests, stools, wooden
desk sculpted or inlaid. The most
important exhibitor remained the
prison service for Guyana and New
Caledonia, which presented glass
fronted bookcases for offices and
studies, chests with drawers, pedestal tables, large tables… Once
again, economic vision prevailed.
8. Rapport sur l’Exposition universelle de 1855
présenté à l’Empereur par S. A. le prince Napoléon,
op. cit.
9. Catalogue des produits des colonies françaises
envoyés à l’Exposition Universelle de Londres en
1862, op. cit.
This was confirmed in the mission report, which reaffirmed the
necessity to introduce to all the
French Colonies the producers of
raw materials for commerce and
industry.
The colonies remained in place of
the foreigner ethnographic par
excellence, and with the potential
in resources both human and commercial. At the exhibition of 1900,
the directors office evocated the
wish that the native of Dahomey 10
could learn to acquaint himself
with French products of which
he would soon find preferable to
those of Manchester or Hamburg.
Other than commercial profit, the
mention of furniture and colonial
arts had the essential aim of training and informing. As witnessed
in 1878 the following remark concerning the shellfish cameo from
Guadeloupe «this exhibition is
of great interest and is designed
to show each phase of the transforming from raw material to finished product.» (Exhibitor : M.
Poisignon, 14 rue de Turbigo). All
concurred with the ethnography
and fantasy from the metropole
towards its colonies.
AN EXAMPLE BY WAY OF THE
EXHI BI T I ON S: REU N I ON I SL A N D
In order to evoke the pluralism of
the exhibited objects, the painting
collections, and works of art from
10. Le Dahomey et dépendances à l’Exposition
universelle de 1900, Challamel, 1900, Paris
93
Réunion Island are put in order. In
1855 a sculpted chest and a collection of wax sculpted tropical fruit
imitated by M. Grimaud, the artist.
Mentioned above, in 1862 for the
London exhibition, Henri Dierx
presented a ring case in mapou
wood; M. Desclines an agave rug.
Topographical drawings and a
lithographic album completed the
offering. In 1867 the accent was
placed in works of art notably with
the presentation of the Roussin’s
album, the lithographic work by
Adolphe Hastel, 12 photography
’s view from Réunion Island, and
enamelled-card by Charles Saumnier, paintings representing A vessel at anchor in St Denis, the countryside from the route to Cilaos,
and the gorges at Salazie by Le Roy;
a Sepia coloured view by M. Paul
Emile Naturel from St- Denis, as
well as watercolours exhibited by
Le Boul. The various typesetting
work by Lahuppe Gabriel the editor for the Moniteur de La Réunion
were placed very much in evidence.
For the objects were exhibited,
rugs and carpets as well as tapestries, mat resulting from the work
of pupils at St Marie’s school in
Madagascar, the exhibitor and
purchaser from the Catholic Mission and a carpet named as «a
vagabond» from the Nativel Institution were exhibited. Several
leatherwork objects from Elisa
Payet from St-Louis, and some by
Frederic de Villèle added to the
shipment.
94
In 1889 other than the musical instruments, pottery, hats, as
well as agricultural and industrial products, the shipment also
included a painting depicting The
passage of St Bernard’s mount by
Napoléon I by Vinson Alfred at
St-Denis, chairs upholstered with
straw were exhibited as well as, in
association with the central committee for the exhibition were
handpainted moulded fruits from
Réunion Island, varnished wooden
picture frames and wooden columns sculpted by Cupidon Guétrin a sculptor from St Denis. It
would be pointless to mention
neoclassic works if it wasn’t for
the treatment of painted artwork
from this Island.
He most important part of
Réunion Island remains the diversity of woods, agricultural products (as coffee, vanilla, sugar cane,
and rum). Having said that, the
importance of literary works from
Réunion was duly noted during
the exhibition of 1889. A knowledge of the history, and geography of the colonies is however
relative. So when Eugène Etienne,
minister and under secretary for
colonial affairs, affirmed in the
Moniteur de la Guyane Française
in 1889, the necessity to open up
the colonies: «until that day, we
won’t have addressed the problem
of colonization. It must be that
our great country knows not only
it’s own story but that of its colonies as well; It is necessary that
all the French people ally themselves with the Caribbean and
Guyana, hitherto so little known
and yet so rich and beautiful. In
spite of the yellow fever epidemic
present there as well as the fires
that have ruined it to its knees,
there remains an indomitable
will to live».
There is an anecdote worth relating; one which amply justifies the
apprenticeship necessary to the
metropolitans when considering
the colonies. «During a visit that
we made to this stand we asked a
group of students :
«What is the entry point of
Réunion Island? «
They replied, «Djibouti ! «
«And why?» We asked.
«Mister, can’t you see the huge
model around you? «
In effect the organizers had
imposed a huge model of the port
of French Somalian Djibouti at the
Réunion Island stand. These shortcomings are understandable.»
We must finally remind ourselves
that this assimilation and learning curve of the metropolitan
influences upon colonial artwork
was visible in the architectural
aspect of reunion’s stand at the
1937 exhibition. This was the first
time that the stand had been decorated with a classical column.
It is necessary now, in order to
complete these first sketches of
work, to study the catalogues of
exhibitions that took place outside the French mainland as well
as the reception of this art by the
public by way of the press. In addition, this study should be targeted
towards the future of these objects.
When the exhibitions close, are
these furniture returned to the
colonies? Or, due to excessive costs
do they remain in France? As well
as that, the study of the registers
at the Conservatoire des Arts et
Métiers, as well as those of the
museums such as the Douanes de
Bordeaux or the Musée du Quai
Branly, should be envisaged.
95
SUB JECT 2
ARCHITECTURE
Inventaire général des monuments et des richesses artistiques de la France
Principes d’analyse scientifique - Architecture, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1989
ARCHITECTURE
N E O C L A S S I C I S M A S A F E D E R AT I V E
ELEMENT IN THE EUROPEANS COLONIES
O F T H E 1 8 TH A N D 1 9 TH C E N T U R I E S .
V A R I AT I O N S O F N E O C L A S S I C A L
A R C H I T E C T U R E I N F R E N C H G U YA N A :
F R O M C O L O N I A L’ S C O N S T R U C T I O N
TO CREOLE VILLAS.
CÉLINE FRÉMAUX
Regional Curator for inventory of cultural heritage.
Cayenne, Guyane, France
For the occasion of the conference organized by the Madoi the
intervention concerning Guyana
is somewhat exceptional. In effect,
this ancient French Colony, far distant from the principal colonial
commercial routes, and for a long
time handicapped by the problems
of population and economic development, could not benefit from the
wealth of the Caribbean Islands or
those from the Indian Ocean.
The transfers of architectural
models were, therefore limited in
their number, and even in their
shapes. If the examples of neoclassical architecture in Guyana were
restricted to several emblematic
edifices of the colonial administration, they were, none the less,
of interest, fuelling the debate on
the transfer of these models, and
on the value of neoclassical archi98
tecture in the European Colonies
of the 19th century and the early
20th century. On the other hand,
in a more subtle manner, the references to classicism of the grand
century were present in Guyana,
as from the arrival of the first
inhabitants 1 and they were aware
of the variations of 19th and 20th
centuries creole architecture.
This contribution leant heavily
on the work carried out by the
regional audit and inventory service concerning the Guyana’s
cultural heritage. One must be
1. Dérivé du verbe « s’habituer », et non du verbe
« habiter », le terme désigne une personne venue
s’implanter durablement outre-mer. « Habitation »
désigne en Guyane un établissement agricole voué
à la production de denrées coloniales comme le
sucre, le café, l’indigo, le cacao, l’indigo, les épices
ou le roucou (plante tinctoriale). Tiré de Yannick Le
Roux, Rémire. Les habitations coloniales (XVIIe-XIXe
siècles), Région Guyane, Parcours du patrimoine
n° 367, Paris, L’écarquillé, 2011, p. 13.
reminded that the general inventory is an exact and precise exercise thorough knowledge of the
regional heritage. Created by
André Malraux in 1962, it was
conceived as an «adventure of the
spirit», aimed at accounting for
all the elements which comprised
the national heritage «from the
Cathedrals, to the teaspoons» 2.
The missions of this service
remained committed to Malraux’s ideal ; «tabulate, study, and
make known» the cultural heritage of the regional territories.
The methodology of the General
Inventory was conceived using
two approaches (an operation of
this sort was carried out at St Laurent de Maroni for example 3), or
a themed approach, «the public
buildings in Cayenne, or on sugar
cane domain 4).
The creation of an inventory service in Guyana, attached to the
Cultural Committee for Guyana,
in 1999, and integrated in 2007
as part of the regional council 5
was relatively recent. Even if the
region had few urban departments
2. Cf. Ministère de la culture et de la
communication, Comité d’histoire du ministère
de la culture, Présence d’André Malraux. André
Malraux et l’Inventaire général des monuments
et des richesses artistiques de la France, Paris,
La documentation française, 2004.
3. Marie-Pascale Mallé, Saint-Laurent du Maroni,
commune pénitentiaire, Cayenne, Association
Aimara, 2003.
4. Nathalie Cazelles, Sucre et rhum en Guyane
(milieu XVIIIe s.-milieu XXe s.), enquête thématique
nationale, Drac Guyane, SRI, fév. 2001-fév. 2002.
5. En application de la loi Libertés et
responsabilités locale du 13 août 2004.
of this type, the General Inventory
was still relatively incomplete, the
department not being very well
staffed, however the operations
carried out in Guyana covered the
entire range of the building’s heritage concerned by the diffusion of
neo-classicism in this old French
Colony.
If the term «variation» is preferred to transfer, it’s because the
way for variations, be they are
well known for the moment (circulation of knowledge by the way
of model’s compilation 6 or training 7, a circulation of know how
thanks to the voyages undertaken
by craftsmen and architects 8, or
practical exchanges) this doesn’t,
at least for the moment, lend itself
to a through analysis of Guyana.
The story of cultural transfers, as
defined by Michael Werner, supposed «to study the interaction
between culture and society (…),
into their historic dynamism, taking into account the conditions
which led to their outbreak and
their functioning, analyzing the
cases for emission of diffusion,
reception, reinterpretation which
constitute them, and finally to analyze in detail the symbolic mecha6. Jean-Philippe Garric, Recueils d’Italie : les
modèles italiens dans les livres d’architecture
français, Sprimont, Mardaga, 2003.
7. Jean-Pierre Martinon, Traces d’architectes :
éducation et carrières d’architectes Grand Prix
de Rome aux XIXe et XXe siècles en France, Paris,
Anthropos, 2003.
8. Janine Barrier, Les architectes européens à Rome :
1740-1765 : la naissance du goût à la grecque, Paris,
Monum, 2005.
99
nisms via the social groups and the
structures which govern them» 9.
Given that, the available written
sources for Guyana are rare, and
that there are few that mention
eventual contacts with European
architects or architectural visits to the Amazon region. Other
resources, which could have been
of use in this field of study, such as
architectural libraries, are, unfortunately, inexistent in Guyana.
That said, references to antiquity
are traceable in the construction
as from the beginnings of colonialism and up until the first part
of the 20th century. In effect, certain elements of classicism are
present following the end of the
17th century, and the fortunes of
neo-classicism have continued in
the colony beyond the 19th century
even though it was exhausted in
France and in the majority of the
other colonies.
The neoclassical vocabulary developed following the types of buildings in various forms. We shall
see, one by one, the variations
of this style concerning the construction of public buildings in
Cayenne, the Colonial Governor’s
house, and in the prison architecture, a specificity of the Guyanese
Colony, essentially by looking at
the official quarter of St-Laurentdu-Maroni, and lastly in domes-
tic architecture, from the colonial
houses to the creole villas.
9. Michael Werner, « Transferts culturels », dans
Sylvie Mesure, Michael Savidan (dir.), Dictionnaire
des sciences humaines, Paris, Presses universitaires
de France, 2006.
10. Opération d’inventaire topo-thématique mené
en 2002 par Nathalie Cazelles. www.culture.
gouv.fr/documentation/memoire/MOSAIQUES/
edifpubcayen-001.htm
100
P UB LIC B U I L D I N G S
I N CAY E N N E 10
Neoclassical architecture, placing
Antiquity and the Renaissance
back into fashion, is a form of
architecture presenting geometric shapes, both simple, and monumental; a severe style, which lent
itself well with the values of power.
It was employed in Europe during
the 19th century for the construction of buildings representing the
state’s power in its various forms,
judiciary, educational, sanitary,
or religious power. In the colonies, and in particular this unique
French colony in South America,
it appeared as the ideal style to
exude an image of power which,
although distant and poorly represented locally, managed the territory’s entire affairs.
The construction of Cayenne’s
public buildings occurred in the
context of the installation of the
government in that town, chosen to be the seat of local government, then in the context of the
reaffirmation of French presence
by the successive governors. The
establishing of the first public
buildings is followed by the possession of the territory. In 1643
the Frenchman Charles Ponçet
FIG. 1
Sortie de messe à l’église Saint-Sauveur de Cayenne (ca. 1920).
© Archives départementales de Guyane.
101
FIG. 2
Ancien hôtel des jésuites (1729-1749-1752), devenu hôtel du gouvernement
puis hôtel préfectoral. Le portique à colonnes date de 1925.
Marc Heller © Région Guyane-Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel, 2001.
de Brétigny, Général Lieutenant
to King Louis XIII landed on Guyanese soil, accompanied by a group
of Norman settlers organized in a
« Company of Rouen » 11. He established a fortified village, which
later became the Cayenne that we
know today. Up until the end of
the 17th century, battles for Dutch
or French sovereignty continued.
In 1664 Guyana returned to the
hands of the equinoctial French
Trading Company, it then returned
to Dutch control in 1676, before
once again, being reclaimed by the
French that same year, under the
command of the Admiral d’Estrée,
before then falling to an English
11. Compagnie à charte pourvue d’avantages
consentis par le roi afin de peupler et de mettre en
valeur la colonie.
102
invasion. Guyana would finally
experience Portuguese occupation between 1809 and 1817.
Once the French bastion was
established, the colonie’s centre was based at Cayenne, where
the headquarters of the various
administrative departments were
concentrated. This town is principally, for the most part centered
on the fort of Mount Cépérou, this
houses the military headquarters
and various government departments. As for the houses, they
were concentrated outside the
ramparts forming the outskirts of
the fortified town.
It wasn’t until the 19th century
that Cayenne would experience an
important expansion. The end of
the wars of conquest and the offi-
cial recognition in 1817 of Guyana as a French colony gave impetus to the city’s development. In
1821 under the leadership of the
Governor Laussat, a chequered
weft was drawn by the Royal Surveyor Sirdey, based on the model
of Carribean Colonial towns 12.
The choice of such an urban plan,
other than the ease in which it
could assure security for the islets
led credence to the administrators desire, to expose the colonial
power. The buildings representing
the French State, and the principal local institutions were built
to the north west of the city, surrounding the «Place d’armes»
which would become the Government Square. The architectural
choice concerned the imposition
of a confirmed French Government. The public buildings in the
«Place d’armes» are all representative of the diffusion of a neoclassical style particular to the French
overseas departments.
Close by the barracks dating from
the first quarter of the 19th century, a building designed for the
purpose of housing the officers
was built in 1821. This is one of
the first buildings witness to the
taste of neoclassicism in official
architecture in Guyana. It had a
sober imposing character. The
ground floor had an open gallery, today closed, which formed
12. Jérôme Monnet (ed.), L’urbanisme dans les
Amériques : modèles de ville et modèles de société,
Paris, Khartala, 2000.
a succession of five semicircular arches. The sober character of
the building imposed itself by its
symmetric composition, notably
with vertical panels raised by projecting angled pavilions.
One of the principal buildings in
the centre of Cayenne, built at the
same time as the officer quarters,
was the Colonial Hospital Jean
Martial, later destined to be reconverted as the Museum of Culture
and of Guyanese Memoirs 13. The
first part of the buildings date
from 1821-1823. A wooden rectangular building, constructed by the
civil engineers of the local government, it formed a U shape with its
two wings added in 1823. The hospital would be enlarged on several occasions during the 19th century and entirely reconstructed in
stone covering a metal frame, the
whole topped by a wooden beamed
roof during the 1870’s. The part
reserved for the colonial hospital, notably visible in the central
building and the entry porch,
which formed a semi circle opening onto a square adorned with
palm trees, was one of a sober and
monumental style of architecture,
highlighting certain neoclassical
vocabulary elements. The gallery
of the principal façade, as majestic as it was functional, served the
first floor and the corner pavilions.
13. Ce projet est inscrit dans la convention
d’application de l’accord cadre triennal Etat-Région
en matière de développement culturel, signée
le23 mars 2012. L’hôpital Jean Martial est en cours
de classement au titre des monuments historiques.
103
It was composed of a succession of
central semicircular arcades, with
a central porch under whose shade
visitors to the town could be comfortably welcomed.
The church of St. Sauveur, was
another emblematic edifice, and
without doubt the most representative of neoclassical architecture
in Guyana 14. Undertaken between
1825 and 1833, this project transferred the religious headquarters
to the very heart of the expanding town. The Church of St. Sauveur replaced the more primitive
Church of St. Nicolas, which was
situated in the « Place d’armes ».
The choice of neoclassical style
gave the image of an imposing
institution. The building, a basilica style with double side aisle,
was fronted by a portico with
semicircular arch and dominated
by a large entablature with balusters. The principal façade of the
nave was topped by a triangular
pediment, opening with an oculus, housing a clock. The choir,
expanded in 1957 by the engineer Victor Toubi, adopted a
polygonal pattern but conserved
the semicircular arches drawing
for the nave. [FIG. 1]
Close by to the Church of St. Sauveur, other public buildings were
built during the second quarter to
the 19th century in order to develop
the town in a new chequered plan.
They were equally representative
of neoclassical style. Amongst
these buildings constructed in
1837 were the Courts of Justice,
with a severe facade with a projecting part surmounted by a triangular pediment.
The Eugene-Nonon College, hitherto an old Jesuit seminary, has
now become a public secondary
school. It was reconstructed in
1842. A central vaulted semicircular porch surmounted with a triangular top, opening to the façade
on the street. The college was composed in three separate buildings
joined by a series of covered galleries supported by massive brick
pillars with Doric style capitals.
Another characteristic, which
marked public architecture in
Cayenne, an original feature, when
compared with Caribbean colonies or those in the Indian Ocean,
was the longevity of the neoclassical style. At the beginning of the
20th century, when elsewhere neoclassicism was out of fashion, it
was conserved for the renovation
of the Governor’s House in Cayenne. This also assured a harmony
with other similarly designed
buildings that surrounded it. So
it was that the magistrates chambers, today a post office, conceived
as twin buildings to the officers
quarters opposite. The composition was similar, the bay windows of the gallery are closed with
balustrades.
FIG. 3
14. Elle ne sera consacrée cathédrale qu’en 1934 par
Mgr Pierre Courta, premier évêque de Guyane.
104
Pilier d’un bâtiment du bagne de la Montagne d’Argent, Ouanary (ca. 1860).
Céline Frémaux © Région Guyane-Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel, 2010.
105
FIG. 4
Façade principale de l’ancien tribunal (1917-1920),
devenu sous-préfecture, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.
The most striking example of
neoclassical architecture concerning the public buildings of
early 20th century Cayenne was,
without doubt the Prefectorial
Hall. This would have added to it
in 1925 a doorway in the antique
style with thirteen white painted
columns. The doorway replaced
the old cast iron balcony, itself
moved to become the façade of
the neighboring building, then
the headquarters of the trans
Atlantic general company, today,
the headquarters of the Guyanese Educational Authority. The
building in wooden panels with
stone and brick fillings for the
façade and wood for the rear of
106
the building, was the original
Jesuit Convent built in 1729 and
in which the government took
office following the religious
expulsions in 1765. The addition
of the doorway certainly permitted the housing of a new frontal
gallery, but above all it reinforced
the image of the state’s representation within the colonies.
In the neighboring alleys of the
Government Palace was situated
the Josephine – Horth Infant’s
school, dating from 1916, and the
Town Hall of Cayenne in 1925, had
similar neo-classical elements in
the detailed openings or in the
ornamentation.
By way of these examples it
appeared that the architectural
choices for Cayenne’s public buildings was effected with the aim of
confirming the image of power,
following a long period of colonial
infighting. This tended to portray
the image of a strong French State
and would reinforce assurances of
Colonial Development. The success of neo classicism beyond the
19th century leads one to believe
that the tactic of the affirmation
of power was still important at the
beginning of the following century, but also a search for architectural harmony presided over simple urban development within the
colonial capital.
The public buildings of Cayenne
were not the only ones to illustrate neoclassical traits. Other
fields of application of this style
were developed in Guyana, notably the Penitentiary architecture
(Prison architecture).
PR I SON A RCHI T ECT U RE
Architecture of coercion, the pri-‐
son architecture use largely the
neoclassical language. Austerity and severity ĂƌĞ ĂƩƌŝďƵƚĞƐ ŽĨ this style that suited the ideology that
governs the prison ŝŶƐƟƚƵƟŽŶ to
ͨരrigorous ĞǆƉŝĂƟŽŶ of the crime. » 15
An originality of the land, the
presence of a convict prison in
15. Marie-Pascale Mallé, Saint-Laurent du Maroni,
commune pénitentiaire, Cayenne, Association
Aimara, 2003, p.16.
Guyana from 1852 – 1946 produced the neoclassical edifices
of great importance from the
convict prison at la Montagne
d’Argent, to the Prison complex
at Saint-Laurent-de-Maroni. At La
Montagne d’Argent situated in the
East of Guyana, surged forth amid
the tangle of jungle vegetation,
a building in rough hewn stone,
the elements of construction of
which the moulding and profile
reminds us of an ancient neo classical building. Ghostlike images
of the colonial era, these convict
prison ruins take the same stylized vocabulary as that of the 19th
century buildings of Cayenne,
those that were destined to house
the corridors of power. The choice
of style might seem surprising.
Why build, such a distance from
the capital in the middle of the
jungle and that, just to house the
convict’s, buildings of such size
and allure ? Her as well, the choice
of architectural vocabulary helps
with the symbolic linking of
architecture, with the status of
the establishment.
The first convict prison was built
in Guyana in 1792 in order to
house the prisoners of the French
Revolution, notably the priests,
hostile to the revolution. But the
convict prison with the size that
we know today, was at the bequest
of Napoléon III, who institutionalized the forced transportation of
convicts in 1852, not only to distance these undesirable elements
107
from mainland France as much
as possible, but to supplant the
dearth of slave labour following
the abolition of slavery in 1848. 16
The first convict prison built on
the mainland (and which succeeded the camp on the Iles du
Salut opened in 1852 even though
colonial convict prison were created on 30th May 1954), was that
of Montagne d’Argent 17, situated
on a rocky outcrop, forming a peninsula on the estuary of the river
Oyapock. This river formed a natural frontier with neighboring Brazil. The site was chosen for both
health and security reasons. The
site, built at altitude, and leading
out to sea, was very airy. Believed
to be protected from disease, it
allayed all the initial causes for
concern in terms of hygiene at the
time. Separated from the mainland by an area of marshy swampland, it was entirely surrounded
by water, and thus discouraged all
thoughts of escape. The camp at
Montagne d’Argent, occupied from
1852 – 1865 and then from 1887 –
1909, housed up to 700 convicts.
It was these convicts, which built
the camp’s buildings from plans
provided by the construction
department of the penitentiary
administration. Certain convicts
were craftsmen by trade, amongst
them stonemasons, and painters.
16. Michel Pierre, La terre de la grande punition,
Paris, Ramsay, 1982.
17. Egle Barone Visigalli et Kristen Sarge,
La Montagne d’Argent, Matoury, Ibis Rouge
Éditions, 2011.
108
Notwithstanding the size of the
buildings, the convict prison at
Montagne d’Argent rapidly had
to close, with fevers and other illnesses decimating the ranks of
the convicts as well as within the
ranks of the prison guards. The
architecture of the buildings, of
which not much remains, clearly
showed the prestige of an institution, which, via the construction
of the prison complex, wished to
affirm its ambition of its development in Guyana. [FIG. 3]
Despite the setback caused by the
closure of the convict prison at
Montagne d’Argent, the transportation of convicts to Guyana was not
halted. The situation did indeed
give rise to the camp at Saint Laurent de Maroni becoming a penitentiary complex in 1880. The
headquarters of the penitentiary
administration, the official quarters of Saint-Laurent-de-Maroni
was created at the start of the
20th century, consisted of a large
number of neoclassical buildings.
From public buildings to the camp
guards houses, all were infused
with a character in line with the
image of a town where the law was
rigidly enforced. For here could be
found the strict alignment of columns or doric pillars, there would
be a symmetrical alignment of
facades. Everything was designed
to impose an authoritarian image
of the town to visitors, but above all
to the convicts who would serve out
their sentences on Guyanese soil.
FIG. 5
Détail des parties hautes de l’hôpital André-Bouron (1907-1912), Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.
Pilastres et colonnes engagées, tirés du vocabulaire néoclassique, animent la façade.
In the district of the town known
as «Little Paris», were built the
hedquarter of the administrative
services. A great number of buildings were built between 1905
and 1925, the date of the exten-
sion of the official quarters of
Saint-Laurent-de-Maroni. Even
if they exceeded the chronological framework fixed during this
present conference, it is, however,
interesting because even if they
109
1920. Everything was designed to
express power and justice, imposing size, symmetrical facades, and
frontispieces supported by high
columns and high ceilings. [FIG. 4]
The André Bouron Hospital, built
between 1907 and 1912 was made
up of four pavilions, in two symmetrical ensembles. The buildings
were surrounded by large gallery,
closed by shutters. If the construction of the whole was classic, it
was in the details that the ornamental aspect took hold, pilaster scanning the façade, moulded
strips between each level marking
the horizontal, columns built to
surround the corners, a triangular
frontispiece pierced by a looking
hole in the façade. [FIG. 5]
FIG. 6
Ancienne maison du sous-directeur de l’administration pénitentiaire (1905-1913),
devenu palais de justice, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.
Marc Heller © Région Guyane-Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel, 2001.
were architects with different
styles and expressions, neo classicism was a common point of reference for them. The documents,
housed in the archives concerning
these constructions, confirm an
esthetic research but do not cite
any specific examples.
The construction of a new tribunal was projected for 1897, but
hesitation over its implantation
positioning and the importance
attached to this, delayed the work110
site; the idea was to build a mixed
tribunal, for both the local inhabitants and the prison population,
and «to erect a building capable of
adding to Saint-Laurent esthetic
aspect» 18. The architectural project was drawn up in July 1913, by
the site manager, Perrin. It would
be a building, neoclassic in design
with a columned porch, (which
today houses the sub-prefecture),
and constructed between 1917 and
18. Marie-Pascale Mallé, op.cit., p. 69.
The building housing the bank, of
square design, in brick and plaster moulding together with rough
hewn stone, was the last building
built in the official quarter, and
was constructed between 1921
and 1922. A report dated 1924 concluded that: «the results obtained
for the development of Saint Laurent are actually sufficient.» 19
For the civil servants quarters,
neo-classicism was also paramount. The Deputy Prison Service
Manager’s house, housing today
the courtrooms, was built between
1905 and 1913. [FIG. 6]
heads. The principal entry, underligned by a flight of steps with
baluster, marked the central axis
of the façade’s symmetry.
As for the warder’s lodgings, even
if they were the object of study in
the process of economic construction, they do however, conserve
some neoclassical attributes.
The plans of converted pavilions
doubled at the first floor, with a
standard design on a metal frame
filled with bricks (the plans were
the work of the engineer Fontaneilles), were built between 1901
and 1908. Eleven other pavilions
built with an elevated ground
floor entirely in brick, were constructed between 1908 and 1913,
to the south of the convict prison
ensuring, a symbolic barrier
between the official quarter and
the convicts quarters. Theses two
roomed lodgings were served by
a lone flight of steps who would
monumentalize the building by
accentuating the symmetrical axe
of the whole.
Penitentiary architecture, be
it the convicts quarters or the
administrative quarters, finds in
neoclassicism a tangible way of
confirming one’s power and allaying it to the rhetoric at the time
concerning order and remission
by discipline and work.
These galleries are spaced with
columns adorned with doric
19. Rapport Gayet, 1924. ANOM FM H2022. Cité par
Marie-Pascale Mallé, op.cit., p. 70.
111
ture of traditional creole houses. 20 However, these houses should
refer back to the classical notes of
the age of light.
What were these vectors of diffusion of this style at the start of
colonization ? Even they are rare,
few architectural works have circulated in the colonies. The first
example of a book on architecture
in the colonial territories is without doubt that by d’Albaret entitled
« Differents projets relatifs au climat et La manière La plus convenable de bâtir dans Les pays chauds,
et plus particulièrement dans les
Indes occidentale », published in
Paris in 1776 21. It concerns a rich
work of art, which offers monumental compositions inspired on
the models of houses found on the
land of Androuet du Cerceau.
Concerning the houses in Guyana in the 17th century, the bibliography is dominated by three
authors: Goupy des Marets 22,
Jean Brûletout de Préfontaine
(Maison Rustique) 23, and Guisan
FIG. 7
L’habitation Loyola, propriété des jésuites à Rémire, vue par Gérard Hébert en 1730.
Les bâtiments s’organisent autour d’un jardin à la française.
© Service historique de la défense, département Terre, 7F 62
CIVIL ARCHITECT U R E F R O M
COLONIAL HABITAT I O N TO
CREOLE HOUSES
Contrary to the houses in the centre of Saint-Denis on Reunion
Island, there doesn’t exist a particular example as explicit in neoclassical architecture amongst
the public buildings in Guyana.
112
And yet the composition of what
we call traditional creole houses
present a certain likeness with
the classical. The studies of Yannick Le Roux have shown that
architecture built by the convicts in Guyana as from the 17th
century, have produced a model
directly inspired in the architec-
20. Yannick Le Roux, L’habitation guyanaise sous
l’Ancien Régime, thèse de doctorat sous la direction
de Jean-Marie Pesez, Paris, EHESS, 1994, p. 572.
21. Chevalier d’Albaret, Differens projets relatifs au
climat et La manière La plus convenable de bâtir
dans Les pays chauds, et plus particulièrement
dans les Indes occidentales , Paris, [s. e], 1776.
22. Goupy des Marets, Voyage de Goupy
aux Isles d’Amérique et aux côtes de l’Afrique,
1675-76 et 1687-1690.
23. Jean Antoine de Brûletout, chevalier de
Préfontaine, Maison rustique à l’usage des habitans
de la partie de la France équinoxiale, connue sous le
nom de Cayenne […], Paris, Bauche, 1763. Le titre de
cet ouvrage est une référence ouverte au Praedium
Rusticum ou Maison Rustique de Charles Estienne
et à La Nouvelle maison rustique de Louis Liger
(Traité des terres noyées) 24. If they
indicated to the settlers on how
to proceed and settle, then the
advice they gave for the construction of the buildings went largely
unheeded. It has to be said that
the model suggested were largely
utopic, above all in the context
of a nascent colony, at the time
somewhat poor, and difficult to
put forward with the techniques
and the materials available at that
time. Préfontaine, for example,
dedicated his work, published in
1763, to the attention of future
landowners in Guyana, and more
expansively «throughout the colonies in general». In the context
of preparing for the expedition to
Kourou, much desired by Choiseul,
naval minister and minister of
the colonies, in order to populate
French Guyana 25, the ideal model
that Préfontaine put forward was
that of a property organized with
a rigorous classical composition.
Very few Guyanese settlers followed his advice. Elsewhere, their
contemporaries, more worried
about their crops’ success than
their personal comfort attached a
mere fleeting regard to their lodgings. This attitude was acknowlrespectivement publiés en 1554 (en latin), 1564
(en français), et 1700.
24. Jean Samuel Guisan, Traité sur les terres noyées
de la Guyane, Cayenne, Imprimerie du roi, 1825.
25. Emilie d’Orgeix et Céline Frémaux, La petite
maison dans les abattis ou l’art de rédiger aux
bois par Jean Antoine de Brûletout, chevalier
de Préfontaine dans son habitation de la
France équinoxiale (1754-1763), In Situ, revue des
patrimoines, à paraître en 2012.
www.insitu.culture.fr
113
edged by Guisan, a Swiss engineer
recruited in Surinam, arguing;
« that a cultural establishment is
also a place of work ». 26
The parts dedicated to growing
or developing often presented a
greater architectural or the most
important vestige, because they
were built in stone. Thus it was
the case of the mule mill on the
Vidal habitation, from the name
of Jean Vidal arrived in Guyana
in 1790, escaping the revolts at
St Domingo. He introduced the
first steam engine to Guyana in
1821, but before that his sugar
cane refinery was based upon
him working with a mule mill, for
with their circular action, which
crushed the sugar cane.
However, several rich inhabitants
of the first order, amongst them
the Jesuits, the most prolific farmers of the colonies in the 18th century, who, from their main residence at Loyola a Remure gathered
up to 500 slaves, built residences
which imposed a classic style for
the colonial residences in Guyana. The symmetrical plan and the
French garden at the Loyola habitation are the most successful architectural examples in the colony,
which gives credence to the idea
that the ideal property where the
master’s house exudes an established and respected order. 27 [FIG. 7]
26. Jean Samuel Guisan, op.cit., p. 190.
27. Trop peu de travaux historiques et
archéologiques ont été menés jusqu’à ce jour
sur le riche patrimoine des habitations coloniales
guyanaises. Seule la multiplication d’études
114
If the composition of the estates
and its surrounds is to a French
Style, giving an imposing image
of colonial residences, it is often
to compensate for the modesty of
the building.
At the time of the first stages of
colonization the first residences
were constructed in wood. Beam
for the frame, strips of wood or
a mixture of mud and straw for
the walls. Originally with trellised palm leaves, the roofs were
rapidly replaced by tiles in wapa
wood, and then corrugated with
iron or steel sheets. They generously overhung the supporting
walls in order to offer protection
from both rain and sun, topping
a gallery or verandah running the
length of one or more of the walls;
The principle vectors of the transmission and practical know how,
the men copied the metropolitan
models. Yet, in the colony, civil
architects did not exist. Plans of
the more imposing houses were
completed, in certain cases, by the
King’s own engineers and architects. Geographical engineers
carried out the work usually to
earn extra money 28. The architect
Tugny employed to complete the
plans of the Royal buildings such
as the hospital at Cayenne (1777)
also drew up several plans for
houses. Concerning the process of
transferring know-how and models, Yannick Le Roux, in his thesis
de cas permettra d’affiner l’argumentation.
28. Yannick Le Roux, op.cit., p. 571
FIG. 8
Maison créole (1908), façade principale du 2 rue Louis-Blanc, Cayenne.
Gérard Roucaute © Région Guyane-Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel, 2000.
on Guyanese Housing under the
old regime, gives us an interesting hypothesis 29. He underlined
the important analogies between
the master’s residences on the
plantations and the Cayenne town
houses compared with the Norman constructions in the Caux
region. Therefore the Normans
of Dieppe, Le Havre, Grâce and
Rouen, dominated Guyana for one
hundred and fifty years of colonization. This hypothesis remains
to be proved, but a close study of
the transfers of knows how and
competences between the craftsmen will, without doubt, shed new
light some interesting elements.
29. Yannick Le Roux, op.cit., p. 574.
Even if the buildings were reduced,
the modesty of the construction
materials was not contradictory
with a taste for a classical design.
In effect, the composition of the
master’s house gave reference
to the model with recurring elements such as the dimension, and
symmetrically disposed openings.
The bourgeois urban residences
took on this classical architecture. The creole town houses built
in cayenne, or at Saint Laurent de
Maroni in the 19th century and up
until the beginning of the 20th century present a large homogeneity.
Their plan was regular, the distribution of the rooms was symmetric: two rooms on the ground floor,
115
three upstairs. The multiplicity
and the symmetric disposition of
the doorways were the rule for evident reasons, on the first hand for
ventilation, the doors were mostly
placed in pairs, each serving as
doorways to each of the ground
floor rooms.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Guyanese nobility, who
were educated and trained in
Metropolitan France, and who
returned with a taste for, as well
as a trained eye for the more bourgeois furniture to be found in
Paris, and the other main cities in
France, did not change or modify
the basic traditions rules of the
creole residence. They reinforced
the geometric plan concerning
the disposition of the rooms, and
the overall plan, but as well, concerning the addition of decorative elements, exterior signs of
wealth (wrought iron work, zinc
toppings, fretted wood mouldings
etc.) [FIG. 8]
The gallery, organ of distribution
and a space reserved for socializing was often to be found upstairs
on the upper floor. In the larger
houses a balcony was to be found
in the centre of the front façade.
The balcony, of which the consoles
and the bodywork were finely and
opulently appointed, was the must
concerning social activity, which
took place on the balcony overlooking the road.
116
Given the particular context of
Guyana being the only South
American French Colony dedicated to the production of sugar
cane, but without the success
of The Caribbean, and the West
Indies, then with the reception
of the convicts sent from France,
neoclassicism in Guyana takes
specific view, coming from transfers of models by the way of colonial and prison administrations,
and especially adaptation of variations, taking a profit of available
materials, and adapting to the way
of life and local climate.
Neoclassicism is used in Guyana,
as the same in the other European
colonies, as a federative element in
which the settlers are identified.
They used shapes and volumes of
classical or neoclassical architecture as authority symbols.
The study of neoclassicism in
Guyana justifies the transfers of
models from France to this over
sea territory and the variations of
architecture first chose as a European domination’s vector, and
then used as local architectural
vocabulary.
CÉLINE FRÉMAUX
ARCHITECTURE
A N T I Q U I T Y AT T H E O R I G I N S O F C R E O L E
A R C H I T E C T U R E : P R I V AT E A R C H I T E C T U R E
AT R E U N I O N I S L A N D
F R O M T H E E N D O F T H E 1 8 TH C E N T U R Y
T O T H E M I D 1 9 TH C E N T U R Y
BERNARD LEVENEUR
Art and architecture historian.
The
plantation
economy
installed in the 18th century on
Réunion Island is at the origin of
architectural models which fixed
the basis of Creole Architecture
of this Indian Ocean Island. It
flourished in a civilization that
was profoundly rural. The Island’s
rich countryside on the East is
known as the Mascareignes bread
basket, an expression of the Governor Mahé de la Bourdonnais,
who shaped the Island’s economy
from the 1730’sto the 1740’s. Coffee, then spices, but also cotton
and foodstuffs were the principal
sources of revenue for the East
India Company during the Royal
period which followed from 1767.
The settler’s houses on Bourbon
during the 18th century, the first
traces of a materialistic civilization, an « art de vivre » took their
origins from the French Architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries,
more particularly that of the rural
countryside. These models, shown
in the Mascareignes showed interesting similarities with private
colonial architecture originating in the Antilles, the Southern
USA and even Canada. The parental influence attests to the idea
of a diffusion of models and techniques in the French dominated
Colonies on the basis of an initial corpus of information, which
needs to be analysed.
The introduction of neoclassical
data concerning private Réunion
architecture as from the end of
the 18th century profoundly modified its appearance. For the colonial elite, who constructed and
decorated according to the latest fashions their houses, be they
117
T H E COLONIAL REUNIONNAISE
H O USE AT THE END
O F T HE 18 T H CEN T U RY
FIG. 1
Maison Adam de Villiers (vers 1770-1780)
Saint-Pierre, rue Marius-Ary Leblond. Cliché B. Leveneur.
in the city or in the country, neoclassicism was also the artistic
expression, which symbolized the
new economic drive of a transformed colony during the course
of the early 19th century into an
island relying on sugar cane.
Pillars, columns, pilasters, pediments, cornices, … the Antique or
at least architectural classicism
served as models in the arranging of decorations on the house’s
fronts, until then little present.
These were henceforward placed
at the forefront, both for the urban
houses, as for the country houses.
Already present in the architecture of the 18th century, the verandah magnified by its often toscan
styled columns and pillars, sym-
bolized this desire for ostentation.
To better understand the ruptures
introducing by neoclassicism, it
is necessary at first to establish
an overall picture of private habitations in the colony at the end of
the 18th century. The first signs of
new style appeared in the decade
between 1780-1790. The attentive observations made by architectural witnesses on the island,
and the exploiting of legal documents of the period allowed one
to follow its development during
the first half of the 19th century.
This period marked the birth of
new architectural forms and fixed
the basis of a style, which was baptized « créole ».
The corpus is scant: several
houses being built of stone, others
of wood, often very much transformed in the 19th and 20th centuries, gave one a first glimpse of the
creole dwelling prior to the introduction of esthetic neoclassicism.
The general lines of these edifices presented evident parallels
with 17th and 18th century French FROM I M P ORT ED M ODELS …
architecture, in particular with Such was the « maison Adam de
an architecture in wooden fini- Villiers » at St-Pierre, rue MariusAry Leblond, a perfect example
of the transfer, which was established in the 18th century. Built
between 1770 and 1780 by Henri
Antoine Nairac, this Bordelais
held the high-ranking post of
«garde-magasin» in the district of
St-Pierre. His house was situated
at the extreme North West on a
vast piece of land forming one of
the chequerboard pieces of land
in this colonial town. It possessed
a plan amassing modest dimensions forming a main building on
two floors. The ground floor contained a hallway with marble tiles
giving way to two rooms each possessing a floor. The upper floor
with curb roof known as «Mansart» was reserved for bedrooms.
Simple, robust, harmonious, original, the « maison Adam de Villiers » with its openings topped by
fitted lintel in shaped basalt and
FIG. 2
Cure de Saint-Denis (1748,
modifiée vers 1950-1955)
Saint-Denis, rue de la Victoire. Cliché B. Leveneur.
118
tion prevalent in western France,
a region where the maritime ports
led to the Indies.
The elite local white folk, in part
originating from this region,
installed in the first urban centers or on «habitable land» 1 in the
country, had constructed on the
island, dwellings similar to those
they knew in mainland France.
1. Expression désignant une bande de terre vierge
obtenue en concession, puis une propriété rurale.
119
FIG. 3
Maison Bang (vers 1780-1790), modifié au début du XXe siècle
Saint-Denis, Rivière des Pluies. Façades ouest et sud (1897). Coll. privée.
its attic roof 2, took on the esthetic
allure of a contemporary French
house. Of modest dimensions it
was however one of the most luxurious houses of St-Pierre.
Preceding by thirty years, this
2. Concernant la toiture mansardée, une certaine
parenté existe ici avec la « maison Leyritz » située à
la Martinique, construite par Michel de Leyritz, lui
aussi originaire de Bordeaux.
120
house, the vicarages of St-Denis
and St-Pierre were copies of models relative to a European influence. During the first half of
the 18th century the Lazaristes
affected the different quarters of
the colony’s churches and presbyteries. The architecture of these
helped in understanding private
R
n architecture.
Of the nine vicarages built
between 1747 and 1791, only those
of St-Denis (1748), St-Paul (1754),
St-Pierre (1765) and St-Leu (1791)
remain. The vicarages of St-Denis
and St-Pierre, the best conserved,
are also the most imposing, for
each possessed an upper floor.
Installed perpendicular to the
urban roads, which served them,
their plan determined that on the
ground there be a solid rectangular mass: all the rooms in the
house were gathered under the
same roof. In both cases a distribution plan on the ground floor
included a gallery at the front 3, the
verandah. To the rear, four rooms,
bedrooms, surrounding a large
central room. All the rooms were
intercommunicating and evoked
the interior layouts of certain
French hoses dating from the 16th
and 17th centuries. French, where
the corridor, a sign of intimacy
was often absent. The layout on
the first floor was identical. The
symmetry and the interior layout
of the vicarage bore witness to
the transfer of the European models becoming later the characteristic traits of creole architecture.
It was the same for the rooftops,
four sided and steeply inclined «à
la française» ideally suited for the
rapid evacuation of rainwater, but
extremely vulnerable, in this tropical region regularly in the grip of
cyclones, due to the extreme bat-
tering caused by the violent winds.
Destined to house the religious
personnel, the Vicarage at StDenis was the object of criticism
shortly after its completion. Its
ostentatious verandah was qualified as oriental. This criticism
referred to to the houses of Pondichery. In effect, the columns set
upon a small low lying wall presented similarities with the
facades of the traditional houses
of this region. A certain architectural crossbreeding operated here.
The general esthetics of these vicarages could be compared to other
models of the 18th century established at Ile de France (today Mauritius). Amongst them, it is necessary to distinguish the historical
museum of Mahebourg (formerly
the «maison de Robillard») a family home built between 1772 and
1774. The ground floor did not possess a verandah. The refined taste
FIG. 4
3. La galerie de Saint-Pierre a été fermée en 1773, à
la suite d’un cyclone ayant endommagé le bâtiment.
Maison rurale du début du XIXe siècle
L’Entre-Deux. Cliché B. Leveneur.
121
FIG. 5
Villa du Département (années 1790, modifiée au milieu du XXe siècle).
Saint-Denis, rue de Paris. Coll. privée.
lay in a succession of steps leading to a large terrace, the openings with fitted lintels, the tying
at an angle and the presence of
a balcony in wrought iron. One
could imagine a sort of manor
house under the tropics.
… TO THE VERNAC U L A R M O D E LS
The houses previously evoked figure amongst the most exceptional
established in the Mascareignes
during the Ancient Régime. The
coffee or spice planter’s house at
122
Bourbon in the 18th century was
often very simple and modest.
On an island where the forests
were still abundant, the majority of dwellings were wooden in
construction, their volume cubic,
comprising in the main part of a
simple ground floor covered with
a steeply sloping roof. Assembled
according to the techniques in
use for the timber frame houses,
imported from western France,
these transfers also operated
towards a nascent colony. In the
space of one century thus the
shapes were adapted and a reproducible architectural type became
the rule in the colony: the pavilion
style house and its variants.
Behind the additions and modifications brought at the beginning
of the 20th century the « maison
Bang » at the « Rivière des Pluies » on the sloping outskirts of
St-Denis remain the most significant example of this vernacular
model established in the course
of the 18th century. Built between
1780 and 1790 the central section is comprised of a large pavilion lengthened to the north and
to the south by two lean-to. Photographs dating from 1897 show
this house in its natural state and
one that has remained intact for
more than a century.
The same can be said for the old
house belonging to the managers
of « Stella Matutina » (sugar cane
factory) at St-Leu, constructed in
1780, situated on the site of the
old coffee plantation. The verandah in attic was closed in the mid
20th century, but the whole has, in
large part, retained its volume as
from the end of the 18th century,
very close to the elevated buildings of the vicarages of St-Denis
and St-Pierre.
These primitive shapes of the 18th
century private creole dwellings,
profoundly rustic in design, did not
disappear during the next century.
In fact the models were retained
and copied up until the beginning
of the 20th century. This heritage
was predominant in the rural villages of the island, especially in the
south, a veritable treasure trove of
architectural collections.
T HE EN OBL EM EN T
OF N EOCL ASSI CI SM
The place of private commissioner
The years 1790-1830 witnessed
a turning point in Réunion Creole architecture. It was during
this period that were constructed
on the island the most interesting examples of private houses
belonging to the neoclassical
European style.
Paradoxically, these new architectural guidelines appeared during
an agitated and difficult political
context, those of the wars fought
FIG. 6
Maison Motais de Nabonne (vers 1830-1835)
Saint-Pierre, rue Marius-Ary Leblond.
Cliché B. Leveneur.
123
elite became interested in new
artforms and esthetics which had
developed in Europe: neither wars,
or geographical isolation constituted obstacles in the spreading
of these ideas.
The house with gallery
Built in the 1790’s the Villa du
Départment at St-Denis is one of
the first examples attesting to the
renewing of this form of private
architecture at Réunion. Its executor, Jean-Baptiste de Lestrac, an
aristocrat originating from neighbouring Mauritius, is the first
Mayor of St- Denis, during the
French Revolution.
It is the archetype of the urban
FIG. 7
Le Chaudron (années 1840)
Saint-Denis. Façade nord et ouest (vers 1 840). Coll. privée.
during the French Revolution and
the 1st Empire. Economic and political uncertainty caused a recession in the public worksites in the
Mascareignes, which could have
served as models in the introduction of a new esthetic. The ceding
of Bourbon in 1815 to the French
crown did not reflect, during the
reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X,
in the building of ambitious public programs with the exception of
the new church at St-Denis, later
to become the cathedral that we
know today, and the renovation
124
of the façade of the Goveror General’s residence. It was during
the July Monarchy that barracks,
churches, schools, and other public monuments developed on the
island, essentially at St-Denis and
formed an important group of official neoclassical styled buildings.
Faced with the shortcomings in
public architecture, the landowning aristocracy and the city dwelling elite played an essential role
in the development of this style
in Réunion. During this forty
year period, the colony’s white
FIG. 8
Musée historique de Villèle (1788)
Saint-Paul, Villèle. Cliché B. Leveneur.
residence, which developed at StDenis during the first part of the
19th century. Situated on the «rue
de Paris», the town’s main northsouth axe and prestigious artery
holding an important place in
the town’s history, it occupies the
centre of a large tract of land. The
building presents, on the ground
floor, two vast verandahs under
gables roof. Two other verandahs
one the first floor, closed with
venetian blind, and windows 4.
This verandahs, situated on the
north and south facades are
deployed along the whole width
of the house and form living quarters of its own right.
The main interest in this house
resides in the apparition of architectural decoration. Pillars, entablatures, pilasters on the north and
south facades, inspired from the
neoclassical repertory gave to the
Villa du Département an antique
touch, in itself a striking innovation in creole architecture.
This type of storeyed house with a
gallery occupying the entire width
of the ground floor became a reference during the years between
1830 and 1840 as would attest
three other residences in the rue
de Paris: the «Villa de la Region» 5
(1840), the «maison Barbot»
4. Cette double varangue – ouverte au rez-dechaussée et fermée à l’étage – rappelle la façade de
la cure de Saint-Denis.
5. À titre de comparaison, on peut rapprocher ce
dessin des garde-corps bordant la terrasse et
les escaliers du Petit-Trianon à Versailles, œuvre
d’Ange-Jacques Gabriel.
125
(1830) and the «maison Vinson».
The presence of two leveled galleries on the façade could take
more imposing dimensions such
as at the «maison Motais de Narbonne», located at St-Pierre to the
south of the island. Built between
1830-1835 by the Robin family,
it is situated on the «rue Royale»
(today the «rue Marius-Ary Leblond»). It was the main entry to StPierre from the north.
The two verandahs superimposed
FIG. 9
Maison Choppy (vers 1800-1810)
Saint-Pierre, rue Marius-Ary Leblond.
Cliché B. Leveneur.
quote portico bordering forums
of antiquity, probably by filtering architectural manuals from
the early 19th century. The Tuscan order is preferred due to its
capital, without sculpture, easier
to make because of the absence
of qualified local craftsmen. The
brick columns on the ground floor
supported an entablature constituted of wooden moldings. These
126
little wooden cubes would often
be incorporated in the decoration
of the creole house’s façades. The
upper floor columns were made of
turned wood; between them a balustrade of wrought iron of which
the decorations would approach
certain stone balustrade present
in neoclassical buildings. 6
The «maison du Chaudron» is an
imposing and luxurious descendant of the galleried house
deployed the length of its façade.
Commissioned by the Lory des
Landes family during the 1840’s,
it concerned in fact a type of suburban villa, this family possessing a second house, which served
as its principal residence. Situated on the edge of the coast road,
which connected all of the coastal
towns, it was constructed on a hilltop, which had been cut to form
a platform. Built on an elevated
base, the gallery with its Tuscan
columns is one of the most imposing on the island.
Originally, at the heart of a vast
sugar cane plantation in the eastern districts of St-Denis, the « maison du Chaudron » was a place for
receptions. Simple, yet imposing,
it certainly belongs to the neoclassic movement. It was also the
symbol of a new colonial prosperity dating from the 1810’s the
conversion to a sugar producing
6. À titre de comparaison, on peut rapprocher
ce dessin des garde-corps bordant la terrasse et
les escaliers du Petit-Trianon à Versailles, œuvre
d’Ange-Jacques Gabriel
FIG. 10
Maison Blay (vers 1850, détruite en 1976)
Saint-Denis, rue de Paris. Façade. Coll. privée.
island was in full swing and the
development of an architecture
devoid of neoclassic inspiration
was ultimately connected to the
prosperity of the sugar barons of
Bourbon.
The interior distribution of these
early neoclassical houses was simple: behind the verandah, three
rooms are adjoined each other,
sometimes served by a common
hallway as at the «Villa du Département». At «maison du Chaudron»,
the initial area of the house consisted of six rooms of vast dimensions of which the dining room
remains to this day the largest on
the island. With the exception of
the «maison Motais de Narbonne»
where the stairway was central to
the entrance, the staircase was
often at an angle to the house
127
and never a major element in the influence stopped there and it is
aspect of creole interiors.
necessary to see these two houses,
under their influence squat and
Tropical neo palladianism
massive, the first signs of neoclasA second model appeared as well sical influenced architecture on
in Réunion in the latter years of the island.
the 18th century: the influential The years between 1800-1810 corneo-palladian house of which its responded with the appearance
double verandahs were flanked of houses built with purer lines
with rooms both on the ground and altogether more elegant. The
FIG. 11
Maison Déramond (fin du XVIIIe siècle, modifiée entre 1830 et 1832)
Saint-Denis, rue de Paris. Cliché B. Leveneur.
floor as well as on the upper floor.
In this way we must consider the
«maison Debassyns» situated on
the «Chaussée Royale» in the centre of St-Paul, as well as the historical museum at Villèle located
in the heights of St-Paul, at StGilles-les-Hauts, as early examples
of this model. Both dated from the
years 1770-1780 and were built
by Indian workers. But the Indian
128
«maison Choppy» at St-Pierre,
built during the early years of the
19th century is the most characteristic examples of a residence
with verandahs bordered by cabinets. It is also a very early example
of the neo-palladian influence on
Réunion, a wave of architecture at
the end of the 18th century.
Without
the
pediment
it
approaches the «maison Choppy»
to the «Villa Cornaro», or even the
«Villa Montagnana» in Venice.
These models or their interpretations by the European architects
at the end of the 18th century even
more probably the examples of
architectural styles having certainly been in circulation and the
source of inspiration for its commissioning by Furcy Choppy. Was
he indeed the house’s architect?
Or, had he called upon the services
of an architect or engineer present, or passing through the Island
in these early years of the 19th century? The historical records of private architecture remain silent on
the subject when the artistic creators conceived these houses.
Imposing and grand with its
double verandah and columns in
turned wood, the façade of the
«maison Choppy» proved to be a
success amongst the houses of
the other wealthy landowners at
St-Pierre, Ste-Marie, and St-Denis.
These houses built in the early 19th
century have, today, disappeared.
The first international style which
smoothed the hitherto national
particularities from the preceding centuries, neoclassicism gave,
for a short period, an identical
image to architecture from different colonial worlds. Its roots are
evident with the West Indian colonial world and the architecture of
houses from the plantations in the
southern U.S. states. It forged cultural identity stereotypes, which
are still present today.
FIG. 12
Maison Pota (milieu du XIXe siècle, détruite)
Saint-Paul. Cliché B. Leveneur.
To this neo-palladian group it is
necessary to add a fine example
situated at St-André in the east of
the island at the «Plaine de Bois
Rouge». Built between 1800 and
1810 by François- Xavier Bellier
Montrose, at the nerve centre of
one of the most vast sugar plantations in the colony, this imposing stone built residence presents on its north face a two leveled
verandah resembling that of the
«maison Choppy». The ground
floor verandah presents pillars
supporting central semicircular
arch; the gallery on the first floor
(today closed) is styled with brick
columns.
129
architectural decoration of which
the refinement provides a strong
contrast to the other more rustic
facades. Expertly arranged wooden
planks as opposed to the wooden
tiles on the other facades.
The «maison Déramond» [FIG. 11],
modified between 1830 and 1832
was one of the earliest examples
of this type. At the end of the 18th
century, it existed at the centre
of the parcel, a wooden pavilion.
Before 1808, two storey pavilions
were connected by a verandah on
a sort of theatrical decor attached
to the main body of the house’s
entrance.
The principle of the screened
façade, one of the major facets of
neoclassical influences in local
architecture during the first thirty
years of the 19th century became
a reference. From the bourgeois
models of the town centre or the
large houses owned by the plantation owners to the popular houses,
the contrast is vivid between the
façade and the other sides of the
FIG. 14
FIG. 15
FIG. 13
Maison de notable (seconde moitié du XIXe siècle)
L’Entre-Deux. Cliché B. Leveneur.
It is to the south of this house
where the most remarkable of its
facades is to be found. A deep twostoreyed verandah was built along
the entire length of the façade.
The rectangular pillars on the
ground floor and their arches support elegant twin columns of Ionic
style. The roof, originally a flat
roof on argamasa was modified
during the second empire with the
creation of an eight-sided steep
sloping roof, which adds height
to the house. The source of inspiration to this house was probably
the Governor General’s residence
in Pondichery, reconstructed at
the end of the 1760’s. The influence of new architectural styles
which flourished in Pondichery
at this time, the town undergoing
130
complete reconstruction, figures
amongst them the neoclassical
style itself flourishing in Bourbon during the first half of the
19th century.
Screened facades
and neoclassical decoration
During the first half of the 19th century, the installation of an architectural decor on the principal
screened facades would become
one of the main principles of creole architecture for the large bourgeois houses in the town centers,
as well as the architectural principles of the more modest dwellings
in the colony’s villages.
Larger than the rest of the house,
it is here that can be found the
essentials of the neoclassical
Maison de Canonville (vers 1800-1810)
Saint-Pierre, rue Babet. Cliché B. Leveneur.
the ground floor and a series of
rooms on the first floor. This evolution was visible in the plans for the
interior arrangements, the first
floor being more rational than the
ground floor. The rear of the house
was left undecorated, it was simply
embellished with wooden tiles. The
refined fa
in front of the house,
house. [FIG. 12 & 13]
The principle addition during the
first half of the 19th century resides
as well in the introduction of decoration on the screened facades. It
is here that we find pilasters, pillars, cornice, molding on the entablature. We can also find a strip,
which masks the start of the roof,
in itself an ideal support for deco131
FIG. 17
FIG.. 18
Château du Gol (1871, détruit vers 1993)
Maison Hugot
(vers 1870, détruite en 1964)
Saint-Louis, Le Gol.
Coll. Musée des arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien.
FIG. 16
Les Casernes, maison de maître (XVIIIe siècle,
modifiée et agrandie vers 1860-1865, détruite avant 1949)
Saint-Pierre. Coll. privée.
ration. These were presented in a
diamond shape and were met with
huge success on the island.
One of the first appearances of
this motif was to be found on the
façade of the «maison Canonville», [FIG. 14] at St-Pierre, built in
1800-1810; these diamond shape
were in bas-relief and evocate the
decorative motifs in the furniture
and wallpaper of the Consulat and
Empire imported to the island.
Its transcription in wood in the
sphere of private architectural cir132
cles was a huge success for with a
simple assembly of wooden batons
it was possible to decorate a hose.
Be they simple or more complex
the diamond shape would become
one of the fundamental traits of
creole decoration. [FIG. 15]
The height of the Second Empire
The years between 1850-1870
marked the height of the neoclassical influence in Réunion Creole
architecture. In particular the first
ten years of Napoléon III’s reign
corresponded with an upsurge in
the production of sugar: a constant steady rise in production
coupled with privileged access to
the metropolitan market, thanks
to the absence of taxes, and
favouring the commissioning and
building of one of the last major
private residences on the colony.
This growth was broken as from
1863, and halted in 1870: Réunion
Island would experience an economic depression and decline that
would not end until the end of the
First World War.
The ruin experienced by numerous notable families and the halting of several large public construction projects would freeze
the architectural influences for
the next fifty years. The island
would not know the eclectic variations of European architecture
Saint-Denis, rue de Paris. Coll. privée.
that occurred in the second half
of the 19th century, nor the more
rational form of architecture
expounded by the engineers who
developed in the new colonial
empire itself being constituted at
the same time. Neoclassicism and
its multiple facets became the references for a more insular architectural creation forging the identity of creole architecture.
Between 1850 and the start of the
1870’s, in particular in the south
of the island at St-Pierre and StLouis, the sugar plantations were
embellished with ostentatiously
luxurious new houses. It seemed
evident that a competitive spirit
and family rivalries played an
underlying part. The need also for
the Southern elite to rival their
Northern counterparts, theirs
competitors. At the « Casernes », a
133
FIG. 19
Pavillon de La Réunion à l’exposition coloniale internationale de 1931
Paris, Bois de Vincennes. Façade principale. Coll. privée.
134
135
property situated on the immediate edge of St- Pierre, the Le Coat
de Kerveguen family, the richest in
the colony transformed, between
1861 and 1865 their modest family home into a sumptuous vast
residence befitting the elite 7. Hyppolite Mortier de Trévise, son in
law of Gabriel Coat de Kervéguen,
was probably the architect of the
house’s plans, at least the elevations, as bears witness a watercolour and a painting conserved
at the Departmental archives of
Réunion 8. This residence was the
most spectacular of the colony. Its
principal façade was dominated
by a long pediment, an element
not often seen in Réunion private
architecture. The galleries, both
high and low with wooden pillars
stretched themselves in order to
mark the two primitive houses
built side by side. They finished
by stone pavilions topped by mansard roofs. The house was at the
heart of an English style garden
which hid from view the labourers
encampment as well as the heart
of the sugar refinery.
At St-Louis, neighbouring commune to St-Pierre, the Chabrier family built in 1871 a house
every bit as vast, the Château du
Gol 9. Its plan was unique on the
island. Three bodies of the building joined at the façade by a long
7. Détruite au début du XXe siècle.
8. Archives départementales de La Réunion, Album
de Trévise. 40 Fi. 47 et 40 Fi. 48.
9. Maison détruite au milieu des années 1990.
136
gallery with pillars supporting
semicircular arches. At the centre
were the reception rooms. At the
edges were the bedrooms. Served
by a long gallery this verandah
also served as a place of rest and
relaxation.
At St-Denis as well the years
between 1850 and 1870 were
highlighted by the appearance
of the last of the neoclassical
inspired residences as the «Château Morange» in the suburbs of
St-Denis. Built between 1855 and
1860 by Jean-Baptiste Prosper
Morange, originating from StAndré-de-Cubzac, near Bordeaux,
the estheticism of this suburban
villa is close to the Bordelais Chateaux of neoclassical origin, certainly these chateaux were references for Morange. All of the
house’s rooms were spread around
an interior court of antique inspiration, but bordered by small columns in wrought iron and lambrequins in iron with stamped
details characteristic of the mid
19th century. The North, West, and
South facades were preceded by
imposing portico with columns,
of which the capitals carried an
entablature on top of which, were
a balustrade and Médicis vases. It
was these same elevations, which
we can find at the Musée
Dierx (1843) and the Château
Lauratet (1875) two towns centre
residences.
Lastly the «maison Hugot» 10 (1860
– 1865) at St-Denis presents the
result of a classical decoration
combined with glasswork set in
wrought iron, a modern note rare
in creole architecture. We can find,
as for the «Villa du Département»,
a long verandah on the ground
floor. The upper floor takes the
same form as at the «maison Déramond». The decoration of the
pilasters is exceptionally present
on all the facades of both floors.
built a large colonial house presenting a large verandah flanked
by two rooms at each end. The
exhibition’s rooms are organized
around a central court, with Tuscan columns. It was this neoclassical heritage that is here cited as
a reference, for the façade of the
pavilion was a copy of the «maison
du Chaudron», the source of inspiration for the project’s architect.
Modifications and creations elaborated at Réunion in the years
between 1790 and 1860 have
become references for the idenC O N CLU SI ON
tity, even clichés: neoclassicism
In Paris, in 1931, the Great Exhihas forged the image that we have
bition at the Bois de Vincennes
of creole architecture.
gathered all the colonies to
the greater glory of the French BERNARD LEVENEUR
Empire. For each colony a pavilion evoked the civilization of the
conquered territory: the temple
at Ankgor Vat symbolized Indochina and a miniature Rova transported the visitor to Madagascar.
Concerning the « old colonies »
the pavilions were smaller and of
a different nature: Ali Tur for Guadeloupe created a building with
very modern lines ; Wuliffeff for
Martinique offered a domed pavilion in keeping with the commercial spirit of the 1880’s ; Oradour
created for Guyana a large wooden
pavilion evoking the traditional
architecture of the Amazon.
For Réunion Island, the architect
Bloch followed the Réunion committee’s recommendations and
10. Détruite en 1964
137
ARCHITECTURE
THE ROLE OF THE KING OF FRANCE’S
ENGINEERS IN THE SPREAD OF
CLASSICAL AND NEOCLASSICAL ESTHETIC
ANNE-MARIE NIDA
Art and architectural historian.
Centre de recherche en histoire internationale et atlantique (CRHIA),
Marseille, France
At the end of the 17th century,
inspired by the civil engineer
Vauban, Louis XIV created an elite
body composed of engineers specialized in the constructions
of fortifications, subsequently
known as the civil engineer corps.
After having been trained in town
planning and fortifications and,
having obtained their civil engineering diploma, they would intervene in frontier conflicts and be
called upon to defend the newly
acquired colonial territories. They
would not necessarily be classing
as officers but their militarization would confirm itself by the
mid 18th century. Their role did not
limit itself to the building of fortifications, conception and execution but they would also be called
upon to resist attacks and in times
of peace they would construct new
towns (in the Indian Ocean Islands
138
such as St Denis on Bourbon and
Port Louis on the Isle de France as
well as Pondichery in India). They
would be with this unique experience of occupying a virgin piece
of land or land occupied by people of another culture not only the
forerunners of the 19th century
urban engineers in France but
also living witnesses to the classical architectural culture stemming from the age of light (renaissance) which was transmitted
from Europe throughout the territories in India and the west.
Present in the field their pragmatism, functionality, excelling in
skills in mathematics and physics these were skills essential in
the rational creation of these new,
often fortified towns.
Anne Blanchard, in her book
«Les ingénieurs du Roy» 1 offers a
detailed and knowledge description of this body of men who
would defend, protect and excel
with their remarkable constructions throughout the French Kingdom. She counted that, during the
18th century there were 1500 civil
engineers in France which would
provide here with an analysis of
the lives of the engineers, geographical architects and in many
cases, artists. Our ambition for the
Indian sub continent had to limit
itself to about 100 engineers for
still to be remedied in order to better understand these outstanding people. For the majority it was
easy to establish a comparison in
the progression of their training
between themselves and the Royal
Engineers. Those of the colonies
born in France had shared the
same lifestyle and education, and
were attached to the Naval section
of the military, or to the civil engineering corps, militarized with
the same grades as in the Kingdom. The blurred zones of this tale
taken from a century in India and
the islands, interests us insofar as
FIG. 1
Cochin
« recueil de quelques pièces concernant les arts…. »
the Indian Ocean spread between
the Indian coastline, Bourbon
(Réunion) and Isle de France (Mauritius). A lot of shortcomings were
their descendant born after the
debut of the 18th century stayed
in India (ex the Civil engineers
Sornay father and son) 2. Their
1. Anne Blanchard : Les ingénieurs du « Roy » de
Louis XIV à Louis XVI, 1979, Montpellier
2. Alexandre Sornay est né à Paris en 1698. En 1736
il passe en Ile de France avec sa femme et son fils,
139
training, in the towns of India
was undertaken under the leadership of their father as was the
custom in the days before the creation of the civil engineers college
at Mezières in 1748. Otherwise,
where in France could they have
gone to school ? Actually it seems
that 15% of the engineers serving in the Indian Ocean had, in
the second part of the century followed their training program and
become Royal engineers. The rest
of the body of colonial engineers
was composed of naval recruits
who became voluntary engineers
coming from different backgrounds. Could their good and
heroic service sufficed in order to
gain their diploma? Be it ordinary
level or voluntary, their motivation in undertaking such a mission to different lands overseas
lay not so much with the thirst for
discovery and conquest but with a
mission to export a social and cultural lifestyle based on that of the
French Kingdom. The perspective
of a better and a more lucrative
Pierre Basile né à Pampelune en 1727. Il est sous les
ordres de l’ingénieur Cossigny. Puis il est ingénieur
en chef à Pondichery en 1736 , du fort et de la ville.
Son fils a 9ans. Il participe à toutes les expéditions
de guerre et demande la croix de saint Louis en
1755. Il meurt à Pondichery où il est inhumé à Notre
Dame des Anges en 1758, avant la destruction de la
ville en 1761. Son fils Pierre Basile revient en France
et s’engage. Il fait ses deux premières campagnes
sous les ordres du maréchal de Saxe et avec les
volontaires bretons. Son père lui signifie de revenir
à Pondichery en 1750 , il épouse une native de 13 ans
dont il aura quatre enfants. Il est fait prisonnier en
1761 et sera placé à Karikal, ingénieur second, en
1767, puis repart en Ile de France où il fera faillite.
Il aura lui aussi la croix de saint Louis.
140
lifestyle was surely a convincing
factor.
All those that we have traced
in the archives had left letters
requesting the cross of St Louis or
the trace of their honours accompanied by a reward, which would
be added to their regular pension. They would often be housed
in sumptuous lodgings 3 with all
the signs of particular consideration, at least in the first half of
the century. Fortune was to smile
somewhat less upon them with
the reign of Louis XVI ; the court’s
excessive spending did not permit a decent wage for the colonial
troops. Their pension was often
paid two years in arrears, if it was
paid at all. 4 Whatever their motivations were these civil engineers
were responsible for establishing
maps and proposing new installations in hitherto insalubrious
areas 5 such as Pondichery or the
coconuts islands. Their architectural work gave proof of their
perfect assimilation of classical
architectural theory and the principles of ordering. Their social
backgrounds allowed for a good
education, which stimulated curiosity and a cultural ethos 6. They
were the offspring of nobility or
wealthy tradesmen as well as the
3. Les Sornay possèdent une maison à Pondichery
et une à la campagne « de très bon rapport »
détruites en 1761. FR ANOM col E372. En 1767,
Pierre Basil est logé à Karikal (plan de sa maison :
FR CAOM 28DFC 15B)
4. Cf. l’ingénieur Rambaud FR CAOM col E345
5. Voir note 31
6. Anne Blanchard op cité
FIG. 2
Maison Panon-Desbassyns, chaussée Royale à Saint-Paul,
après le passage d’un cyclone.
Photo André Blay, 1914-1978
141
FIG. 3
Louis-Michel Thibault : « Élévation de
la porte d’entrée du jardin de la compagnie »
CTEA 1/992, page 124
sons of engineers active at the
beginning of the century, then
after 1760 they were the sons of
noblemen and engineers 7. During their time abroad the engineers took with them their way of
seeing things and their items of
Greco Roman culture.
Some would have in their baggage, as well as their instruments
of measure and sketching, essential reference books to which they
would refer to throughout the
18th century. Belidor for technical
drawing, and the «de re architectura» by Vitruve from Perrault. 8
These privileged young men benefitted from a strict education from
an early age. They had to hand
ancient as well as modern books,
which they passed around. Books
with their cohorts of self taught
7. Anne Blanchard op cité
8. Anne Blanchard op cité, p. 316 à 318
142
engravings and inspired illustrations whereby each chapter would
begin or conclude with a series
of detailed little vignettes, which
made a fortune for Cochin 9. In a
small octavo, « Recueil de quelques
pièces concernant les arts »,
Cochin concentrated on one such
vignette (3,5 x 7cm) the spirit
of light and of this closing century 10. There a gentleman amuses
himself by playing with some
antique orders and by inversing
the columns their canopies on the
ground and the base at the top of
the column. Order and untidiness
went hand in hand and played off
one another and the classical culture found that such experimentation led to a firmer and more durable resistance with a final flourish
by way of common sense and calculation. This opened a neo-classical style. Small format books
which one could hide within one’s
coats were carriers of a reformist
doubt which would provoke a revolution in mentalities and permit
new official research adapted to
the advances in science and ideas
and thus encourage the use of new
materials. 11 The education of good
taste was prevalent in high society by way of prestigious exam9. Une vignette se nomme à cette époque
un« cochin ».
10. Cochin, dans « œuvres diverses » secrétaire
de l’académie royale de peinture et sculpture ou
recueil de quelques pièces concernant les arts,
Paris, Antoine Jombert, père, rue dauphine à l’image
notre Dame, tome III, 1 771, ill. pp78, vignette 3,5 /
7 cm
11. Voltaire est édités en in 8° et in 12°
ples of both medium and large
format books which promulgated
classical esthetics or antiquity as
in the great works of the Count de
Cayus or books in architectural
theory by Jean François Blondel 12.
The books in folio or quarto
brought to the world the classical model and the recognition of
an ancient period measured and
scientifically catalogued. The
ancient archives of numerous
provincial libraries are still conserved, witness to this taste for
book collections. The history of
art and esthetics were born at the
same time as large books cataloging works of art and engravings
from the major art galleries with
commentaries by Diderot, as well
as archeology with its examples
by Cayus.
The engineers had a common bond
with lectures as well as books
which were studied attentively.
The basic works were for the most
part scientific (physics, hydraulics
and mathematics). «The science of
engineering» by Bernard Orest
de Belidor, edited in 1728, and
for architecture «series Vignole»
but above all Claude Perrault and
Vitruve 13. Scientific works would
have become familiar very early
on and the engineering students
would follow their apprenticeship
in schools reputed for their sci-
entific level (in the south of the
Kingdom the Jesuit schools of
Montpellier, Nimes, Beziers or Carcassonne, or with the Benedictine
Monks at Sorèze) 14. They equally
had an artistic training with an
intense level of drawing and painting. Numerous towns throughout
the kingdom had fine art colleges:
Paris, Rouen, Marseille, Aix, and
they were free of charge 15.
Up until 1748, the date of the creation of the Civil Engineering College at Mezières, the forerunner of
the École Polytechnique, the training of the engineers was carried
out in fortified sites or in town
squares. As from now, to apply to
this prestigious school implied
the passing of the entrance exam
or to have an excellent scientific
knowledge as well as a high aptitude in painting and drawing.
Drawing was an excellent skill to
have and was part of their education. Students on a two years
course, this school favoured drawing and art work and painting
which took up more than half of
their study time. The drawing of
classical orders existing classical architecture and landscape
painting, detailed according to
the seasons in the quest for realistic impressions and an accurate
copy of the countryside’s topography 16. The artistic quality of works
12. Anne Claude de Caylus : Recueil d’antiquités
égyptiennes, étrusques, grecques, et gauloises en 7
volumes, 1752-1767. Jacques-François Blondel : Cours
d’architecture, tomes 1 à 4, de 1771 à 1773
13. cf Anne Blanchard, opus cité pp.316 à318
14. Ibidem
15. Archives des Bouches du Rhône : C4466, C98,
C3974 : des cours de dessin gratuits à Aix en
Provence et Marseille
16. Vincennes SHAT, Xe 159. Mémoire de 1771 : « Sa
143
entered for the exam did not
leave the jury indifferent in their
attribution of a diploma 17. This
demand in representing the real
is not without reminding oneself
of the taste for mimesis advocated
by Appelle, admired by the classical painters even if the objective
remained somewhat military.
These colonial engineers would
leave a twofold heritage in France.
The projects painted or drawn
on paper, and in the colonies the
realized projects such as the military barracks, civilian buildings,
monumental doors, palaces, hospitals, buildings belonging to the
clergy as well as private owners.
And once again as was the custom in France individual clients
called upon their expertise during the construction of their own
palaces hotels and gazebos in the
country, all of which more often
than not were delivered intact
unlike some of the public buildings, which suffered badly during various conflicts and by public treasury deficits. Thousands of
documents including plans maps
and reproductions of the countryside are today conserved at the
«Service Historique de l’armée
de terre» at Vincennes and at the
National Colonial archives at Aixmajesté décida que qui que ce fut serait adlis
à cette école qu’autant qu’il aurait été examiné
sur l’arithmétique, la géométrie, la méchanique,
l’hydraulique ainsi que sur le dessin »
17. idem SHAT, Xe 159 et fonds Anne Blanchard aux
archives départementales à Montpellier où se
trouve la photocopie du « règlement de l’école du
génie de Mézières, 1748 »
144
en-Provence. These engineers
invented designed and copied
maps and plans of their offices
where they could be helped. Plates
reproduced sometimes in several copies that the King waited
expressly to know.
The images spoke for themselves.
The engineers in the colonies
adhered to the classical architectural theory applied during
the 18th century. But they were
also witness to the mentality of
the age of light whereby human
nature could give free rein to its
fantasies. This was prevalent in
the illustrations of plans despite
the plans own seriousness. We can
discover Flemish artwork, natural
landscapes and its esthetic style.
As with other colonial powers,
which imposed their metropolitan style, the architects and engineers sent by Portugal and then
Holland preferred the Gothic and
Baroque styles, the French engineers for their part developed a
classical architectural model for
an exterior vision of their buildings. They reserved a rococo style
for their interior decoration in the
mid 18th century and responded
to this necessity to amaze by
fantasy decoration increasingly
renewable, supplanted in 1775 by
a return to a more soberly lined
style in keeping with the rigor
which pervaded following the revolution, in the form of neo classicism. The depot at the colonial
fortifications housed the national
FIG. 4
Une « folie » dans les environs
de Pondichéry.
Cliché A.-M. Nida
archives for the overseas territories have conserved two examples
of the export of a dutch model to
Ceylon (Colombo) 18 and to oriental
India at Negepatnam. The two cities are surrounded by thick rampart built in the Portuguese style,
with crenelated projecting.
The watercolour view of the town
of Colombo leads us to think that
they could be indo Portuguese
constructions of a Goanese type
with raised edge roofs, and with
syncretic type churches, both
gothic baroque and Indian. To the
left of the picture the town lays
partially in ruins, maybe a consequence of the taking of the town
18. De Stadt Colombe : la ville de Colombo, 25 DFC
213B iconographie internet base Ulysse, DFC (dépôt
des fortifications coloniales) pour l’Inde : http://
anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/sdx/
Ulysse/index
by the Dutch 19. Negepatnam 20 in
Tamil Nadu appears to us to be a
copy of the Hanseatic style town,
taken to India with its crenelated
ramparts and buildings with lateral gabled with graded borders
based on the gothic models of
Dutch cities, with a building (to
the right of the flag) adorned with
a gabled facade on garret.
This style was adopted by the
houses on the Cape of Good Hope,
where the violence of the sea
winds imposes a such structure.
At the Cape, these same type of
houses preponderant in towns
as well as many properties in the
surrounding countryside before
an architect engineer imported
a French model Louis Michel
Thibault (1750 – 1815) came to
seek his fortune in 1783 21. He
would import in this Dutch style
town in South Africa, the classic
yet austere French style, in vogue
at the end of the 18th century 22.
19. Depuis 140 ans, Colombo est aux mains des
Portugais qui en 1656 soutiennent un siège
épique contre les Hollandais qui s’en emparent
avec l’ensemble de Ceylan jusqu’à l’arrivée des
Britanniques. Il est raconté que les Portugais, lors
de ces défaites, brûlent toutes cartes et documents
qui pourraient faciliter la vie des nouveaux
conquérants.
20. De Stadt Negepatnam op de must von
koromandel, la ville de Negepatnam sur la côte de
Coromandel : 25DFC239B (après 1756)
21. Formé par Gabriel, directeur de l’académie royale
d’architecture et architecte du Roi louis XV (conçoit
le petit Trianon). L-M Thibault est originaire de
Picardie. Né en 1750 et décédé au Cap de Bonne
Espérance en 1815, il arrive dans cette colonie
hollandaise avec la garnison française en 1783, où
il est officier. Il va construire au Cap des bâtiments
entre 1786 et 1790. Il est ingénieur militaire en chef
en 1795.
22. Geometral elevation vah hit wagt huÿs aan de
145
As from 1786 his talent was sought
after for various construction
projects, such as the entrances to
the company’s gardens, still preserved. The French engineers of
the Indian Company principally
at Pondichery, and in the Mascareignes would prove their capacity to witness this classical culture that they were steeped in
with the spirit of light, and as
amazing observers at the new cultures and by the customs of the
natives. They integrated at the
occasion of the sketching of the
projects and as well as plans and
elevations of the various types
of building or fortification; they
integrated a number of details
FIG. 5
Hôte Lagrénée de Mézières à Pondichéry
Cliché A.-M. Nida
compagnies tuÿn, Élévation de la porte d’entrée du
jardin de la compagnie, par Louis -Michel Thibault,
CTEA 1/992
146
that reflected that anthropological spirit of curious travelers.
Their artistic skills in landscape
painting were used in the panoramas in the plans of coastal towns
such as Cochin and Mahé. At last,
they manifested an overwhelming creativity in cartouche titles,
map making and cartography. We
will try here to highlight these
traits within the spirit of the age
by way of a formal and symbolic
analysis of these existing buildings and then by way of the various charts graphs and plans, of
landscapes, and cartouche which
complete these projects, some of
which were completed but others
destroyed during the various hostilities with the English.
The architectural engineers in
India and the Mascareignes would
have to prove their worth in the
domains of both military and civil
architecture. Their activity in the
field of construction was sketchy
to say the least be it for the king,
the India Company or for private owners. Many of these buildings are still in use, in particular
private residences. The islands
and the trading outposts saw the
emergence of private hotels, country residences, and architectural
folly on the outskirts of Pondichery, at the same time that the
towns and public buildings were
built. In the absence of architects
in the regions the prestigious scientific engineers guarantors of
good taste were much in demand
FIG. 6
« Plan de la pointe de la colonie à l’Ile de France »
for their expertise and advice, as
this was already the case in metropolitan France. On Bourbon,
Henri Paulin Panon Debassyns
proposed and undertook the construction of three residences from
February 1775. Two of his residences would be in the heights of
St Paul at St Gilles les Hauts, Villèle (a museum since 1974), and
one at Bernica, which has now
all but disappeared. The third,
in 1776 23, would be at St-Paul, on
The Chaussée Royale (main road).
Debassyns, born on Bourbon,
rejoined Dupleix at Pondichery in
1751, aged 19 years. He would live
through the battles with the English and witness its destruction in
1761. He thus had the chance to
23. Fonds privé Desbassyns de Villèle : Livre de
raison de H.P. Panon Desbassyns
marvel at the French town with its
spectacular buildings undertaken
by Dupleix including its own palace, easily rivaling the most beautiful palaces of the kingdom. He
would have met the engineers Sornay and C. Cossigny who also lived
on Bourbon Island. In any case, the
residence at St-Gilles had a very
palladian façade; its position dominating the surrounding countryside was not only for the desire
to keep cool, but it also afforded
the masters a view of the agricultural land, and the residence
Desbassyn, at St Paul, offered an
example of massive doric structure. A cyclone, during the 20th
century, cleared the surrounding
land making evident the vertical
parts of the house enabling a perfect view of its structure and style.
147
FIG. 7
« Vue des bâtiments qui se sont achevés
au port du nord ouest à l’Île de France... »
That which diverted from the otherwise strict application of classical style was the systems of
upstairs verandahs, here as at St
Gilles-les-Hauts, which gave it a
creole connotation in classical
architecture in the tropics. This
very preoccupation would dictate
the need for one secondary residence, a folly built in the outskirts
of Pondichery where the upper
classes were accustomed to coming in order to take advantage of
the countryside and its tranquil
pleasures. We find once more the
distillation of classical styles in
this rotunda shaped folly with
doric pilasters to the balustrade
adorned with fiery flowerpots
and with its window positioned
directly above the building so as
to provide aeration. At Pondichery, the private Hotel Lagrénée de
Mezières, 46 Rolland Street, dating from 1772 adopted a French
classicism style. The front of
which the verandah is supported
by doric columns is adorned with
stucco engravings and mouldings
148
representing the arts interwoven
in rococo style garlands of flowers. The front was to be found on
the gardenside reversing the traditional metropolitan style where
one entered by a courtyard. Other
than the private residences, the
engineers would participate in the
construction of religious buildings such as churches cathedrals
and chapels. The DFC at Aix en
Provence still holds the plates for
models, which circulated in India
and in the islands. The cathedral
at Pondichery vowing at Immaculate Conception sustained several
attempts at destruction and was
rebuilt using different versions up
until the end of the 18th century. It
has stayed that way ever since with
its Jesuits helix on the front, supported by several pairs of twin columns in a doric style. This ensemble at a particularly busy end of
century would find a counterpart
more luminous and refined at the
interior of the edifice, conforming
more to a classical model of drawing books and the realizations
of the kingdom. An anonymous
sketch dated 1722 of the church
gate at Fort Louis gives us an idea
of what these religious buildings
were like at the beginning of the
century 24. Excepting the ceramics on the summit of this gate, the
decoration adheres to a geometric
and simple style: a doorway with
24. Profil d’élévation du frontispice ou portail de
l’église du fort Louis de Pondichery faite dans l’an
1722, anonyme, FR CAOM 26DFC 18B
half-moon pediment, ionic pilaster on both sides of the main central gate, and two lateral smaller
doors. The whole is harmonious
and in keeping with good taste.
But the religious buildings were
not very numerous and the further one advances in this century
the less pious society became. The
engineers had to, if they wanted
to apply for the civil engineering
corps, to be members of the apostolic and Roman Catholic Church.
That said, their interest was
greater when drawing the varying
buildings of the town, and in particular the doors. Taking Urbs for
example they were placed at the
four cardinal points at the heart
of paths leading to the main cities of India. They were the object
of particular architectural treatment. They symbolized the ebb
and flow and the dynamism of
colonial life, with the idea of Janus
the two headed god of departure
and return. The formal treatment
of these doors inscribed in the
model used there and in Paris at
the same period. Designed by the
engineer of Nyon in 1705 25 the
royal door of Fort St Louis, at the
beginning of the elaborating of
25. Élévation de la porte royale du fort Saint-Louis
de Pondichéry, 15 février 1709, par de Nyon,
PDY 26 DFC10terC. Denis de Nyon fait partie
des cents suisses de la garde du corps du Roi, il
reçoit 600 livres annuelles et 154 livres sur place.
Il arrive à Pondichery en 1700 après avoir été 10
ans ingénieur en France. Il devient gouverneur et
ingénieur en chef à l’Île de France de 1721 à 1727 où il
rentre en France. Il obtient la croix de saint Louis. Il
meurt en 1742. (archives nationales, Paris, C1 1722 et
FR ANOM, E324).
the new town had within its half
moon the seal of the Sun King. A
dome crowned the whole where a
flag emblazoned with the fleur de
Lys flew. Omnipresence of a Royal
power, the fleur de Lys marked the
conquered territory and reminded
one of this on subsequent maps.
The two smaller lateral doors were
adorned with a triangular pediment and flanked by two doric
pilasters. Two other anonymous
projects completed at the eve of
the revolution showed a return to
an imitation of an antique style 26.
Concerning the door of Madras
this return to the application of
a catalogued model and original
sized offers one an austere vision
of neo-classicism. The second project offered a vividly coloured and
contrasting watercolour painting
of the marina door 27, this seemed
to be an example of architecture
which proclaimed itself and where
the force of expression overtakes
good taste at the end of the century (as said amongst others the
revolutionary architects Boullée,
Ledoux, and Lequeu). The government’s palaces are also representative in the power of the conqueror.
Dupleix at Pondichery, wouldn’t he
sacrifice his career by too much
ostentation in addition with a
closer regard to the King himself
than an Indian Nawab ? 28
26. Élévation extérieure de la porte Madras,
anonyme, 1788, Pondichery, FR CAOM 26DFC631B,
27. Élévation de la porte marine du nord ou de
Saint-Louis, 1788, anonyme, FR CAOM 26 DFC626B
28. Façade du gouvernement de Pondichery du côté
149
Pondichery is the centre of the
French world in India, and the
main place of the French Territories of the Indian Ocean until its
transfer to Ile de France in the second half of the 18th century 1785,
sinning by weakness.
Its fall, and destruction in 1761
faced with English attacks would
see this idea of an empire founder
somewhat. Having said that, in
the first half of the century the
governor and the directors of the
company would participate in the
efforts to construct the town for
their own profit and even build
some pavilions in the country.
That way the engineers Champia
de Fonbrun and Dumont would
head the projects on the famous
government palace 29. The whole
arsenal of the preparation with
its orderly vocabulary of classical
architecture was magnificently
deployed reminding us, of a variant concerning the pediment supported by the columns, the frontage on the gardens, at Versailles.
Here too pediment, in a half moon
shape, framed by the central triangular pediment adorned with
the Royal Coat of Arms comprising three lilies flowers, and a
crown flanked by warlike equipment, lances, bullets, cannonballs,
gunpowder kegs and shields. The
superposition of the doric orders
de l’entrée, FR CAOM 26DFC78C par Champia de
Fontbrun, 1755 : FR CAOM COL E69
29. Plan et élévation du gouvernement de
Pondichery par Dumont, 1755, FR CAOM 26DFC 80A
150
(masculine) and Ionic (feminine)
in the Italian renaissance palaces were respected, a rococo cartouche for the title adorned with
floral garlands accompanied the
project. A partial gap in the background offered one a nocturnal
view of the palace. To the right of
this gap the arrival of a lady in a
sedan chair carried by four porters and preceeded by an Indian
manservant whose job it was to
announce the arrival of visitors to
the guards on sentry duty in front
of the palace. The dame was light
up inside the sedan chair by way
of an oblong bulb. The gap would
reveal to us the interior decorations in front of and inside the palace, the candles of which two were
housed in glass illuminated the
«pronaos» casting a yellow glow
in the mirror and the glass windows panes. The interior was in a
rococo style which in 1755 was all
the rage at court, even as far away
as India. Following its destruction in 1761 the government palace became the subject of a new
project, this time by Jean Bourcet
the elder 30. His sobriety was significant by the lack of funds and
the abandoning of this part where
ostentation had become demonstrative with the permanent adoption of more austere shapes. During this period the islands would
also see the construction of gov30. Façade du gouvernement, par Bourcet, le 28
février 1768. FR CAOM 26DFC214C.
Bourcet : FR CAOM colE46
FIG. 8
« Plan coupes et élévations de la redoute
que l’on construit actuellement
à Nellicerant »
1753. FR CAOM 25 DFC 181A
ernment buildings, this time far
more rustic even if classicism was
respected.
Pondichery would be the town the
most equipped with engineering
projects. Numerous studies for
implantation plans and plans for
the town’s expansion were drawn
up and their aesthetic treatment
of colours, the designing of cultivated gardens and waterways
sometimes made realistic birds
eye views as well as country like
also for coconut island 31.
Three engineers would execute
this order for a piece of marshy
land, dirty and which would prove
31. Ville projetée par Mrs de Fourcroy et le Veux sur
l’île aux cocotiers en 1771 , Bourcet, Jean, Pondichery,
Dulac, Claude et, Ranger Gilbert (de); FR CAOM
26DFC397B. Dulac : FR CAOM col E151 Ranger :FR
CAOM col E345
unexploitable. The qualities of
illustrated realism would also
be found in the plans of the colony at Ile de France 32. The urban
landscape is sometimes painted
as it appears. Port Louis at Ile
de France 33 in the mid 18th century is an exceptional example
if we place it within the context
of French painting where painting in situ would not be acknowledged until the start of the 19th
century. However, the engineers,
excellent in their realistic representations of the landscape, as if
they had accomplished an exercise at school. The landscape and
the unique geology of the Gingy 34
region west of Pondichery were
returned with a high degree of
exactitude. The evocation of the
countryside in the plans could
easily rival that of the representation of the natives’ daily life,
the transporting of cargoes on
the catamarans, the transport of
the construction materials, straw
hut villages. This was the case of
a map of Madras which was drawn
and painted on the back of a works
plan «Second voyage to Siam in
1687 –1688». Anonymous, it is difficult to date with the English flat,
32. Plan de la pointe de la colonie juin 1777, DFC IDF
7B621, côtes pour Ile de France et Réunion en voie
de précision aux archives.
33. vue des bâtiments qui se sont achevés au
port du nord ouest à l’île de France depuis le
gouvernement de Mr de la Bourdonnais. Les
chiffres sont relatifs au deuxième plan. FR CAOM
DFC IDF 6C411, côte en voie de précision
34. «vue de la montagne de Rasegadon », ( Abeille ?)
mémoire 97 (385)), FR CAOM 25 DFC 273A
Abeille Jean Joseph : FR CAOM col E1
151
FIG. 9
Détail du cartouche
flying over St George’s Fort 35, not
taken by the French apart from
1746 – 1749. Finally the geographical engineer Lafitte de Brassier
equally skilled as an engineer
or as a painter, and who would
be acknowledged as a real artist
by the engineering corps themselves. He could reply to a commission for an exact topographical
drawing with paintings of landscapes disposed in long strips,
and, below the plans already
landscaped marking the points
between the altitude curves and a
photographic vision in 3D.
For the two plans of Mahé 36, the
first plan shows landscapes that
are luminous, inspired, even
35. Plan de Madras Patan, Anonyme, au revers :
plan de Madraspatam, Second voyage de Siam, 16871688. Légende et cartouche. Découpe irrégulière. FR
CAOM 25DFC287A
36. Plan du comptoir de Mahé et de ses environs,
suivant le nouveau plan de fortification qui doit
être mis en exécution en 1778, qui n’a pas eu lieu,
rapport aux hostilités commencées en ce tems,
Lafitte de Brassier, 1778, FR CAOM 29DFC51 ter
idem FR CAOM 29DFC51B
152
poetic, whereas the second is
more banal, simply workmanlike. He renewed his exploit with
the town of Cochin adding to his
work a rococo styled cartouche
and a conch shell adorned with
a garland of flowers and a palm
tree, and in the foreground some
rocks and strange mosses. The
precision of the detail doesn’t
take anything away from the overall beauty of the whole, where sailing vessels sailing at anchor fly
the flags of various nations 37. One
of them, being next to the wind
rose, fires a cannon. The classical
culture and its attention in imitating the countryside is therefore uppermost in the minds of
the engineers be it in relation of
architecture with human nature
and with commissions dictated by
Vitruve and therefore the relation
with the human body both male
and female, or in painting with
the landscape manifest in its singularity; But that which signifies
the order can be ruffled and hide
within the confines of organized
interior decoration with its inventions of Rococo style.
Within the plans drawn by the
engineers the illustrations find
their home within the space both
of games and transgression. These
illustrations also serve as models
of decorations for furnishings,
37. Plan de la ville de Cochain, à la côte Malabar,
Lafitte de Brassier, Louis François Grégoire, 1778,
FR CAOM 25DFC 198B
Lafitte de Brassier :FR CAOM Col E245
which would later be executed in
the colonies. Their shapes vary,
they come as a perfect surprise to
a public hitherto bored with current styles and who feel the need
to be lifted by these offerings.
These cartouches invented by the
engineers or their assistants offer
a wealth of formal historic and
symbolic signification. In 1750, a
certain Moithey the defender of
La Bourdonnais exploits against
the English at Madras 38 taken in
1746. The map of the town, copied
from the original by the engineer
Paradis 39 is adorned by two illustrations bearing La Bourdonnais
coat of arms. On the right with
the place inscribed an ornament
of a shell with two doves of peace
beak to beak and an interwoven
design of leaves, with two axes
from Mahé ’s coat of arms interwoven with ribbons. That on the left
recounts the victory written on
one of the boat’s decks, crowned
by a crown and the coat of arms of
La Bourdonnais, two axes, a crescent moon framed and lit by two
lanterns protected by two cannons. Flags are waived here and
there together with two lanterns,
and to the left two snakes, maybe
Hermes’s caduceus ?
38. Plan de Madraz et fort saint-George, pris
par les Français commandés par Mr Mahé de la
Bourdonnais, chevalier de l’ordre militaire de saint
Louis capitaine de frégate cy devant gouverneur
des îles de France et de Bourbon, cette place a
été prise le 21 septembre 1746, par Moithey, 1750,
cartouche blasonné, rose des vents fleurdelisée,
navires et légende FR CAOM 25DFC289B
39. Paradis/ FR CAOM col E328
The illustration is cornered in
the inferior part by a picture of
two sea monsters and between
the two illustrations the galleon
bearing the victor’s arms sails on
an abstract sea. This plan was created to the glory of Mahé de La
Bourdonnais, sailor and valiant
fighter; however this exploit cost
him his destitution as Governor
general of the Mascareignes and
his return to France. Other cartouches, describing this generally warlike 40 fantasy was sometimes calmer in context with the
countryside 41. The mythological
theme of Hercules’ labour and
above all of his encounter with
the lion of Némée are varyingly
described with predilection on
the maps of the lookout post of
Nellicérant 42 in two versions. For
Mahé a cartouche of which the
realization was not by a Frenchman 43. Theses cartouches, at the
bottom of the plan of the lookout point of Nellicerant, recounts
the story of Hercules’ victory over
the lion of Némée which had terrorized the town. He didn’t manage to kill the lion with his club
40. Mayé et ses environs, après que monsieur de
la Bourdonnais eut battu les Bayanorois le trois
décembre mil sept cent quarante et un, 27 plans des
différents bastions, le Barillet
cartouche et titre orné. FR CAOM 25DFC18B
41. Plan de Madras, ou fort Saint-George, anonyme,
1779, FR CAOM 25DFC297A
42. Plan coupes et élévations de la redoute que l’on
construit actuellement à Nellicerant, 1753. FR CAOM
25DFC180A et 181A. Attribué à Bernard du passage
des Mazières :FR CAOM E158
43. Plan de Mahyé coste Malabare par les xl°xlm de
latitude Nord, anonyme FR CAOM 29 DFC 33A.
153
but by way of ruse and cunning.
After having gutted the beast he
took up its fleece to celebrate his
success and to claim its strength.
The first cartouche shows it in
the form of a shell with garlands
and branches and two exhausted
fighters sitting amongst the
ruins flags and cannonball, one of
them is a bare shouldered fighter
clad in a toga, the other, Hercules
is depicted with his club and the
lion’s head following its slaughter. The second version takes the
trouble to put the slaughter showing the head and the paws in the
upper part of the cartouche rolled
in a garland, which surrounds the
scene returning on the ground
with the assorted flags shields
and cannons. This mythical tale of
Hercules drawn by an anonymous
artist, certainly of Indian origin,
in the plan of Mahé, gives a somewhat rare example of ethnic mixing in classical culture or style,
the shape and colour of the decoration betrays the local culture.
A single cartouche executed in
1782 by the engineer Rambaud
made possible the simplification
of cartouche decoration with its
geometry and discreet decorations 44. The cartouche held all
their interest as decorative models, found in furnishings and the
interior decoration of private residences. The rococo in fashion,
44. 30B 217 « plan du fort d’Ostembourg, septembre
1782 Rambaud (intérieur du Tamil Nadu) FR CAOM
25DFC217B FR ANOM COL E 345
154
during the reign of Louis XV in
France, persisted a little longer in
India where the country’s distance
meant that tastes changed much
more slowly. With the sharpness
of the particular shape of the shell
or the garlands of flowers they
were capable of offering visual
surprises before becoming more
linear in aspect as well as becoming more austere. The engineers
reserved a little later the imposition of a neoclassical model there
where Napoléon’s France remained
present in the Indian Ocean.
The French Revolution would end
this particular chapter before
commencing another; the beautiful classical architecture would
no longer be a primary preoccupation for the new engineers trained
at the post revolutionary schools
where practical work would
diminish in favour of more analytical and theoretical study. Only
the older engineers trained at
Mezières (the college would close
in 1794), could continue to construct classical models these in
turn becoming neo classical models. Bonaparte was accompanied to
Egypt by some brilliant designers
and several engineers and architects would continue to transmit
this culture in Europe. Indeed, in
Tuscany, Elisa, Napoléon’s elder
sister would transform the region
of Piombino with examples of
neo classical architecture 45. But
45. Legere il territorio, Montioni :storia e beni
culturali nell’Alta Maremma, a cura di Marco
FIG. 10
Les montagnes à Gingy
Cliché A.-M. Nida
already the new engineering colleges were participating in the
transformation of this society
which itself was freeing itself of
monarchical shackles and of its
excessive rules and regulations.
The engineers thus paved the way
towards new possibilities revealed
in the development of the sciences, and their ability to use new
materials, which in turn led to new
esthetic concepts. After much hesitation in the 19th century they
began to question the validity
of the ancient models before givPaperini, pp73 à 170, « louis Porte e le miniere :un
uomo nuovo » nel primo 800, Tiziano Arrigoni, et
pp. 171 à 184, « Grands détails pris de l’Antique » :
architettura, arte e potere a Montioni », Cristina
Bernazzi, 2009, Felici Editore, San Giulano Terme
(Pisa)
ing way to modernity and its new
architectural creations with their
new functional design and decorative forms.
In the 20th century the temptation
to embrace a new form of exploitation of the classical model was
fashionable during the 1940’s
with the hideous use for propaganda purposes. Then came the
post modernist style led by Bofill
with another sterile parade of
architecture reflecting economic
and political power entrenched in
a block form devoid of all its primary essence.
ANNE-MARIE NIDA
155
ARCHITECTURE
RIO DE JANEIRO, PORTUGUESE IMPERIAL
C I T Y 1 8 0 8 – 1 8 2 1:
U R B A N T R A N S F O R M AT I O N S
Architect, professor. Faculty of architecture
of the technical University, Lisbon, Portugal
THE ARRIVAL OF T H E
P ORTUGUESE COURT, AS W E LL
AS THE REGENT D O M J OAO I N
THE TOWN OF SA N S E BAST I AO
DE RIO DE JANEI R O I N 1 8 0 8
WO ULD H AVE FAR R EACHIN G,
P ROFOUND CONSEQUE NCES
ON THE TOWN’ S F UT UR E .
Consequences that would go
beyond the first quarter of the
19th century. The independence of
Imperial Brazil which followed in
the 1820’s, the urban and architectural opening towards modernization and the European influences
added to those of Portugal, notably the French influence which
spanned the whole of the Brazilian 19th century and which culminated with the new urbanization
of the boulevards and finally the
destruction of the central Morro
do Castelo, symbol of the colonial
town, at the start of the 20th century. All these events occurring
at this initial period gave rise to
innovative new ideas, an opening
156
to the outside world and an international dimension.
Capital city of the colony since
1763 (succeeding in importance
Salvador de Bahia) with nearly
50,000 inhabitants at the end of
the century, Rio, founded in 1565
as a small coastal town developed
organically parallel to the development of Lisbon.
At the start of the 19th century,
Rio still hadn’t lost a certain provincial «small town» air. And it
may be there that its future urban
image evoked in «Town Plans of
São Sebastião de Rio de Janeiro
presented by order of His Royal
Highness the Prince Regent our
Lord in 1808» during the arrival
of the Court of Brazil.
As from 1808 all of the measures
and the initiatives of the regent
Dom Joao contributed to the birth
of a new social, political, administrative and cultural mentality
which would hitherto be at the
root of all of the following transformations; Rio would rapidly
become a transatlantic capital, an
imperial town and in other terms
the largest, most complex, and
most modern city of the times.
T H E ACTION OF MODERNIZATION
A N D THE REQUALIFICATION
O F RIO DE JANEIRO AS THE
I MP ERI A L P ORT U GU ESE CA P I TA L
U N DERTA KES ON SEV ERA L
F R ONTS CENTERED ON THE
CA PI TA L .
As from 1808 «the new power»
that be undertook an intensive
period of legislative and administrative reform preparatory to
a rupture. It was the phase of
encouragements for modernizing
industry (the authorization of
manufacture) the creation of practical fields of study and teaching
(economics, commerce and medicine). A new commercial dawn saw
the opening of the ports towards
the outside world and new financial perspectives with the creation
of the Brazilian national bank, the
creation of the «Royal printing
company» as well as cultural initiatives in the form of the Natural
history Society, in 1818.
With the propositions for urban
and architectural transformations
within the expansion and growth
of the town, a phase of growth that
would be concentrated at Rio at
the dawn of the 19th century, the
fruit of its own dynamism but also
with the presence of the court, it
was necessary to plan and control
the proliferation of new edifices
which would become equally inevitable as necessary.
The urban control would be orchestrated by the intendant general
of the Police (Police Superintendant), «a function more or les akin
to that of a modern day Mayor, the
Crown Appeals Judge, Paulo Fernandes Viana (1757 – 1821) was
the holder of this post throughout
the period of the court’s presence». 1
In 1810 a decree dated 6th November on the initiative of the Marquis of Aguiar King’s minister
ordered the resistance against
«irregular and piecemeal construction of houses occurring on
the new roads of the town…» 2. The
same decree suggested the senate
to correct this situation «making
sure that the roads, once opened
be larger and not as narrow as
was evident in the original plans,
to build with as much uniformity
and harmony as possible, each of
the roads disposing of airy open
squares not only adding to the
town’s esthetic aspect but also
strongly contributing to the population’s good health» 3.
The Royal decree, of the 26th April
1811, created a fiscal encouragement for a more harmonious construction both correct and orderly,
1. Segawa, Hugo, Ao Amor do Público. Jardins do
Brasil, Livros Studio Nobel / Fapesp, 1996
2. Idem
3. Idem
157
FIG. 1
Rio de Janeiro, constructions de type
néo-traditionnel avec des mucharabiehs
photo José Manuel Fernandes, 1986
with tax relief for the zone, which
would become the «New Town»,
«in the Western district of Campo
de Santana» as it was mentioned,
by Father Perereca, in his description of the town 4. It was in effect
the principal sector on the outskirts of the town where urban
expansion tended to occur due to
greater space and dynamics. The
law expressed a clear intention
to accentuate the urban character of the town’s area prohibiting
the building of houses judged to
be too rudimentary and simple
4. Idem
158
in appearance, and encouraging
those who were able to construct
more complex imposing houses
in areas that would become more
prestigious.
In line with these measures they
sought to give a more salubrious
airy image banning all wooden
shutters which had habitually covered windows from top to bottom.
Also banned were barred windows
and balconies for the majority of
urban buildings. It concerned a
fancy custom and a measure of
decency typical of Spanish and
Atlantic coastal homes, probably of Moorish origins but which
in the context of «the westernization» of the Court of Brazil was now considered esthetically distasteful, out of date and
not in keeping with the progress
whished for this new and original
« United Kingdom ».
In addition, after several years a
visitor to Rio could affirm that,
« in the period following the
arrival of the Queen one can note
some considerable progress (…)
New roads have been added to
the town, new markets have been
added and the older ones have
become a lot cleaner. The houses
have been generally and symmetrically scoured with white quicklime and then painted ; the ugly
shutters have been abolished and
the few balconies that remain have
been decorated with flowers. 5»
5. Luccock, cité par Maria Beatriz Nizza da Silva
(coord.), O Império Luso_Brasileiro
FIG. 2
Rio de Janeiro, Théatre Royal
de Saint Jean,
in Rio de Janeiro, Capitale
de LÉmpire Portugais, p.489
The corresponding growth in the
population was very significant,
for according to the statistical
History of the Brazilian Empire,
Rio de Janeiro counted 100,000
inhabitants in 1823, a rise of
40,000 in the 15 years period
since the arrival of the Court 6.
C R EATION OF NEW GARDENS
A N D PUBLIC AREAS WITHIN THE
C I T Y, PUBLIC UTILITY AREAS
A N D LEISURE AREAS SUCH AS
T H E PASSEIO PUBLICO, THE
JA R DI M BOTÂ N I CO AND THE
CA MPOS AND PRAÇAS, THE NEW
U R BA N P L ACES.
The growth of Rio contributed
in large part to the creation and
development of the first public gardens in a romantic sense,
clean, modern and well appointed.
1750-1822, vol.VIII de la Nova História da Expansão
Portuguesa (dir. Joel Serrão et D’A.H. Oliveira
Marques), Lisbonne, Estampa, 1986, p. 77
6. Silva, Maria Beatriz Nizza da (coord.), O Império
Luso_Brasileiro 1750-1822, vol. VIII de la Nova
História da Expansão Portuguesa (dir. Joel Serrão
et D’A.H. Oliveira Marques), Lisbonne, Estampa, 1986
On one hand the scientific theories which had developed since
the age of light (renaissance) in
the 18th century, for example the
Botanical expeditions (Spanish
and Portuguese) at the end of
the 18th century to the Amazon
and the Andes, had occasioned
an enormous wave of interest for
plant life and trees coming from
the South American continent.
On the other hand the Rio Court
needed to create vast leisure areas
and public parks where the new
social elite could shine, and assert
themselves socially in a vibrant
and active manner. Scientific and
philosophic on one hand, urban
and pristine on the other, these
forces combined to form the creation of new development zones
within the cities.
The passeios públicos, botanical
gardens, and the campos or praças da Cidade are the three principal functional forms that these
areas took within the new Brazilian United Kingdom. The passeio
público in Rio became the first
prototype of this kind of space
created in the last quarter of the
18th century (1779 – 1783) probably
as a copy of the similarly named
square in Lisbon; falling into a
state of disrepair and also little
used it relinquished its standing
in favour of more modern upbeat
squares.
The Botanical Gardens of Rio were
created in 1808 in the district of
the «Powder house» adjoining
159
FIG. 3
FIG. 4
Lisbonne, théâtre de São Carlos
Rio de Janeiro, Place du Commerce
Gravure prise dans Exposition dans láncien Palais Royal, photo José Manuel Fernandes, 1986
the Roderigo de Freitas Lagoon
as a garden of acclimatization,
the Real Horto. Strongly developed in the 1810’s it became the
Royal Botanical Gardens and was
extended in 1819. It has developed down through the years and
remains one of the town outstanding curiosities. The character of
the public squares was the Campo
de Cidade; it was a square situated
in the suburbs to the west of the
city traditionally named Campo de
Santana, and more recently Praça
da Republica. This zone would play
an important role in the phase that
we are analyzing. Campo de Houra
during the Regency, or Campo
de Marte because of the military
manoeuvre carried out there, or
indeed Campo de Aclamaçao. 7
In effect this square would be
used for several public activities
with various equipment mounted
therein. Proof of its importance
and the urban signification of Rio
at that time; It was a collective,
educational, and commemorative square within a framework of
transition that this type of square
could allow. A transition juxtaposing the urban with the rural.
A temporary fountain was erected
as early as 1809, it being subsequently replaced by a permanent
stone fountain in 1818. A bullring, for both corrida and jousting events, was built in 1810 8. On
the north side a barracks was con7. Segawa, Hugo, Ao Amor do Público. Jardins do
8. Idem
160
structed in 1811 9 and in 1815 a new
public promenade was built to the
south. Finally in 1818, the Royal
Natural History Museum was created in the residence of the future
Baron d’Uba, later this would
become the National Museum 10.
The primary purpose of this
square and one, which endured
until 1822, was for the training
of Dom Pedro’s army ahead of a
counteroffensive against the Portuguese 11. To resume, «the Campo
de Santana was the main artery
between the old and new towns, as
well as a meeting point of the religious, military, civilian, and Royal
districts of the City». 12
NEW EQUIPMENT, PUBLIC
I N I T I AT I V ES, ESSEN T I A L
ELEMENTS TO THE COURT’S
ESSENTIAL URBAN
CI T Y DW ELL I N G WAY OF
L I FE . PA RT I CI PAT I ON OF
A RT I STS A N D A RCHI T ECTS,
BOTH PORTUGUESE AND
FREN CH, A RCHI T ECT U RA L
N EOCL ASSI CI SM .
9. Idem
10. Idem
11. Idem
12. Idem
Theatres constituted an essential
element in the court’s way of life.
As early as 1810 the court decided
to build a theatre at Rio, «a decent
theatre proportionally sized to
that of the population…» (see
Royal decree of 28th May 1810) and
on 12th October 1813 the neoclassically styled New Royal Sao Joao
theatre was inaugurated. 13
161
FIG. 5
FIG. 6/6A
Rio de Janeiro, ancien Palais Royal
Rio de Janeiro, vue du Monument éphémère pour lÁclamação de D. João VI, 1818
Grandjean de Montigny, document original au Musée du Palácio da Ajuda, Lisbonne,
Photo José Manuel Fernandes, 1997
According to Idelette dos Santos the construction of the Real
Teatro of Sao Joao, modeled on
the Sao Carlos theatre in Lisbon
was decided upon in 1810 following a decree given by the Prince
Regent in exchange for some privileges contracted in return. The
initiative for construction was
Fernando Jose de Alemeida also
known as Fernandinho. He had
arrived from Portugal in 1801 as
the new Viceroy’s personal hairdresser. The Royal Decree shows
us just why and how the crown protected the interests of the theatre
without going so far as to finance
it. The enormity of the construction work integrated with the
whole already constructed square
constituted the Largo do Rocio.
The project was the work of the
architect Maréchal Jose Manuel
da Silva and presented unavoid162
able similarities in particular the
frontal volumes, with the theatre
Sao Carlos in Lisbon, of which the
architect was Jose da Costa e Silva.
He also participated in the project
at Rio de Janeiro as from 1812. The
model followed the architectural
innovations of the Italian scene 14.
Jose da Costa y Silva (Povoa de
Varzim 1747 – Rio de Janeiro 1819)
studied at Bologna in Italy from
1769 to 1780. In Portugal he oversaw the building of the Sao Carlos
theatre in 1792 and participated
in the construction of the Palais
Royal de Ajuda in Lisbon in 1802 15.
He was considered to be the best
14. Santos, Idelette Muzart-Fonseca dos, « Une
Scène pour la cour : théâtre & représentation à Rio
de Janeiro (1808-1824) », in Rio de Janeiro, Capitale
de l’Empire Portugais (1808-1821), Chandeigne, Paris,
2010, pp.485-502
15. Pedreirinho, José Manuel, Dicionário dos
arquitectos activos em Portugal do século I à
actualidade, Edições Afrontamento, Porto, 1994,
p.223
qualified as well as the instigator
of neoclassicism in Lisbon.
The two theatres, at Lisbon and
Rio were in effect much alike with
a symmetrical tripartite façade,
simple with a classic yet austere
design, following the Lusitanian
tradition of «arquitectura Cha».
Only the edifice of Rio presented
a triangularly fronted crown in
a pure Greek style whereas the
façade of Lisbon presented a horizontal crown. This was in sort the
power of innovative style, the consecration of neoclassical architecture as a style of power and modernity in equal measure.
In the capital other equipments
and public works began in the
demanding urban styled framework, insisting upon the participation of artists and architects
well prepared beforehand. As with
other French people arriving in
Rio, many as political asylum
seekers, Grandjean de Montigny
as from 1816 participated at some
of these architectural projects
such as the Royal edifice of Praça
do Comercio, part of the Customs
and Excise Office, the Candelaria
market, and several residences.
Also «he completed the future
Fine Arts College at the bequest
of the Count of Barca. However
Barca’s sudden death in 1817, and
interrupted this work» 16.
It was the edifice of the Praça do
Comercio, which was referred to
in «the plans of a part of Rio de
Janeiro for the expertise of a new
disposition of the Imperial Pal16. Silva, Maria Beatriz Nizza da (coord.), O Império
163
FIG. 7
Rio de Janeiro, Place du Commerce, monument éphémère
pour lÁclamação de D. João VI, 1818
Jean Baptiste Debret, in Rio de Janeiro, Capitale de LÉmpire Portugais, capa
ace and numerous accessories,
belonging to Grandjean», in 1821,
exist today in the Rio de Janeiro
National Library 17. In the plans
we can see a study to include the
old and small Governor’s Palace
situated on the Square of 15 de
Novembro, it is within a more spacious grandiose Imperial Palace of
which only one of the rear wings
exist. Once the new volume was
centered on the vast square where
a monument in the form of a half
17. Brenna, Giovanna Rosso dal, « La citta
coloniale portoghese. Rio de Janeiro tra il XVI
e il XVIII secolo », in Estudios sobre Urbanismo
Iberoamericano, Junta de Andalucia / Consejeria de
Cultura, Séville, 1990, p.456
164
orange marks the junction of the
old Direita do Carmo a Sao Bento
and the adjacent churches. The
prolonged axis of this morne running perpendicular with the palace led one to the environs of the
Place San Antonio to a zone of Rio
in full development.
T H E E P H E M E R AL
A R C H I T ECT U R A L P R O J ECTS
FO R P U B L IC CE L E B R AT I ONS,
N EO C L AS S I C SY M B O L O F T H E
N E W OUT LO O K O F I MPE R I AL
P OW E R A N D ST R E N GT H .
Ephemeral projects were used
at Rio de Janeiro for public royal
celebrations with studies for the
Campo de Santana (social dimension) or for the Praça do Comercio (institutional and royal
dimension).
Constructed or not, these projects
symbolized by the introduction
and utilization of neoclassical
architecture, the esthetic choice
for a new Imperial head of state’s
speech. It is perhaps for one of
these public squares at Rio that
a project was mooted to erect a
monumental construction in celebration of the Acclaiming of King
Dom Joao VI in 1818. This was documented by a coloured illustration by Grandjean de Montigny
at the museum in the Palace at
Ajuda in Lisbon. This illustration
was of a vast square edged by colonnades with a Greek Temple and
a large staircase in the centre. At
the back were silhouettes of English sailing vessels. The familiar
contours of the morne created a
tropical contrast with the intention and the conception of represented neoclassicism. It was titled
«View of the monument erected by
the Senate the 6th February during the lavish Acclamation of his
Majesty The King Dom Joao VI. To
his most gracious Majesty King
Dom Joao VI king of the united
Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and
the Algarve, by Grandjean de Montigny fellow of the Royal academy
of Rio de Janeiro and Rome. Chevalier of Christ’s order.»
The acclamation celebrations were
the object of enthusiastic descriptions. «The celebrations were an
opportunity to put on a fairytale
light and sound show and a stage
commemorating the Campo de
Santana (…) The reader can imagine a stage of 220 square metres
where burned 65,000 lights. Such
were the magnitude of these illuminations as part of the grandest
Royal celebrations never before
seen in the New World.» 18
Another illustration, this time
a watercolour by Jean-Baptist
Debret depicts the same ceremony.
One can see the festive scene, but
this time from another square, the
Praça do Comercio before a vast
audience and with a large balustrade covered with columns and
arches in the background. As well
as «the acclamation of Dom Pedro
I as emperor of Brazil in October
1822 which took place in a reproduction of the same pavilion constructed for his father Dom Joao VI
in 1818» 19.
In addition to this celebration
other festive occasions used the
Campo, notably the marriage of
Dom Pedro in October 1818 using
more ephemeral constructions.
A veritable «swan song» esthetic
and symbolic of the Portuguese
Royalty of the Old R
18. Segawa, Hugo, Ao Amor do Público. Jardins do
19. Idem
165
became the most well known. He constitutes a rich source of inforpainted the decoration of the the- mation for today’s historian» 20.
atre Sao Joao, collaborated closely JOSÉ MANUEL FERNANDÈS
with both Grandjean de Montigny
and Auguste Taunay, (Nicolas
Antoine’s brother) for the decoration of the town for the Festivi- S O U R C E
adapté et développé à partir de Rio
ties linked with the Acclamation Texte
de Janeiro, 1808-1821 : Transformations
of Dom Joao VI. He also wrote and de la ville en siège de la cour portugaise,
Rio de Janeiro, Capitale de L’Empire
illustrated a book entitled «Pic- inPortugais
(1808-1821), Chandeigne, Paris,
turesque and Historic voyages to 2010, pp. 343-361
Brazil» in which he depicted daily
life in minute detail, and which
FIG. 8
Rio de Janeiro, Place XV, avec la Fontaine de Mestre Valentim
Those erected
two hundred years before during
the triumphant entrance of King
Philippe II in Lisbon in 1619. In
Brazil these buildings used the
neoclassic style whilst in 17th century Portugal it was the classic
baroque style that was chosen.
The men behind these representations and celebratory projects in Brazil were academically
more modern in training and
more international in their outlook, and the designs of neoclassic taste expressed this European
modernism. They had arrived in
Rio two years before included in
the group «Mission Française», a
paradox actually as the artists of
the Imperial Court of Napoléon
ended in 1815 sought refuge in a
166
Court that the French Emperor
had tried to destroy! And offered
the same classical esthetic as
the imperial symbols: « The 26th
of march 1816 saw the arrival in
Rio de Janeiro Joachim Lebreton,
Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, Jean-Baptiste Debret, Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny, and
other French citizens who actively
sought political asylum at the
Court of Dom Joao VI. The King,
as soon as the 12th august, granted
them a pension allowing them to
live. The most talented artist of
the group was Nicolas-Antoine
Taunay who painted landscapes
filled with small figures, paintings such as «Vue de la colline, de la
plage, et de l’Eglise da Gloria». But
it was Jean- Baptiste Debret who
167
ARCHITECTURE
N E O C L A S S I C I S M AT P O N D I C H E R R Y
I N T H E 1 8 T H C E N T U R Y.
R E V E A L I N G C U LT U R A L A N D S O C I A L
D Y N A M I C S AT A F R A N C O I N D I A N
TRADING POST
KEVIN LE DOUDIC
PhD in Modern History
University Bretagne Sud, CERHIO CNRS, Lorient, France.
The trading post at Pondicherry and in particular along its
coastline has retained an architectural harmony particular to
the period under French occupation. Neoclassicism is present everywhere; certainly with several
local adaptations but the whole
remains coherent. There are, in
large part eyewitness accounts
taken in the 19th century and also
numerous later reservations.
Its neoclassical physiognomy was
not always the case. From a 17th
century village of weavers to a
trading post during the 18th and
19th centuries, Pondicherry has
undergone a great deal of modification, restructuration, and
reorganization. In order to better
understand this evolution and its
stylistic results it is necessary to
understand how one can translate neoclassicism in this town
168
in the 18th century by way of the
urban organization, administration and domestic architecture,
but also by way of the interior
arrangements in the living quarters of the French traders who
worked there. The libraries could
also reveal a renewed interest in
antiquity. But far from restraining oneself to a simple description of daily life, the objective is
to understand what motivational
aims and what social and cultural forces hid behind the generalization of this style. For that one
needs to identify the network of
supplies, identify the circulation
of stylistic models and the workshops that manufactured them, but
also comprehend the social functioning of the trading post which
lent on this new neoclassical style
in order to structure itself.
T H E M EN AT T HE HEA RT
O F T HE I N DI A N OCEA N
Studying neoclassicism at Pondicherry cannot be done without
putting into order the various
stages and the zones of arrival
as well as the installation of the
French settlers in the Indian
ocean during the late 18th century
in order to carry out the commercial activities of the India Company 1, as well as putting into place
the infrastructures allowing them
to achieve these commercial objectives. Two distinct zones were prioritized. The first was the Mascareignes with the Ile Bourbon and
the Ile de France, today Reunion
Island and Mauritius, these lent
heavily upon the Caribbean model
based on a system of agricultural exploitations called «habitations», which called upon a workforce made up of slaves. The total
colonization of the territory was
here one of the keys to its success.
The second area of implantation
was India. The model here differed greatly. The French created
trading post by taking possession of territories limited in size
given to them by local princes
in order to establish commercial
activity. A Governor General operating in the interests of the India
1. Sur l’histoire des compagnies françaises des
Indes, voir l’ouvrage illustré par les collections
du Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville
de Lorient : Haudrère P. et Le Bouëdec G, Les
Compagnies des Indes, Editions Ouest-France,
collection Mémoires de l’histoire, Rennes, 1999
[2001], 144 p.
Company, assisted by a council of
several members presided over
the trading post in order to guarantee the smooth running of the
administrative and legal structures regulating the daily life of
those who lived there as well as
the commerce. There was, here,
neither any overt desire of colonization or of territorial expansion.
The orders from the Directors of
the India Company based in Paris
were very clear. The French had to
limit themselves to commercial
activity which they undertook in
harmony with the local powers,
and all of which applied itself
to the countries networks. They
managed this by using a series
of outstations that ran along the
Indian coastline. Pondicherry on
the Coromandel Coast was the
capital. Commercial activity was
organized from here for the transport of Asian products to Europe
as well as for «domestic» trade
with the other commercial centre
in the Indian Ocean and Eastern
Asia, this was also called inter
Asian commerce or India to India
commerce.
This French capital leant upon
four other trading posts, which
also served as forward advance
commercial stations. Chandernagor in the north Bengal region,
Yanaon on the banks of the Godavari, Karikal to the south of Pondicherry, and finally Mahé on the
South-Western coast of the Indian
peninsula. These five French
169
possessions were in permanent
contact with each other in order to
guarantee the deliveries of Asian
merchandise and to honour the
Company’s commands.
The functioning of the India
Company and in a more general
way, the French presence in India
during the 18th and 19th centuries
has been the object of meticulous
research 2. The administrative,
economic, and political dimensions are now well known. However daily life, material wealth,
and the social and cultural mores
at the heart of the trading post
remain the subject of study. Two
types of guaranteed sources offer
the researcher elements essential
in the understanding of daily life
in Pondicherry society.
On one hand tangible evidence
that came our way of course the
architecture concerning public,
private and religious buildings,
but also furniture and daily household objects conserved in private
and public collections. Combined,
these elements comprised the
material culture of the French in
India during the 18th century.
On the other hand, it is indispensible to confront the archive
sources for these elements in
order to base oneself according
to solid data, representative of
FIG. 1
Portail de l’hôtel Lagrenée de Mézières, Romain Rolland Street, Pondichéry
Photo : K. Le Doudic, 2007
170
2. Pour ne citer que les deux plus importants :
HAUDRÈRE P., La Compagnie française des Indes au
XVIIIe siècle : 1719-1795, 4 volumes, Librairie de l’Inde,
Paris, 1989, 1428 p. ; WEBER J., Les établissements
français en Inde au XIXe siècle (1816-1914), thèse de
l’Université de Provence, 9 volumes, 1987, 3 004 p.
this material culture. This way,
the necessity of consulting the
archives concerning the elite in
India during the 18th century 3 is
fundamental. Theses archives are
composed of sales of both furniture and property, legacies and
inventories following the death of
French people living in India. It is
even possible for certain amongst
them, as for the hotel of Simon
Lagrenée de Mézières to classify all the assets owned by the
deceased and to replace them in
his home, still standing today at
Pondicherry.
A N EW ST YL E FOR
A RESU RGEN T TOW N
The trading post at Pondicherry 4
has the particularity of being divided by a canal into two distinct
parts. To the west was the Black
Town inhabited by the different
Indian communities, who organized themselves into separate
neighborhoods. To the east, along
the coast was the White Town
inhabited by the European population. However a study into land
ownership throughout the 18th
century revealed that there was no
3. Les fonds principaux son conservés aux Archives
Nationales d’Outre-Mer (ANOM - Aix-en-Provence,
France), et se composent des séries P (notariat de
Pondichéry), série O (notariat de Chandernagor), et
série N (exposition coloniale de 1931)
4. Sur l’histoire et l’évolution de Pondichéry,
voir : DELOCHE J., « Du village indien au comptoir de
la Compagnie des Indes. Pondichéry (1673-1824) »,
in LE BOUËDEC G. et NICOLAS B. (éd.), Le goût de l’Inde,
Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, 2008,
pp. 116-125
171
one specific division in the community. The inventories following
death and the subsequent sales of
property attest in effect that several French nationals in transit in
India for several months, rented
rooms in the Indian quarter of
the Black Town. As well, in the
year 1720 a community of Indian
middlemen and traders took residence to the north of the White
Town. There existed therefore, a
real mobility within the trading
post, even a mix of Indians and
Europeans in certain places and
at certain times. But if this mix
was geographic it was certainly
not social or marital. No marriage
between the local population and
the French residents was authorized by the India Company. And
this corroborates the wish not to
colonize the territory. If it is true
that several French families put
down roots in India and remained there for several generations,
the study of this body of humanity reveals a strict inbreeding.
Because of this a phenomenon
of mixed alliances took place as
French residents married «Portuguese», who were themselves, descendants of marriages between
Indians and Portuguese.
The French installed themselves in
the majority in the oriental part of
the town. At the heart of this geographic repartition depended on
one’s social position. In effect, the
administrative, political, and military powers organized themselves
172
at the beginning of the century
around Fort Louis, which would be
replaced by the Governor’s Palace
in 1752. The surrounds of this central square were coveted by the
wealthy and influential directors
of the India Company, who strove
to construct their houses in close
proximity to the Company. There
existed therefore a spatial hierarchy within the French community.
The Seven Years War, which had
opposed France and England in
Europe between 1756 and 1763
was not limited to Europe. The
battles had their repercussions in
the Indian Ocean where sieges and
the taking and retaking of possessions multiplied. The English,
based at Madras, gained the upper
hand and took Chandernagor in
1757. The trading post was subjected to massive destruction.
In 1761, it was the turn of Pondicherry to fall into the hands of the
English. The French were forced
to flee the town before it was destroyed. The Abbé Raynal described the taking of the town by the
English :
« In taking possession of the main
square the conquerors obliged not
only the troops that had defended
the town, but all the French nationals in the company’s employ to
set sail for Europe. One could exact
even more vengeance. Pondicherry
was destroyed and this once
superb town lay in ruins. » 5
FIG. 2
5. Raynal G. T., Histoire philosophique et politique
des établissements du commerce des Européens
Portail de l’Institut Français de Pondichéry, Saint Louis Street, Pondichéry
173
FIG. 3
Façade et varangue de l’hôtel Lagrenée de Mézières, Pondichéry
However it is now necessary to
place the abandoning of the trading post by the French into better context. The archive sources
provide proof of this: the political
and economic powers continued
to function albeit at a reduced
speed in contrast to the Superior
Council at Pondicherry. In addition, the town was not destroyed
but «broken up». The majority
of the houses were still standing
dans les deux Indes, tome II, Genève, 1781, p. 415
174
yet somewhat damaged. The walls
had been removed but there was
no sign of systematic destruction. Certain French families were
authorized to reside in the town.
Others resided outside the town, or
left for other French owned towns.
1763 marked the end of hostilities
and, following the signing of the
Treaty of Paris, Pondicherry was
restored to the French. They officially took possession on the 11th
of April 1755.
This episode would profoundly
affect the company’s history and
notably its physiognomy. It was,
in effect, necessary to reconstruct
the buildings. But since the first
constructions dating from the
end of the 17th century, trends had
considerably evolved. The engineers and architects responsible
for this new urban construction
programme were knowledgeable
of this return to a fashion of antiquity and their projects would
take this into account.
The first neoclassical styled
buildings had been completed
before the destruction of Pondicherry. The plans of the Governor’s Palace 6, completed in 1755
by Dumont set the basis for an
architectural model which would
be developed at Pondicherry, for
not only administrative buildings
but also domestic residences. Evidence of a classical and stylized
vocabulary was manifest. The
colonnades occupied a central
place adorned by two open plan
levels forming two galleries. The
curved and triangular pediments
alternated in order to achieve an
ensemble. With the arrival of the
Governor Law de Lauriston in
1765 the building, which housed
the government, was reconstructed and confirmed the adoption
of a neoclassical style in 1768 7. It
6. Palais du gouvernement, plan et élévation par
Dumont, 1755 : ANOM FR 26DFC80A
7. Nouveau palais du Gouvernement, façade
principale, par Bourcet, 1768 : ANOM FR 26DFC214C
is, today, the Raj Nivas, the Indian
Governor’s palace.
The reconstruction programme
was not limited to official buildings. Private residents also had
to move to the White Town. There,
as well, neoclassicism was a central feature of architecture. The
buildings adopted the same stylized features and their spaces
were organized in the same way.
The majority of neoclassical buildings still standing at Pondicherry dates from the 19th century.
The two buildings which, today,
house the École Française d’Extreme Orient as well as that of the
French Insitute of Pondicherry
are perfect examples.
By good fortune an exceptional
example dating from the 18th century stands out; that of the hotel
Simon Lagrenée de Mézières 8, a
notable person working for the
company between 1760 – 1780. He
was the advisor to the Superior
Council at Pondicherry. His residence was characteristic of others
occupied by his contempories of
similar standing at the time. A
closed surrounding wall enabled,
in general terms, to close off the
property and to isolate it from
the street activity. The wall was
breached by an inbuilt gate flanked by pilasters with ionic styled
8. LE DOUDIC K., « Pondichéry 1774. L’hôtel Lagrenée
de Mézières », in LE BOUËDEC G. et NICOLAS B. (éd.), Le
goût de l’Inde, Presses Universitaires de Rennes,
Rennes, 2008, pp. 124-133
175
crowns and adorned with floral
freizework [FIG. 1] or by a triangular pediment [FIG. 2]. Blazing pots
would crown the whole structure.
Once past the gate, the garden
enabled one to gain access to the
main living area. In the 18th century this garden area afforded
shade and cool air to the residents.
During the sale of these properties
the number and variety of plants
in the garden were logged as part
of the inventory and this permits
us to realize that fruit trees were,
without doubt, the preferred garden feature of the French. This
vegetal screen served also to protect the house from the sun’s rays.
The houses were arranged in a
common plan, which was a response to both climatic restraints
and the adoption of a neoclassical
style [FIG. 3]. The verandah, also called a varande was an element that
was both a necessity and a recurrent theme. The verandah, which
served as a buffer or intermediary
zone between the interior and the
exterior, ran the entire length of
the house. Sufficiently spacious
as to accommodate its own furnishings allowing guests to relax
comfortably, the space between
the columns was equipped with
a series of mobile screens, the
purpose of which was to offer protection from the sun and wind [FIG.
4]. The facades of these residences
were, therefore, entirely taken up
by this space evenly separated by
a series of columns supporting a
176
coping decorated with fretwork
surmounted by a balustrade. The
terraced roof was, in effect, a complete living area in its own right.
A trellis with climbing plants was
often installed to protect one from
the sun, something that is still
done today.
The climate was therefore, a fundamental component concerning
architectural design and conception. The openings were successive in order to allow the air to circulate, and when the doors had to
be closed this was done by huge
panels of caned teak allowing the
air to circulate. If the basic design
was the same for the houses of
Pondichery, the variations could
be numerous, beginning with the
numbers of rooms and floors. That
said, in the majority of cases, the
residences were on one floor, or
comprised of less than ten rooms.
The bathrooms and the kitchens
were ran along to the rear or to the
sides of the house. Warehouses
designed to stock the merchandise stemming from India to India
trade could also be included.
An architectural homogeneity
emerged along with the evolution
of the trading post and the religious buildings naturally followed
this trend. The Jesuits reconstructed the Church of the Immaculate Conception in 1791, and the
Capucins, that of Notre Dame des
Anges of which the current edifice
dates from 1852. [FIG. 5].
It was therefore, a real desire from
all the inhabitants of the White
Town to adopt a common style, an
architecture normalized in order
to reinforce the ideal of a social
group and thus to stamp one’s
adhesion to that group.
T H E « I SL A N D» OF P ON DI CHERRY
The material culture of a society
constructs and feeds itself varying
greatly taking into account not
only numerous exterior factors
but also an internal functioning
specifically attuned to its needs.
Pondicherry also adhered to these
workings and the constraints linked to its geographic distance to
the metropolitan France as well
as its location on the Coromandel
Coast are to be taken into account
when considering the question of
supplies and the «creative» of its
material culture.
The trading post was supplied via
maritime routes, which gave it an
atmosphere of insularity. The supply of merchandises was organized along four criteria. There was
first of all, the two main supplies
routes for imports arriving from
overseas. That of Europe first of
all covered by the Company’s vessels. That said, when considering
this from a logistical and financial
standpoint it was impossible to
import bulky items from France.
It was, therefore, small objects
such as mirrors and clocks that
were imported. Then the Indian
to Indian’s commerce allowed the
trading post to be supplied with
goods originating throughout the
Asian and Indian sub continent,
as well as locally produced Indian
items which were gathered and
stored at the various trading posts
directly by the craftsmen themselves, or by middlemen working
for the company. The participation
of the French inhabitants at Pondicherry in this inter Asian commerce was frequent. It was structured along the lines of business
between families or at the heart
of the same family business by
investing in naval vessels. This
allowed, in addition to personal
enrichment, an aid to merchandise destined for daily consumption. Certain Asian products were
highly cherished by the French at
Pondicherry. For example Indian
textiles or Chinese silks served
just as well as materials for clothing as they did for interior decoration. When considering daily
consumption, the French sought
supplies throughout the Asian
region. The arack (rice and sugar
cane alcohol) 9 from Batavia, found
itself on tables in Pondicherry just
like rice from Pegu, with Bourbon
Island supplying tobacco, and Ceylon supplying precious gemstones
such as topazes.
To these networks of supplies,
smaller interior supply networks,
were added between the French
trading posts themselves. This
9. Eau-de-vie locale
177
concerned the constitution of
family heritages by way of marriage or succession. The preference for inbreeding permitted
the building and preservation of
the heritage of French families,
who in the vast majority participated in inter Asian commerce.
Secondly this allowed the growth
and circulation of products of
material culture. Sales by auction
were frequent and allowed one to
acquire everyday objects as well
as those rare objects originating
from Europe. However, not all the
networks were legal. As in France,
fraudulent trading was present
at Pondicherry. If it was difficult to quantify, because, by definition the trade was illicit, few
documents were established, and
yet certain sources testify to this
activity. The merchandise was in
effect unloaded from the Company’s ships anchored in the Bay of
Pondicherry. Sometimes the customs and excise officers keeping
watch along the riverbank intercepted them and proceeded to fine
them, as was the case in 1730:
«In the year 1730 on the 13th
of June, at approximately seven
o’clock in the morning, I, the
undersigned, as a merchant and
having received the custom officers, have been hereby duly warned by the aforementioned officers
as to not unload any counterfeit
merchandise that they had found
in a container, a packet that had
been thrown away by a sailor or a
178
marine officer who were unaware
of its contents; that is to say six
thickly woven rugs, of which we
had duly confiscated after having
warned M. Le Gouverneur and M.
Delorme. This warning has been
established in good faith and in the
presence of the undersigned witnesses. Drawn up at Pondicherry,
in the customs and excise house,
on the aforementioned date.» 10
Following this the items seized
were sold at auction 11 for the Company’s benefit and were in this
way a contributing factor in the
second hand market.
However, these exterior supplies
and those already in circulation, were not sufficient to meet
demand. It was also necessary
to manufacture directly and to
manufacture items that would
satisfy the tastes of the French
workers of the trading post. Studies on cultural materialism at
Pondicherry 12 revealed that there
existed a real desire to recreate a
European environment. The only
solution was to imitate European
styled furniture but by using local
timber. The catalogues circulated
in the overseas colonies as was
mentioned in several inventories
10. Déclaration d’un constat de fraude, ANOM, P040
f°437 – 13 juin 1730
11. Vente des marchandises confisquées au bord
de la mer par le sieur Duplessy, douanier, ANOM,
P040f°435 – 27 juin 1730
12. Le Doudic K., Les Français dans l’océan Indien
au temps de la Compagnie des Indes : culture(s) et
cadre de vie social et matériel, mémoire de Master
2 en Histoire, sous la direction du Pr. G. Le Bouëdec,
Université de Bretagne-Sud, Lorient, 2005, 276 p.
FIG. 4
Façade de l’Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient, Dumas Street, Pondichéry
but these remained insufficient
when trying to understand how
the hybrid elements were made.
Two solutions were worth exploring: to minutely study the furniture components that were manufactured at the trading post at
the time, and to detect any incongruous elements, or to study the
historical traces attesting to
the existence of a manufacturing workshop at Pondicherry. In
the first case a seat 13 today displayed at the Musée de la Compagnie des Indes at Lorient with
arms and several small spheres
sculpted in the main teak. These
elements should not be present
on caned furniture. In reviewing
the notebooks of designs, it is
indisputable that the craftsman
who created this piece of furni13. Canapé Louis XV en teck et cannage, Pondichéry,
XVIIIe siècle, Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la
Ville de Lorient (France), inventaire n° AF5861
179
ture, had simply copied a seat
whose arms had been upholstered
with textile. These hemispheres
correspond in reality to tapestry
nails from the original design and
suggest that this piece had been
realized by craftsmen, maybe
of Indian origin, who had been
content simply to copy the model
without concerning themselves
with the utility of the elements or
who had not the necessary skills
for this particular model.
The study of historical traces was
far more fastidious. One needed to
identify the furniture manufacturers within the trading posts. A
carpentry workshop, installed at
Pondicherry, is twice mentioned
in the historical accounts and it
designated a certain Jean Roze,
known as Dufresne, as the Company’s carpenter. Emile Bayard
made this reference in his book
The art of reorganizing the colonial styles of France :
«Up until the end of the 18th century, a French school in Pondicherry acquired, concerning furniture items, of great renown which
harmonized well with the architecture of Pondicherry (…) Indeed
these items of furniture from Pondicherry, of which the first manufacturer was Jean-Marie Roze
otherwise known as Dufresne,
kept all its expressive style akin to
that of Louis XV and Louis XVI, and
yet executed in Indian wood» 14.
14. BAYARD E., L’art de reconnaître les styles
coloniaux de la France, Garnier Frères, Paris, 1931,
180
Marguerite V. Labernadie, in turn,
made mention of this in « Le vieux
Pondichéry » 1674-1815 :
«But the guild of workers which
continued to develop and which
would play a major role in the
history of Pondicherry was that
of the carpenters and craftsmen
of high class furniture that one
could then find in the town (…).
This time, one can trace the development of the corporation/guild.
A master carpenter of the India
Company, Dufresne was married
to Michelle Hayneau on the 6th
November 1731. He taught the students at Pondicherry (…).» 15
« But one ingeniously tried, despite the difficulty to conserve a
European character to these interiors so far from France. This was
the challenge and in time successful outcome that the carpenters
were set (…). Working with local
woods, such as bith and teak, unalterable and resisting the damage
of termites, admirably handling
the European tools they created a
real art school ». 16
A return to the origin of things is
necessary in order to confirm the
presence of a workshop in Pondicherry. The role of the crew who served aboard Le Mercure is conserved at the Service Historique de la
p. 193
15. LABERNADIE M. V., Le vieux Pondichéry 1673-1815.
Histoire d’une ville coloniale française, Société de
l’Histoire de l’Inde française, imprimerie Moderne,
Pondichéry, 1936, p. 221
16. LABERNADIE M. V., op. cit., p. 261
Défense at Lorient 17, and attests
to the boarding of Jean Roze at
Lorient in 1730 bound for India.
He is cited as being master carpenter for the India Company. His
engagement contract stipulated
that he was due an annual salary
of £700 and that for a period of
five years. The notary for civil
affairs at Pondicherry 18 confirmed that he was indeed resident
at the trading post. He married
twice and died in 1760. He worked
as a master carpenter and master
woodworker. The materials and
tools verified at the inventory at
the time of his death clearly indicate that he was a woodworker and
cabinet maker : « nineteen copper
rods from Japan, thirty planks,
eight packets of rattan, several
assorted pieces of wood, an old
pile of iron, a sheet of red copper,
the order for a coffin, a carpenter’s
tool case [etc.] » 19.
Numerous were those French
craftsmen who came to India,
lured by the prospect of obtaining
a degree after eight consecutive
years service at the trading post.
« […] The craftsmen who had undertaken theirs arts and professions
17. Rôle d’équipage du vaisseau Le Mercure, Service
Historique de la Défense, département Marine
(Lorient, France), sous-série IP (inventaire des
archives de la Compagnie des Indes) 167.
18. MARTINEAU A., Résumé des actes de l’État civil
de Pondichéry, tome I : 1676-1735 (publié en 1917) ;
tome II : 1736-1760 (publié en 1919-1920), Société
de l’Histoire de l’Inde française, Imprimerie du
Gouvernement, Pondichéry, 940 p.
19. Inventaire après décès de Jean Roze, ANOM,
P084f°053 – 1er décembre 1751
in the following countries; [Madagascar and India] for eight consecutive years, in possession of a
certificate made out by the Officers in the places where they had
lived and worked, and attested to
by the Directors of the said Company, were hereby conferred the
title of Master of Masterpieces
throughout our Kingdom wherever they might choose to establish
themselves, and this without
exception. » 20
The Company willingly encouraged the craftsmen to install
themselves in the overseas French
Colonies, and the following posters were displayed in the streets
of Paris:
« The Oriental India Company
would like to notify all the French
craftsmen & professionals who
would care to set up business in
Madagascar, and throughout the
Indies, that in doing so, they would
earn their living in an honest way
with orders & a reasonable salary,
and those who wish to work
for eight consecutive years, His
Majesty would confer upon him
the title of Master of Masterpieces
throughout the French Kingdom
wherever they wished to set up, &
without exception & any form of
fee. Those who wish to respond
20. Déclaration du Roy, portant établissement d’une
Compagnie pour le Commerce des Indes Orientales.
Registrée en la Cour du Parlement le premier
Septembre 1664, article XXXVIII, extrait.
181
to this offer are to present themselves at the India Company’s
House » 21
These facts remain partial. The
networks of manufacturers are
difficult to identify and the recording of these Guilds of Craftsmen
are too often rare. It is, therefore,
indispensable to cross the sources
in order to make up for their numerical shortage and thus retain the
most reliable information.
FASHION S CIRCULATE ,
PO N DI CHERRY FLOU RI SHES
A study into material culture
throughout the 18th century
brings one the advantage of being
able to distinguish several phases
in the French resident’s purchasing habits. First of all they surrounded themselves with Indian
material elements, which they purchased locally, largely out of lack
of choice. The only elements available to furnish one’s residence
were that they could acquire, via
local traders or at the market. Only
a few European objects that they
were able to transport aboard the
Company’s ships enhanced their
interiors. As the years passed,
they sought to create an environment that would remind them
of Europe, thanks to new objects
imported from France, but above
FIG. 5
Eglise Notre-Dame des Anges, Goubert Avenue, Pondichéry
182
21. DERNIS, Collections des titres, édits, déclarations,
arrêts, règlemens & autres Pièces concernant la
Compagnie des Indes Orientales établie au mois
d’Août 1664, tome I, Imprimerie Antoine Boudet,
Paris, 1755, p. XXXIV
all thanks to copies and orders for
French style furniture made by
French or Indian craftsmen. The
Regency Style or Louis XV would
also become commonplace in the
trading post, firstly amongst the
elite, then thanks to reproduction of the furniture, by the lower
classes. Market forces concerning
second hand furniture was extremely important for it enabled the
French workers of more limited
means the ability to acquire furniture that was coveted by the elite
only a few years previously.
It is no less interesting to study
the introduction and spread of
neoclassicism and the Louis XVI
style to Pondicherry for this new
esthetic flourished even though
the French had been settled in
Pondicherry for nearly a century. Certain, amongst them, were
the descendants of two generations present at the trading post,
and their furniture heritage was
already very well established.
Their interest in neoclassicism
testified to their enthusiasm and
awareness of new trends originating in Europe. But their interiors
did not change much. The Louis XV
style remained dominant but gave
way progressively to a new neoclassical ethic.
The inventories following bereavement allowed one to identify
the elements evoking the vocabulary of the Louis XVI style and
to localize it within the context
of the residence. In effect, the
183
localization was important as
each piece of furniture had a function, certainly practical, but above
all social. It was necessary to distinguish the private space from
the public space. As with all novelties or innovations, the rooms set
aside to receive visitors were the
centre of attention. The aim was
to show that one was at the centre
of new fashions and trends in
order to impress ones guests and
to reinforce ones place within the
social class. The living rooms 22
were enhanced with comfortable
furnishings adopting the style of
Louis XVI [FIG. 6]. The benches with
oval or rectangular backs with
straight grooved legs replaced
furniture with cabriole legs and
several backs. Mirrors flanked the
columns and capitals adorned the
walls. Pedestal tables appeared
made of rosewood or teak 23 either
circular or in corner 24.
The most representative change
remains the appearance of new
rooms in these residences. In the
first half of the 18th century, reception rooms, on the ground floor of
22. Pour une étude sur les salons des demeures
françaises de Pondichéry au XVIIIe siècle, voir :
Le Doudic K., « The sitting room. An instance of
the composite culture of the French Residents of
Pondicherry during the 18th century », in Histories
from the Sea, actes du colloque du programme
Asia-Link de New Delhi en janvier 2007, European
Commission / Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi, 2009, pp. 112-119
23. Inventaire des biens de la communauté entre
feue Marie Thérèse Huguet et Ignace Gossard,
ANOM, P083 - 19 mai 1759
24. Inventaire après décès de Christine Charlotte
Hall, ANOM, P101 – 1er juillet 1777
184
these residences, were only living
rooms. Meals were taken upon
trestle tables covered with tablecloths. The art of laying a table
was ephemeral. With the arrival
of the Louis XVI style, meals were
henceforth taken in a new room,
the dining room. The study of
the inventory following bereavement but also the architectural
plans of the French residences at
Pondicherry are perfect witness
accounts, as proves the plans for
the Paul Gerard’s house in 1784 25
[FIG. 7]. With the appearance of
this new room the fixed pieces of
furniture were now dedicated to
the dining room. The oval dining
tables with or without drawers, as
well as those with extensions were
centrally placed 26. Chairs in the
same style surrounded the table
«twenty-two chairs in Antique
fashion» 27 at Marie Monica. This
new habit of consuming meals
was accompanied with the appearance of buffets in order to store
the crockery and which were
manufactured in different types
of wood. «A buffet in amboyna
wood with a glazed top» 28, « two
25. Plan de la maison de Paul Gérard, rue Dumas
à Pondichéry, ANOM, P105 - 1784
26. Inventaire des biens de la communauté entre feu
Louis Barthélemy et Anne Emmède, ANOM P084 15 août 1760
27. Inventaire après décès de Marie Monica veuve
de Claude Brunet, ANOM P086 - 4 février 1762
feue Colombe Louise Marguerite Catherine Desplats
de Flaix et François Xavier Le Gou, ANOM, P091 31 juillet 1770
FIG. 6
Banquette de style Louis XVI,
Museum of Pondicherry
large buffets of inguely wood,
inlaid with copper » 29.
If that was true for the interior
appointments, it was also true
regarding literature. And on this
point, libraries provided important insights concerning the interests and motivation forces of
the French at Pondicherry. A new
intellectual impetus opened up
before them. With the first archeological digs at Herculaneum, in
1738, and at Pompeii in 1748, a
profound interest in antiquity
was born in Europe. The books
concentrated on Ancient Rome
feue Madeleine Jeanne Elias et Henry Alexandre
de Larche, ANOM, P082 f°131 – 28 novembre 1757
185
made their apparition and spread
to India. Etienne Olivet 30, an inhabitant of Belle-Île 31 in 1739, and
employed by the Company, died in
1769 leaving in his bookcase two
volumes on Rome: L’Histoire de la
fondation de Rome and L’histoire
raisonnée des premiers siècles de
Rome, written in 1754 by Charles
Palissot de Montenoy. Their location within the residence is revelatory as to their function. Located in the study room, their role
becomes far different to that if
they were to be found in the reception room.
This enthusiasm for new archeological discoveries would in turn
reinforce the taste in art and
in collecting, already present
amongst the French. Evidentially
this desire to collect could not be
found in all the residence as it was
a preserve of the affluent classes.
Thus Léon Duroillé, a lieutenant
in the Infantry had a collection of
«six antique pieces» 32. Unfortunately, the notary did not record any
supplementary details, rendering
further identification impossible.
30. Inventaire après décès de Étienne Olivet,
ANOM, P090 – 18 décembre 1769
31. Belle-Île est à l’heure actuelle dans le Morbihan,
en Bretagne. Sa proximité avec Lorient, port de
départ des navires de la Compagnie des Indes,
explique que de nombreux habitant de cette île se
soient embarqués pour les Indes au XVIIIe siècle.
32. Inventaire après décès de Léon Duroillé,
ANOM P084 - 22 mai 1760
186
Neoclassicism thus occupied an
integral part within the interiors
of French residencies at Pondicherry. The speed in adopting
this new esthetic by the French
bore witness to their open spirit
and their desire to remain at the
height of European trends. The
spread of tastes and fashions in
dress, architecture, literature and
philosophy was assured by the
regular maritime traffic between
Lorient and India.
Fashions arrived at Pondicherry
where they were adapted to the
local conditions « digested « by the
French who adapted and enhanced
them. An India Company lifestyle developed this way. Pondicherry, in its role as the economic
and administrative capital of the
French possessions in the Indian
Ocean was in permanent contact
with the other trading posts in
the zone, and the colonies of the
Mascareignes. This merchandise
was not the only thing in circulation. Traders and the Company’s staff circulated as well. They
participated this way in the diffusion of a new social model and
to the cultural enlightenment of
Pondicherry, far beyond the physical confines of the town. The neoclassical architecture of Bourbon
Island seems to be strongly inspired by the model of Pondicherry. It
is necessary here to accord more
of a social adaptation rather than
a stylistic evolution.
C O N CLU SI ON
The French therefore had to make
do with local constraints in order
to shape and maintain a European way of life, in this Indian
environment. Despite its insularity the society was an open one
and extremely attuned to European influences. Fashions circulated, the taste for innovation was
permanent, and was strongly present in everyday life. What could
have been more impressive than
to show one’s guests the latest
technical or artistic innovation
currently all the rage in France
and here we were more than eight
months by sea from the European
continent? For far beyond the
simple taste for neoclassicism the
appearance and development of
this style marked the desire of the
French to remain connected with
European culture and therefore to
reinforce their appurtenance to
their social class. If this was true
concerning interior decoration
it was also true as regards architecture, and the choice of town in
which to install oneself.
The cultural innovations accompanied the social dynamics so
that neoclassicism became the
stylistic and intellectual reference to adopt in order to maintain one’s place in the society within the trading post in French
occupied India in the second half
of the 18th century.
KÉVIN LE DOUDIC
187
ARCHITECTURE
COLONIAL NEOCLASSICISM: ST LOUIS DE
MARAGNAN IN BRAZIL AND GOA IN INDIA ,
T W O P O R T U G U E S E C O L O N I A L C A P I TA L S
I N T H E 1 8 TH A N D 1 9 TH C E N T U R I E S
RAFAEL MOREIRA
Professor. Universidade Nova, Lisbon, Portugal
On the 8th of September 1612
a Norman flotilla financed by
wealthy Parisian financiers,
under the protection of the
Regent Catherine de Médicis,
and captained by the Huguenot
Daniel de la Touche, Sieur de la
Ravardière, established at the
head of an Island inhabited by
native Indians in the middle of
the North coast of Brazil, in the
centre of the Gulf of Maragnan
(Maranhao) for a long time
mistaken with the mouth of the
Amazon, a temporary stronghold
called Fort de St Louis, named in
honour of the young King Louis
XIII.
This idea of creating a colony to
shelter the protestants fleeing
the wars of religion - a French
super state taking up the area
either side of the Equator vacated
by the Portuguese and Spanish
navigators following the union of
the two crowns in 1580 out of fear
of crossing the meridian drawn up
by the Treaty of Tordesillas, a line
188
which no one really knew where it
went, didn’t last for long; finally
it was limited to a small corner
of French Guyana. As from 1615
a strong Portuguese Battalion
commanded by the mulatto
Jeronimo de Alburquerque - son
of a Portuguese aristocrat, and
of a Tupinamba noblewoman,
bi-lingual in both Tupi and
Portuguese- captured the fort,
expelled the pirates and founded
the town of St Louis (Sao Luis)
because of the large number
of French who remained there
trading in Brazilian wood, more
than 300 people living as Indians
and local inhabitants: a unique
case of a town keeping the name
given to it by an overseas power.
It was the last place in Northern
Brazil, and the nearest to Portugal,
at the edge of the Amazon forest
and home to between 2 and 3
million Indians, a frontier town
with a prevalent military character
unmistakable in its regular layout
with long and orthogonal roads
along the coast. It became the
capital of a new state, »Maragnan
State», bigger than the whole
of the rest of Brazil, but almost
devoid of Europeans: the gateway
to the Amazon. Populated by
settlers from the Azores, for one
and a half centuries life here
would unfold between struggles
against the natives and the
meager production of sugar cane
which just about met the needs of
the Viceroy and his courtiers both
civil and military.
It wasn’t until the mid 18th
century that the town asserted
itself, thanks to the great strides
made in politi both economic
and indegineous of the Prime
Minister, the Marquis of Pombal
by transforming the Indian
villages, controlled by the Jesuits
and Franciscans, into properly
administratively
controlled
villages, which are today the
major towns of the Amazonian
region, Belem, Macapa, Manaus,
Santarem, Obidos… As the capital,
Sao Luis was directly linked with
Lisbon and the natural rallying
point for its region’s products, and
developing into a civilized urban
centre, excelling in literature,
poetry, and music in direct contact
with Europe not just Portugal but
Paris and London - with the first
Opera House in Brazil named
l’Athènes Brésilienne, the cradle
of the Romantic and Modernist
movements. Foreign visitors
would describe in admiration this
modern town- the first to have gas
fired public street lighting - it was
a centre for urbanity known for
the elegance of it parties and the
freedom of its women.
A situation which would be
prolonged with the independence
of Brazil in 1822, during the
entire 19th century, declining at
the beginning of the 20th century
with the silting of its port and the
end of the commercial monopoly
with Europe, supplanted by Belém
do Para with its rubber production.
The town’s industry ceased to
function lacking both means and
opportunities, except for cotton
manufacture between the two
World Wars, -the elite emigrated
en masse towards the large cities
to the south and it wasn’t until ten
years later that its economy was
able to take off again becoming
today a city of more than one
million inhabitants and a thriving
industrial and cultural centre.
At Goa, the other colonial capital
over 2000 kilometres, and a six
to seven month sea journey away,
the story is at first radically
different. This port and island,
the only route to the exterior
for the Islamic state of Bijapur,
in the interior of India, it was
founded in 1470 to contain the
trade in horses from Persia and
Arabia, was conquered by Alfonso
de Albuquerque (a distant cousin
of Jeronimo d’Alburquerque), the
great strategist, the creator of the
oriental Portuguese Empire : from
189
FIG. 1
Goa (Panaji), Inde
Rue du Soleil, avec l’angle du Théâtre de l’Opéra (1815) à droite.
Capetown and the Persian Gulf,
to Malacca and Singapore, Macao
and Japan. Because of its central
position in the Indian Ocean Goa
would become, in 1530 the Capital
of the Portuguese state of India,
the headquarters of the Viceroy,
and of the Archbishop Primat, the
Pope’s representative, the creator
and overseer of all the dioceses
in Asia: the «Oriental Rome» the
Golden Goa with a population
of 200 thousand inhabitants of
all races and nations, one of the
richest centres after that of Pekin.
But its position dictated another
destiny: low lying and marshy,
unhealthy, and too far from
the ocean, surrounded by hills just like Lisbon - crowned with
churches, pilgrimage chapels,
190
and enormous convents all of
which made fresh air difficult
to circulate. As from the mid 18th
century and notwithstanding the
efforts of the Marquis de Pombal
to modernize the town, the
population began to flee towards
the mouth of the river Mandovi at
the sea, taking with them stones
for building their houses, (there
being no construction bricks at
Goa), and their mercantile stores
towards the district of Pangim
(Panaji) 6 kilometres away, Viceroy
and his courtiers as well as the
members of his administration.
Finally in 1843 the crown created
the town of New Goa «Nova Goa»
and made it the region’s capital. 1
1. Il n’y a d’étude comparative entre São Luís et
Goa. La bibliographie sur São Luís est vaste, celle
Goa, having become Velha Goa
(Old Goa) became a ghost town,
a field of palm trees without
one single inhabited dwelling,
where only the Cathedral, some
churches, and religious houses
remained, the majority of which
lay abandoned. Today this district
has become a religious and tourist
suburb. The real Goa is Pangim
which didn’t stopped expanding
from the end of the 18th century
and above all the 19th century,
taking on a new lease of life as a
big modern metropolis following
the annexing of the Portuguese
territory of Goa to India in 1961.
As with Sao Luis it was local and
international maritime trade,
which was the mainstay of life
for nearly two centuries, in direct
and close with Europe in order to
restart with a new and modern
urban image no more than two
decades ago.
These parallel destinies in the
capitals of two continents so far
apart, South America and Asia –
or the Indian sub continent - is
explained first of all of course
by their common adherence to
the same homogenous cultural
world: the Portuguese Empire
having as a model the city of
Lisbon. But the rhythm and the
tendency of changes - a very old
sur Goa immense: pour les relations entre le Brésil
et l’Inde, très peu étudiées, voir les Actes du X
Séminaire d’Histoire Indo-Portugaise (Salvador,
2000), «Bahia et la Carrière du Cap», surtout sur le
commerce et la politique.
city, remaining a prestigious
centre, replaced by a suburb built
beside the sea, brought to mind
other more complex issues to
which the international context
was not a small one. The historical
coincidences between Sao Luis and
Goa were not a mere hazard. They
followed the new world movement
from the end of the old regime to
the encyclopedic age of light and
physiocracy, the age of global
trade, slavery, and worldwide
colonial production to supply raw
materials at the beginning of
the Industrial Revolution in the
capitalist countries, colonialism
in a nutshell. These two pleasant
capitals had become thriving
modern towns open to the
latest fashions and trends and
connected to an international
network centered on Europe and
the upper classes.
If we look at a map of the actual
central district (old town) in
St Louis, we can see that it was
organized around two poles. An
acropolis at the furthest reach of
the island at an altitude of about
30 to 40 metres: the centre of
power with the Governor’s House
constructed in the 18th century.
Built upon the ruins of a stone
and quicklime fort built in 1630,
triangular in shape built in its
turn on the original French Fort
St-Louis of wood and earth in front
of a large esplanade with a smooth
central promenade gently sloping
towards the sea, amidst a rugged
191
landscape. This was the work of
the Civil Engineers of the period
around 1612, around which one
can find the Town Hall, the Courts
of Justice, and the Cathedral. At
the foot of the slope lay the Praia
Grande (the main beach) at sea
level, the docks, another square,
and a meeting place opened in
1780, surrounded by shops, the
Customs and excise office as well
as other shops running along
three sides, the fourth being
open to the docks. A poor copy of
Lisbon’s Market Square by Pombal
in 1775, which closes the other
side of the Atlantic having the
ocean as a symbolic space.
On a plateau, the residential
district with its large straight
roads, the poetry of its roofs
and small gardens, churches,
irregularly shaped squares, public
fountains all following the plans
established by the Chief Engineer
in 1615, but not constructed with
bricks and mortar until the late
18th to early 19th century. On the
corner of the central square, the
town’s crossroads stands the
highest building built in 1837
and called the Trojan Horse.
Five storeys high, it was also
the building with the largest
surface in town and was covered
in enamel-fired tiles, known as
azulejos. In what style was this?
We shall return to this later.
Another of the most ancient
buildings in the town is the
enormous «sobrado». This is a
192
building several storey high,
unusual insofar as most other
buildings of this type had
only a ground floor, with its
«mirante» (belvedere) at the top,
indicating the axe. This served
to keep the interior cool as well
as being an ideal lookout point
for approaching merchant ships :
it was the house of the richest
Portuguese merchant in the town,
built in 1790 on the sea facing side
of the Place du Commerce. The
corner room, the best ventilated,
served as the Commodities
Exchange, where the prices of the
incoming merchandise were fixed.
I had the good fortune to discover
a painting covering the entire
lower wall in excellent condition,
which depicted a balcony with
partygoers… with a view of the
commercial centre of Lisbon,
as if to underlie their common
familiarity.
The most beautiful place in the
world, according to the English
travelers of the 18th century,
with its statue of the king on
Horseback and its rococo styled
clock tower, a major piece of
«Pombalin styled architecture»
of the new Lisbon inaugurated in
1775 represented in great detail
more neoclassical than it was in
reality in the market place of Sao
Luis: this was a homage to Pombal
towards 1800, and, at the same
time a sign of the close liaison
between the two places. This
painting enabled me to indicate
FIG. 2
Goa (Panaji), Inde
Rue Afonso de Albuquerque (photo fin XIXe siècle).
to the Portuguese Minister for
Culture the exact colour hitherto
lost in the passing of time, to be
applied to the Market Place at
Lisbon, the «jaune de Naples»,
(Neapolitan yellow) the colour par
excellence of neoclassical work,
for example the tombs of Pompeii
and Herculaneum or the Palais de
Caserta at Naples. 2
The other buildings surrounding
the Market Place of Sao Luis
from the first years of the 19th
century are amongst some of the
most agreeable and harmonious,
a marvel of proportion and
scale. The centre is taken up by
2. Rafael Moreira, «O painel de São Luís do
Maranhão», in Monumentos, 1, Lisboa, 1994, pp. 25-8.
the market of Praia Grande, a
somewhat erudite construction
of 1843 (but badly damaged by
subsequent modifications), of
which the centre, open to the
elements, is a market for popular
purchases such as the extremely
salty sun dried prawns, itself
a preferred accompaniment to
the local Maragnan cooking, la
cachaça, a liqueur distilled from
sugar, and tropical fruit. The
remainder were long straight
roads with right angles and
a corresponding right angled
architecture in chequerboard
design with facades lined with
wrought iron balconies but never
monotone.
193
FIG. 3
Goa (Panaji), Inde
Palais des Archevêques, avec portails du XVIe siècle ramenés de Vieille-Goa.
This tiling with its straight
lines, symmetrical, varied in its
uniformity, is characterized by
a specific trait - if not, unique, of
the architecture of Sao Luis: the
entire covering of the facades
with very colourful azulejos.
The use of huge panels of blue
and white azulejos covered in
religious motifs, were common in
18th century Portugal, but only in
the interior, never shown on the
exterior. The invention of several
owners or a skillful anonymous
artisan changed things all of a
sudden: the entire façade, instead
of being painted, was covered
with a rough textured cloth
impregnated with geometric
azulejos, hand painted or stamped
like a covering which protected
the wall against humidity
194
and heat, giving a chrome like
diversity to good effect. This
invention was created at Sao Luis
around 1760 – 1770 and quickly
spread throughout the town the
facades along entire roads being
covered; in a short space of time it
had spread to other towns (Belem,
Recife, Rio…), even to Portugal, in
particular Lisbon and above all
Porto. For the first time a colonial
artistic innovation was a success
in the metropolis, at the very same
place where the azulejos were
produced.
But it was Sao Luis that would
remain its centre. In 1837, - whilst
it was the fourth largest town in
Brazil - a French voyager would
describe it as "the small town with
a porcelain palace.» And it was, in
effect, the exact impression that
it gave, being entirely built of
porcelain and with wrought iron
fence work, surrounded by English
styled private gardens brimming
with lush vegetation, again with
its lakes and bronze fountains,
copies of the statues of Antiquity
and the Renaissance period.
How can one understand this
novelty over and above the obvious
advantages in climate? I believe
it to be a thread of neoclassical
inspiration: instead of decorating
the building with panels of
coloured marble, very expensive
and even inexistent, or painting
imitating the polished stone as
in the Palladio’s architecture,
these enameled tiles were a
perfect imitation of marble with
the advantage of colour and an
infinite variety of scorings and
abstract shapes. It contributed as
well to underlying the decorative
elements from a very basic
architecture.
For wherever we see these
verandahs with columns and
rustic Palladian style doorways,
wrought iron structures imported
directly from Glasgow, triangular
pediments, antique vases, urns,
obelisks, and pyramids on the
corners of the roofs, the bas relief
designs of garlands and busts,
sculptures in white ceramics to
copy a marble on the top of the
cornices, lambrequins in either
wood or metal to protect the
terraces from rain, statues in the
middle of the gardens or in small
mock Grecian temples. It was a
Brazilian Athens, as we called it,
in literature as well as in the arts.
Goa, however, did not present the
same organic unity or the same
extension which made the town
centre of Sao Luis (a UNESCO
World Heritage site), an urban
ensemble nearly two kilometers
in length and with more than
650 buildings. Panaji was created
around a small fort and the
Viceroy’s summer palace, it was
lined with informal roads (ancient
brushtracks), without any formal
planning, leading to the church,
which still occupies the oldest
part of the town: the district of
Altinho, (upper reaches) followed
by the area of the first of the
19th century houses: Fontainhas
(little sources). This was the
quietest and most characteristic
district with its tree lined streets,
gardens and private houses full
of charm yet practically invisible
from the outside. Contrary to
Sao Luis public architecture,
which dominated: the town hall
of Bardez (1903) which some
would say was designed by the
same architect responsible for the
Naval Arsenal at St Louis (1801),
that of the Communities des Iles
(1880), the Cricket club pavilion
(1920), the Police Station with its
gates brought back from the old
town of Goa, the beautiful Palais
des Archeveques, (end of the 18th
century), the Hospital for the
destitute (1831) at Ribandar with
195
FIG. 4
S. Luis, Brésil
Arsenal de la Marine (1799), dessin de 1810 ,
Lisbonne, Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino
FIG. 5
Goa (Panaji), Inde
Hôtel de ville de Bardez (1903).
its pinnacles fashioned in obelisks,
the General head quarters (1819),
the Appeals Tribunal, all the
buildings constructed between
1860 and 1870, the work of civil
engineers trained at Lisbon or
Bombay, devoted to English neo
classicism common in British
India at New Delhi or Kolkhata. It
is very much architecture of the
powerful exuding neo Palladian
echos.
In the field of private civil
architecture, which was fairly
poor, the most characteristic
element - a fairly recent invention
of which we can compare the
azulejos of Sao Luis - was the
protection (sun screens) in
196
rigid metal which covered every
window even in the long buildings
with between 11 – 13 windows on
each of the two storeys, divided in
perfect symmetry by the pilasters
fluted from top to bottom in order
to imitate the stone, covered
with white painted stucco on the
doorways in relief. 3
Something, which characterized
Sao Luis - above all concerning
its baroque religious past - was a
strong sense of civility, an urbane
secular style where the Masonic
lodge would play a role. This would
in no way infer a society distanced
3. Alice Santiago Faria, « Pangim between the past
and modernity : building the city of New Goa, 17761921 », in Murphy. Journal of Architectural History
and Theory, 2, Coimbra, 2007, pp. 69-97.
from religion, indeed, the opposite
was true but the churches were
those inherited from the 17th
century with little or nothing
new to offer. A striking exception
though was the Church, or rather
a temple, due to its hexagonal
shape- the Church of St José do
Desterro, the oldest church in the
town, entirely rebuilt between
1800 and 1832 following a fire. It is
the only one in the whole of Brazil
to be adorned with a false dome,
the optical illusion gives one the
impression, when looking face
on, of a real dome, but it is in fact
a mere piece of wall on the roof.
The only place in the world where
one can find a similar disposition
is the territory of Goa, in the
parishes and the villages having
belonged to the Franciscan Monks
such as Santo Estevao de Jua
(1758) the oldest, or Conception
de Moira (1775). A visual element
created at Goa and then present at
Sao Luis several decades later? It
can be the only explanation.
I do not know of two major
colonial capitals, so far apart
geographically and yet so similar
in appearance as to render it
difficult to tell them apart in
detail. A resemblance which did
not escape the expert eye of the
famous Brazilian sociologist
Gilberto Freyre in his voyage
of 1951, who wrote: «that Goa
is another Sao Luis», or the
Portuguese Ambassador to Brazil
and at UNESCO, Pedro Theotonio
Pereira, loved to say that »Sao
Luis was the most Indian town of
Brazil and Goa the most Brazilian
town of India». Where even a
young Angolan novelist José
Eduardo Agualusa, who in his
book «A stranger to Goa» feels
suddenly awake… at Saint Louis
du Maragnan.
This goes further than a
topographical similarity, with the
sea forever in the background, and
in scale in terms of urbanism and
architecture with flattened areas
designed for squares or gardens,
abrupt differences of level were
overcome by steep slopes and
small stone staircases, churches
on the hilltops, and the imposing
administrative buildings situated
on the corners of the main roads
with its intense traffic, the small
shops and residential areas nestled
in tranquil roads, silent and shady
impasses where one felt part of the
same community. It was, above all,
a special atmosphere, one that was
difficult to define, yet welcoming,
197
FIG. 6
FIG. 7
Goa (Ribandar)
S. Luis, Brésil
Hôpital de la Miséricorde (1851).
Église S. José do Desterro (reconstruction début XIXe siècle) : façade avec fausse-coupole en arrière.
where one felt befriended. A
small village atmosphere, where
everybody knows everybody,
enlarged to the size of a city yet
losing nothing of its character 4.
The motives, or objectives, for
such similarities, a strong family
air is not a mystery. Pioneer
capitals, surrounded by enemies
both natural and human on the
edge of expanding frontier land,
this geo strategic situation was
reinforced by their political role
both decisive and chronological
always retain Lisbon as the model
4. Gilberto Freyre, Aventura e Rotina, Ed. Livros do
Brasil, Lisboa, 2ª ed., 1953, pp. 262ss.
198
to follow.
Its social composition was the
same, culturally mixed towns
where the latest trends in life
juxtaposed, Europe’s prestige
was total but not seriously taken
into account, dominated by
an elite of high functionaries,
especially the military, and
by historically well connected
mercantile families, established
since the days of Conquest, the
peasants being controlled the
Catholic Church, from the upper
orders of the clergy to the Jesuit
missionaries and the Franciscans.
Another factor of which one
could see becoming more and
more important were the military
engineers of the 18th century, Civil
since the 19th century, trained at
the most prestigious schools in
the metropole, to whom we must
attribute the most visible traces
of modernization and the latest
changes of fashion. Their role was
vital.
And then the direct rapports, today
having disappeared, but essential
during this era. Boats sailed
much faster using the capital
cities as reference points during
constant migrations, the destiny
a maritime population constantly
on the move, hailing anywhere
from the Azores to Macao: traders,
artists, craftsmen, peasants
looking for land or slaves. Sao Luis
exported tobacco and Brazil-Wood,
materials for the wealthy Indian
tanners, and Goa, in return, sent
a highly specialized workforce
in luxury crafts, construction, or
explorer. This ebb and flow was by
far denser than one would believe
today (which explains certain
constructions such as the false
dome on the church de San José,
without doubt, the work of several
missionaries).
The heart and soul of these two
cities beat in unison and in the
same direction with its main aim,
that of Europe, the centre, of which
199
FIG. 8
Goa (Île de Juá), Inde
Église de la Conception (1775) : façade et détail de la fausse-coupole.
they were merely peripheral.
Which explains the attraction
of not only English industrial
products, but also Belgian,
French, and German, purchased
thanks to the catalogues, and
the showrooms of Bombay, and
Recife (boomtowns) which began
200
to improve their living conditions
and give a more cosmopolitan
air to local traditions : household
China, be it for the kitchen, or the
bathroom, in the style of the «East
India Company», more hygienic
and solid (and much cheaper!),
the gas fired chandeliers, the
lithographs which covered the
walls, the parts of the construction
completely realized in ceramics or
in artificial stone, heated pumps
and water filters, decorative
ornaments in glass, opaline, mock
ivory, crystal… The furnishings
gained in richness and improved
in quality and comfort. Armchairs,
chaise
longue,
cupboards,
wardrobes, hardwood tables never
to be moved from the centre of the
room, a sign of class distinction.
The exteriors as well as the
interiors, the atmosphere became
more and more bourgeois.
These two towns that we have
chosen, despite their geographic
distance and their differing
customs and cultures were both,
without doubt, at the forefront
of this new civilization in terms
of manners and objects which
marked the end of the Old
Regime’s aristocracy. In a book
every bit as classic yet forgotten,
«Mechanization takes command»
(1969), Siegfried Gideon observes
that even the shapes and ways of
sitting and sleeping have altered:
«the sitting comfort developing in
the direction of ease and flexibility
in posture.» In their export
merchandise to the colonies,
European manufacturers bore
this in mind in adapting to the
climate and the local tastes, this
hotch potch of new little things
-of hardware - which had to
harmonise with the very varied
customs and local uses. But, over
and above the regional differences
- from Quebec, to New Orleans, and
Cuba, from Brazil, to Africa, India,
Jakarta, (Batavia), the Mekong
or Macao, from the Cajun culture
to that of the Caribbean, the
mulattos, creoles, the Burghers
of Sri Lanka, and Indonesia - a
unifying fact emerged, that of
colonialism.
These were the same shapes that
one could find anywhere on what
would be the first real global
system. Europe under change
had rejected to the periphery,
this large impersonal band of
countries which stretched around
the world- its elements dirtier or
poorer, destined to receive and
send raw materials in order to
feed at a low price, the nascent
industrial revolution. A profitable
affair of which today, we are
201
reaching the end 5.
I don’t know of an adequate
expression needed to properly
define the ideological and artistic
moods which served as a cover
to this system of exploitation
than that of «neoclassical
colonialism»,- a newer pared down
version, simplified, reduced, and
understated, but uniform in the
style of the Age of Light, which
made, with its sophisticated
shapes, the dominant countries
of this epoch; but here, on the
periphery, during 150 years a
style without style, out of phase,
without identity, in the image of
the society of which it was the
reflection.
Under its anonymity that the
rich bourgeois colonials tried to
hide, by valorizing the copy rather
than the inaccessible original
and by displaying with pride the
maker’s trademark of the houses
that they had built, or even the
craftsman in charge, the time
elapsed slowly without any idea
of the progression of the shape
of things, up until the modernist
period (1780 – 1880), the difference
being negligible in the houses,
the furniture, the fountains of a
fazenda in the environs of Rio de
Janeiro, a roca at Cap Vert or a case
at St-Denis. This fashion was only
for show, in order to appear in the
first photos of the workshop: in a
word, ephemeral.
But this ideology of a new
classicism that Europe exported
freely to the rest of the world,
filled with the high values of
«civilization» that the master
imposed upon his disciples, cut
both ways. If, on one hand, it based
itself on the submission of the
disciples towards the master’s
indisputable authority, of he
who knew everything and could
do everything, as in a new Rome,
on the other hand, it drew upon
its source of identity in Greco
Roman antiquity, of Pericles
and Ciceron, democratic and
republican. This alone, could
deliver the people from the chains
of slavery or conscription, to
renew the revolutionary spirit of
their betters, more open minded,
trained in Europe, and open the
path to independence. Its art, at
first appearance, banal and second
rate, could this way, be judged
upon two opposing points of view:
as a simple copy of European Art,
or as the cradle of an ideal of world
less unequal and unfair.
RAFAEL MOREIRA
5. Pour une vision d’ensemble récente de cette
problématique, quoique limitée à une région – les
îles du Sud de l’océan Indien -, voir Alain Coianz et
Paule Fioux, Ancrages identitaires dans l’Océan
Indien. La Réunion, Madagascar, Mayotte, Les
Comores, Maurice, coll. « Langue et parole »,
Harmattan, Paris, 2012.
202
203
SUB JECT 3
FURNITURE , DECOR
AND ORNAMENTATION
The London chair-maker’s and carver’s book of prices for workmanship
Committee of chair-manufacturers, 1802, London
204
205
T H E O R I G I N S O F I N D U S T R I A L A R T.
ITS CONCEPTION AND USES IN
O R N A M E N TA L M O U L D E D A R C H I T E C T U R E
AT T H E B E G I N N I N G O F T H E
CONTEMPORARY PERIOD
VALÉRIE NÈGRE
Teacher-researcher. ENSA - Paris La Villette
et Centre d’Histoire des Techniques et de l’Environnement
du CNAM, Paris, France
At the end of the 18th century new types of ornamental
architecture developed in France
in private buildings. It concerned
ornaments in materials deemed
« economic », cardboard, mastic,
clay or plaster reproduced in mass
by the technique of moulding.
Their diffusion was accompanied
by catalogues or by hoardings,
which eased commercialization.
At first sight these ornaments harmonized with «neoclassical» decoration drawn by their architects or
by their decorators and executed
by the master craftsmen. However,
their conception and the manner
in which they were used distinguished themselves. We still don’t
know who conceived and illustrated these decorations and what
role played the merchants, the clients, the architects and the deco206
rators in its productions ; these
questions pose themselves for the
capitals in terra cotta located at
the town hall of St-Denis as well
as for numerous «pre fabricated»
ornaments.
Two examples supplied several
elements of information upon
the nature of these products. The
first is that of the manufacture
of cardboard based ornaments,
Jean Nicolas Gardeur, working in
Paris at the end of the 18th century. That craftsmen who didn’t
edit a catalogue, had an accounts
book of which the inventory of
his stock taken at the time of his
business’ failure allowed us to
understand for whom his products were destined and how they
could be used 1. The second exam1. [Journal 30 sept 1773 - 15 janvier 1790], ms. in-fol.
Archives de Paris, D5B6 227. Jean Nicolas Gardeur
ple, that of a manufacturer from
Strasbourg specializing in ornaments made from « mastic stone »,
Joseph Beunat was active between
1808 and 1824 bore witness to the
work needed in the conception of
these products as well as in their
diffusion.
T H E TAST E I N A RT I FI CI A L
MATERI A LS
Historians in these techniques
cannot emphasize enough the fascination that artificial materials
had upon the public at the end of
the 18th century. Amongst these
materials were those considered
economic and those considered
fragile such as cardboard and clay,
however the manufacturers succeeded into transforming these
into luxury and resistant materials (such as marbles, stone, bronze)
enjoying a handsome profit margin. With regard to cardboard
the Journal Encyclopedic of 1778
spoke of ships capable of repelling all kinds of shot 2 thanks to
the « elasticity of cardboard ». In
the Mémoires secrets of 1787 « a
stone based cardboard waterproof
and capable of resisting on fire » 3.
fait faillite à quatre reprises, en 1767, 1773, 1781
et 1790. Pour sa production de sculptures et
d’ornements en carton, voir notamment « État de
la situation actuelle du Sr Jean Nicolas Gardeur,
ancien marchand évantailliste et à présent maître
modeleur, sculpteur à Paris y demeurant cloître et
paroisse Saint-Jacques l’Hôpital, contenant son
actif et son passif dont le détail suit », 30 mai 1781,
Archives de Paris, D4B6 31 1683.
2. Journal encyclopédique, août 1778, p. 152.
3. Mémoires secrets pour servir à l’histoire de la
République des lettres, Londres, John Adamson,
It was the fascination of this matter judged to be « of unbelievable
lightness » 4 which was at the origin of the cardboard hunting
lodge that can be dismantled and
mobile, from the Conte d’Artois,
or boats carriages and paper furniture manufactured by the Marquis Charles Louis Ducrest 5. The
material was more important than
the object.
The technique of moulding, which
was needed for fabrication was
not new. The cardboard had been
used for a long time by decorators
of theatres and parties and even
for the palace of the Renaissance.
One decorated as well the edges
of the frames by applying ornaments in mastic or in paste, which
moulded perfectly in the plaster casts ; these ornaments were
t. XXXVI, 1789, « 7 novembre 1787 », p. 170.
4. « On peut en faire [du carton] des cabinets,
des salons portatifs, des meubles pour les plus
riches appartemens, des vases des bateaux, des
gondoles, des baignoires. Nous avons vu surtout
un grand nombre de ces derniers objets chez M.
de Montfort […] ils sont d’une légèreté effrayante.
M. de Montfort a trouvé le secret d’amalgamer le
nerf de bœuf avec le carton, de n’en faire pour ainsi
dire qu’un seul et même corps ; et il résulte de cette
union une élasticité, un liant dans les mouvemens,
qui en font l’agrément et la solidité ». F. M. Grimm,
D. Diderot, Correspondance littéraire, philosophique
et critique de Grimm et de Diderot, depuis 1753
jusqu’à 1790, Paris, Furne, 1830, t. X (1778-1781), p. 96.
5. Le Marquis Ducrest se proposait de fabriquer des
meubles, des vases, des baignoires, des voitures,
des maisons, des ponts et des vaisseaux « soit en
carton pur formé par le collage successif d’un plus
ou moins grand nombre de feuilles de papier les
unes par dessus les autres, soit par le recouvrement
du dit carton par dessus une première construction
en bois léger », « Mémoire » [du marquis de Ducrest
adressé au Bureau du Commerce], Archives
nationales, F12/992. Il obtient en 1789 un privilège
exclusif de quinze ans pour sa découverte.
207
FIG. 1
Journal de Jean Nicolas Gardeur,
[30 sept 1773 - 15 janvier 1790]. Ms. in-fol. Archives de Paris.
stuck onto the frames, covered
with several layers of white paint
and finished with a chisel. In the
1770’s however, these mouldings
improved and multiplied in private homes in the form of larger
mass produced elements.
The architectural elements commercialized by Jean Nicolas Gardeur illustrated the beginnings of
this method of production [FIG. 1].
We know of the craftsmen’s life
thanks to biographical information supplied in the letters he sent
to the administrative authori208
ties claiming his dues, or paying
his debts- a process very common
amongst inventors. The craftsman
who called himself a «sculptor», or
a «sculptor cum decorator» in 1777
was not a sculptor in the sense that
we would understand today. He
had plied his multiple activities
starting as a «seller of fans», then
he launched a business selling
eau de vie, and then sausage meat
destined for Spanish «chourisso»
before selling sculptures made
from moulded cardboard. In 1774
parallel with the sale of sausage
meat to Spain he made his first
« moulding » labeling this activity
as « Cartonnage » and then in 1777
as « sculpture », given he wrote in
his private diary, « the qualification exam I am obliged to take » 6.
The purchase of this qualification
was imposed upon him a full three
years before the launching of his
business. It was, it seemed, any
form of apprenticeship.
This somewhat chaotic path did
not prevent a high-class clientele
to this new commerce: King Louis
XVI and Marie-Antoinette, their
family and members of the royal
court. The craftsmen made in their
image coloured portraits capable
of being reproduced onto moulded
cardboard. His accounts book mentioned a first trip to Versailles on
the 21st of January 1776 (a premonition if ever there was one considering that the moulding in question represented the King’s Head!)
and with it an order for forty such
busts in September 1776. The first
delivery included eighteen busts
with « enamel eyes » : four busts
of Marie Antoinette and one of
the « Infante Armand ». Then came
three busts of « Sire » the King’s
brother, three busts of the « Conte
d’Artois », two of his wife, one
of Madame Adelaide (the King’s
aunt). Two months later, on the 24th
of April 1777, he delivered another
twenty busts of which four were
of the king.
6. f° 36, 26 avril 1777, Archives de Paris, D5B6 227.
The order of these requests/the
ledgers pertaining to these orders
enabled one to follow the diffusion of these products within
the court. He created seven «privately» commissioned busts of
courtiers close to the King’s inner
court, and then as from 1778 to
1783, busts for the members of the
nobility, of high administrative
office, of high religious office,
and of the parliament, all of whom
placed orders for architectural
ornaments made from cardboard 7.
Amongst these, the Duke de Béthune-Charost. Over and above to
the decoration for his hotel, completed in 1778, the duke purchased
chairs and armchairs in gold leaf
cardboard (1779) 8. It would be fastidious to evoke all of the orders,
but amongst the most avid spenders were the Intendent de Paris,
Berthier de Savigny, The Bishop of
Coutances, The Chevalier Deslandes, the Marquis of Villette, The
Duke of Gramont, The Duke of
Orleans and the Count of Priego.
One could see that following the
7. Il s’agit des bustes de la Duchesse de Bauvillier,
dame d’honneur de Madame Elisabeth (17 février
1778) ; de Decaze et de sa fille, (26 septembre 1778) ;
du duc de Luxembourg, (18 octobre 1779) et de la
famille Pasquier (20 mai 1780, Pasquier, sa femme
et son frère). Le célèbre marchand de mode Baulard,
inventeur des perruques « mécaniques » commande
aussi quatre bustes de la famille royale le 24 sept
1777 ainsi qu’une « poupée portrait de la reine » le 11
octobre 1781 (f°44 et f° 124) ; Pasquier commande un
buste de la reine, le 20 Mai 1780 (f°101), Archives de
Paris, D5B6 227.
8. Voir f° 69 et f° 78. La première facture s’élève à
4 545 livres. Une partie seulement lui sera payée. La
deuxième facture s’élève à 1 060 livres. Archives de
Paris, D5B6 227.
209
French Court’s lead moulded cardboard became fashionable in the
upper administrative, parliamentary, and religious spheres. As
for the fashion for moulded cardboard grew, Gardeur created in
July 1779 the entire decoration
of a café and dispatched orders in
the provinces, however, his clientele remained largely aristocratic.
In order that his previous products became known Jean Nicolas
Gardeur sought the help of several academy: the Architectural
Academy (1778 – 1783) the salon
de la Correspondence for Science
and the arts (1779, 1781, 1783), the
free society for the reproduction
and encouragement of arts crafts,
and inventions, useful for Abbot
Baudeau (1781), the Lycée des arts
(1795) and, during the French revolution, the political committees
to which they sent letters, dissertations, essays, and even examples
of decoration such as a copy of
the «Statue of Liberty» destined
for «the salon des audiences du
committee du Salut Public» 9. The
Salon de correspondence opened
wide their doors, for he was able to
exhibit there on eight occasions 10.
9. « Rapport sur les ardoises artificielles du citoyen
Gardeur » Journal du Lycée des arts inventions
et découvertes, n° 3, Thermidor An III juillet 1795,
p. 225. D’après la même source, Gardeur aurait
réalisé les décors en carton sculpté des « foyers de
la salle des Arts, rue de la Loi ; ceux de la petite salle
du palais Egalité », ibid.
10. Cinq fois en 1779, deux fois en 1781, et une fois en
1783. Voir Nouvelles de la République des Lettres et
des Arts, n° 9, 23 mars 1779 ; n° 16, 25 mai 1779 ; n° 28,
210
This exhibition was held between
1778 to 1788 and aimed to create a
point of contact and communication between like minded experts,
«literary folk», «artists», «lovers»
from various countries thanks to
the publication of a weekly magazine ; (« Nouvelles de la République des letters et des arts »), as
well as weekly meetings where
one could read, where music was
played, and where artwork, paintings, and industrial objects were
exhibited. More liberal than the
academies, the Salon was a meeting point for members of the aristocracy, finance, arts crafts and
inventions 11. In August 1782, its
founder Claude Mammés Pahin de
la Blancherie obtained the protection of the king’s brother, and sister in law, the Count d’Artois, the
Duke of Chartres, and the Prince
de Condé. The Duke of Charost
was active and the protectors were
for the most part clients of the
craftsmen. The different technical
objects exposed at the exhibition
bore witness to the interest which
24 août 1779 ; n° III, 7 déc. 1779 ; n° V, 29 janv. 1783. Le
journal Nouvelles de la république des lettres et des
arts paraît en 1778 ; du 26 janv. 1779 au 29 fév. 1780 ;
du 11 juil. 1781 au 31 déc. 1783 et du 17 août 1785 au
26 déc. 1787.
11. Sur ce Salon et sur celui de l’abbé Baudeau, voir
Liliane Hilaire Pérez, L’Invention technique au siècle
des Lumières, Paris, Albin Michel, 2000, p. 209 et
suiv. Voir aussi, Hervé Guénot « La Correspondance
générale pour les Sciences et les Arts de Pahin
de La Blancherie (1779-1788) », Cahiers MautMarnais, 3e trimestre 1985, n° 162, p. 49-61 et du
même auteur : « Les lecteurs des Nouvelles de la
république des lettres et des arts », dans H. Blots
(ed.), La Diffusion et la lecture des journaux de
langue française sous l’Ancien Régime, Amsterdam,
Holland University Press, 1988, p. 73-88.
FIG. 2
Catalogue de la fabrique Beunat
L’un des exemplaires les plus anciens (c. 1810-1812) du catalogue de la fabrique
Beunat, composé de 35 planches (INHA, Res 4 Est 269). Outre deux prospectus en
français et en allemand, le catalogue est introduit par une planche représentant
l’arc de triomphe de treize mètres de haut (40 pieds) décoré d’ornements en « mastic
pierre » de la fabrique Beunat. L’ensemble était polychrome ; l’aigle était doré et les
pilastres de couleur « rouge étrusque ».
211
FIG. 3 / 4
Deux pages de titre du catalogue Beunat,
avec à gauche, la page de titre la plus fréquente, Recueil des Dessins d’ornemens
d’architecture de la Manufacture de Joseph Beunat (BNF, Est Hd-62-4A), et à droite, le
frontispice du dépositaire parisien des produits (BNF, Est. Hd-73-4).
212
213
not only mechanical inventions
provoked, but also all the artificial materials which could rival or
exceed that of the natural materials. One could see at the exhibition
in addition to the cardboard ornaments of Gardeur, mock porcelain
vases by Dihl, sculptures statues
and mouldings by Ronan, «roman
cement» by Julien Pierre de la Faye,
where sculptures in «artificial
stone» from the factory at Lambeth South London was declared
«to be far more hardwearing than
that of the hardest rocks» 12. In
May 1779, Gardeur exhibited «various models of sticks for painting frames, tapestries and iced
work – these mounted on different
backgrounds of brown sanded finishes, or the silver underlay which
led to a matt finish, and brown
of the smelting process without
being subject to alteration as was
the case of silver leaf work». In
August 1779, «a doorstop depicting two Lédas». In 1779, «a bust of
Diane» inspired from antiquity, «a
bust of Apollo»… and several other
architectural ornaments 13. Gardeur’s technique was described in
a report to the Bureau of consultation on arts and crafts : As the
figurine is lifted from its cast it
12. Christophe Dihl, expose en 1779 « Deux Vases,
avec plusieurs espèces de fleurs », Nouvelles de la
république des lettres et des arts, n° III, 7 décembre
1779, Julien Pierre de La Faye des éléments en
« pierre coulée », n° VIII, 11 Janvier 1780, p. 84. Pour
la manufacture de Lambeth, voir le n° XVIII, 2 mai
1787, p. 196.
13. Ibid., n° 16, 25 mai 1779, p. 125, n° 28, 24 août 1779,
p. 222 ; n° III, 7 déc. 1779, p. 37.
214
is still imperfect. Gardeur, in order
to give it his distinctive finish,
grated the paste on the entire surface of the work mixing this grating action with the addition of
starch and flour and water paste
to which he ground the mixture
with a mortar and pestel beforehand before leaving it to rest for
between eight and fifteen days in
order for the mixture to take. It
was using this method that they
were able to get a pure substance,
which could remodel the figurine
(…). This process completed, they
mixed the white gilder and Spanish white, with a liberal amount
of parchment glue (…) This pasting was prepared specifically to
absorb the white paste with several coats of paint (…) up to fifteen.
This was finished by a sander, a
chisel, dog’s skin etc. If the bust
was destined to be painted one
gave it enameled eyes (…) and then
when one had added the eyelashes
and eyebrows adequately they
were painted with oils 14.
In the 1770’s the architectural
ornaments in cardboard were not
only sought after by the «newly
rich» in search of a touch of
splendor, but as well by the established upper classes simply out of
curiosity.
14. [Rapport du bureau de consultation des arts et
métiers, signé Cousin et Dumas, 4 pluviôse an III
(23 janvier 1795)], Archives du Musée des arts et
métiers, T 438.
PI C K A N D CHOOSE YOU RSEL F
The craftsman’s accounts book
showed that his decoration was
sold either by the metre, or by
the unit. His stock was comprised
of small sized ornaments, which
could be attached to the architectural moulds, the mirrors or on
picture frames («water leaves, ribbons, beads, and heart stripes»)
moulds («cornices») and a certain number of items sold by unit
(« rosas, arabesses, trophées, colonnes, chapiteaux »). Sometimes
outstanding pieces were manufactured such as eight golden
caryatids, delivered to the Prince
of Nassau in May 1783 15. One
could purchase each ornament in
either white gold or coloured at
a pre-arranged price and in small
amounts, « a golden border fixed
into place » 16, « beading for the
Salon of Madame » 17 or one could
order some decoration (incomplete or completed), part of a room
or the entire room, « the decoration of an alcove » 18, « the deco15. « 5 mai 1783. Le prince de Nassaux doit pour 8
cariatiques dorrée à 250 pièce : 2 000 livres ». f° 139.
Archives de Paris, D5B6 227.
16. « 28 octobre 1778. Le Comte Dorlei doit à
Sculpture pour une corniche en place : 720 livres »,
f° 68. Celui-ci ne lui règlera que 510 livres le 30
novembre 1778, obtenant un rabais de 216 livres, f°
70. Archives de Paris, D5B6 227.
17. « 15 juin 1779. Bertier de Savigni doit à Sculpture
et Dorrure pour les baguettes du salon de Madame :
1 436 livres », f° 83. « 4 novembre 1780. Doit la
comtesse du Mellée pour les baguettes de son
sallon : 125 livres », f° 109. Archives de Paris, D5B6
227.
18. « 29 septembre 1778. De Guimont, en Basadeur
cy devent à Gene doit à Sculpture pour décoration
d’une alcove, sculpture et dorure ensemble la
somme de 954 livres », f° 65. Archives de Paris,
ration of a Salon » 19. The orders
could also tend towards very small
elements, mass produced, which
would complete or modify existing decoration as well as forming a finished ensemble. Specific
pieces could be manufactured
to size. The craftsmen had as an
objective to manufacture « all of
the works that needed to be completed and that had, up until then
been made in wood or plaster » 20.
In addition to the material, an
object of curiosity and of wonder, the advertisements published
by the craftsmen highlighted
the speed of execution. In 1802
one evoked « The speed in which
we can transform in an instant
a hideous and shabby apartment
into one which in an instant was
adorned with ornaments, each
more beautiful than the other, in
great taste », and with flexibility
of use : « everything was manufactured in accordance with the
wishes of the purchaser following a pattern that he himself had
decreed » 21. It is interesting to note
that the accounts book did not
contain the names of the archiD5B6 227.
19. « 12 juillet 1779. La princesse Marcan doit à
Sculpture la décoration de son salon : 840 livres »,
f°84. « 10 oct 1779. Deslandes doit à Sculpture pour
la décoration de sa maison : 1 650 livres », f° 88.
Archives de Paris, D5B6 227.
20. « Cartons employés pour la décoration des
appartemens », L’Esprit des journaux, août 1778,
t. VIII, p. 332-333.
21. Journal des bâtimens civils et des arts, n° 218, 10
vendémiaire an XI [2 octobre 1802], p. 41-44.
215
tects, painters or decorators, they
came to pay the orders of their clients. This was the case of Pierre
Patte on behalf of the Duke of Béthune Charost and the architects
of the former general Larequiere
or the Prince of Nassau. In each
case the architects seemed to have
used less decoration than his clients had ordered 22. The advertisements insisted as well upon the
lowness price and the ease of evaluating the decorative needs, each
element being clearly and individually priced. 23 On the whole, how-
FIG. 5
« Chapiteaux », pl. 6
d’une des premières versions du catalogue (INHA, Res 4 Est 269). Les numéros des
éléments se suivent. La hauteur et la largeur des pièces sont indiquées. Certains
chapiteaux existent en deux dimensions, (c. 1810-1812).
216
22. Pierre Patte règle, le 30 décembre 1779, une
facture inférieure à la commande : « Profit et perte
par le règlement de Pate architecte qui n’a réglé
trop bas » (480 livres au lieu de 2 365 livres soit une
perte de 1 885 livres pour Gradeur ), f° 91 ; le 5 mai
1780, le journal mentionne : « Larequiere fermier
général décoration d’une pièce et les ornements
d’une autre qui n’ont pas été employés sur lesquel
son architecte m’a fait donner dédommagement »,
f° 100. Pour le prince de Nassau, il est écrit « 14
décembre 1782 le prince Nassaux [Nassau] doit à
Sculpture mémoire en demande de 12 232 livres,
réglé par Lunot son architecte 10 354 », f° 135.
Trois architectes seulement passent directement
commande : Charles de Wailly (un de ses
rapporteurs à l’Académie d’architecture), Laforge
et « Dumési ( ?), architecte à Bordeaux » Pour de
Wailly, voir facture du 10 juin 1780 pour « deux
cadres dorés » (130 livres) f° 103. ; pour Laforge :
facture du 30 mai 1780 « pour moullure (78 livres)
f° 102 ; pour Dumesi (?) « architecte à Bordeaux »,
facture du 15 mai 1781 « pour modelle à celuy envoyé
suivant facture détaillée » (60 livres), f° 121
23. L’Académie d’architecture jugeait en 1778 les
ornements en carton de Jean Nicolas Gardeur
« utiles au public […] par la modicité du prix
comparé avec celui des mêmes ornemens exécutés
en bois ». Les rapporteurs, Franque, de Wailly et
Antoine considéraient qu’« Il y auroit très-peu
d’occasions où l’on ne pût les substituer à la
sculpture en bois, & que même ces ornemens en
carton seraient préférables dans les décorations
intérieures, en certains cas, à ceux qui s’exécutent
en plâtre, par la solidité de la matière qui paraît
également propre à recevoir toute espèce de
dorure… ». Le rapport de l’Académie est en partie
reproduit dans le Journal Encyclopédique et dans
ever, the accounts noted that the
wealthy clients practically never
paid at once, preferring to pay
by instalments often a long time
after having been delivered. They
often negotiated substantial discounts. Of the £14,400 worth of
merchandise delivered to the King
in April 1778, Gardeur received
only £10,900 and that more than
three months later. Those close to
the Royal family were not the best
payers; the Queen’s dressmaker,
her abbot, and the head governess
to her children never paid for their
busts. On the 30th May 1781, Gardeur declared in his bankruptcy
more than £8,000 of bad debts. 24
If the role of the commissioners
appeared fundamental in Gardeur’s business then the role of
the concept designer was much
less evident. We know that the
Lady Louise Paradis herself
manufactured decoration «as a
worker». She was paid on «a daily
basis» throughout the year, and
she earned £150 per year as well
as separately for privately commissioned work. As the sales
increased however, the reimbursements to the other craftsmen were
much better. Craftsmen such as
L’Esprit des Journaux, voir : « Divers articles de
nouvelles inventions dans les arts utiles, & de
découvertes nouvelles dans les sciences &c. »,
Journal encyclopédique ou Universel, t. V, juillet
1778, p. 339-340 et « Cartons employés pour
la décoration des appartemens », L’Esprit des
journaux, août 1778, p. 332-333.
24. Sa marchandise était évaluée à 29 582 livres,
ses outils à 600 livres et ses meubles à 1 200 livres.
Archives de Paris, D4B6 31 1683.
217
eral years later, at the start of the
19th century. The press once again
credited him with several articles
and this is why a bourgeois clientele was targeted. In 1801 the Piranesi brothers manufactured in
Paris architectural ornaments in
terra cotta and in 1803 Mezières
the manufacturer commercialized
the decoration that was similar to
that of Jean Nicolas Gardeur. 26
C O N CEP T I ON DESI GN
AN D M ODELL I N G
FIG. 6
Meuble de sacristie, église protestante d’Andolsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace.
Détail du panneau de la porte supérieure (Obrecht menuisier). Sur le panneau sont collés
quatre éléments du catalogue : deux sphinges ailés (n° 439, pl. 25), une frises feuillagée
verticale (n°136, pl. 52 ) et une frise horizontale en feuilles de chêne, (n° 776-78, pl. 82).
the «gold leaf artists», «gold beaters», the «dye mixers», and the
«dye sellers» responsible for the
painting of the decorations. We
know that Gardeur’s son-in-law
had provided him new «models» 25
but we don’t know who had originally conceived these. Gardeur
had, without doubt given his
training and skills, the ability to
enhance the models, but his activity was probably more akin to
that of a businessman unfamiliar
with manual work. The manner
in which he reinvented himself
25. Roger, « doreur », Bachelly ou Bachellée « batteur
d’or » et Patou pour les « modelles ». Archives de
Paris, D5B6 227.
218
as an «events salesman» in 1784,
at the very moment when his
orders for cardboard ornaments
had subsided, seems to confirm
this hypothesis. The craftsman
was tending towards a currently
fashionable (the pantomime), and
sought out once again to woo a
high class well connected public, at once curious but bone idle,
seeking a novel approach in decoration. With his attractive handwriting this emphasized his education, which had surpassed a
mere apprenticeship.
The orders reduce towards 1784
where cardboard had become
unfashionable. It reappeared sev-
The second example, that of the
manufacture of architectural
ornaments in « mastic stone »,
created by Joseph Beunat at Sarrebourg in 1805 provided elements of reflexion concerning
the method of conception of these
products. 27 It was in England that
the manufacturer had his idea of
commercializing his ornaments
in « mastic stone ». The material
26. « L’industrie pour qui les bornes du possible
reculent chaque jour, a inventé le moulage en carton
et elle en décore maintenant l’intérieur de nos
théâtres, de nos temples, de nos habitations. […]
Déjà l’on compte à Paris plusieurs de ces fabriques ;
deux sur-tout se distinguent par le talent des
artistes qui les dirigent […] ces deux sculpteurs
[…], sont les citoyens Mézières, rue Saint-Florentin,
n° 670 et le Gardeur, rue Baurepaire, n° 16 ». Journal
des bâtimens, des monumens et des arts, n° 317, 27
fructidor an XI [14 septembre 1803], p. 395-396.
27. Beunat fait faillite en 1824. La fabrique est alors
rachetée par Joseph Heiligenthal et transférée
à Scharrachbergheim en Alsace vers 1825, avec
un nouveau siège social à Strasbourg. Joseph
Heiligenthal cesse son activité autour de 1870.
Voir Hans Haug, « Une fabrique d’ornements
d’architecture sous l’Empire et la Restauration »,
Archives alsaciennes d’histoire de l’art, 1929, n°VIII,
p. 209-236 et Louis Kuchly, Joseph Beunat, le génial
stucateur Sarrebourgeois, Bischeim, Société
d’histoire et d’archéologie de Lorraine, 1 996.
that he had patented in 1806 28, a
mix of powdered stone, clay and
glue was very much akin to the
English artificial stone. The English produced as from the mid
18th century ornaments in «artificial stone». At about 1784 the factory catalogue of the celebrated
Eleanor Coade founded in 1769,
contained 776 models 29. These
products were used by the most
renowned of architects, such as
Robert Adam, James Wyatt, William Chambers, and John Soane 30.
As with Gardeur, Beunat took
advantage of advertising space
in newspapers and at exhibitions. He used the same sales
strategy, rapid execution on one
hand, « we can decorate an apartment in seven to eight days », and
a competitive price on the other
« a twentieth of that of the sculpture » 31. However Bennett used two
powerful new means of distribution, the shop and the catalogue.
28. Voir Alison Kelly, Mrs Coade’s Stone, Self
Publishing Association, Upton-upon-Street, 1990.
29. Voir Alison Kelly, Mrs Coade’s Stone, Self
Publishing Association, Upton-upon-Street, 1990.
30. William Chambers utilise la coade stone dans
son œuvre majeure Somerset House (Strand,
Londres) et dans sa maison personnelle (Whitton
Place, Middx, CG.). John Soane commande pas
moins de trois douzaines de cariatides imitées du
modèle de l’Erechthéion via les copies romaines
réalisées pour la villa d’Hadrien à Rome. Soane
utilise ces cariatides pour Lincoln’s Inn Fields
(Londres), Pitzhanger Manor (Ealing, London),
Buckingham House (Pall Mall, Londres), Bank of
England (Londres).
31. Prospectus contenu dans l’exemplaire du
catalogue conservé à INHA, Res 4 Est 269. Ce
catalogue de 35 pl. est sans date. Les planches
commencent probablement à paraître à partir de
1810.
219
His products were exposed at Sarrebourg and at Paris 32. The catalogue or at least the hoardings as
from 1810, accompanied by a price
list were very useful documents
in the sphere of interior decoration 33. These documents were even
more interesting as it permitted
one to observe and follow the birth
of a type of publication of which
the importance would continue to
grow throughout the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries.
It must first be noted that there
wasn’t a fixed format for the catalogue. One of the earliest examples
was preceded by two prospectuses
one in French the other in German
and a first printing plate poster of
the Arc de Triomphe decorated for
the visit of Marie Louise of Austria to Sarrebourg in March 1810,
several days before her marriage
to Napoléon on 24th March 1810 34
[FIG. 2].
The later examples contained a
page entitled « Recueil des dessins d’ornemens d’architecture
de la Manufacture de Joseph Beunat » 35 and a number of posters
32. En 1808 le dépôt était chez Flamand, quai
Voltaire, n° 11 ; en 1813 chez Benoist et Cie, rue
Napoléon et en 1823, 63 rue Saint-Avoye.
33. Les planches étaient accompagnées d’un Tarif,
imprimé à part, de format in-8° introduit par un
court texte. Ces Tarifs sont parfois reliés avec les
planches. L’exemplaire de l’INHA, Res 4, Est 365 (164
f° de pl.) est par exemple relié avec le Tarif de 1819.
34. INHA, Res 4 Est 269. L’exemplaire non daté (c.
1810-1812) se compose d’un volume in-4° de 35 pl.
Les exemplaires du catalogue ne sont généralement
pas datés. C’est souvent les Tarifs reliés avec les
planches qui permettent de les dater.
35. Recueil des Dessins d’ornemens d’architecture
de la Manufacture de Joseph Beunat, contenant
220
which varied according to the
epochs, about thirty six posters
in 1813, forty eight in 1816, and
ninety two in 1823. The majority of these examples were in the
same format, a small in-folio volume, introduced by a sophisticated frontispiece, a throwback
to a classical tradition followed
by printing plate posters carved
in copper and then lithographed
[FIG. 3 AND 4] This was a type of
publication of which gave itself
by its title as well as its format to
reviews and anthologies of ornaments of the kind popular in this
period, Nouveau recueil en divers genres d’ornemens (1803) 36 by
Charles Normand, or the « Recueil
de décorations intérieures (1801tout ce qui à rapport à la décoration des
appartements, tels que panneaux, dessus de portes,
dessus de glaces, frises, pilastres, montants,
rosaces, entablements, moulures, écoinsons,
modillons, &,.&., s.l.n.d. In-4°. En 1826, Joseph
Heiligenthal, nouveau propriétaire de la fabrique
fait graver une nouvelle page de titre dans
laquelle les mots « Joseph Beunat à Sarrebourg
et à Paris, rue St-Avoye, n°63 » sont remplacés par
« J. Jph. Heiligenthal, à Strasbourg, successeur de
M. Beunat ». Le nombre des planches est alors de
97. L’INHA possède trois exemplaires : un volume
de 72 pl. (Res 4 Est 271) ; un volume de 103 pl. (Res
4 Est 27) et un volume de 164 pl. (Res 4 Est 465).
La BNF (Estampes) possède également trois
exemplaires (Est HD-62-4 et HD-62(A)-4 et HD-73-4).
Le titre-frontispice du troisième exemplaire est
différent bien que les planches soient les mêmes. Il
a simplement été ajouté par le dépositaire parisien
des produits : Recueil des dessins d’ornemens,
d’architecture lithographiés publiés par Tirrart,
Décorateur succr de Mrs Benoiste et Cie…
36. Le titre complet est plus proche encore :
Charles Normand, Nouveau recueil en divers genre
d’ornemens et autres objets propres à la décoration
tels que : Panneaux, vases, plafonds, candélabres,
bas-reliefs, masques, lits, chaises, fauteuils,
bergères, tables, bureaux, secrétaires, autres
meubles, etc. etc., Paris, Joubert, 1803.
101) by Percier et Fontaine. Beunat announced in his price list
that he also sold individual lithographic plates in his catalogue at
a price of forty centimes. At first
sight the catalogue appeared not
only by its format, but more with a
neoclassic design of its models, an
anthology of ornaments from the
Empire. However, the cutting of
the motifs was profoundly different. The artisan gave his reasons
in the 1818 edition of « Annales
des arts et manufactures » :
artist conveyed his thoughts. He
was therefore eager to unite the
greatest number possible of these
elementary basic models of decoration. One that is today, so vast
that whichever design one would
give him, he could find the necessary materials in his shop and execute the order immediately. 37
His method consisted of finding the lowest a common point
of the then fashionable decorations, to cut out the most attractive amongst the decorations in
FIG. 7
n°439, pl. 25 du Recueil des Dessins d’ornemens d’architecture de la Manufacture de
Joseph Beunat. On reconnaît le motif utilisé sur le meuble de la fig. 6, mais présenté sous
forme de frise et combiné avec deux autres éléments détachables.
M. Beunat, whilst examining
attentively the most attractive
decorations as well as accompanying them with each other
observed that their real difference
lay in the wider context, and that
those which appeared juxtaposed
still provided a lot of similarities
which was about the vocabulary of
a common tongue with which each
elementary motifs, in order to
allow the greatest number of compositions. Joseph Beunat made it
clear that his nine hundred numbers formed « over 1200 detached
items », these as well capable of
37. « Sur les décors et ornemens d’architecture
de la fabrique de M. Beunat », Annales des arts et
manufactures : ou mémoires technologiques ...,
Volume 54, 1818, p. 100-101.
221
FIG. 8
« Salle à manger », pl. 68 du Recueil des Dessins d’ornemens d’architecture de
la Manufacture de Joseph Beunat. Six planches du catalogue proposent des projets
de décorations intérieures à partir des éléments du catalogue. Ces projets, accompagnés
de plans sont composés et gravés par l’architecte Auguste Montferrand.
FIG. 9 [PAGES SUIVANTES]
Dessins réalisés à partir du catalogue Beunat. L’auteur a copié certains éléments
du catalogue, mais aussi les projets de décorations intérieures. Ces dessins conservés
aux Archives de Paris, sont probablement dus à un artisan ou à un architecte.
222
being combined to form motifs. 38
These elementary materials are
visible in the first version of the
catalogue where they were classed
by type and regrouped on printing plates, each type being distinguished by a hundred variations:
100, 101, 102 for the «doucines»,
400, 401, 402, for the frieze.
[FIG. 5]. One can see that the manufacturer hadn’t ceased in enlarging his collection: 684 elements
in 1813, 761 in 1816, and 916 in
1823 39, this either by varying the
motifs or by offering, for the same
motif, different dimensions. The
catalogue’s plates were not all
themed, they could include different elements manufactured at the
same time. This conceptual work
manufacturing the models even
before the design and modeling
of the prototypes led the traders
to question the cutting and sizing
of the elements, one of the most
original characteristics of this
production.
The decoration, still in place, gave
witness to the variety in associations of the motifs. The same element could be found in very different compositions in fretwork or
in an individually commissioned
decoration, on furniture, framework, mantelpieces, or on the
walls [FIG. 6 AND 7].
the anthologies by Normand, or by
Perrier and Fontaine, these «separate» elements fixed by nails and
glue lent themselves to collage
work and a more liberal form of
assembly. «They are susceptible to
enlargement or reduction» wrote
Beunat in the Tarif of 1823. 40
But the catalogues didn’t just
present numerical element, they
offered examples of decoration,
which could be executed from a
variety of different models. Doorframes, mantelpieces, wall panels,
be it for the fireplace or the paneling between windows. [FIG. 8] By
means of these plates the catalogues aligned themselves closer
with the anthologies of ornaments. These annexes left on the
plates of some catalogues showed
that they could serve just as these
to the craftsmen so that they
could be used as designs in order
to create other ornaments.
38. Tarif des ornements d’architecture… 1er janvier
1823. Cité par Hans Haug, op. cit., p. 213.
39. Hans Haug, op. cit., p. 214.
40. Tarif des ornements d’architecture… 1er janvier
1823. Cité par Hans Haug, op. cit., p. 213.
41. Prospectus contenu dans le catalogue, INHA, Res
Who designed these models? Beunat explained in his Tarifs that
the décor was executed «following
the drawings of the first Parisian
architects». 41 Auguste Montferrand who was a student of Perrier
and Fontaine, appeared in the second version of the catalogue. It
was he, who designed the alcoves,
the dining room, bedroom and
Even if they were systematically bathroom. We know that Joseph
comparable to the ornaments in Beunat employed sculptors as well
223
224
225
in order to design his models.
The personal diary of this sculptor
and architect from Alsace, André
Friedrich, employed at the workshop as from 1822, gave valuable
information concerning his objectives. 42 The sculptor designed the
prototypes whilst also working as
a «travelling salesman», equipped
with a wooden case [FIG. 10] filled
with examples of his work. This
case (housed today in the decorative Arts Museum in Strasbourg)
contains waxed fragments of
work in a clear wood colour with
a natural wooden background. We
can see, by this example, that the
prefabricated architectural ornaments didn’t lead solely to a division of manufacturing work (ie
sculpture, moulding, pressing, and
painting) but also to the conception 43. Before even designing and
moulding the objects the traders
embarked on a process of normalizing the elements, the ranging of
products, and the standardizing
of the assemblages.
These two examples show us once
again the important circulation
undertaken by the professionals, the artists as well as the decoration itself. Jean Nicolas Gardeur in his role as travelling sales
man, manufacturer of fan, master sculptor, independent exhibi42. Quelques passages de ce manuscrit sont
reproduits par Oscar Dick, « Biographies
alsaciennes. André Friedrich », Revue Alsacienne
Illustrée, t. XV (1913), p. 73-88.
43. Sur ce point, voir Valérie Nègre, L’Ornement en
série, Liège, Mardaga, 2006.
226
tion organizer, spent several years
travelling between France and
Spain regularly recomposing his
production, constantly experiencing both opportunities and setbacks. Beunat developed in France
a product much appreciated by the
English all the while applying the
the craftman’s know-how in terms
of china and porcelain from the
East of France. Several Parisian
and German artists, architects,
engravers, and sculptors worked
in his employ. Before entering
his service in 1822, the sculptor
Friedrich had formed according
to his words, «a trip to Germany»
in order to learn his craft. He had
worked in Vienna and Berlin and
studied at the Ecole des Beaux
Arts at Paris. His diary mentioned
two trips he made as a travelling
salesman in 1822, to Deux-Ponts
and Holland, Germany and Sweden, and then in 1824 to Switzerland and France. He was also sent
to Rome and Naples to recover
unpaid debts. 44
44. « je fus appelé à Sarrebourg par M. Beunat pour
faire des modèles pour sa fabrique. […] Je dirigeais
aussi les constructions de bâtiment à Monsieur
Merian de balle [Bâle] à la bonne fontaine, à 5
lieues de Sarrebourg […] J’entrepris un voyage
comme commis-voyageur ; à Deux-Ponts je fis de
très bonnes affaires, la fabrique me pria de faire
un voyage en Hollande, en Allemagne, et même
en Suède. J’accepai, on me donna une voiture et
j’achetai un cheval à Deux-Ponts. De là je passai par
Spire, Darmstadt, Francfort, Mayence, Colbence,
Clève, Utrecht, Amsterdam ; de là pour Rotterdam,
Zwoll, Oldenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Braunswicke,
Celle, Hanovre, Cassel, Fulda, Würzburg, Ansbach,
Stuttgart, Carlsruhe… ». A propos du deuxième
voyage il indique « Je suis allé à Bâle, Neufchâtel,
Berne, Lausanne, Genève, Lyon, Valence, Avignon,
Nîmes, Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence et Marseille où
If the decorative work of Jean
Nicolas Gardeur was essentially
limited to an aristocratic clientèle, that of Joseph Beunat was
to be found not only in luxury private apartments but also in more
modest dwellings, shops and cafes.
They were not only employed
locally but also in the Paris region,
Italy, Eastern and Northern
Europe. 45 An iconographic study
of these models remains to be car-
ried out. One can see that it cannot
limit itself to the only elements of
mastic stone, with the difference
between the more complex models
and the commercial models as well
as between models in slate mastic, cardboard, and other moulded
materials still being unclear.
VALÉRIE NÈGRE
je restais 6 semaines et je fis de bonnes affaires ».
De là, Friedrich s’embarque pour Civita Vecchia. Il
séjourne à Rome et à Naples. Cité par Hans Haug,
op. cit., p. 221-222.
45. En 1811, au moment où la fabrique était à son
apogée, une centaine d’ouvriers y travaillaient.
Les activités se réduisent de moitié au moment des
guerres napoléoniennes en 1813. En 1816, Beunat
employait 60 ouvriers et une trentaine en 1819.
Jacques Joseph Heiligenthal, après 1825, diversifie
les décors (décors religieux « néo-gothiques »
par exemple).
227
THE PLACE OF NEOCLASSICISM IN THE
COLLECTIONS OF THE MUSEUM OF
D E C O R AT I V E A R T S F R O M I N D I A N O C E A N
Curator. Museum of decorative arts from Indian Ocean,
Neoclassicism, revived innumerable times, has left its trace
profoundly and durably the history of artistic taste during
the 18th and 19th centuries. The
French Revolution, considered
as an important period of rupture with tradition, did not have
a major impact in artistic world
of art, notably that of decorative
art, a subject of interest here. In
effect, the decisive movement
took place thirty years earlier.
Around 1760 the tenants of the
antique were able to take by surprise the opposite view in advocating the return to classical
ornaments and to geometrical
shapes, purer and simpler, in the
hope of a rediscovered antiquity
dreamt of and idealized.
On a literary and artistic plane,
neoclassicism defines itself as a
polymorphic movement advocating as an ideal, a return to the
purity of a classic antique model
synonymous with absolute perfection. A new expression, but
228
also plural with an ancient style
combined with an uncertain one,
this movement wanted to rally
all forms of art. Expressing itself
in a variable manner according
to place and local sensibilities,
offering multiple interpretations
this movement manifested itself
along diverse parallel currents
and therefore could be termed in
the plural as neoclassicisms.
Since the renaissance, admiration for Greek and Roman art
has been inseparable with Rome,
with its collections of antiques
widely reputed amongst distinguished elite circles. But the
methodical digs of cities buried
beneath the volcanic ash of Vesuvius would give new impetus to
this movement in according an
archeological point of view and a
richer body of pieces rapidly diffused by the bias of illustrated
publications and knowledgeable
texts. This movement increasing
in amplitude, affirmed itself as
a reaction to the overflowing of
Chaise, bois de pomme, décor polychrome,
feuilles d’or et d’argent, vers 1800. La Réunion
Musée des arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien, Saint-Louis,
La Réunion. Inv. MOB.991.0779
229
Jean-Joseph Patu de Rosemont, « La salle d’études »
aquarelle sur papier, La Réunion, 1813, collection particulière
Baroque Art, and thus spread rapidly throughout the old continent.
One cannot expound here upon
these movements and their
causes, their development and
the repercussion of these ideas
in Europe during the age of light.
Publications of the highest order
available these last few years and
exhibitions of major interest have
recently dealt rigourously with
this subject and given the angles
of view an innovative touch. One
can see once again the curious
reader engrossed in the bibliographic annexes grouped at the
back of this volume.
To concern oneself with this artistic movement from the colonial
world of the 18th and 19th century,
230
is first of all and inevitably to
evoke Europe and the exchanges
and movement at one moment,
or the ideas, the concepts, and
the images which unfurl with an
astonishing rapidity. But at the
same time one can realize a certain offset between the fashion
put forward by Paris, London, or
Berlin and its integration with
the tropical world. There exists
numerous reasons of resistance
and the new models that were tried
were neither necessarily or wholly
ingested into daily life without
additions or without modifications or adaptions. At first, when
one speaks of the colonies in this
part of the world, there is a difference which expands between
the metropolitan productions
Fauteuil, ébène sculpté assise cannée,
dossier en ajours, Inde, vers 1810-1820
Musée des arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien,
Saint-Louis, La Réunion. Inv. MOB .987.009
231
Le salon octogonal de Brodwie Castle, Madras
Aquarelle sur papier signée Lady Strange, datée 1813.
Collection particulière
232
233
Banquette à quatre places, palissandre, Inde ou Indonésie, 1er quart du XIXe siècle
Musée des arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien, Saint-Louis, La Réunion. Inv. MOB.009.2098
234
235
and that of the overseas colonies,
workers in direct contact with the
secular and refined sectors of civilization. So much so that at any
given moment one was forced to
admit that the two existed independently one from another. There
developed in a practically autonomous manner without it leading
to a rupture in style.
In the Western Indian Ocean there
existed in effect, other leading
cultural lights and other manufacturing centres, which partly overshadowed the cultural expansion
of the European metropolis. These
points dotted along the coast of
Coromandel on the Malabar Coast
or in Bengal, Indonesia, Ceylon, or
in South Africa, to name but these,
all had a definite influence at the
end of the 18th century and during
the 19th century and returned the
names of commercial and cultural
strongholds or thriving maritime
towns such as Pondichery, Cochin,
Madras, Batavia, Cape Town, or
production from Canton stored in
Bengal or interior India.
Certainly, these names cover a
multitude of regional workshops
more or less close to the coast,
but the production that was made
there or that transited there had
exercised a notorious influence
notably in the art of furnishing
and, in a more specific way, in the
realization and adapting of seats,
of which the repertoire would
adapt to another environment,
had other ways of being and of
236
keeping according to the very elegant and comfortable formulation.
The first models to be catalogued
were, in all evidence, stamped with
different European neoclassical
features either by way of engraving or of physical examples, as can
attest the archived documents, or
the presence of furniture which
have come our way. The same can
be said of the upright commode
with two drawers made from the
Cuban Acajou and purchased by
the Villèle family, now conserved
in the Historical Museum at StGilles-les-Hauts, and where the
purchase documents are still
conserved in the archives. Such
items with their somber lines and
non-ostentatious decoration harmonize perfectly with the local
production.
Prior to presenting a representative selection of these seats, with
their references and their categories, it is necessary to precise
or to remind ourselves of several
notions.
First of all, the absence of a fixed
chronological marker allowing
one to determine a limitation
to this artistic movement. If it
is established that this classic
renewal appeared in the art of furnishings between 1785 – 1790 in
Europe, one can find at the same
time some local adaptations and
variants, but it would be illusory
to end this movement around
1850. In the colonial world, it
Fauteuil de repos en ébène sculpté
et feuilles d’or, assise cannée,
1er quart du XIXe siècle
collection particulière
237
Fauteuil en ébène sculpté, assise et dossier
en cannage damassé, Ceylan vers 1860
Saint-Louis, La Réunion Inv. MOB.987.0135
238
lasted long after that, notably in
armchairs, which found there an
expression adapted to this particular way of life. Innovative lines
appeared rapidly, that is not to say
necessarily and developed organically throughout the 19th century.
Then it is necessary to remind oneself of the reciprocal exchanges
and the audacious crossovers
between French models and English lines. For notwithstanding the vicissitudes and political conflicts, which had opposed
these two nations, we can make
out the durability of a fertile
exchange of intellectual and artistic exchanges. On the French side
amongst these exchanges, one can
find in scattered form, the treatment of seats and upright armchairs, the use of massive forms
of acajou, or the use of the dining room, whereas on the English side, the employment of oval
lines for the seats and the backrests abounded, and the reading
of the works of Hepplewhite and
Sheraton confirmed the introduction of French references, with
items such as the «lit de jour»,
«duchesse», «confident», «bureau
cylindre»… Finally the number
of English styled models would
dominate but the French influence would remain visible until
the end of 1815, the date from
which the more or less strict adoption of Regency styled lines would
unequivocally influence the index
of the Restoration seats.
Then we must remind ourselves
when taking of chairs, the sketching and the artists of the 18th century had exhausted inspiration
from Greek model sources, essentially by way of their painted representations on the vases or sculptures or the low-reliefs.
The antique chair can be characterized by the front legs and the
back legs arched like a sabre, the
back slightly reclined to the rear,
mounted with a rest on which one
could place their arms. The seat,
covered with cushions was either
woven or caned.
Elsewhere, the majority of these
copies were viewed from the profile. At the time one didn’t immediately realize that the back support was fixed to the seat by three
joints, the largest in the centre
and the other two fixed to the back
legs. This explains why «antique
chairs» at the end of the 18th century only present lateral fixation points. Also, the very tapered
drawings of the legs were corrected by the woodworkers whose
reduced their curves and broke
the extremities, even going to the
length of putting front legs facing
frontwards. Such models of chairs
directly inspired from the antique
model were not to be found in the
Indian Ocean colonies.
At the start of the 19th century, the
vast majority of chairs belonged
to their ancestors from the preceding century. The most important
239
difference was that of the replacement of rigid straight back legs
by legs curved in sabre form (and
later in inverted console), which
would be one of the characteristics of these seats. The shape of
the reverse inclined back was considered at the time as an antique
styled shape and gave the rear of
the chair a fluid and continuous
appearance almost approaching
an «S» shape.
In the Indian Ocean, the seats present certain characteristics. They
are inspired from European line,
which came here either by way of
a physical model or fashionable
engravings. They were hewn from
tropical woods, which allowed
them to be perfectly polished at
upon completion : different variety of rosewood, mahogany or
ebony, as calamander, caliatour, or
«bois de natte à petites feuilles ».
The range of these coloring woods
was vast, running from the bright
yellows and oranges, to the deeply
somber blacks, passing by way the
entire range of reds, ochre, and
fawns. Theses woods were also chosen for their natural patterns with
shimmer aspects, flaming, striped
or spotted with rings more or less
regular in shape and number.
Their seats were, for the most
part, if not totally caned. The caning was made by rattan plaiting
according to a multitude of points
and used with a cushion or a tile
mat according to the seat. The
240
use of caning was not a result of
economic worries, as was the case
in Europe, but rather because no
other specific technical solutions
were available and that these
particular seats were perfectly
adapted to a humid climate.
The armrest (in console, «trompe
l’oeil», or in the form of a balustrade), were often manufactured
vertically with the chair’s leg. The
most classical shape, this of a console already in place during the
reign of Louis XVI, would evolve :
it concerned a curved element
inflected towards the back. However, the real console appeared
during the Restoration between
1815 and 1820 in a new version:
the armchair’s armrest continue
beyond the console’s connection
and finish with a volute more or
less accentuated. In the case of a
baluster, it is turned with the foot,
which increases the strength of
the whole. Lastly towards the years
between 1830 and 1835 one would
witness a tendency to complicate
the lines by enriching them with
sculptures especially when it concerned luxury furniture. In this
case, it concerned sculpted motifs
in the thickness of the wood and
not stamped motifs. There was no
metallic addition, as these were
deemed too corrosive. The ornamental designs borrowed from
its models that of an exuberant
tropical nature.
Alongside these first technical
and esthetic results, and these fac-
Fauteuil de repos et son repose pied,
palissandre sculpté, assise cannée,
La Réunion, 2e moitié du XIXe siècle
Saint-Louis, La Réunion, Inv. MOB.991.739
241
Fauteuil de repos à bras dépliables, teck,
assise cannée, Indonésie, milieu XIXe siècle
Musée des arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien, SaintLouis, La Réunion. Inv. MOB.992.0836
242
243
Fauteuil de repos, en bois de petit
natte et grand natte, assise cannée,
La Réunion, vers 1820-25
Saint-Louis, La Réunion. Inv. MOB.988.0308
244
245
Méridienne ou lit de repos, teck et assise
cannée, vers 1830-1840. Inde ou Ile Maurice
Le modèle renvoie aux projets de Sheraton mais la
forme est empruntée aux lits de jour français
Saint-Louis, La Réunion, Inv. MOB.988.0385
246
247
tors of innovation several remarks
which could serve as a conclusion
– for they worked on other themes
of research, which merit our attention. Our first reflections concerned the history of style with
a mixing of models and the adjacent questions of cultural authority. Here the increasing influence
of traders and new means of communication with the appearance
and diffusion of anthologies of
engraved models was given as an
example. These new remarks concerned the differences of rooms
realized in the tropics- destined
for an expatriate clientele living
there – integrating both the history of mentalities and a way of
life. In effect, the modifications of
the sculpted pieces, the depth of
the seats, the width of the lateral
rests… answered to the basic rules
in vigor and the particular codification, quite different to those
used in Europe. The establishing
of reception areas, the refinement
of domestic and social life, were in
part inspired by that of the Indian
princes and Nawabs. Here, in these
latitudes, and with this climate,
the siesta has become not just a
habit, but a veritable institution.
A part of social life organizes
itself on a verandah, these covered galleries, airy ventilated and
protected from the sun by way of
screens or net curtains.
All the same, the need for a local
specialist and skilled workforce,
whatever the country described
allows an enriching of the
catalogues and the ornamental
vocabulary. Faced with a model,
the illiterate workers employed
mimicry or by the assimilation of
their own daily experiences be it
concerning flora or fauna, or in
an extreme case representations
of figures from the pantheon of
ancient mythology. This tendency
would even be encouraged with a
taste for the exotic and the interest in different knowledgeable
societies for oriental religions.
Dessin à l’encre de Chine du capitaine
J. Durrand, daté novembre 1843
par George Chinnery (Macao)
MFMC, Saint-Louis, La Réunion
248
249
N E O C L A S S I C A L TA S T E I N L O U I S I A N A ,
1 7 9 0 -1 8 4 0
KATHERINE HALL
Curator. Louisiana State Museum,
New-Orleans, USA
The author would like to
acknowledge some Louisiana
decorative arts scholars and collectors, who, over the past forty
years, have created the field of
study that informs this paper. In
1972 the Louisiana State Museum
held an exhibit entitled Early
Louisiana Furniture, the catalog for which was written by Jessie Poesch. This marked one of
the first public acknowledgments
that the furniture crafted in
eighteenth- and early nineteenthcentury Louisiana held real artistic value. Professor Poesch, who
recently passed away, was a lifelong student, and a professor of
art history at Tulane University.
She was the first art historian to
focus on early decorative arts (and
particularly furniture) of the Gulf
South ; her book The Art of the Old
South is required reading for any
student of the subject. A group of
keen-eyed collectors-cum-scholars
of Louisiana furniture—including
250
Dr and Mrs Jack Holden and Dr and
Mrs Robert Judice, among others—
have played an important role as
well, since many of these pieces
have been passed down through
generations along River Road, or
snapped up at estate sales and
auctions before making their way
into museum collections. More
recently Furnishing Louisiana,
published in 2010 by The Historic New Orleans Collection and
covering the period 1735-1835,
is already impacting the field
by exposing a wider audience
to the subject. The sheer number of pieces photographed and
published provides a plethora of
comparisons and will open the
door for future scholarship.
Neoclassicism did not impact
Louisiana-made decorative arts
until the turn of the 19th century,
and even once it was established as
the favored style, it was expressed
and employed differently here
than on the European Continent
and in Britain. Colonial cabinetmakers in Louisiana were
influenced by French, West Indian
and Canadian traditions, but
local furniture styles reflect the
isolation, climate and available
materials. The earliest furniture
styles are French, and often the
only clue to origin are the woods
used in construction. Colonial
records, such as household inventories, document the variety of
furnishings used by Louisiana’s
earliest inhabitants. Increased
trade between England and Louisiana at the end of the 18th century and the influx of Americans
into Louisiana after the Louisiana
Purchase were responsible for the
introduction of English and American styles of furniture.
To understand the complex history of stylistic influences in Louisiana, it is necessary to begin with
a brief history of the Louisiana
territory and its cultural milieu.
In 1682, the area was named Louisiana by René-Robert Cavelier de
La Salle, and in 1699 the first permanent settlement (Fort Maurepas) was established by Pierre Le
Moyne d’Iberville and his brother
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. From the 1720s until 1803,
France and Spain traded control
of the area. After the Seven Years
War, most of the area east of the
Mississippi River was handed over
to the British ; around the same
time, in 1763, the rest of the territory came under Spanish control.
In 1765, the Acadians, French
people who had been expelled
from Canada by the British, settled in Louisiana, in a region now
known as Acadiana.
In 1800, Napoléon reacquired
Louisiana from Spain, in accordance with the Treaty of San Ildefonso, but kept this a secret for
two years, until the Louisiana Purchase. In 1803 the Louisiana Territory, encompassing more than
800,000 square miles, was transferred to the United States after an
agreement between Thomas Jefferson and Napoléon Bonaparte.
This marked the transition of
Louisiana from a European colony
to a federal territory. The official
transfer took place December 20,
1803, in the Sala Capitular at the
Cabildo, in New Orleans’ Place
d’Armes (later renamed Jackson
Square). Pierre Clement de Laussat, acting as Napoléon’s agent,
received Louisiana from Spain
and officiated the handing over
to the United States. This paper
will treat only a portion of the
southern Louisiana Territory, or
« Lower Louisiana », and particularly the port city of New Orleans.
The city was prized because of
the its position, as access to it
made commerce from the interior
251
« western » lands to Northeastern
cities quicker and less expensive. 1
The cultural and demographic
makeup of Louisiana in this
time period was diverse, including French, Anglo (particularly
in the Felicianas), Spanish and
African peoples. Some Europeans
arrived in the area by way of the
West Indies, particularly SaintDomingue (present-day Haiti).
Although there were Europeans
who stopped in the islands on
their way to Louisiana, in the
antebellum period most European French immigrated to New
Orleans directly from the Continent. 2 At the turn of the 19th century, French, Spanish, American
and English currency values have
been cited in accounts, documents, and travel journals. Spanish-American coinage dominated, but French culture remained
heavily influential. New Orleans’
population around 1800 has been
estimated at between 8,000 and
12,000 people ; about half were
FIG. 1
« Vente aux enchères, peintures et esclaves
dans la Rotonde, Nouvelle-Orléans, » 1842
J.M. Étourneau après W.H. Brooke. Gravure
Avec l’aimable autorisation des Collections du Musée
d’État de Louisiane, 1986.050.1
252
1. Jessie Poesch, « New Orleans — Site of the
Transfer - Prize of the Purchase, » in Gail
Feigenbaum et al., Jefferson’s America & Napoléon’s
France : An Exhibition for the Louisiana Purchase
Bicentennial, ed. Victoria Cooke (Seattle and
London : University of Washington Press ; New
Orleans Museum of Art, 2003), 225.France: An
Exhibition for the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial,
ed. Victoria Cooke (Seattle and London: University
of Washington Press; New Orleans Museum of Art,
2003), 225.
2. Paul F. Lachance, « The Foreign French, » in Creole
New Orleans : Race and Americanization, Arnold R.
Hirsch and Joseph Logsdon, eds. (Baton Rouge and
London : Louisiana State University, 1992), 112.
black, either slaves or free people
of color. 3
In addition to the European presence, there were also a number of craftsmen who emigrated from the West Indies during
the Haitian revolution of 17911804. Some former estate owners
who fled the islands also found
new professions upon their arrival on the Gulf Coast. In an 1809
letter to W.C.C. Claiborne, who
was charged with overseeing the
Louisiana Territory, New Orleans
mayor James Mather observed
that some of the white tradesmen who had arrived in Louisiana
« who once possessed estates, or
belonged to wealthy families in
the Island of St. Domingue, now
follow the occupations of Cabinet
Makers, Turners, bakers, Glaziers,
upholsterers. » 4
According to Paul Lachance in his
essay on the foreign French in New
Orleans, « not only the minority of
French-speaking immigrants who
successfully made their way into
the elite, but also the majority
who remained artisans and petty
proprietors, contributed to the
persistence of a French-speaking
culture in New Orleans after the
Louisiana purchase. » 5 During
3. Poesch, « New Orleans, » in Feigenbaum et al.,
Jefferson’s America, 226.
4. Mather to Claiborne, August 9, 1809, in Rowland,
ed., Letter Books of Claiborne, IV, 405, quoted in
Hirsch and Logsdon, eds., Creole New Orleans,
124-125.
5. Lachance, « The Foreign French, » 103.
253
FIG. 2
Armoire (et détail), 1810-1830
Cerisier, peuplier d’Amérique
Collection de la Famille Holden,
photographie par Jim Zietz.
254
255
the first few decades of the nineteenth century, a great amount of
tension existed between the Americans and Creoles. In 1836, they
agreed to divide New Orleans into
three separate municipalities,
according to residential patterns
of the two groups: two municipalities were downtown, dominated by French creoles, and one
was uptown (above Canal Street),
controlled by Anglo-Americans.
Each sector conducted official
business in its native language
and had its own public school
system. 6
The friction between Creoles
and Americans played out in the
public architecture of the city as
well, with both factions favoring
the neoclassical taste but each
wanting their own versions of
grand buildings. The St. Charles
Hotel was built in the American
Sector in 1838, after a group of
men decided that they needed a
large and stately hotel to rival the
St. Louis Hotel, which had recently
begun construction in the French
Quarter. The St. Charles featured
« a projecting portico of six Corinthian columns, which stand upon
a granite basement fourteen feet
high, with a pediment on top » ; a
colonnade of fluted Corinthian
columns in the drum supported
the dome ; and a portico with a
statue of George Washington
6. Ibid, 103. The divisions lasted until 1852.
256
imported from Italy. 7 According
to Lady Emmeline Stuart-Wortley, a British poet and visitor to
New Orleans, « the St. Charles
looks a little like St. Peter’s at
a distance—it is surrounded by
an immense dome ; it boasts,
likewise, of a splendid Corinthian
portico. » 8 Surely residents of the
American Sector would have been
delighted with observations like
this traveling up the Mississippi
River and abroad.
The main feature of the St. Louis
Hotel (originally known as The
City Exchange) was a fifty-foot tall
rotunda in the center of the building, designed by J.N.B. de Pouilly
(1804-1875). His original design
was in the Tuscan Doric style, but
after materials were brought from
France, the Panic of 1837 interrupted the building’s progress and his
full vision never was carried out.
The resulting structure, completed in 1838, featured a principal
entrance under a Doric portico of
six columns. The hotel was a popular public meeting space and the
site of a variety of auctions [FIG. 1].
In the domain of the decorative arts, climate and availability of materials affected design.
Most early Louisiana furniture
7. Historical Epitome (New Orleans, 1840), 331,
quoted in Arthur Scully Jr., James Dakin, Architect:
His Career in New York and the South (Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1973), 4950. The hotel burned in 1851.
8. Lady Emmeline Stuart-Wortley, Travels in the
United States, etc., during 1849 and 1850. (New
York : Harper & Brothers, 1851), 122.
was made of mahogany, walnut,
cherry and cypress, since these
hardwoods were readily available. The swamps were filled
with cypress, which resisted rot
and was even used in home foundations. Mahogany was brought
in from the islands, and, as documented by naturalist Francois
André Michaux before 1803, wild
cherry « planks [were] sent from
Kentucky to New Orleans where
they [were]…employed in cabinetmaking ». 9 Whereas French pieces
of the late 18th century were made
of fruitwoods and often featured
elaborate marquetry, carving, and
gilding, when Louisiana pieces
included inlay, it tended to be
more restrained. While Jessie
Poesch argues in The Art of the
Old South that Louisiana furniture showed a « freewheeling exuberance seen in some Kentucky
pieces, on the Lower Mississippi
Valley examples the inlays were
restricted to clearly defined registers within each form. » 10 Besides
the escutcheons, fische hinges and
sometimes brass ball feet, metal
mounts were uncommon on Louisiana-made pieces. The beauty of
the wood grain was a piece’s main
9. François André Michaux, The North American
Silva, vol. 2 (Philadelphia, 1865), 149, quoted in
Poesch, « Furniture of the River Road plantations
in Louisiana, » The Magazine Antiques 111 (June
1977) : 1185.
10. Jesse J. Poesch, The Art of the Old South :
Painting, Sculpture, Architecture & the Products of
Craftsmen (1560-1860), 2nd ed. (New York : Harrison
House, 1989), 204.
decorative attribute. The climate
in the area is warm and humid,
which meant Louisiana furniture
makers and users adapted—there
was less upholstery, particularly
on chairs, and seating was often
were made with cane, rush, or hide
seats with cushions.
The pieces that survive in the greatest numbers are armoires ; inventories also show that there were
many chairs in each home. For
example, when Jean-Baptiste Prévost, a former agent of the Company of the Indies, died in 1769,
the inventory of his home in New
Orleans listed sixty-five chairs.
The wealthy widow of a Belgian
immigrant, Madame Marie-Anne
Dotrange Seghers had thirty-eight
chairs in her house on Dumaine
Street upon her death in 1819. It
seems Madame Seghers lived with
more than one style, however: the
dozen chairs in the living room
and the dozen in the dining room
were described as « gilded rattan chairs » and « gilded chairs, in
straw », respectively; in contrast,
the dozen in the study were made
of cherry. The gilt chairs were
most likely French in the neoclassical taste, but the cherry could
have very well been made locally.
She also had a bed with columns
and six armoires.
A group of six early Louisiana
armoires with similar characteristics are known to have exhibited inlay work, features that
257
FIG. 3
Banquette-lit, 1830-1840
Dutreuil Barjon (b. 1799)
Acajou, placage d’acajou, peuplier
Avec l’aimable autorisation de Neal Auction Société
258
259
FIG. 4
Fauteuil, vers 1818
Noyer, acajou, peuplier d’Amérique
Musée d’Art, La Nouvelle-Orléans, cadeau de Karolyn
Kuntz Westervelt et Rosemonde Kuntz Capomazza,
photographie par Jim Zietz. Avec l’aimable autorisation
« The Historic New Orleans Collection »
260
add charm and sophistication to
their design [FIG. 2]. The majority
of inlaid patterns were in the neoclassical taste – vases, swags, fans,
acanthus leaves, and eagles. The
eagles, could have been representative of a patriotic fervor after
the Louisiana Purchase and the
defeat of the British in the War of
1812 ; 1812 was also the year when
Louisiana became the eighteenth
state, and several of the eagle
inlays feature eighteen stars. As
Jessie Poesch argued in a 1977
Antiques article, « The […] varied
inlays suggest the work of a cabinetmaker eager to demonstrate
his skills, wares, and knowledge
of the neoclassical style that was
becoming fashionable in the last
years of the eighteenth century.
Although many features […] are
reminiscent of the Louis XV taste,
the inlay more probably reflects
the American East Coast tradition that was probably brought
to Louisiana by settlers moving
west and south via Kentucky and
Tennessee. » 11 While most antebellum Americans who came to New
Orleans were from the northeastern seaboard, not from areas of
the Southern frontier like Kentucky and Tennessee, there is evidence that cabinetmakers and
other craftsmen looking to market
their wares traveled through and
stopped in parts of the Southern
11. Poesch, « Furniture of the River Road, » 1187.
frontier before making their way
down to New Orleans. 12
The earlier 18th century Louis XV
formula is expressed in many of
the late 18th and early 19th century
Louisiana armoires’ carved skirts
and cabriole legs. Others incorporated more neoclassical elements,
including rectangular cornices,
fluted stiles, Sheraton legs, and
Sheraton posts (in the case of
beds). It is possible that the neoclassical inlays embellishing Louis
XV style forms were made by cabinetmakers or « string makers »
hailing from the Northeastern
United States and imported into
Louisiana, especially since there
are no known newspaper advertisements for inlay makers in nineteenth-century New Orleans. 13
Traveler Charles C. Robin noted
when visiting New Orleans in
1803-1805 : « Cabinet work is only
done here by the Anglo-Americans,
whose work is inferior to that of
France, especially Paris. » He could
very well have been referring to
decorative inlays and not the overall furnishings. Robin also poin12. Hirsch and Logsdon, eds. Creole New Orleans,
91 ; and Joseph G. Tregle, Jr., « Early New Orleans
Society : A Reappraisal, » Journal of Southern
History, XVIII (February 1952), 21-36. For more on
the evidence of cabinetmakers traveling from the
eastern seaboard to the frontier to New Orleans,
particularly George Dewhurst, see Gontar and
Holden, « The Butterfly Man. »
13. Gontar and Holden, « Butterfly Man, » 136-145 ;
and Jack Holden, « The Early Furniture of French
Louisiana (The Lower Valley), » in Frances Love,
Louisiana French Homes and Furnishings, 1750-1830
(Frances and John Love, 1999), 52-54.
261
ted out that hardware came from
England as well. 14
While in Louisiana one finds
various antique inspired ornaments applied to or inlaid in earlier forms, creating a transitional
feel, in other parts of the country,
there were more explicit translations of European neo-antique
models ; for example, American
versions of French furniture in
the late 18th to early 19th centuries
were often made of native woods,
and painted to imitate designs
(like in Baltimore « fancy » furniture). The klismos chair appeared
in France in 1790's ; and the first
American model might be Henry
Latrobe’s 1809 design (in the
Maryland Historical Society). 15
Furniture made and sold in Louisiana followed similar trends
from the Northeastern United
States around the 1830's. Stylistic
changes in furniture around the
1830s included bolder curves, and
heavy scrolled feet and arms. There
was typically less carved decoration and gilding than in Europe ;
instead, cabinetmakers used
broad, flat surfaces to highlight
the grain of wood. This « Grecian »
or Late Classical style was favored
by Dutreuil Barjon (b. 1799) and
his son Barjon, Jr. (ca. 1821-1870),
14. Charles C. Robin, Voyage to Louisiana, 1803-1805,
trans. Stuart O. Landry Jr. (New Orleans : Pelican,
1966), 39.
15. Gail Feigenbaum, « We Dreamed of Your Times :
Looking Back at the Louisiana Purchase, » in
Feigenbaum et al., Jefferson’s America, 9.
262
freemen of color cabinetmakers
in New Orleans. In 1822, thirteen
out of fifty-three cabinetmakers
in New Orleans were freemen of
color. 16 By 1850, there were a total
of nineteen cabinetmakers identified as either black or mulatto. 17
The Barjons created large-scale
mahogany furniture with sculptural supports, responding to current
tastes. The only known stamped
piece Barjon Sr. is a daybed [FIG. 3],
1830-1840, with heavy scrolled
arms and flat veneered surfaces.
Barjon Sr. also had a partnership
with Christopher Voigt, a German
immigrant cabinetmaker in New
Orleans, from 1835-1840 and the
two imported furniture from Berlin and Hamburg, Germany. An
example of a possibly Biedermeierinspired piece is the semainier
(chest of drawers), circa 1856, with
Barjon Jr.’s stencil, in the Louisiana State Museum collection. 18
The production of the restrained classical style into the 1850's
16. Margo Preston Moscou, « New Orleans’Freemen
of Color : A Forgotten Generation of Cabinetmakers
Rediscovered, » The Magazine Antiques (May 2007) :
149. See also Moscou, New Orleans’Free Men of
Color Cabinet Makers in the New Orleans Furniture
Trade, 1800-1850 (New Orleans : Xavier Review
Press, 2008) ; and Sharon Patton, « Antebellum
Louisiana Artisans : The Black Furniture Makers, »
The International Review of African American Art
12, No. 3: 15-23, 58-62.
17. H.E. Sterkx, The Free Negro in Antebellum
Louisiana (Rutherford, N.J. : Fairleigh-Dickinson
University Press, 1972), 223-225.
18. Moscou, « New Orleans’Freemen of Color, »
150-151 ; and Stephen G. Harrison, « The NineteenthCentury Furniture Trade in New Orleans, » The
Magazine Antiques (May 1997) : 749.
FIG. 5
Fauteuil, vers 1830
Acajou. Avec l’aimable autorisation des Collections du
Musée d’État de Louisiane, xx0058b
263
FIG. 6
Banc, vers 1824
Noyer noir américain, ou peuplier
Avec l’aimable autorisation des Collections
du Musée d’État de Louisiane, 1969.034
264
265
reflects a continued taste for this
type of furniture in New Orleans.
An aspect of the Louisiana furniture market in the first half of
the 19th century that cannot be
overlooked is the importation of
furniture from Philadelphia, New
York and Boston by high-end cabinetmakers. In large plantation
homes built in the latest Greek
Revival style, rooms were larger
and had higher ceilings ; their
massive columns mirrored some
of the oversized architectural furnishings with which they chose
to furnish the interiors. The furniture often was destined for the
grand homes of wealthy plantation owners. An 1835 bill shows
that Daniel and Martha Turnbull
ordered twenty-two pieces from
French émigré Anthony Quervelle
(active Philadelphia, 1817-1856)
for their home, Rosedown. Martha Turnbull had been educated
in Philadelphia and kept up with
current fashions in the Northeast
and Europe. 19 Duncan Phyfe
(active New York, 1800-1847), an
Irish immigrant working in New
York, provided several pieces of
furniture to Lewis and Sarah
Stirling, the owners of Wakefield
Plantation. 20
FIG. 7
Chaise Campeche ou chaise Boutaque, vers 1815
Acajou, cuir, clous
Avec l’aimable autorisation des Collections
du Musée d’État de Louisiane, 1997.001.01
266
19. See Thomas Gordon Smith, « Quervelle Furniture
at Rosedown, Louisiana, » The Magazine Antiques
(May 2001) : 770-779.
20. See Paul M. Haygood and Matthew A. Thurlow,
« New York Furniture for the Stirlings of Wakefield,
Saint Francisville, Louisiana, » The Magazine
Antiques (May 2007) : 126-135.
The Joseph W. Meeks firm, competitors of Phyfe in New York in the
1830's, had a shop in New Orleans
from 1830 to 1838. Other cabinetmakers and dealers set up businesses in New Orleans to take
advantage of the wealth that was
amassed in the area during the
antebellum period. An 1830 advertisement in Paxton’s City Directory of New Orleans offers « ewYork furniture, chairs and looking
glasses… in the newest fashions,
and of the best materials. »
The most well-known French émigré cabinetmaker who sold (and
made, at least some) furniture in
the neoclassical taste in early 19th
century New Orleans was François
Seignouret (1783-1852). Seignouret, who was born in Bordeaux,
France, arrived in New Orleans
in 1808 with his brother Joseph,
and is first mentioned in the city
directory in 1811 as an upholsterer. He ran the following advertisement in Le Courrier de la Louisiane on November 16, 1810 : « Just
received […] from New York […] 12
Magahony [sic] Bed-steads with
carved Pillars. Sophas with two
heads ornamented with volutes
and frontons…and brazen figures
for suspending curtains […] looking Glasses supported by two
pillars » 21 The pillars, heads and
figures suggest classically ins21. Cybèle T. Gontar, « François Seignouret :
Menuisier et Négoçiant, » in Holden et al.,
Furnishing Louisiana, 74-75.
267
pired aspects found in New York
furniture of the early nineteenth
century. Cybèle Gontar justly
hypothesizes that these objects
likely inspired local designs. 22
Credited to Seignouret are a set of
chairs, dating to circa 1818, once
belonging in the archbishop’s
apartment at St. Louis Cathedral [FIG. 4]. The chairs reflect the
influence of other French émigré cabinetmakers like CharlesHonoré Lannuier, who was working in New York from 1804 until
his death in 1819. They feature
carved lyriform backsplats with
eagles’ heads and acanthus leaves, reeding, and splayed klismos
legs. 23 Another neoclassical form
found locally and often associated
with Seignouret is the gondola
chair, one of which, in the Louisiana State Museum collection,
is shown in [FIG. 5]. These chairs,
in the French Restauration style,
are fairly common. While a few
sets have a Louisiana provenance,
this type of chair was also offered
by the Meeks firm in New Orleans,
making it difficult to attribute to
a maker. 24
A walnut bench [FIG. 6] from the
Ursuline Convent in New Orleans
has similarly plain lyriform backsplats and a caned seat. It was part
of a set that was probably made
22. Ibid, 75.
23. For related chairs, see Holden et al.,
Furnishing Louisiana, 318-19.
24. See Joseph Meeks & Sons 1833 broadside in the
collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
268
around the time the Convent
moved to Dauphine Street in
1824. 25 This piece was formerly
in the Louisiana State Museum
collection but was lost in a1988
fire at the Cabildo. While not as
high style as some of the other
examples shown here, the bench
still incorporates classically inspired elements like the lyre and
splayed back legs.
A curule base, stamped eagle
and inlaid quarter fans comprise
the neoclassical elements of a
« boutaque or « Campeche » chair,
circa 1810-20, in the Louisiana
State Museum collection [FIG. 7].
The name of these types of chairs
comes from Campeche, Mexico,
a port city known for importing logwood. These chairs were
imported into New Orleans from
Mexico and the West Indies, often
via Havana. 26 Thomas Jefferson
owned one made in New Orleans,
and several others made by John
Hemings, an enslaved joiner and
cabinetmaker at Monticello. 27
Besides furnishings, clothing also
reflected the neo-antique fashion
in the early nineteenth century.
Another observation by Charles
25. Louisiana State Museum, 1969.034. For a
related chair, likely from the same set, see Jesse
Poesch, Early Furniture of Louisiana (New Orleans :
Louisiana State Museum, 1972), 67.
26. For an in-depth study of this form, see Cybèle
T. Gontar, « The Campeche Chair in Lousiana, »
in Holden et al., Furnishing Louisiana, 331-43 ;
and 344-65.
27. Stein, Susan R., « A Look inside Monticello, »
in Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, ed. Beth L. Cheuk
(Chapel Hill : UNC Press, 2002), 46.
Robin between 1803 and 1805
gives the reader an idea of what
was in style along the Gulf Coast :
in Pensacola, ladies follow all the
French fashions ; dresses are slender-waisted and short-sleeved,
and « show off figures without
embarrassment »…especially suitable « where summers are long
and hot. » In Louisiana, he said
they favored English calicos, and
notes that English calicoes have
the advantage because they are
less expensive and are thin and
light, adapted to the warm, humid
climate. 28
Finally, an artistic creation that
embodied the neoclassical spirit in Louisiana was a temporary
monument that was created for
the Marquis de Lafayette when he
visited New Orleans in April 1825.
The monument was designed and
executed by Joseph Pilié, city surveyor, and Jean Baptiste Fogliardi,
an Italian scene painter. A period
drawing [FIG. 8] was published in
Visite du General La Fayette à la
Louisiane, written by « A Citizen
of New Orleans » and published
by M. Cruzat. There were many
descendants of old French families in Louisiana who were thrilled to have such a distinguished
French guest visit. This monument, built in Jackson Square (formerly the Place d’Armes), the center of New Orleans’ Vieux Carré,
stood 68 feet high by 58 feet wide
28. Robin, « Voyage, » 4, 44.
by 25 feet deep. The inscription
read « Une République reconnaissante a dédié ce monument à La
Fayette ». Ornamenting the arch
were Doric columns of imitation
Italian marble, classical statues
and laurel branches. 29
A similar event had taken place
after Andrew Jackson’s army
defeated the British in the Battle
of New Orleans in 1815 : an elaborate ceremony was held at the
Cabildo on the Place d’Armes,
where a temporary triumphal
arch was erected and covered with
entwined laurel. Eighteen young
ladies represented the states,
and, as General Jackson and his
officers passed along the triumphal way, the girls suspended
laurel wreaths over the general’s
head and laid flowers in his path.
Liberty and Justice were personified by young girls, and a full band
of military music welcomed the
approaching dignitaries. 30 These
events were filled with classical
references: triumphal arches, laurel wreaths, and antique-inspired
statues, all attempting to connect
29. Francis P. Burns, « Lafayette Visits New
Orleans, » Louisiana Historical Quarterly 29 (April
1946) : 297. Burns posits that the « citizen » was
Lafayette’s friend Vincent Nolte. See also « James
A. Renshaw, comp., « La Fayette, His Visit to New
Orleans, April, 1825, » Louisiana Historical Quarterly
9 (April 1926) : 182-189 ; and Leonard v. Huber and
Samuel Wilson Jr., The Cabildo on Jackson Square
(New Orleans : Friends of the Cabildo, 1970), 70-75.
30. Niles’Weekly Register 8 (1815), 163, quoted in
Jane Lucas Degrummond, « The Fair Honoring the
Brave, » Louisiana History 3 (Winter 1962), 54-48.
See also Poesch, The Art of the Old South, 135.
269
the modern celebration to classical ideals of virtue and heroism.
In the early part of the 19th century in Louisiana, despite tensions among people of various
ethnicities, religions and nationalities, not only did the output
of decorative arts—especially furniture—withstand these cultural
pressures, it thrived under them.
While forms in late 18th and early
19th centuries Louisiana furniture
held true to their French roots,
the wide range of cultures represented in the area were able to
make their mark on the production through the use of neoclassical inlays. Beginning in the 1830's,
as cabinetmakers and manufacturers in the Northeastern United
States began producing pieces
on a larger scale with flat, veneered surfaces, they sent their wares
downstream and established outposts in New Orleans. The classical influence in the decorative
arts remained strong throughout
the antebellum period, eventually
being overshadowed by other revival styles like the Gothic Revival and Rococo Revival ; however,
Greek Revival architecture continued to be the favored style in
plantation homes as well as public
buildings in New Orleans.
KATHERINE HALL
FIG. 8
Gravure de l’arc de triomphe célébrant la visite de
Lafayette à la Nouvelle-Orléans, tiré de Visite du Général
La Fayette en Louisiane, publié par M. Cruzat, 1825
La Nouvelle-Orléans Historique Collection acc. No 80-652-RL
270
271
N O R T H A M E R I C A N I N T E R P R E TAT I O N S
OF BRITISH NEOCLASSICISM
I N T H E L AT E 1 8 T H A N D E A R LY 1 9 T H
CENTURIES
DAVID BARQUIST
Curator, Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia, USA
Neoclassical furniture made
in the thirteen former British
colonies that became the United
States of America was deeply
indebted to the style generated
in Britain by Robert Adam in
the 1760s. Inspired by Greek
and Roman art and architecture,
the lighter forms, geometric
designs, and delicate ornament
characteristic of this style were
well established in London by
1770, but colonial American
furniture makers continued
to work in the rococo style in
the years leading up to the
declaration of independence in
1776, as seen in Thomas Affleck’s
armchair made in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, after a design in
Thomas Chippendale’s Director.
Only one American-made object
in the neoclassical style can be
securely dated to the colonial
era: a hot water urn made in 1775
272
in Philadelphia by silversmith
Richard Humphreys. 1
Once conflict with Britain ended
in 1783, however, American
craftsmen in all the major cities
of the Atlantic seaboard produced
sophisticated furniture in the
English neoclassical style. Its swift
adoption was possible thanks to
well-organized
cabinetmaking
communities that in cities like
Boston,
Massachusetts,
and
New York City had been active
for over a century. Other factors
included the wealth of American
merchants and especially their
well-established
commercial
networks that connected the new
country with all corners of the
globe. 2
1. Philadelphia : Three Centuries of American Art
(Philadelphia : Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976),
cats. 79, 102.
2. The basic reference on American cabinetmaking
FIG. 1
Unidentified maker, Side Chair, New York City, c. 1800.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, The Mabel Brady
Garvan Collection [hereafter YUAG-MBGC], 1964.47
273
As is well known, furniture design
books published in London in the
1780's and 1790's by George Hepplewhite, Thomas Shearer, and
Thomas Sheraton, among others,
played a major role in transmitting the neoclassical style across
the Atlantic. Craftsmen in virtually every coastal city appear to
have had access to these printed
sources; in New York an unidentified chairmaker used a design
published by Sheraton in 1794
as his model [FIG. 1]. The carver
Samuel McIntire of Salem, Massachusetts, followed line-for-line at
least six different chair designs
first published by Hepplewhite in
1788. Sheraton’s 1793 design for
a «lady’s cabinet dressing table»
provided the model for American
examples made around 1800 by
craftsmen in New York City and
Baltimore, Maryland. 3
during the Federal period remains Charles F.
Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal
Period in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur
Museum (New York: Viking Press, 1966), especially
pp. 11-26.
3. Patricia E. Kane, Three Hundred Years of
American Seating Furniture: Chairs and Beds from
the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at
Yale University (Boston: New York Graphic Society,
1976), cat. 146; Montgomery 1966, cat. 14; Dean T.
Lahikainen, Samuel McIntire: Carving an American
Style (Hanover, NH, and London: University Press of
New England for Peabody Essex Museum, 2007), pp.
74-78. Philip D. Zimmerman, «The Livingstons’ Best
New York City Federal Furniture,» Antiques 151 (May
1997), pp. 718-20; Gregory R. Weidman, Furniture
in Maryland, 1740-1940: The Collection of the
Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore: Maryland
Historical Society, 1984), cat. 148.
274
Neoclassical furniture appeared
in the British colonies in North
America at almost precisely the
moment when they were transformed an independent nation.
Although the reason for an almost
decade-long delay in the style’s
appearance remains an open question, the timing of its adoption had
much to do with the new country’s
identification with ancient Greek
and Roman models of government.
Thomas Jefferson famously chose
the 1st century CE Roman temple
(Maison carrée) in Nîmes as his
model for the Virginia State Capitol building of 1785-92, underscoring the connection between
the Roman and American republics. In designing furniture for the
President’s House in 1809, architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe similarly used Grecian models decorated with the arms of the United
States and other national symbols. Latrobe later justified his
choice of classical forms with the
assertion, « Greece was free : in
Greece every citizen felt himself
an important part of his republic. » Made in Baltimore by cabinetmakers John and Hugh Finlay,
this suite was destroyed when the
British burned Washington, D.C.,
in 1814. 4
4. Among the voluminous literature on Jefferson
and the Virginia State Capitol, see Frederick
Doveton Nichols, «Jefferson: The Making of an
Architect,» in Jefferson and the Arts: an Extended
View, ed. William Howard Adams (Washington,
D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1976), pp. 168-70;
the quotation is cited on p. 170. For the Latrobe
furniture, see Margaret Brown Klapthor, «Benjamin
275
In addition to its association with
the new republic, style-conscious
Americans chose furniture in the
neoclassical style to emulate what
was fashionable abroad. Although
citizens of an independent nation,
wealthy Americans continued to
rely on European, primarily English, models for their homes and
furnishings. Philadelphians William and Ann Bingham traveled
in Europe between 1784 and 1786
before returning with drawings
for their new house by the London architect John Plaw, as well
as drawing room furniture from
George Seddon of London and carpets from Moorfields. The English
immigrant architect Benjamin
Henry Latrobe was engaged by
William and Ann Waln of Philadelphia to design their house and
parlor furniture in 1805-1808;
Latrobe used Grecian furniture
designs that had been popularized
in London by designers Thomas
Hope and George Smith, and finished the room with a frieze of
scenes copied from John Flaxman’s 1793 illustrations to Homer’s Iliad. 5
FIG. 2 (PAGE DE GAUCHE)
FIG. 3 (CI-DESSUS)
Stephen Badlam (1751-1815) sculpté
par par John Skillin (1746-1800)
et Simeon Skillin fils (1757-1806).
Secrétaire, Dorchester Lower Mills et
Boston, Massachusetts, 1791.
Attribué à John Seymour (1738-1818)
et Thomas Seymour (1771-1849).
Secrétaire à tambour pour Dame,
Boston, Massachusetts, 1793-96.
YUAG, legs anonyme
Latrobe and Dolley Madison Decorate the White
House, 1809-1811,» United States National Museum
Bulletin 241; Contributions from the Museum of
History and Technology Paper 49 (Washington,
D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1965), pp. 153-64, and
Conover Hunt-Jones, Dolley and the «great little
Madison» (Washington, D.C.: American Institute
of Architects Foundation, 1977), pp. 37-38. The
quotation is cited in Hunt-Jones, p. 38.
5. David l. Barquist, «’The Honors of a Court’ or ‘the
Severity of Virtue’: Household Furnishings and
Cultural Aspiration in Philadelphia,» in Shaping
Despite this interest of certain clients and craftsmen in the latest
London fashions, adoption of neoclassicism in the United States
was not always immediate and universal. Some craftsmen grafted
neoclassical motifs onto earlier
forms, using ornamental techniques associated with mid-eighteenth century furniture. In 1791,
Boston-area cabinetmaker Stephen Badlam applied allegorical
figures, swags, and other neoclassical ornament on a chest-on-chest
with the ogee shaped feet, Palladian architectural elements, and
three-dimensional carving associated with the colonial era [FIG.
2]. In contrast, new immigrants
brought a familiarity with the latest styles as practiced abroad. Devonshire-born and trained cabinetmaker John Seymour arrived in
Boston in 1793 and shortly thereafter made a number of lady’s tambour secretary desks with the contrasts of color, planar surfaces,
and inlaid and veneered ornament
characteristic of English neoclassical furniture [FIG. 3]. 6
a National Culture: the Philadelphia Experience,
1750-1800, ed. Catherine E. Hutchins (Winterthur,
DE: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum,
1994), pp. 323-24; Beatrice B. Garvan, Federal
Philadelphia, 1785-1825: The Athens of the Western
World (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art,
1987), pp. 90-93.
6. Gerald W.R. Ward, American Case Furniture in
the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections
at Yale University (New Haven: Yale University
Art Gallery, 1988), cat. 82; Robert D. Mussey, Jr.,
The Furniture Masterworks of John and Thomas
Seymour (Hanover, NH and London: University
Press of New England for Peabody Essex Museum,
YUAG-MBGC, 1930.2003
276
277
FIG. 4
Artisan non identifié. Fauteuil, Philadelphie, Pennsylvanie, vers 1800.
YUAG, Acheté par échange avec les fonds d’Olive Louise Dann, Marie-Antoinette Slade,
Florence Goldsborough, Mary B. Forgeron et Harold G. Étang, 1991.115.1
FIG. 5
Attribué à Thomas Seymour. Chaise, Boston, Massachusetts, 1804-10.
YUAG-MBGC, 1963.18.1
278
279
Immigrant craftsmen like Seymour provided the most direct
means of bringing the latest European styles to the United States.
English immigrant William Neal
discreetly inscribed the frame of a
sofa made between 1803 and 1809
following a design by Thomas
Sheraton as « the first that was
ever made in Boston. » Other immigrants advertised their foreign
training as a means of attracting
style-conscious clients. After his
arrival in New York City in 1803,
Charles-Honoré Lannuier used a
bilingual label announcing himself as « ébeniste de Paris » who
offered « meubles les plus à-lamode. » His furniture in the consulat style, with animal and figural monopodiae, exotic veneers,
and exquisitely chased and gilded
mounts, became extremely popular among wealthy clients with a
taste for French styles, as well as
with French émigrés like JacquesDonatien Leray de Chaumont, who
purchased a suite of furniture
from Lannuier in 1815-19 for a
home in northern New York state. 7
Immigrant clients like Chaumont,
already familiar with the latest
European styles, played an important role in disseminating the
2003), pp. 28-39.
7. Mussey 2003, cat. 137; Peter M. Kenny, Frances
F. Bretter, and Ulrich Leben, Honoré Lannuier,
Cabinetmaker from Paris: The Life and Work of a
French Ébeniste in Federal New York (New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998), especially pp.
56-63, 69-75, 124-33.
280
neoclassical style in America, providing models for emulation and
furthering the careers of craftsmen able to supply objects that
suited their taste. Louis-Marie
Clapier, born in Santo Domingo,
arrived in Philadelphia by 1801
and commissioned several outstanding examples of neoclassical
furniture from local craftsmen,
including William Sinclair, who
in 1801-05 supplied Clapier’s wife
with an elegant lady’s secretary
desk. Another immigrant to Philadelphia, Stephen Girard from Bordeaux, France, acquired in 1797 a
French-style buffet bas with a marble top from the Philadelphia cabinetmakers Jean-Baptiste Laurent
and Charles Domballe, who were
refugees from Santo Domingo. 8
European objects imported into
the United States were yet another
means of transmitting the neoclassical style. Although the former colonies had won political
independence from Britain, American consumers eagerly sought
English and other imported goods
ranging from luxury to commonplace. Anxious to set an appropriate tone as the nation’s leader,
President George Washington
purchased French furniture and
porcelain brought to New York
City by the French ambassador,
the Comte de Moustier, in March
1790 after the Comte was recalled
to France. This furniture was used
for official entertaining at the
President’s house, first in New
York and later in Philadelphia.
Stephen Girard ordered a carved
and gilded Louis XVI style sofa and
armchairs from his agent in Bordeaux, France, in 1798. 9
As the close ally who turned the
tide of the revolutionary war to
the Americans’ favor, France and
French style became extremely
popular in the new nation, particularly among political and
economic elites [FIG. 4]. It should
be noted, however, that this
taste for «French» style furniture was equally popular in Britain, as demonstrated by Hepplewhite and Sheraton’s designs for
such forms as «French» chairs or
«duchesse» beds. Philadelphia
cabinetmaker William Long, an
immigrant from London, advertised in 1787 « he makes French
Sophas in the modern taste Cabriole and French Chairs on reasonable terms. » Georges Bertault, an
immigrant to Philadelphia from
Paris, upholstered a set of French
chairs made in 1793 by Adam
Hains. Another set of chairs that
was closer to French than English
models was made in Philadelphia
between 1800 and 1810 for Eliza
8. Philadelphia: Three Centuries 1976, pp. 220-21;
Garvan 1987, pp. 32-33. Robert D. Schwarz, Marvin
McFarland, and Wendy Wick, The Stephen Girard
Collection: A Selective Catalogue (Philadelphia:
Girard College, 1980), cat. 35.
9. Betty C. Monkman, The White House: Its Historic
Furnishings and First Families (Washington, D.C.:
White House Historical Association, 2000), pp. 2021; Schwarz et al. 1980, cat. 66.
and Edward Shippen Burd. 10 Even when international models
were being copied, in a given city
or region these designs were modified to suit distinct local styles.
By the later eighteenth century,
aesthetic preferences that were
specific to different American
locales had been well established
for over one hundred years. The
same basic form of an English
scroll back chair with flared legs,
as described in the 1802 London
price book, had different realizations in Boston, New York, and
Philadelphia. Boston cabinetmakers ornamented their chairs with
contrasting light and dark woods
with inlaid areas (Fig. 5). New
Yorkers made chairs like the set
made by Duncan Phyfe for William
Bayard in 1807 that favored monochromatic surfaces with reeding
and carving of classical trophies.
Many high-style chairs in Philadelphia featured the rich painted
decoration that appeared on the
set Latrobe designed for William
10. For the French taste in London, see Ralph
Fastnedge, Sheraton Furniture (New York:
Thomas Yoseloff, 1962), p. 28; in Philadelphia, see
Philadelphia: Three Centuries 1976, pp. 205-06;
Garvan 1987, pp. 54-60; Barquist 1994, pp. 323-27;
Keith Bakker, Patricia E. Kane, and Dawn M. Wilson,
«’Finished in Gold and White’: The Restoration of
a Philadelphia Federal Armchair,» Yale University
Art Gallery Bulletin 1999, pp. 93-96. Long’s
advertisement appeared in the Pennsylvania
Packet, April 30, 1787; cited in Alfred Coxe Prime,
The Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia, Maryland,
and South Carolina, 1786-1800, Series Two (n.p.,
The Walpole Society, 1932), p. 188. For Bertault, see
Kathleen Catalano and Richard C. Nylander, «New
Attributions to Adam Hains, Philadelphia Furniture
Maker,» Antiques 117 (May 1980): 1114.
281
FIG. 6
Attribué à Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854).
Table de jeu, New York, New York, 1810-20.
YUAG-MBGC, 1966.127
FIG. 7
Attribué à Nathan Lombard (1777-1847). Guéridon Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1801.
282
283
Waln in 1808-10. In part, these
differences reflected schools of
local specialist craftsmen, such as
turners, carvers, inlay makers, and
painters, who executed these decorative details for multiple cabinet shops and thus gave all local
productions a similar look. At the
same time, clients in each city
also seem to have developed distinct preferences for the forms of
their furniture. 11
In some large urban centers, there
could be competing interpretations of neoclassicism. In New
York City, for example, the immigrant Scottish cabinetmaker
Duncan Phyfe offered furniture
in the English style. Phyfe’s long
and successful career as a cabinetmaker was due in part to New
Yorkers’ longstanding preference for English-style goods. For
a period in the 1810s, however,
his principal rival was the Frenchborn and trained Lannuier. The
popularity of Lannuier’s goût
antique with some wealthy clients
apparently induced Phyfe to try
creating his own, somewhat less
artistically successful, interpretation of French neoclassical forms
[FIG. 6]. For his own part, Lannuier attempted to accommodate
the prevailing New York taste by
11. Montgomery 1966, pp. 69-72, 117-18, 133-34; Kenny/
Bretter/Leben 1998, pp. 65-79; Garvan 1987, pp.
66-71; Sumpter Priddy, American Fancy: Exuberance
in the Arts, 1790-1840 (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone
Foundation, 2004), pp. 57-61; Alexandra Alevizatos
Kirtley, «The Painted Furniture of Philadelphia: A
Reappraisal,» Antiques 169 (May 2006), pp. 134-45.
284
introducing locally-popular elements into some of his furniture. 12 Although these local styles
were distinct, the American
centers were not isolated from
one another. Furniture traveled
between cities, especially ports
on the Atlantic seaboard. During
the period when Philadelphia
was the capital of the United
States, cabinetmaker Adam Hains
sold sets of chairs in the French
taste to Treasury Secretary
Alexander Hamilton of New York
and governor Christopher Gore,
merchant Theodore Lyman, and
financier Andrew Craigie of
Massachusetts. The Baltimore
merchant James Bosley owned a
large suite of chairs, couches, and
card tables made in New York by
Charles-Honoré Lannuier in 181519. Mary Few Telfair of Savannah,
Georgia, ordered a work table and
secretary desk from Duncan Phyfe
of New York in 1816. Craftsmen
in northeastern coastal cities,
including Lannuier and Phyfe,
also sent objects as venture
cargo on vessels bound for other
American or Caribbean ports. 13 12. Kenny/Bretter/Leben 1998, pp. 75-79; Peter
M. Kenny, Michael K. Brown, Frances F. Bretter,
and Matthew A. Thurlow, Duncan Phyfe: Master
Cabinetmaker in New York (New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011), p. 000. See also
David L. Barquist, American Tables and Looking
Glasses in the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other
Collections at Yale University (New Haven: Yale
University Art Gallery, 1992), pp. 228-30; Elizabeth
Feld and Stuart P. Feld, The World of Duncan Phyfe:
The Arts of New York, 1800-1847 (New York: Hirschl
and Adler Galleries, 2011), cat. 25.
13. Catalano/Nylander 1980, pp. 1112-16; Barquist
Outside the coastal urban centers, As neoclassicism’s popularity
craftsmen created neoclassical
furniture that mediated their
knowledge of the style, however
imperfect, with their own local
preferences.
In
Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, Johann Friederich
Bourquin, an immigrant from
Prussia, made an oval-back side
chair for the liturgist’s use
at the new Central Moravian
Meeting House in 1803-06.
Bourquin’s robust interpretation
of a continental European model
reflected both the sophistication
of the Moravian community,
a largely immigrant group
with relatively high social and
educational backgrounds, and
the lack of specialist furniture
carvers
in
northeastern
Pennsylvania. Nathan Lombard,
a native of Brimfield, in south
central Massachusetts, covered
his furniture with bold veneered
and inlaid decoration that made
up in exuberance what it lacked in
urban refinement [FIG. 7]. 14
spread geographically, it also
crossed economic boundaries
from the wealthiest elites to less
affluent clients. An example of
this diffusion was an upholstered
armchair with a high round back,
ultimately based on the French
bergère form that Sheraton
described in 1803 as « Cabriole,
a French Easy Chair. » Examples
were made in both New York
and Philadelphia, including the
«Cabriole» chair advertised by
William Long in 1787. George
Washington
and
Thomas
Jefferson both commissioned
swivel armchairs of this type
from the New York cabinetmaker
and merchant Thomas Burling in
1790. The upholstery made such
a chair prohibitive for all but
the wealthiest clients, but less
affluent citizens could acquire
Windsor chairs were inspired by
the «cabriole» form, including
the continuous-arm Windsors
made in New England and New
York, and bow-back chairs made in
Philadelphia [FIG. 8]. 15
1994, pp. 324-25; Kenny/Bretter/Leben 1998, pp.
59-63, 133-35; Page Talbott, Classical Savannah:
Fine and Decorative Arts, 1800-1840 (Savannah, GA:
Telfair Museum of Art, 1995), pp. 126-59.
14. Wendy A. Cooper and Lisa Minardi, Paint,
Pattern, and People: Furniture of Southeastern
Pennsylvania, 1725-1850 (Winterthur, DE: Henry
Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2011), pp.
42-47; Brock Jobe and Clark Pearce, «Sophistication
in Rural Massachusetts: The Inlaid Cherry Furniture
of Nathan Lombard,» American Furniture 1998, pp.
164-96.
15. Thomas Sheraton, The Cabinet Dictionary
(London: W. Smith, 1803), 1: pp. 19, 120, pl. 8; Helen
Maggs Fede, Washington Furniture at Mount
Vernon (Mount Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon
Ladies’ Association of the Union, 1966), pp. 39-41;
Susan R. Stein, The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson
at Monticello (New York: Harry N. Abrams for the
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1993), pp.
266-67, 272; Nancy Goyne Evans, American Windsor
Chairs (New York: Hudson Hills Press for The Henry
Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1996), pp. 10307, 199-201, 297-300.
285
FIG. 8
Ebenezer Tracy (1744-1803). Fauteuil des Windsor, Lisbonne, Connecticut, 1785-95.
286
Fittingly for a country with the
motto e pluribus unum – one from
many disparate parts -- American
furniture makers embraced the
neoclassical style in a multiplicity
of ways. Affluent urban patrons
were aware of the latest style
through travel abroad, visitors
form Europe, and publications by
European designers. Immigrant
craftsmen from Britain, France,
and continental Europe were able
to offer furniture in the latest
taste, and their native competitors
followed suit. Furniture in the new
style ranged from cosmopolitan
interpretations of London and
Paris sources to provincial
updates of traditional forms
with motifs and decoration that
reflected an awareness of the
latest taste. Many of these objects
were further embellished with
inlays depicting the arms of the
United States, perhaps to reinforce
the connection between classical
motifs and national identity. With
or without such explicit patriotic
references, in myriad ways,
American craftsmen and patrons
of neoclassical furniture made the
style their own.
DAVID BARQUIST
287
NEOCLASSICAL FURNITURE
FROM SOUTH AFRICA , SOURCES
A N D I N T E R P R E TAT I O N S
SOPHIE THIBIER
Art historian. Museum of decorative arts from Indian Ocean,
Our analysis takes us essentially to Cape Town situated on the
Cape of Good Hope, in order to better understand the development
of neoclassical furniture at the
beginning of the 19th century.
THE DISCOVERY OF T H E CA P E
BY THE EU R OPEANS
The first Europeans to discover
the site of the future Cape Town
were the Portuguese Navigators.
Bartolomeus Dias weighed anchor
in the region of Cape Town in 1488
after having sailed along the west
coast of Africa. Vasco de Gama
would definitely round the Cape
of Good Hope in 1497, as he was en
route for a new maritime road : the
road to India. In 1503, the Portuguese admiral and explorer Antonio de Saldanha, weighed anchor
in Table Bay. The people who lived
here were the Khoi, and were in
regular contact with the Europeans throughout the 15th and 16th
centuries, however these encounters would often lead to misunderstandings. Confrontations were
thus inevitable and bloody had
outcomes [FIG. 1].
T H E ESTA BL I S H ME N T
OF T H E CO LO N Y AT T H E CAPE
OF G OOD H O PE
At the end of the 16th century, and
at the end of the wars against
the Spanish crown in order to
establish their independence,
the United Provinces – The Netherlands, began to express interest towards India. On the 25th of
March 1602, The Dutch East India
Company was founded (VOC) 1. One
of the catalyst for this maritime
conquest was the spice trail, for so
long an explorer’s dream. Between
the 15th and the 18th centuries it
was spices amongst others that
was the trigger for major conquests and maritime expeditions.
1. La compagnie Unies des Indes Orientales
288
The first entire fleet belonging
to the VOC set sail on the 18th of
December 1603 with both commercial and military objectives.
Seeking a strategic point from
where to organize its commercial
activities in Asia, the company set
up a headquarters in Java, where
the English were already present
at Banten. The process of colonization was progressive and took
over a century. In 1610 the company established a stronghold
at Jayakarta, a vassal of Banten
wishing to install itself as the
centre of Dutch commerce in the
region. In 1619, Coen, Governor of
the VOC, took Jayakarta, sacked
the town, and established Batavia as the VOC’s capital in Asia.
The VOC sought to dominate the
entire commercial trading activity within and beyond the Indian
Ocean by applying an aggressive
stance. The Dutch took Formosa in
1624, built a stronghold in Japan
in 1639, took Malacca in 1641
extending its monopoly to Sumatra and Ceylon in 1656, however
Batavia remained the commercial
nerve centre and the designated
capital for the VOC.
In 1644 the Mauritius Eylant, one
of the VOC’s ships sank stranding
the 250 sailors on the banks of
Table Bay for four months. In 1647
the Nieuwe Haarlem and its crew
stayed there for several months
before returning to Holland. Following these events, and in view
of the descriptions given by the
captain of the Nieuwe Haarlem
the VOC wished to establish a port
allowing the refueling of food and
water for its ships, halfway on the
routes that would take them to
India, so they sent an expeditionary force.
The Cape colony was just one port
of call, by all means a major one
on the route to India, and where
transited thousands of cargoes of
wood, spices, and slaves… a port of
call for the ships engaged in the
lucrative trade between Holland
and Batavia with, from the outset, the construction of a fort to
protect the town. Every measure
was taken to ensure the project’s
successful outcome. On the 7th of
April 1652 a flotilla of three ships
under the command of Jan van
Riebeeck was sent to the Cape of
Good Hope. He founded the first
European Colony in South Africa.
The Cape was not chosen by pure
hazard. The region benefitted
from a moderate climate and its
sheltered bay formed a natural
harbor, which protected the boats
from the prevailing South Easterly winds. Despite several difficulties, the port began to welcome
ships as from 1659 [FIG. 2].
The Cape would never become a
commercially viable post, rather
the VOC would make it populous. That said, the very close ties
between Batavia and the Cape, for
geographically they were more
accessible and closer to the Netherlands. A wide variety of goods
289
290
291
and products came from Indonesia: rice, spices, rice wine, rattan, teak, porcelain, cotton fabrics and slaves originating from
the East and transiting via the
Cape. And more, during these first
years of installation numerous
waves of immigrants often political opponents, convicts, deportees, and even people of Chinese
origin from the colony at Batavia
founded the population of Capetown, many of them never returning to their homelands. A certain
number of Malay and Asian words
have been incorporated into the
Afrikaans dialect because of these
people’s arrival during the 17th and
18th centuries.
Numerous officers had for their
part, served in Indonesia, and Van
der Steel, the governor who succeeded van Riebeeck had himself
grown up in Batavia 2. It is important to put into perspective the
strong ties established between
Batavia and the Cape in order
to better understand the Dutch
sources of influence, but also
that of the Indonesians which
expressed itself both in architecture and furniture throughout the
colony’s domination by the VOC. In
ten years and as Jan van Riebeeck
left the colony in 1662, the village
of Cape Town existed, and began
to take shape. At the outset all
the inhabitants were employees
of the East India Company, apart
2. Domestic Interiors at the Cape and in Batavia,
1602-1795, La Hague, 2002, p 116
292
from several Germans and Scandinavians, as well as the slaves
originating from the East Coast of
Africa or Indonesia. Amsterdam,
the headquarters of the VOC conferred little by little the title of
free citizen or burgher to the company’s employees. The first free
farms were established and the
first official buildings were built
with the furnishings as they were
described in the inventories or on
the several drawings and paintings often drawn by anonymous
artists or transiting voyagers.
In 1679 the new Cape Governor,
Simon van der Steel accelerated
the colony’s economic development and, after the revocation
of the edict of Nantes in 1685,
a huge wave of European immigrants arrived in South Africa.
They ceded to the 200 French
Hugenots a green and fertile valley in order to develop a wine mak-
FIG. 1 (PAGE PRÉCÉDENTE)
Carte, Le pays des Hottentots aux
environs du Cap de Bonne Espérance
Carte dressée d’après celle de Kolb, par
Nicolas Bellin, Ingénieur de la Marine,
XVIIIe siècle
FIG. 2 (CI-CONTRE)
Carte de la Baie de la Table et rade
du Cap de Bonne Espérance.
Dressée par Nicolas Bellin, Ingénieur
de la Marine, XVIIIe siècle. Musée des
arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien
FIG. 3 (PAGE SUIVANTE)
Plan du Fort et de la Ville du Cap
de Bonne Espérance
siècle. Musée des arts décoratifs
de l’océan Indien
XVIIIe
293
294
FIG. 4
Chaise à torsades
1re moitié du XVIIIe siècle. Afrique du Sud, Le Cap. Bois et cannage.
Musée des arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien.
296
ing culture. It consisted of the
towns of Franshoek and Stellenbosch, itself founded by van der
Steel in 1679. This town took the
Governor’s name whilst he was in
office. All three towns prospered
and developed rapidly thanks to
the vineyards. The Cape Province
also prospered in part thanks to
the tremendous energy deployed
by Governor van der Steel. Castles,
gardens, hospitals and churches
were all built in a traditional
Dutch architectural style. They
effected the planting of oak forests, having discovered that the
indigenous forests had largely
been destroyed notably due to the
need for construction materials,
and, notwithstanding the importing of wood from India, the growing needs were insufficient for
the coming years. He imposed
upon each farmer who had established a farm in the area to plant
these trees. Between 1699 and
1707 Simon van der Steel ceded
his position to his son Willem
Adriaan van der Steel. He put all
his efforts into developing agriculture, wine making, and cattle
ranching. The colony that was left
by Willem Adriaan van der Steel
was described by an English visitor, J. Maxwell 3 as not so much a
village, but a small town [FIG. 3].
Between 1708 and 1751 the competition between France, the Netherlands, and England had a marked
effect on the exchanges and trade.
As a result the Cape Colony found
itself relatively isolated, but it
continued to develop.
From 1751 to 1771 the colony was
governed by Ryk Tulbagh. This
period was often considered to be
the colony’s most brilliant with
new constructions, renovations,
and improvements ensuring that
Cape Town became a safe and
secure town for its inhabitants.
The inventories that the colonials
established spoke of few furnishings spread throughout the different rooms in the hoses. The
inventory established in 1752 at
the house of Johannes van Sittert,
head surgeon at the Hopital de la
Compagnie spoke of, depending
on the rooms a bed for the day, a
desk, two small tables, three cabinets, four assorted tables, twentyfour chairs, and two four-posters
beds 4. One always noticed that
from the point of view of these
inventories, and depending upon
one’s social status, the furniture
was far more important than for a
simple farmhouse.
In the 1780’s Cape Town took
advantage of a key decade in the
development of the colony. At the
end of the 18th century, the strategic importance of the Cape on the
route to India was wholly evident
to all Europeans. Therefore, by way
of the Franco Dutch alliance, soldiers from the French Army were
3. G.E. Pearse, Eigtheen century furniture in South
Africa, J.L. Van Schaik, Pretoria, 1960, p 2.
1602-1795, La Hague, 2002, p 142
297
stationed on the Cape from 1781
to 1784 in order to repeal any British invasion. French mercenaries, paid by the VOC followed suit.
The French established, because
of this, a new maritime defence
network, whilst the French merchant ships made Cape Town their
commercial bridgehead for Indian
Ocean trade, and Bourbon Island
and Ile de France also became
important refueling stations. This
period would mark numerous creations, not just for furniture, but
also for architecture, so much so
that the town would be nicknamed
« Little Paris ».
B R I TISH INSTALLATION
FIG. 5
Fauteuil
Vers 1790/1800. Afrique du Sud, Le Cap. Stinkwood et canne
de rotang. Musée des arts décoratifs de l’océan Indien
298
As from 1796, the colony fell into
the hands of the British, and the
Dutch ceded completely in 1806.
The United Kingdom became the
dominant maritime and colonial
force in the early 19th century.
Under British domination, in particular from 1813, under the presence of Charles Somerset, the
town developed considerably. A
postal service was inaugurated,
and houses were built spreading
amongst the lower slopes as well
as the poorer quarters around the
port, and, above all, in the Eastern plains along the railway track
built between 1864 and 1890. The
urban extensions occurred largely
along the coast as well as towards
the north and the South East.
At Cape Town, changes in architec-
ture were notable with the characteristics of early 19th century
architecture. The technical innovations taking place in the United
Kingdom were equally present on
the Cape Colony. Urban lighting,
thanks to oil lamps, or metallic
water pipes with taps at intervals
helped the comfort of the residents. 5 The last arriving settlers,
those of the last Anglo-Saxon
wave, belonged to solid land owning gentry. The changes were notable in architecture with all the
characteristics of the early 19th
century. The British, following
the Boer War sued for peace, and
in 1909 the country began as the
South African Republic.
FU RN I T U RE AT CA P E TOW N
Furniture manufactured at Cape
Town during the period of the
VOC, and then afterwards during
British domination is clearly recognizable and differentiates from
European Furniture as well as
that of South East Asia. The first
half of the 18th century Indian
and European craftsmen adopted
a style, which prevailed as the
Dutch Style using both exotic and
local wood. These craftsmen created furniture characterized by
its simplicity, and by the quasi
inexistence of ornamentation, in
contrast with an altogether more
ostentatious style produced by
5. G.E. Pearse, Eigtheen century furniture in South
Africa, J.L. Van Schaik, Pretoria, 1960, p 5.
299
the Dutch East India Company.
The furnished lines produced at
Cape Town, during the first part
of the 18th century, were essentially sober and somewhat out of
step with furniture fashionable
at that time in the major European capitals.
The models manufactured at Cape
Town during the first half of the
18th century, notably chairs and
tables were inspired in part from
17th century European models. In
the absence of and guild or corporation the formal inventories were
adapted or reinterpreted in permanence by the local craftsmen,
often from elsewhere by Malay
craftsmen, arriving as slaves; they
set up business once freed essentially in the suburb of Cape Town,
Bo Kaap. The majority of the
craftsmen were anonymous, but
we can ascertain with certitude
that many of them were slaves. Evidently the majors publics edifices
and buildings are today cared for
by professional architects.
The Tulbagh style, taken from the
name of one of the Cape’s governors Ryk Tulbagh (1699-1771) and
which developed during the first
half of the 18th century, can be considered as the characteristic Cape
style at this time. It is derived from
a torsade style inspired by the
Louis XIII period and used throughout Europe and its colonies. But
over and above the esthetic, for
the vast majority of furniture pro300
duced at Cape Town was adapted
to its inhabitants and, above all,
their needs [FIG. 4].
The most determining factors
for the craftsmen of this age
were necessity and practicability
rather than style. As for the usage
of wood scents and tools, we know
that the colony was, in the first few
decades of its history, extremely
dependant upon imports from the
VOC, needed for the construction
of houses. The realization and the
methods of construction (mortise
and tenon joints) were simple for
rustic styled furniture. The legs
for chairs or tables were straight,
their framework was simple,
albeit with some decorative variations on the backs. The seats platted in leather strips bear witness
to a pastoral country life enjoyed
by the first settlers who adapted
to the materials available and produced locally. As for the woods
used, they were either imported
woods such as ebony, red eucalyptus, and, as from 1700 locally
grown woods such as stinkwood 6
or yellowwood 7.
Between 1700 and 1770 the lines
were more rounded, the backs of
the chairs and armchairs were
more carved. The rattan, which
came from Indonesia, was specifically intended for the seats, and
the finishing were more refined.
These styles, as with those
adopted after Daniel Marot, the
6. Nom scientifique : Ocotea bullata
7. Nom scientifique : Podocarpus latifolius
FIG. 6
Cabinet
Ebène, amboyna et laiton. Vers 1800. 267 x 160 x 61,5 cm.
Indonésie, Batavia / Java. Musée des Arts décoratifs de l’Océan Indien
301
influential French decorator at
the Dutch Royal Court, were copied and adapted essentially in the
Indies by way of the engravings.
The second half of the 18th century would usher in a certain prosperity, together with a greater
stability. The inhabitants of the
Cape would live more decently
and comfortably, and some of
them would begin to make their
fortune in cornering the wine
and meat trade. Both luxury and
refinement seemed to be above
all the prerogative of the colonial
settlers who had already enjoyed
the splendours of South East Asia
and Europe.
Certain woods were more widely
used than others depending upon
the periods. The local woods were
widely used at the beginning of
the 18th century, and then scents
from abroad were imported.
Amboyna or red and black ebony
was imported from Mauritius.
Towards the end of the 18th century, yellowwood and stinkwood
were prevalent. 8
Economic factors, social status,
the availability of materials and
know how as well as needs determined the craftsmen’s output. Up
until the middle of the 18th century, the craftsmen living on the
Cape, as well as those responsible
for the development of furniture
and decorative artwork remained
FIG. 7
Fauteuil
Vers 1780/1800. Le Cap. Stinkwood et canne de rotang
302
8. Deon Viljon, Pier Rabe, Cape furniture and
metalware, Cape Town, 2001, p XVII
by and large anonymous. These
craftsmen, depending upon their
origin and the registers that mention them, were slaves originating
from Asia and Madagascar. They
understood perfectly the techniques of construction specific to
locally produced furniture.
NEOCLASSICAL FURNITURE
FROM T HE CA P E
The furniture of the Cape during
the second half of the 18th century reflected the style in fashion in both Holland and England
at the same period, yet adopting
simpler forms. The majority of
visitors who landed at Cape Town
arrived from England and were
already acquainted with furniture designed by Hepplewithe,
Sheraton, and Chippendale, as
well as French designed furniture.
The neoclassical influences were
already being felt/were already
apparent in both furniture and
architecture produced at the Cape.
In 1788, the anthology of the Englishman George Hepplewhithe
(1727-1786) « The cabinet maker
and Upholsterers guide » was published and displayed about three
hundred of his designs. His work
and the furniture he created, is
recognizable from the perforated
back, usually adorned with a
motif inspired from the neoclassical repertory : vase, twig, branch,
feather. These decorative motifs
both reworked and reinterpreted
303
FIG. 8
Koopmans - de Wet House
Façade attribuée à Louis Thibault et les décors à Anton Anreith. Vers 1790. Le Cap
304
by the craftsmen were inspired by
European neoclassical models and
were to be found on furniture produced at the Cape, notably chairs
or armchairs. On this chair all
the characteristics of neoclassic
styles are reunited [FIG. 5].
A taste for neoclassical furniture
started to become prevalent on
the Cape in the last decade of the
18th century. The propagation of
British taste on the Cape, and thus
neoclassical styles at the time,
fashionable in Europe, coincided
with the first arrivals of British
settlers in 1795. The Dutch influence, axing itself on furniture and
architecture, began to wane, the
interiors of the houses ceased to
reflect a Dutch style which had
hitherto prevailed throughout
the first half of the 18th century,
but which was now considered
somber and out of fashion. The
principal characteristics of neoclassical styled furniture on the
Cape were streamlined in design
with straight and uninterrupted
grooves and lines. One took the
items specific to architecture and
making them figure on the furniture: the utilization of straight
cornices and triangular or broken
pediment on then cabinets and
the wardrobes [FIG. 6].
The legs for chairs, tables, and
armchairs, were tapered and the
feet had, as for them, no given
shape, or suggested pointed feet
as a finish [FIG. 7].
The decorative incrustations popular in Europe at this time, echoed
themselves on the Cape, but generally with relatively simple geometric motifs such as chevrons or
diamond shaped motifs. The wood
used, just as in the 17th and 18th
centuries was stinkwood, yellowwood, and ebony imported from
Mauritius and South East Asia.
One could find numerous variations and adoptions of neoclassical style on the Cape throughout
the second half of the 18th century.
Atmore had revealed amongst
other things, for backs of chairs
and armchairs more than thirty
different models listed in the Cape
furnishings. 9 The neoclassical
furniture of Cape Town was thus
inspired from lines and shapes
habitual to Europe. Concerning
the materials used for the seats,
leather straps or rattan work were
used according to their availability. Sometimes, certain chairs or
armchairs were also covered with
material or chintz. This was made
all the more possible due to the
Cape’s climate being moderate
and Mediterranean.
Just like the craftsmen of preceding decades, those who had manufactured the majority of furniture at the end of the 18th century
through to the beginning of the
19th century were unknown except
for Anton Anreith (1754 – 1822)
one of the sculptors and decora9. Atmore, Cap furniture, Howard Timmins, Cape
Town, 1970, p. 150
305
tors known for the period which
currently interests us. He entered
the service of the VOC and arrived
at the Cape in 1777. Shortly after
his arrival, he was employed as a
carpenter, but his talent for sculpture led him to take in hand the
worksite of the pulpit and organ
for the Lutheran Church on Strand
Street. In 1786 he was promoted to
master sculptor, a title hitherto
never given on the Cape. In the
VOC’s inventories it is mentioned
that Anreith was given accommodation in the workers quarters
near the sea’s edge.
Between 1781 and 1783 a garrison
was installed at the Cape with the
Lieutenant Louis Michel Thibault
(1750-1815), a French architect
trained at the Académie Royale
d’Architecture de Paris and who
worked as an apprentice architect
with Ange-Jacques Gabriel. He was
sent to the Cape as a military engineer, staying there and being successively employed by the Governor as architect and expert, being
responsible for the designs of a
large number of public buildings.
One of the buildings realized by
Louis Thibault was Koopmans-de
Wet House. The façade dates from
the end of the 18th century and
which takes all the major architectural characteristics of neoclassical façades. Four grooved pilasters
rhythm the façade, some being
wooden, others made from plaster.
The triangular pediment covers
three large windows on the upper
306
floor. The entrance is also framed
by two pilasters, which support a
frieze alternating triglyphes and
métopes. Sculpted garlands separate the ground floor with the
upper floor [FIG. 8].
The arrival of Thibault signaled
a turning point in the career of
Anton Anreith. Thibault spoke of
Anreth as « a gifted sculptor (…) a
good mathematician, and a man
with an honorable reputation as
well as somebody who could be
relied upon » 10. In 1805 Anreith
bought a house next door to one
he already owned and began to
give private sketching, modeling, wooden engraving and free
drawing lessons. In 1815 his class
became the Technical Institute
of which he was director, and he
trained numerous students. There
was no doubt that the arts during this providential period, and
inspired by the models put forward by Thibault and Anreith, be
they architecture, interior decoration, or furnishing. Cornices,
pilasters, columns, drawings… all
made theirs appearance as much
as interior as exterior of houses.
The majority of the interiors were
inspired by the decorative principles of architecture, column, pilaster, pediment. The interiors were
redecorated at the end of the 18th
century to reflect the refinement
10. Lettre de Louis Michel Thibault au Gouverneur
Janssens, dans G.E. Pearse, Eigtheen century
furniture in South Africa, J.L. Van Schaik, Pretoria,
1960, p. 53
and elegance of the fashion as seen
from English and French tastes.
Portraits of the settlers were rare,
and could have informed us considerably on the interiors and furniture of the time. There is, however, one interesting example. It
is a portrait of Carel Theodorus,
Müller and his family, without
doubt painted by a French painter
in 1812 11. The artist had portrayed
Mr and Mrs Müller surrounded
by their eight children and in an
almost exclusively neoclassical
background : tables, chairs, and
clothes. This allows us to better understand an interior as it
would have been at the beginning
C O N CLU SI ON
The development of the neoclassical style at the Cape was made possible thanks to several factors. On
one hand, the moderate climate
of a Mediterranean type, allowed
the development of a style specific to that of the Cape, notably in
the use of essences, and the use of
certain materials such as leather
for example, that would not have
resisted in the same way under
the tropics.
The economy at the end of the
18th century and at the debut of
the 19th century was stable and
prosperous thanks to the trade
1602-1795, La Hague, 2002, p 164
in wine and cattle. Between 1760
and 1820, living conditions for
the inhabitants of the colony were
much improved. This enabled the
development of an architectural
style, an art de vivre, and furniture that was specifically styled
for the Cape. Less worried by their
chances of survival, and therefore more inclined/motivated by
developing their style of life and
their interiors, the settlers took
the time to establish a firmer longer lasting lifestyle.
On the other hand, with the arrival
of the French and British Garrisons, the Dutch style, which had
prevailed for the preceding 150
years, was now out of fashion.
Architecture, interior decoration, and neoclassical furniture
imposed itself on the Cape, notably by means of engravings adopting or reinterpreting the principal European lines. One delved
into the repertories of the leading European artists such as Hepplewhite, Robert Adam, or even
Jacques-Ange Gabriel. The particularity of furniture at the Cape is
certainly the use of tropical woods
and notably local essences. All
these elements have contributed
to establish a neoclassical style
specific to the Cape be it furniture
or architecture.
SOPHIE THIBIER
Photographies from J. Kuyten
307
BRAZILIAN INTERIORS : FURNITURE
AT T H E T I M E O F T H E P O R T U G U E S E
C O U R T, AT R I O D E J A N E I R O . R E C E P T I O N ,
A S S I M I L AT I O N A N D C R E AT I O N .
Deputy Director. Instituto do Patrimonio Arquitectonico,
Lisbon, Portugal
« One can find, seated on a marqueza [Etruscan bed] made from
Jacaranda and tautly stretched
cow skin leather, together with a
seat that serves as a settee, cool
during the day, useful in a tropical
climate in order to rest throughout
the day, it sits on legs folded in the
Asian manner. »
In J. Baptiste Debret, Voyage
Pittoresque et Historique au Brésil…
Paris, 1834 1
ST RUCTURED SOCIABILITY.
A T ECHNOLOGICAL AND
CA DASTRAL ORGANIZATION
O F THE WORKFORCE ACTIVE
D U RI N G T HE I N STA LL AT I ON OF
T H E URBAN TRANSFORMATION
O F RI O DE JA N EI RO
One may start by using a Magritian allegory illustrated in the
painting depicting the urgent
evacuation of the fire ravaged the
1. Vue d’« Une Dame brésilienne dans son
intérieur », vol. II, Illustration 10, p. 33
308
Recolhimento de N. S. do Parto,
in 1789, in the town of Rio, where
there was a profusion of furniture. The diptych, evoking a tragic
event was realized by the artist
João Francisco Muzzi (17??-1802),
and must be read as a pair : we can
see a cascade of furniture being
thrown out of the window as well
as the fire fighting efforts made
by the clergy, the population,
the military as well as the firemen themselves. In addition, in
the other painting, which is symmetric, one can see the Viceroy D.
Luis de Vasconcelos e Sousa who
reigned from 1778 to 1789, in the
handing over ceremony from the
Mulatto painter Valentim (17451813) acknowledged at the time
as the project leader behind the
project in terms of the reconstruction of the edifice. This gesture is
a throwback to the days of Octavianus Augustus when the Roman
Emperor had received one of the
309
José Francisco Muzzi (1726-1802),
Incendie du couvent des femmes
abandonnées, 1789
Huile sur toile, Museu Castro Maya,
Rio de Janeiro, Brésil
most famous treatise De Architectura, 1st century BC, written by
Vitruvius. A patronizing attitude,
which was repeated during the
homage to the mulatto artist, paid
by his protector, and who, once
again, called upon his services to
work on the hospice’s works of art.
When one speaks of « a founding
paradox » in the history of Brazil
as a nation the aphorism reflects
the importance of Rio de Janeiro
as capital of the Viceroy’s lands as
well as the presence of the Portuguese Court who would transform
the capital into an empire based
on European configurations concerning political institutions
notably on the type of the government and by the cultural model,
these contrasting with the situation in South America where the
Portuguese Court affirmed itself
as a centre of civilization 2.
2. Alencastro, Luís Filipe de (1997), « Império : a corte
310
It was at the end of 1807, in the
context of the Napoleonic Invasions that the Prince Regent took
the decision to move the Royal
Family to Rio, and to accomplish
the gesture that has become
commonplace in a monarchy in
the tropics. Suddenly the capital received government workers,
soldiers and administrative officials. 15,000 people were involved
at that moment. It was a migratory flux which had rained down
upon the island, not as a fracture,
but as a mixture exercising a concept of compression which was
a self regulating catalyst and an
absorption exacerbated by representative and cultural practices,
actualized according to European examples and injected into
the town, which since 1763 was
already the colony’s capital. The
exodus of the population was not
only metropolitan, the original
fluxes of Minas Gerais and even
the state of Rio de Janeiro marked
the town’s atmosphere over and
above the intense slave trafficking « the largest slave trading post
in the America’s ». Included in the
arrival of this large population of
European professionals and not
only the Portuguese were the new
actors of new fashions in design.
They had to respond to the wishes
of the people linked to the court,
important administrators, the
e a modernidade nacional », in História da Vida
Privada no Brasil, coord. Fernando Novais, vol. II, Rio
de Janeiro : Companhia das Letras, 1997, p. 10
Portrait du prince régent D. João, gravé par
Pradier d’après le portrait de J.B. Debret,
1816, chaise-trône style Empire, dessinée
par Grandjean de Montigny
Bibliothèque Nationale, Rio de Janeiro, Brésil
clergy, magistrates, military personnel, freelance workers as well
as the continents elite including
Brazilians now enjoying access
to sumptuous effects many of
them with occidental taste, the
utopic heights of a town that was
« almost European ».
However, let us return to the time
just before the arrival of the court
in order to better understand how
Rio de Janeiro following the transfer of the capital from Salvador
da Baía to Rio in 1763, became a
town regulated by the impulsions
of modernity. The spirit of the Age
of Light and even the programme
of Lisbon’s reconstruction following the 1755 earthquake were
clear indicators. One can identify a group of coastal ports with
an identical basis of development
with Rio Baía and Recife the capitals of the three states.
The second Marquis du Lavradio,
D. Luis de Almeida Portugal, was
the 10th Viceroy of Brazil. He governed between 1769 and 1779, and
was both admired and acknowledged as one of the most brilliant
administrators of the colonial
period. He had fixed an emblematic objective of his stewardship, which was to elevate Rio de
Janeiro to a town of extraordinary
importance « to be the Capital of
the Portuguese Empire in America
and to increase the wealth of the
state confided to him 3. »
The edifices built in the port,
around the Royal Palace, or with
the creation of a public promenade around the bay, as well as
the construction of the Church
of Our Lady of Candelaria, were
the prime examples of the structured foundations of programmed
grand urbanization. The terracing
for the implantation of the new
public areas revealed a parallel
influence with the Pombalin Park
3. campo bello, Conde de (1935), GovernadoresGerais e Vice-Reis do Brasil. Lisbonne : Agência
Geral do Ultramar, 1935, p. 133-135, la politique
urbanistique du vice-royaume a été paramétrée
par l’assèchement des marécages, le pavement des
voies ; le contrôle de la ville a été instrumentalisé
par la création du Régiment des Milices que le
comte de Galveias avait montait à Baía.
311
Canapé, attribué à Julien Béranger, vers
1820/30
Pernambuc, collection Museu da Casa Brasileira,
São Paulo, Brésil
Canapé, palissandre et canne, attribué
à Louis Bellangé, vers 1830
pour la marquise de Santos
Museu Paulista, São Paulo, Brésil
project in Lisbon, to the north of
the Rossio Square, at the edge of
the rebuilt town. The dimension,
the new hygienic standards and
the urban social areas were examples of proposals and measures for
the public areas that were encouraged during the Age of Light.
Master Valentim, the author
of Passeio Publico had established a geometric grid gaining inspiration from the French
gardens according to a regularity, which was also manifest in
312
the rebuilding of the metropolitan capital 4. The fountain at the
Largo Palace with its pyramid
crown (1789) by the same architect, integrated itself in this cycle
of improvement to this symbolic
place coordinated by Jacob Funk
(1715-1788), a military engineer,
acquainted with French architectural works and who introduced
a formative actualization steeped
in the neoclassical style 5.
Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848),
the artist who arrived with the
French Artistic Mission in 1816,
had mentioned that : « the place
was closed ». 6
We must however, refer to the
descriptions of a British traveler
at the end of the 18th century who
considered that Rio de Janeiro
was well endowed with English
engravings with both serious
and characterized themes which
allowed one access to a visual culture and which also permitted the
iconographic models to circulate
amongst the most cultivated of
people at the heart of the artistic
scene. In the town two bookshops
stood out from the rest. They translated religious and medical books
4. Monteiro, Ana Maria (1999), Mestre Valentim
(c.1745-1813). São Paulo : Editora Cosac & Naif, 1999
5. Underwood, David Kilpatrick (1988), The
Pombaline Style and International Neoclassicism in
Lisboa and Rio de Janeiro, dissertation de doctorat,
University of Pensylvania, 1988
6. Debret, Jean Baptiste (1834-1841), Voyage
Pittoresque et Historique d’un Artiste Français au
Brésil de 1816 jusqu’en 1831… Paris : Firmin Didot
Frères, 1834-1841, ed. Fac similée, Rio de Janeiro :
Distribuidora Record ; New York : Continental News,
1965, p. 90
and kept the men out of reach from
the corruption of free thinking.
The Spanish explorer Juan Aguirre
visited Rio de Janeiro in 1782 leaving his register which described
that which he observed inside one
of the chácaras (rural dwellings) :
« resplandece el Gusto inglés » 7
that is to say the style of Anglo
Palladianism without reflecting
upon a reality; the close contact
with England stemming from a
flourishing port wine trade and
the influence of the British expatriate colony residing in this town.
They had imported furniture and
other sumptuous works which had
hindered the fabrication of Portuguese and Brazilian furniture
of the « D. Maria 1st style ». In the
sphere of architecture one can
make out several influences above
all manifest in the origins of epiphenomenon designated by Port
Wine Architecture.
Carme, by the craftsman Manuel
Antonio do Sacramento. It concerned « six pews made in Brazilian rosewood to enrich the walls
of the sacristy, one could add a
cupboard and tables belonging
to the same set costing a total of
one hundred and thirty thousand
130,000 réis » 8.
As concerns the town of Baía, it
seems to confirm that the orders
of the second half of the 18th century, made by the cabinet makers
originated in many cases from the
clergy and consequently the conclusions formulated must not be
attributed only for the works commissioned by the local elite : « we
could only find at the Archives des
Irmandades, registers of furniture » 9 and this clearly proves that
there was a need for luxury furniture. In explicit terms during the
first decades of the 19th century
we can confirm that there was
a large number of cabinet makers; this gives an eloquent examT H E PERSISTENCE OF LATE
ple which proved itself between
BA ROQUE TASTE AND OF
R O CAILLE . THE TRAINING AND
1800 and 1813 in the Book of proPR O FESSI ON A L CU LT U RE OF
fession of the Archive of the Baía
CA BI N ET M A KERS.
Town Hall. There was annotated
Despite the integration of stand- the startling number of 58 funcards of the D. Jose 1st style (1750- tioning cabinetmakers work1777) one notes that different shops in the town. And in his book
pieces of furniture were made in
Ouro Preto in 1813 for the sacristy 8. Lopes, Francisco António (1942), « História da
Construção da Igreja do Carmo de Ouro Preto », in
of the Third Order of the Church of Revista IPHAN, nº 8, 1942, p. 116
7. V. Smith, Robert C. (1969), Arquitectura Civil
do Período Colonial, Separate de la Revista do
Património Artístico e Nacional, vol. 17. Rio de
Janeiro : 1969, p. 116
9. Alves, Marieta (1967), « As Artes Menores
na Bahia », in História das Artes na Cidade de
Salvador », in Salvador da Bahia. Baía : Prefeitura
Municipal, 1967, p. 202 ; FLÉXOR, Maria Helena
(1978), Mobiliário Brasileiro : Bahia. São Paulo :
Espace, 1978.
313
Livro dos Exames Oficiais (official exams books) it is often cited,
cabinetmakers for « móvéis e samblagem » 10 [furniture and assembly]. Another flagrant example of
these type of recordings is that
of 1810 where the evaluation concerning the promotion to the rank
of master cabinetmaker Bento de
Andrade, the examiner Jose Ferreira da Silva Feio, declared that
he must « execute all manner of
work including both carpentry
and cabinet making » 11.
Concerning the period which
interests us, for the Church of St
Francois at Baía one can identify
the master cabinetmakers Jose
Francois Pereira and Gregorio da
Silva who made both tables and
chairs in rosewood dating from
1812-1813, documents that we can
see at the Archives da Devocao do
Senhor Jesus do Bonfim 12. We can
also see the contract of the cabinetmaker Carlos Manuel da Silva
established by the Church of the
Third Order of Carme.
An article published by Lucio Costa
in 1939 Notas sobre a evolução
do Mobiliário Luso-Brasileiro
considers that the second period
of furniture is marked by the
Baroque style which remained
throughout the 18th century 13. It’s
clear that in his exhibition on the
evolution of the Baroque style
in the first phase it underlines
that « the design transforms in a
more mannered style, the proportions are racier, the ornamentation fine and prolific. » He notes
that the last phase of this trail
two distinct trends that could be
observed : on one hand an almost
exaggerated development of characteristic tracts of Baroque, and
the drawing which sometimes
loses its initial cohesion, tends to
be open and shed. And on the other
hand the symptoms of reaction;
that is to say the gradual return
to a drawing that was more regular, more evident but the floral element appearing with more insistence 14. He identified the style of
D. Maria 1st as a composite version of the vocabulary of Louis
XVI, linking with the propositions
of intense movement evident in
the style of Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite. Despite the
resistance that the late Baroque
10. Samblagem (où samblage) c’est l’équivalent
d’assembleur ou charpentier de meubles et qui dans
la construction de retables d’autels en bois doré
faisait intervention au montage de sa structure
morphologique. Au Portugal ils appartiennent
au drapeau de Notre Dame de l’Incarnation, où
jointent les officiels de la taille et de la crosse. À la
Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Lisbonne, existe un
« Regimento deste ofício, daté de 1767. V. Silva, J. H.
Pais da (1983), « Breve Glossário », in Estudos sobre
o Maneirismo. Lisboa : Estampa, 1983. p. 281-307
11. Alves, Marieta, Op. cit., p. 203
12. Id. ibidem, Livro de Receita e Despesa, 1809-1812
13. Costa, Lúcio (1939), « Notas sobre a evolução du
Mobiliário Luso-Brasileiro », in Revista do SPHAN,
vol.3. Rio de Janeiro : 1939, republié, in Textos
escolhidos da Revista do Instituto do Património e
Artistico Nacional, Arquitectura Civil III, Mobiliàrio
e Alfaias, USP, Faculdade de Arquitectura, São
Paulo, 1975, p. 133-146
14. Id., ibidem, p. 143, l’auteur choisit comme exemples
les têtes de lits de la période de D. José I, dont on
trouve beaucoup d’exemplaires au Brésil et au
Portugal.
314
Canapé, palissandre et canne,
origine de Pernambuc,
début XIXe siècle
Collection privée.
and its offspring Rococo imposed
to these assimilations they ended
up being absorbed.
Economic motivations with the
decline in the exploitation of gold
allowed one to better understand
that the expensive code had been
used up and in the field of gold
wood these indicators were legion
on this mutation, where in paintings a chromatic palette based
upon a range of whites and blues,
tended to impose itself amongst
the refurbishments at the expense
of gold. Several of the pieces of
furniture from this period were
painted incorporating oval scrollwork in the neoclassical taste,
with figurative scenes and geometric matrixes, the backs alternated radically and the examples
close to those of Hepplewhite, dear
to the heart of D. Maria 1st prove to
us that they were well known to
the cabinetmakers of that time.
T HE COU RT I N T HE T ROP I CS.
THE WHIRL CAUSED BY THE
NEW POMP OF CEREMONIES
A N D BY T HE ROYA L
HERI TAGE : FURNITURE AND
GOL DSM I T HERY. T HE A RRI VA LOF
MAJOR DIGNITARIES BRINGS A
NEW MORE COHERENT SPEECH
BASED ON THAT OF LOUIS XV I
The ascension of Queen Mary 1st, in
1777 and her setting up residence
at the Royal Palace of Ajuda, would
stimulate the modifications of the
palace, determined by the actualization of artistic dialogues by the
purchase of paintings, by more
renowned artists, notably French
artists who expressed themselves
in the more nuanced values of
neoclassicism.
315
The Portuguese ambassador to
Paris D. Vincente de Sousa Coutinho would take on the role of
artistic advisor, concerning the
court orders. He would himself be
influenced by the orders made by
Marie- Antoinette, and especially
for Versailles where Jacques-Ange
Gabriel (1762-1768) had constructed this icon of Louis XVI architecture and which had impressed an
entire epoch. Thus the reception
of new grammar complemented
the furniture and engraving
with works by equally renowned
artists: Charles Saunnier (17351802) 15 J.H. Reisener (1734-1806) 16,
Robert-Joseph Auguste (17231805) 17 and Sebastien Durand
(1712-1787).
Not only the courtiers, but also
the nobility followed the ordered models of which the most
eloquent example was the silver
plated crockery of the Dukes of
Aveiro, which were confiscated by
the crown. We can see today at the
Museum of Ancient Art at Lisbon
and note that the terrine is by Thomas Germain and the display case
is by his son François-Thomas Germain. In « Auto de Arrolamento »
(the enrollment process procedure) one can also note the existence of « nine trumeau with their
tables and stones as well as their
glass in sunken cases, all made
CI-DESSUS
Chaise trône, fabrique anglaise de F.C.
Rein, 1819; provenance Palais royal de
São Cristovão Rio de Janeiro, Brésil
Collection privée
À DROITE
Chaise du style D. Maria Ier influencée
par les modèles de Sheraton.
Palissandre.
Rio de Janeiro, Brésil, Collection privée
316
15. Auteur d’une grande console pour le nouvel
appartement du dauphin, fils de Louis XVIII,
à Versailles
16. Désigné « ébéniste
iste ordinaire du roi ». À fait
le secrétaire du petit appartement de la reine,
à Versailles, et une commande pour la reine
portugaise Maria Ier, au palais d’Ajuda.
17. Voir les Sceaux à Bouteilles appartenant
aujourd’hui à la collection du Museu de Arte Antiga
à Lisbonne, avec le blason gravé des comtes de
Povolide.
Chaise longue, palissandre, cannage et ivoire incrusté. Bahia, début du XIXe siècle
Museu de Arte da Bahia, Brésil
in France » 18. Everything would be
sent at Rio de Janeiro during the
receptions of the Royal Family.
These festive decorations helped to spread a new grammar and
the architecture reinforced the
assimilation of recent neoclassical propositions, for example the
Opera Theatre at Sao Joao situated at largo do Rossio, very close
to the popular Largo da Carioca,
the whole in front of the Church
and Convent of St Antoine. For its
construction the prince Regent
had ordered that the architect José
da Costa e Silva (1747-1819) came
to Lisbon. He had conceived the
project for the Sao Carlos theatre
(1793) in memory of Princess Carlota Jaoquina of which the result
was a copy of the Italian. The
18. Guerra, Luís Bívar (1952), Inventário e Sequestro
da Casa de Aveiro em 1759. Lisbonne : Arquivo do
Tribunal de Contas, 1952
theatre was greatly influenced
by the Scala in Milan 19, and the
Prince was greatly satisfied.
A celebrated and powerful personality amongst the courtiers
at Rio was the first Baron of Rio
Seco 20, Joaquim José de Azevedo
(1761-1835) who had an immense
fortune and who had built an elegant palace with this same architect in front of the Opera situated
at Largo. He had started building
work on another palace on the new
square at Santana, which formed
19. Cet architecte de formation bolognaise s’est
inspiré des dessins de L. Piermarini pour le
théâtre milanais. L’oeuvre est considérée une des
premières manifestations du néoclassicisme au
Portugal, v. França, José-Augusto (1990), A Arte em
Portugal no Século XIX, vol. I. Lisbonne : Livraria
Bertrand, 1990 ; Carneiro, Luís Soares (2002),
Teatros Portugueses de Raiz Italiana. Dissertation
de doctorat, Université de Porto, Faculte
d’Architecture, 2002
20. Titré le 13 août 1813, par le Prince-Régent, déjà
au Brésil ; par sa richesse colossale il a été accusé
de corruption
317
Petit banc, bois d’acajou de Madère et cannage, Bahia, début du XIXe siècle
a new centrality and was well on
the way to becoming even « more
superb and stunning » 21. It was
imperative that the palace be furnished with new trends of cosmopolitan taste, the decorative whole
of the palace of Sao Cristovao, for
the Royal residence had to serve
as a reference for its acquisitions.
Social ostentation had in these
residences its most visible sign
in seeking the highest ranking
courtiers houses outside the town
21. Silva, Maria Beatriz Nizza da (1978), Cultura e
Sociedade no Rio de Janeiro (1808-1821). São Paulo :
Compagnie Éditrice Nationale, 1978, p. 43-44.
318
centre allowing to configure a
type of noble house called a sobrados (houses with both a ground
floor and an upper floor), and the
casas térreas (ground floor only).
Debret called these casas grandes
characterized by the large number
of windows on the façade and then
more installations over and above
the main entrance and the stalls
indispensible for the exhibition
of social status.
Luis Goncalves dos Santos left us
with detailed and reliable memories on life in Rio de Janeiro,
writing that the Count of Barca,
the prime Minister of Don Joao’s
government, had installed himself
in an imposing and noble house
surrounded by very large gardens :
« comprou umas nobres casas por
45 mil cruzados, e nelas vai fazer a
sua habitação, continuando com o
maior luxo as obras daquelas que
tem habitado até aqui e que também são suas » 22.
In the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro one
can read an advertisement of the
sale of one of his residences which
illustrates the typology which
was perfectioned with the arrival
of the court : « Vende-se uma casa
nobre sita no princípio da praia
de Botafogo, com onze janelas na
fachada e certas comodidades,
bons cómodos, bastantes quartos
capazes de acomodar uma grande
família, boa cozinha, e moderna,
grande cocheira e cavalhariça,
com sala de espera, sala de jantar
e duas grandes salas com frente
para do mar, dois quartos iguais,
jardim e poço e diversas obras e
quinta murada » 23.
22. « Il a acheté des nobles maisons pour 45
mille cruzados (unité monétaire) et va y faire sa
demeure, en maintenant avec le plus grand luxe les
améliorations de celles qu’il avait habité jusqu’à ici,
et qui est aussi sa propriété ».
23. Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, nº 17, 1821. « On vend
une noble demeure, située au début de plage de
Botafogo, avec onze fenêtres en façade et quelques
commodités, des bonnes divisions, différents
espaces avec des conditions pour loger une grande
famille, une cuisine grande et moderne, une grande
porte cochère, une stalle, une salle d’attente, une
salle à manger, deux chambres identiques, le jardin,
le puits et encore d’autres salles ».
In one of his new « small palaces »
one could make the observation
that he had a very large number of creole slaves, where he had
stonemasons, carpenters, potters,
bench-makers… and saws-men, all
of whom denoted the existence of
a skilled workforce already prepared and who could be employed in
the manufacture of furniture.
Debret had characterized the
mutation he himself had checked
with the arrival of the French and
German shoemakers « to confront
the Portuguese Anglomania of a
small number of courtiers arriving at the King’s Court and initiated first of all by the wealthy merchant of Rio de Janeiro, it had been
their habit to import their shoes
from London. » 24
THE FRENCH ARTISTIC MISSION
I N 1816 : T HE A EST HET I C I M PACT
This artistic embassy had
embarked for Brazil in the opening months of 1816. Debret had
mentioned in his book that the
mission had been largely by the
initiative of the Ambassador D.
Pedro Vito de Meneses, impressed
by the success of the Academy at
Mexico, with the enthusiasm and
the support of d’António Araújo de
Azevedo, the Count of Barca, who
24. Debret, J. Baptiste (1834-1839), op. cit., p. 91
planche XXIX – « Boutique de Cordonnier »,
l’adaptation de main d’oeuvre locale surtout
mulâtre, était facile de trouver dans les magasins
des autochtones « toute sorte de chaussures
parfaitement confectionnées ».
319
Jean Baptiste Debret, Déjeuner
du seigneur de la maison assis
sur une chaise dans le goût Sheraton,
1816-1831
Museu Castro Maya, Rio de Janeiro, Brésil
Chaise à broderie, dite du style Jean VI,
palissandre, cannage et ivoire incrusté.
Bahia, 1e moitié XIXe siècle
fixed a consensus of creating a
Fine Arts Academy 25. The minister, at the time declared French (or
of the French Party as one said, by
opposition to the English Party)
had manifested his interest that
« certain French artists brought
to Brazil thanks to some remarkable contribution the French civilization ». The name of Jaochim
Lebreton, who had held the post
of secretary at the French Institute, and who had resigned due
to his ties and compromises with
Napoléon. The mission’s strategic objective and priority was the
founding of an Academy, which
had its first configuration in the
Royal Academy of arts and crafts
(12th August 1816). In the context
of a fierce controversy, was promulgated only in 1821 the decree
for the institution of the Royal
Academy of Fine Arts. Incorporated next, over and above Jean Baptiste Debret as the established
painter of whom we have already
seen was the cousin of J.L. David,
Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, landscape painters, Auguste-Marie Taunay, sculptor, Grandjean de Montigny, architect, accompanied
by his assistants Charles-Simon
Pradier, engraver, and Louis
Jean Roy and his son Hypolite,
cabinetmakers 26…
25. Id. ibidem, p. 3
26. Taunay, Afonso de E. (1956), À Missão Artística
Francesa de 1816, nº 18, Publications de la Directoria
do Património Histórico Nacional. Rio de Janeiro :
1956
320
Debret had observed that the
urban expansion of the town of
Rio was surprising at the tangent
zones and in the historic centre of
the old town was Nossa Senhora da
Gloria, Mata-Porcos, and l’Engenho
Velho on the road to St Christophe : « these pleasant residences
are the ordinary homes of the rich
Brazilian and English merchant,
or administrative heads of which
the wonderful cars made in London journeyed twice per day the
distance which separated the two
towns » 27. By way of « an interior
view reported on a house situated
at Catumbi » 28, a district of which
the surrounding area was developed, one could watch Debret’s
workshop, painted by himself. The
watercolour dates from 1816. It is
represented at the window of the
first floor greeting a member of
the Royal Guard. (Debret’s house
at Catumbi) ; at the interior, the
walls, paintings and engravings
disseminated in the background
of wallpaper, decorated with ornamental motif. Concerning the furniture, one takes particular interest in the chairs because one of
27. Rio de Janeiro, Cidade mestiça – Nascimento de
uma Nação (2001). Organisation Patrick Strauman.
São Paulo : Companhia das Letras, 2001, p. 84
28. Catumbi était un quartier avec un rang social
élevé avec des excellentes fermes et demeures,
situé à proximité du Palais royal de São Cristovão,
et son atelier lui était attribué par la loi des
Aposentadorias (Hospitalité), créé ensuite à
l’arrivée de La Cour (Atelier de Debret à Catumby),
août 1816, p. 50. à l’intérieur on voit aussi un
mannequin avec des uniformes militaires, une
épée, qui pourrait être utilisée comme modèle par
le peintre.
these serves as an easel. One can
also observe a model in military
uniform carrying an epée. He was
used as the painter’s model for the
portrait of the Prince Regent.
Concerning the other pieces of
furniture it puts in evidence a
commode on the left, on the right
the chair which supported the portrait and in the centre another
one on which the painter had left
his palette and his hand rest, and
which we can class as being in the
style of D. Maria 1st (equivalent to
the style of Louis XVI). One could
suppose that the furniture had
been given to him by the courtiers,
charged with housing foreigners
and thus, their origin could be that
of a furniture storage depot with
standardized pieces or even those
purchased at the local market 29.
We must compare this interior
with that of the American brigantine Calpe where in one room we
can find two chairs mixed with
Chippendale details and one with
a simplification of Sheraton and
Adams styles.
Another central question to be
asked in order to better correlate
the dominant currents of furniture is that linked to the Empire
style and which is disseminated in exuberant fashion by the
French artistic mission above all
29. On peut admettre que la petite commode
coffret qu’est entre la commode et la chaise
pourrait être française, dans le goût Louis XVI, par
son équilibre, des jambes en balustres et la caisse
en forme de cube allongé.
321
by Grandjean de Montigny, who
was the famous federator, and the
second part concerning the permanence of the Prince at Rio de
Janeiro and prolonged during the
first and second reigns. Influenced
by Percier with whom he worked
with in Rome, he adopted the same
rhetoric of exaltation that he had
used in Paris, where he had a decisive role in the proposition of the
icons, which adopted the symbols
of Roman Imperial Architecture,
so beloved by Napoléon. 30
In this context we must bring
our attention to the furniture
orders that were made by Francois-Joseph Belanger (1744-1818),
drawer of Household Furniture
and of the Crown, to decorate
the residence of the Marquise de
Santos, the favourite of Emperor
Pierre 1st. She was installed close
to the Palais do São Cristovão, in
a beautiful residence, a project of
the architect P.J. Pézerat, another
indication of the opulent reception for French tastes in the interiors of the Brazilian Capital.
30. HONOUR, Hugh (1991), Neoclassicism. Londres:
Penguin Books, p.44-45; en 1812 sortira imprimé,
pour maintenir un influence durable le Recueil de
décorations intérieures ; celui-ci a été conditionné
par l’édition de Household Furniture and Interior
Decoration, de Thomas Hope, que Percier avait
découvert à Rome, pendant son séjour dans cette
ville, lorsqu’il fréquentait l’Académie Française
(1786-1789). En 1798, Percier sous d’extraordinaires
applaudissements publiera 16 cahiers de l’Album
Palais, maisons, et d’autres édifices modernes
dessinés à Rome.
322
T H E L I N E A R D EC L I N A I S O N
D UR I NG T H E R E I G N O F J E AN V I
The trademark of furniture cafted in the style of Jean VI could be
translated as a return to a more
austere note in the compositions
above all by way of the ornamental
elements designated as « quarter
or fanlike semi circles ».
This dispositive was frequently
visible either on the chests of
drawers or on the angles of the
drawers, the bedside tables, bedsteads and also in the central scrollwork. The « principal characteristics was the use of Brazilian Black
Rosewood used in uncut form
with the front legs cut or turned
in superadded rings and with the
rear legs in a curved shape, the use
of cords or rolls of tobacco leaves
were used to surround the furniture and concentric grooves in the
form of rosettes, fans, lozenges,
and triangles. » 31
This decorative part was derived
directly from the influence of the
sunken engravings by Sheraton,
propositions which were vehicle
by the diffusion of his treatise
The gentleman’s Cabinet Maker
and Upholsterer’s guide (1788),
widely known in Portugal and
also by the cabinet-makers working at Rio de Janeiro between
the end of the 18th century and the
beginning of the 19th century. A
31. Bayeux, Gloria (1997), « Do Conflito entre arte
e técnica ao Movimento das Artes e Ofícios », in
O Móvel da Casa Brasileira. São Paulo : Museu da
Casa Brasileira, 1997, p. 72
Chaise à accotoirs, palissandre, cannage, début XIXe siècle
323
Chaise longue, palissandre et cannage, Bahia, début XIXe siècle
preference for lighter hued work
had opened a less traditional perspective and others woods began
to be used such as okoumé and
above all the Honduran acajou or
even the Persea indica which was
very widely used in Brazil where
the profusion of wood was extraordinary. All this gave a lightness
to the interiors harmonizing with
the more casual informal atmosphere of the tropics. This appropriation was already considered as
a local manifestation in the appreciation of the Jean VI style, « one
could find this throughout Brazil,
it had no conceptor or defender
and above all it was a particularly
Brazilian style. » 32 In arguing for
a use of local wood, which would
32. Santos, José de Almeida (s/d), Mobiliário
Artístico Brasileiro. Vol.1, Tomo I, Colecção Museu
Paulista, São Paulo, pp.19-20
324
help the creation of a singular
style, Almeida Santos spoke of
the Caviuna 33 with its rectilinear
inlaid, worn in the buttonholes …
despite the influence of foreign
types. One can see the assimilation of an English aesthetic and
culture on the continent and one
could be reminded of the Age of
Light. One must mention that the
emergence of a neoclassical current bowed to its version of angloPalladian styles and the fragile
style linked to the style of Pompeii, a very strong inspiration of
Greek furniture was fashionable.
33. Caviuna ou palissandre noir. Il y en a un dans un
ton rouge, dans le style Sheraton Brésilien, utilisé
pour démontrer son authenticité. Id. ibidem, p. 69 ;
Débret fait l’énumération des différents bois qui
existent au Brésil, des forêts vierges, comme les
suivants : le pequiá et le jacaranda ont de très
belles veines » ; Edwards, Clive (2000), Encyclopedia
of Furniture – Materials, Trades and Techniques.
Londres : Ashgate, 2000, p. 32 et 181.
In this proliferation a trend classified vas neo-Greek or Etruscan 34
met with a huge success.
Tilde Canti interprets this proposition taken from a trend, which
gave rise to the assimilation of
Directoire and Regency styles by
considering that during the period
between 1820 to 1840 furniture
had more varied forms « over and
above the execution of Sheraton,
Directoire and Regency furniture
there also existed Empire Style
furniture imported from France or
already made in Brazil and those
considered to be in the style of D.
Joao VI, all of which is included in
the Neoclassical classification » 35
with the notion that its structure
is defined by structured lines,
angular and in the formal simplicity of this register. The jacaranda
and rosewood canopy at the Arte
Museum at Bahia reveals an elegant construction just as the bed
at the Casa Brasileira Museum
made from peroba and leather,
and which belonged to the Baron
d’Iguape. 36 It highlights the borrowing of furniture for sleeping of
D. Maria 1st, especially the bedside
34. Canti, Tilde (1 988), O móvel do Século XIX no
Brasil. Rio de Janeiro : CGPM, 1988, p. 37 ; Menezes,
Sylvia Athayde (2008), A Bahia na época de D. João
- A chegada da corte portuguesa. (Coordination.)
Museu de Arte da Bahia, Salvador, 2008
35. Op.cit.
36. Il est maintenant dans les collections du Museu
da Casa Brasileira à São Paulo. Dans la description
du meuble, Tilde Canti fait référence à la tête de lit
qui est entourée par des cannelures, des rosaces
et aussi la même décoration aux angles striés,
op.cit., p.85
table with its freize work and a
little oval medallion in the centre
of the back.
BERA N GER A N D ECL ECT I CI SM AT
P ERN A M BU QU E
The chaise-longue was the leitmotif for the rehabilitation that
Francisco Manuel Beranger, a
French artist installed at Recife,
the capital of this state, would
make for the furniture recently
manufactured in the colony until
the departure of the court, in 1821.
The proven impact had produced
the alterations that French taste
transmitted with the assimilation
of innovations in reaction to the
sensibility of the colony, still trailing with the neoclassical esthetic or the style of Louis XVI. At the
start of the 19th century, the theatre Santa Isabel was built in this
town, by a French architect who
had incorporated the neoclassical code into his design, and the
Beranger had manufactured lots
of furniture where settees either
for the interiors or for public
spaces were exhibited. These
creations assimilated a vernacular aspect « there were chairs that
were sectioned and turned. The
beveled bases were typical. These
were particular expressions with
the countries attributes that is to
say the flowers, and wildlife. » 37
37. Carvalho, Gisele Melo de (2002), Interiores
Residenciais Recifenses-A cultura francesa na casa
burguesa do Recife no século XIX. Dissertation de
Maîtrise, Université Federal de Pernambuco, Recife,
2002.
325
Canapé, bois d’acajou de Madère et cannage, Bahia, début XIXe siècle
The Directoire and the Louis Philippe style had contaminated the
evolution of artistic models and
it was this new register that one
was going to appropriate to the
aforementioned Beranger furniture where in the equally classified Pernambucano style, of which
his son Julian Beranger was an
exponent and his artistic successor. Julian was sent to Paris, returning in 1846, having frequented
various workshops in the city.
He was named professor at the
Société des Arts Mecaniques et
Libérales at the College des Orphelins of Récife and he also taught
students in his workshop.
326
This legate was important as evidence for his lecture knowing
that the stylistic mutations easily
became apparent at that time;
it exercised another expressive
influence in the town of Baía, another state capital.
CON C LUSIO N
One could summarize in the following way local idiosyncrasies,
forever evolving into artistic
constituents, which then become
factors of identity. In this context
the work of Antonio Francisco Lisboa (1738-1814) known as « the
little cripple », is an example.
Sculptor, architect and a master
in the art of gold woodcarving, he
was very attached to the examples
of rockwork circulating in Catholic Europe. His artistic expression
materialized in an idiom deeply
rooted in the contra reformist
movement, and which perpetuated an elongated esthetic in the
permeability of renovation 38.
On the other hand, the propulsion of which the Ancient Regime
was installed in the companies
induced an important receptivity
to change, where the neoclassical
code as a standpoint of modernity, transferred for a variation
in the Empire Style had this way
proposed different trajectories of
assimilation. The spectra of diversity was evident in the D. Maria
1st style, Sheraton, Hepplewhite,
Directoire, Regency, D. Joao VI,
styles and finally in the idiomatic
hybrids of Empire formulas mixed
with neo-rococo approximations
from the disciples of Beranger at
Pernambuco. Constructive and
artistic plurality, which made evident, gave proof of a society ill
at ease with itself, with the elite
receptive to changes in taste and
to propositions stamped by prestige, that the prestigious protagonists signaled in an affirmation of
a social order.
The arrival of the court at Rio de
Janeiro gave a myriad universe of
new habits, sumptuous acquisitions and of more refined styles,
styles that were translated into
artistic methods, showing the
richness and the diversity of creation and production with a workforce full of invention and creativity capable of printing fecund
appropriations.
In truth, the revivalist eclecticism followed a well traced path
leading to a more diluted apparition in a field already spent and
without the capacity : lacking the
wherewithal to propose an alternative to voice. This historic revision resolutely faced a world of
salvation, seeking new references
and identities.
38. Teixeira, José de Monterroso (2007), Aleijadinho,
O Teatro da Fé. São Paulo : Metavideo/Espírito
Santo Cultura, 2007 ; RIBEIRO, Myriam Andrade
(2003), O Rococó Religioso no Brasil e os seus
antecedentes europeus. São Paulo : Cosac & Naif,
2003
327
NEOCLASSICISM INFLUENCE
IN THE WEST DUTCH INDIES
GEORGETTE NIJE VAN EPS
Leyden, Netherlands
To be able get a right perspective of the development of the furniture trade and the furniture in
Curaçao it is necessary to sketch
the circumstances in the Caribbean area at that time together
with a part of the colonial history
of Curaçao and why the big difference compared to the other European colonies.
Curaçao is situated between 68.44’
and 69.10, W.L. and between 12.2,
and 12.23, N.Br. with a surface area
of only 444km. The island lies 70
km. from the coast of Venezuela
and was inhabited by a small number of Indians before the Spanish
colonized it in 1499.
For the Spanish the main idea was
to have a base close to the coast of
the mainland where also precious
metal could be found.
THE REASON FOR THE DUTCH TO
COLONIZE
As was decided in the Treaty
of Tordesillas in Spain by Pope
328
Alexander VI in 1494, the discovered and still to be discovered territories around 400 miles west of
Cape Verde Islands and South of
that meridian will belong to Spain
and Portugal. This had huge consequences for the other European
countries.
The Republic of the United Netherlands used to have a large income
from the trade of wheat coming
from the East sea areas. When this
trade diminished they had to look
for other areas around Africa and
the Atlantic sea.
The main problem for the Republic of the Netherlands was formed
by the lack of salt for their herring
industry which they could get formerly from the Iberic peninsula.
When that was not possible anymore they had to find another way
to get salt. From sailors coming
back from the Caribbean sea (then
called the North Sea) they heard
of Punta de Araya at the coast of
Carte, Les Antilles exposant les colonies anglaises, françaises, espagnoles,
hollandaises et danoises, 1777
Venezuela where a lot of salt could
be found.
In 1621 the West India Company
was founded and some years later
permission was granted for freebooting , to colonize and to carry
on trade on the west-coast of
Africa and the Atlantic Ocean.
The West India Company was not
the same as the VOC (United East
India Company). The VOC was
more a trading company while the
WIC was more a war-instrument of
the Republic of the Netherlands.
In 1634 Curaçao was taken by the
Netherlands.
The harbour is formed by a deep
inland waterway which had the
advantage of being a safe shelter
for the ships with an opening to the
sea that could easily be protected
and so keep the enemies away.
THE DISAPPOINTMENT AND THE
EFFECT OF T HAT
The island could not be compared with the large islands in
the north as Cuba, Hispaniola (the
Dominican republic and Haiti),
and Jamaica for example and the
coastal area of South America.
329
Méridienne, acajou sculpté, 1re moitié du XIXe siècle,
Curaçao Museum
Cabinet, acajou sculpté, Curaçao, 1re moitié du XIXe siècle
Lit de repos, acajou sculpté, 1re moitié du XIXe siècle
Sur la partie basse, des portes remplacent des tiroirs, pour des problèmes d’humidité
Curaçao Museum
330
331
CI-DESSUS
Console d’applique, acajou, décor sur les pieds
Curaçao
À DROITE
Table de jeu, pied au motif décoratif en forme de lyre
Curaçao
332
333
DE HAUT EN BAS
Armoire, acajou, XIXe siècle
Curaçao
Table, acajou décor sculpté
sur le pied central, 1re moitié
du XIXe siècle
Curaçao Museum
Table de jeu, XIXe siècle
Curaçao
PAGE DE DROITE
Chambre à coucher.
La plupart d’entre elles
étaient préparées un an
avant le mariage
Curaçao
334
Curaçao has even been called
by the Spaniards « isla inútile »
[worthless island]. It was very dry,
and the crop was only sufficient
for the small amount of people living there. Quite a difference compared to the large plantations on
the other islands that produced so
much that there was a vivid trade
to the homelands.
Also most of the salt had to be
« stolen » by the Dutch from neighbouring places to sent home. Also
this was put to an end by the Spaniards at the coast of Venezuela.
A N OT HER A P P ROACH
As the island itself didn’t have
much to offer, it became a strategic stronghold and place to stack
goods and concentrate on barter. Also the harbour was used
to repair the ships. At a certain
moment it also became e depot
for the slaves who were imported
from Africa. From there they were
sold and transported to the areas
where you had the large plantations. This was a legal trade, compared to the trade with the Spaniards for the Spanish-American
territories, which was for awhile
illegal but very profitable.
335
T H E FI RST SET T L ERS
Console d’applique. Le décor s’inspire des caryatides, mais tout en réinterprétant le modèle
As the Jewish community will
result to be of great economic
importance to the island it can
be noticed that already with the
first expedition of Van Walbeeck
in 1634, the first one came to the
island as an interpreter and later
was appointed chief of the Indians
on the island.
As was the custom, one of the sailors was allocated to the expedition as carpenter before leaving
the Netherlands. So you never had
a real cabinetmaker at hand when
arriving in Curaçao. The furniture
that was made was very simple
and sober and of the wood they
could find around.
The colonists were allowed to take
very little household effects with
them, so also from that point of
view very little was accumulated.
About 15 years later a group of Jewish colonists was granted permission of the W.I.C. to settle on the
island and given plots to develop
agriculture. And again some years
later a larger group came. Because
of the Inquisition in Spain a lot
of Jews immigrated to the liberal
country of the Netherlands and
from there were willing to look for
a new land.
Before the group that went to
Curaçao there had been already a
group that went to Pernambuco,
Brazil, with the Dutch prince
Johan Maurits.
To go to a new country to settle was
an opportunity they could accept
easier than the Dutch who had all
the bonds in the mother-country
and who always considered their
stay in Curaçao as temporarily (of
course with exceptions), in service
of the W.I.C.
Soon the Jews founded in Curaçao a community called « Mikvé
Israël » [Hope of Israël] and had
their own cemetery « Beth Haim »
[House of the living]. The local
governmental positions stayed in
the hands of the Dutch.
History tells that even in the economic bad times when people had
to look for work out of the island,
the Jewish people sought placement on the islands not far away
or on the mainland of America to
be able to keep the communication with the relatives on Curaçao
in an easy way.
The bond that the Jews had came
from the fact that they were only
allowed to marry a Jew, so almost
everyone was a relative.
As agriculture was not the real
way to survive a large part of the
Jews soon became merchants and
bankers.
BET T ER ECON OM I C T I M ES
The end of the 18th century, Curaçao was booming. Everywhere you
could find goods piled up to be
shipped.
Curaçao
336
337
Vitrine de présentation, bois sculpté,
avec beaucoup de fantaisie
Curaçao
This is the period that especially
the Jewish community who had
the money to have the most beautiful cabinets made. Copied after
the Dutch cabinets in rococo-style
but adapted to the climate, humidity and sort of wood. Obviously the
style was well off the time when
adapted, but more according to
the taste of the client.
338
What remained of the influences
of the Neo-classicism, (the Louis
XVI , Empire and Biedermeier style)
after crossing the Atlantic. And
the free interpretation Not only
did the influences of the styles
come to the island some decades
later, but the taste of the people
also made them modify and combine models at their taste and
ability of the cabinet-maker.
The actual Louis XVI style with galleries on top and straight contour,
did not appeal very much, while
the following period, the Empire,
and Biedermeier, became more
popular and continued till half of
the 19th century. We should keep in
mind that the taste of the Dutch
people was sober and they were
not inclined to pay a lot for extravaganza. The Calvinistic influence ?
We cannot forget that around
1789 you had not much more than
around 250 houses in Willemstad and around 390 on the other
side of the harbour of which a lot
were scarcely furnished as can be
read in old documents. The following furniture can show how styles
were combined and ornaments
misinterpreted. The lack of knowing the classical sources was the
reason for this. What most people
found important was that mahogany was used. The people that
could not afford mahogany had to
settle for pine or cedar and had it
stained in the colour of mahogany.
Another cheap wood could be
used, but would not last. In hot
and humid regions it is important to use hard wood, for example
mahogany, to resist attack from
fungi and insects Metal ornaments on the furniture was not
found. The reason must have been
the salt in the air which would
damage the ornaments quickly.
On the other hand you could find
escutcheons in silver. The mahogany wardrobes that were made in
Curaçao in the 19th century of solid
mahogany were very much asked
for in the neighbouring countries.
But also this trade could finely not
compete with the much cheaper
furniture that was mass produced.
had all kind of catalogues published from which they could copy
or order cheaply because they
were sent « knocked down ». What
became very popular, appropriate
for the tropics, were the « bentwood » chairs designed by the
Austrian Thonet. Half 19th century
a factory was set-up in the United
States. As it was made in parts it
could be easily and cheaply transported to every destination. It is
remarkable to see how the classical influences have also been
adapted through the revival styles
and in Curaçao till the beginning
CON CLU SI ON
In spite of the lack of an original
input you can say that the simple,
self-educated Curaçao cabinetDuring the last quarter of the 19th maker left us a beautiful exponent
century, the island was not any- of a sober life.
more influenced by the « mother »
- country in Europe, but by the GEORGETTE NIJE VAN EPS
United States because of all the
trade they had with them. You
T H E REVIVAL PERIOD
I N FLU EN CE OF N ORT H A M ERI CA
339
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Londres, 1972, Victoria and
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Philadelphia, 1976,
Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Three Centuries of American Art
Norfolk, 1985, Norfolk museum,
Norfolk and the grand Tour ;
Eighteenth century Travellers
Abroad and Their Souvenirs
Montauban, 1989, Musée Ingres,
La Révolution française à l’école
de la vertu antique
Londres, 1996 - The Courtauld
gallery Stockholm National
museum - Sir William Chambers,
architect of Georges III
Paris, 1998, Musée national des
arts et traditions populaires,
Tropiques Métis, mémoires et
cultures de Guadeloupe, Guyane,
Martinique, Réunion
Lyon, 1998, musée des
civilisations gallo-romaines,
La fascination de l’antique
1700-1770. Rome découverte,
Rome inventée
Vidssigalli (baronne), Sarge
Kristen, La Montagne d’Argent,
Matoury, Ibis Rouge ed. 2011
353
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Bordeaux, 1998, musée
d’Aquitaine et musée des arts
décoratifs ; Lorient, 1999, Musée
de la Compagnie des Indes,
La Route des Indes, Les Indes et
l’Europe : influences artistiques et
héritages communs, 1500-1850
Paris, 2000-2001, Musée du
Louvre, D’après l’antique
Hamburg, 2002, Altonaer
Mueum, Karl Friedrich Schinkel,
Möbel und Interieur
La Haye, 2002,
Gemeentemuseum, Domestic
interiors at the Cape and in
Batavia, 1602-1795
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Neoclassical Form and Ornement
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Versailles, 2005,
Napoléon et Versailles
354
New Orleans, 2005, Museum
of Art, Jefferson’s America
and Napoléon‘s France
BIBLIOGRAPHIE
COMPLÉMENTAIRE
POUR L’ARCHITECTURE
NÉOCLASSIQUE EN EUROPE
Paris, 2005, Musée du Louvre,
L’orfèvre de Napoléon : Martin
Guillaume Biennais
On renverra le lecteur à la
bibliographie établie par :
Paris, 2007, Musée des arts
décoratifs, L’aigle et le papillon.
Symboles des pouvoirs sous
Napoléon, 1800-1815
L’antiquité rêvée. Innovations
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livres, 1600-1800
Paris, 2010, Mobilier national.
Galerie des Gobelins, L’heure,
le feu, la lumière. Bronzes du
Garde-Meuble impérial et royal
1800-1870
Mosser Monique,
Szambien Werner, John
Richard, Sambricio Carlos,
Teyssot Georges. L’Architecture
néo-classique en Europe : essai
de bibliographie depuis 1980.
In : Revue de l’Art, 1989, n°83.
pp. 93-112.
BIBLIOGRAPHIE
COMPLÉMENTAIRE
POUR L’ARCHITECTURE
COLONIALE
bibliographie des Actes de
la table ronde organisée par
l’Institut national du patrimoine :
Architecture coloniale et
patrimoine, expériences
européennes, Institut national
du patrimoine & Somogy, 2006
BIBLIOGRAPHIE
COMPLÉMENTAIRE
POUR LE MOBILIER
FRANÇAIS
bibliographie établie par :
Viaux-Locquin, Jacqueline,
Bibliographie du Meuble, Mobilier
civil français, Société des Amis
de la Bibliothèque Forney,
Paris, 1966. 1er supplément
1965-1985 (Paris, 1988) et
second supplément 1985-1990
(Paris, 1998)
355
JEUDI 15 DÉCEMBRE 2011
THÉMATIQUE 1
ÉTUDES GÉNÉRALES
PROGRAMME DU COLLOQUE
15, 16 & 17 décembre 2011
Saint-Denis, île de La Réunion
JEUDI 15 DÉCEMBRE 2011
08H30
09H30
Accueil des participants au
Conservatoire à Rayonnement
Régional, Saint-Denis.
Introduction et mise
en place des travaux
09H15
Ouverture officielle
M. PATRICE BERTIL
Directeur, Direction des
affaires culturelles et sportives,
Région Réunion
09H20
M. YOLAND VELLEYEN
Vice Président du Conseil Régional,
délégué au patrimoine
09H25
M. MARC NOUSCHI
Directeur, Direction des affaires
culturelles – océan Indien
356
VINCENT GIOVANNONI
Conseiller affaires européennes et
internationales, musée, patrimoine
culturel immatériel, direction des
affaires culturelles - océan Indien.
Modérateur
11H00
14H30
JEAN-LUC MARTINEZ
Conservateur général du patrimoine,
directeur du département des
antiquités grecques, étrusques et
romaines, Musée du Louvre, Paris,
France
Conseiller scientifique, Institut
national d’histoire de l’art, Paris,
France
Du Grand Tour au Musée
du Louvre : les collections
d’antiques de Graufurd, d’Orsay
et Dufourny
15H00
11H30
CLAIRE BARBILLON
Maître de conférences, Université
Paris Ouest Nanterre-La Défense,
Paris, France
Les théoriciens du
néoclassicisme :
Quatremère de Quincy
09H45
Problématique
et introduction générale
12H00
Professeur, Syracuse University, NewYork, USA
Conservateur, Musée des arts
décoratifs de l’océan Indien,
Charles Percier et la redéfinition
du modèle classique. Des études
romaines au recueil de
décoration
Étude sur l’architecte Charles
Percier et le rôle du décor
architectural dans la recréation
d’une société de cour au service
de la propagande politique
napoléonienne
Conférencière, École du Louvre,
Paris, France
La visibilité des colonies en
métropole au XIXe siècle à travers
les expositions des produits de
l’industrie et les expositions
universelles
15H30 QUESTIONS
17H00
BERNARD LEVENEUR,
Historien de l’art et de l’architecture,
Visite culturelle, Saint-Denis
357
VENDREDI 16 DÉCEMBRE 2011
VENDREDI 16 DÉCEMBRE 2011
THÉMATIQUE 2
THÉMATIQUE 3
A R C H I TECTU R E
MOBILIER, DÉCOR
ET ORNEM ENTATION
08H45
VINCENT DE MENTHIÈRE
Architecte, modérateur
Le rôle des ingénieurs du Roi
de France dans la diffusion
de l’esthétique classique et
néoclassique
09H00
CHRISTOPHE CHARLERY
Architecte, service territorial de
l’architecture et du patrimoine de
Moselle, Metz, France
L’architecture néoclassique
dans les anciennes colonies
françaises de l’Amérique
11H15
Architecte, professeur, Faculté
d’architecture de l’Université
Technique, Lisbonne, Portugal
Rio de Janeiro, capitale
impériale Portugaise 1808-1821 :
transformations de la ville
9H30
CÉLINE FRÉMAUX
Conservateur régional de l’inventaire
du patrimoine culturel, Cayenne,
Guyane, France
Le transfert des modèles
européens et leurs déclinaisons
10H00
BERNARD LEVENEUR,
Historien de l’art et de l’architecture,
L’Antique aux origines de
l’architecture créole classique :
l’architecture privée à La
Réunion de la fin du XVIIIe siècle
au milieu du XIXe siècle
10H45
ANNE-MARIE NIDA
Historienne de l’art et de
l’architecture, CRHIA,
Marseille, France
358
11H45
KÉVIN LE DOUDIC
Doctorant en histoire moderne,
Université Bretagne Sud, CERHIO
CNRS, Lorient, France
De l’archive au patrimoine.
Les demeures françaises à
Pondichéry au XVIIIe siècle, entre
préservation des références
européennes et imprégnation
asiatique
14H15
RAFAEL MOREIRA
Professeur, Université Nouvelle,
Lisbonne, Portugal
St Louis de Maragnan au Brésil
et Goa en Inde, deux capitales
coloniales et villes sœurs
au XIXe siècle
14H45
16H00
AURÉLIE MARTIN
Restauratrice mobiliers
et objets d’art, modératrice
Conservateur, musée des arts
décoratifs de l’océan Indien, SaintLouis, La Réunion, France
15H00
Mobilier néoclassique
à La Réunion
VALÉRIE NÈGRE
Enseignant-chercheur, ENSA - Paris
La Villette et Centre d’Histoire
des Techniques et de l’Environnement
du CNAM, Paris, France
Multiplication des recueils
gravés dans la première partie du
XIXe siècle : recueils d’ornements
à destination des artisans ou à
des fins commerciales
SAMEDI 17 DÉCEMBRE 2011
Suite de la thématique 3 :
mobilier, décor et ornementation
08H45
AURÉLIE MARTIN
Restauratrice mobiliers et objets
d’art, modératrice
15H30
KATIA LELOUTRE
Consultante, Sotheby’s Institute
of art, Londres, Royaume-Uni
Le modèle britannique : origines,
différences et réinterprétations
09H00
KATHERINE HALL
Conservateur, Musée des arts
décoratifs, New-Orleans,
Louisiane, USA
Le goût néoclassique en
Louisiane entre 1780 et 1840
09H30
ANISIO FRANCO
Historien de l’art, Museu Nacional
de arte Antigua, Lisbonne, Portugal
Paradis perdu : le néoclassicisme
au Portugal et au Brésil
359
INTERVENANTS
dans l’ordre de passage
10H00
11H45 QUESTIONS
DAVID BARQUIST
Conservateur, Musée
des Beaux-arts, Philadelphia, USA
Interprétations en Amérique
du Nord du néoclassicisme
britannique à la fin du XVIIIe
siècle et au début du XIXe siècle
10H45
SOPHIE THIBIER
Historienne de l’art, Musée des arts
décoratifs de l’océan Indien,
Le mobilier néoclassique
en Afrique du Sud : sources
et interprétations
11H15
Directeur adjoint, Institut du
patrimoine architectonique,
Lisbonne, Portugal
Intérieurs au Brésil :
l’appropriation du modèle
néoclassique dans le mobilier
à l’époque de la cour portugaise
à Rio de Janeiro (1808-1821)
360
14H30
Conclusions sur les études
générales, l’architecture,
le mobilier
15H30
clôture générale
du colloque
THIERRY-NICOLAS TCHAKALOFF,
architecte de formation, conservateur du Musée des arts décoratifs
de l’océan Indien (Madoi). Chargé
de la constitution et de l’étude
de la collection du Madoi depuis
1987, il a organisé le commissariat
de nombreuses expositions sur les
arts décoratifs et axe plus particulièrement ses recherches sur l’histoire de la civilisation matérielle
sous les tropiques, en croisant les
approches à travers l’histoire des
sources stylistiques (emprunts et
assimilation), les maîtres du goût
(commanditaires et artisans), l’art
de vivre (société et matérialité de
la créolité), et les facteurs d’innovation (matériaux et techniques).
Il a participé et organisé plusieurs
colloques, et publié de nombreux
catalogues d’expositions.
Patrimoine, et depuis 1997, Directeur du département des Antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines
du Musée du Louvre. Commissaire
de nombreuses expositions nationales ou internationales, dont la
prochaine se tiendra au Musée du
Louvre du 7 mars au 1er juillet 2012.
Elle s’intitule César, vingt ans de
découvertes dans le Rhône. Il est
également actif dans la recherche et
les publications. Il participe régulièrement à la rédaction de nombreux
ouvrages ou supports multimédias.
CLAIRE BARBILLON,
docteur en histoire de l’art, maître de
conférences à l’université de Paris
Ouest Nanterre La Défense et professeur à l’École du Louvre. Elle contribue à l’édition et la rédaction de
nombreux ouvrages de référence en
matière d’histoire de l’art. Elle fait
JEAN-LUC MARTINEZ,
porter ses travaux récents essentielancien membre de l’École Fran- lement sur le domaine de la sculpture.
çaise d’Athènes, Professeur agrégé Elle y a consacré ces dernières années
d’histoire, conservateur général du de nombreuses études.
361
l’enseignement de l’architecture
architecte de formation et doc- et l’architecture rurale.
teur en histoire de l’art à l’université Columbia de New York. SYBILLE BELLAMY BROWN,
Il a été conservateur au départe- historienne diplômée de la faculté
ment des dessins et estampes du de Nanterre et historienne de l’art
Centre Canadien d’Architecture diplômée de l’École du Louvre, elle
à Montréal, où il a été le commis- est chargée de cours à l’École du
saire de l’exposition Cities of Arti- Louvre et conférencière interveficial Excavations : The Work of nant auprès des entreprises. Ses
Peter Eisenman, 1978-1988 por- recherches portent sur des sujets
tant sur le travail de l’architecte d’histoire sociale : le milieu social
américain contemporain Peter des architectes parisiens sous la
Eisenman. Il est actuellement Restauration et la question de
professeur à l’université de Syra- l’identité de l’architecte à l’École
cuse (État de New York). Son der- Pratique des Hautes Études
nier livre, publié par la Univer- sous la direction de Jean-Michel
sity of Delaware Press, porte sur Leniaud. Plusieurs articles dans
l’ornement en architecture et son les Livraisons d’histoire de l’arusage dans la société de cour sous chitecture sont parus. Elle publie
la Régence et s’intitule Decora- actuellement les procès verbaux
tive Games : Ornament, Rhetoric, de l’Académie des Beaux-arts dans
and Noble Culture in the Work of une publication de l’École des
Gilles-Marie Oppenord.
Chartes, l’Institut et l’École PraJEAN-FRANÇOIS BÉDARD,
tique des Hautes Études.
JEAN-PHILIPPE GARRIC,
historien de l’architecture, architecte de formation, ancien pensionnaire de la Villa Médicis à
Rome, il est Conseiller scientifique à l’Institut national d’histoire de l’art et enseignant à
l’École national supérieure d’architecture de Paris-Belleville.
Ses travaux portent sur l’architecture française au début de la
période contemporaine, en particulier sur le livre et la théorie
de l’architecture, les architectes
Charles Percier et Pierre Fontaine,
362
CHRISTOPHE CHARLERY,
architecte du patrimoine diplômé
de l’école de Chaillot et architecte
des bâtiments de France. Il travaille au service territorial de l’architecture et du patrimoine de
Moselle. Spécialiste de l’architecture domestique dans les anciens
territoires français des Antilles,
il a dirigé les travaux de restauration et d’aménagement de l’Habitation Clément en Martinique de
2003 à 2009.
CÉLINE FRÉMAUX,
historienne de l’architecture, attachée de conservation du patrimoine des collectivités territoriales et Conservateur régional
de l’Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel en Guyane. Parallèlement à la préparation de sa
thèse sur l’architecture religieuse
contemporaine, elle a travaillé en
tant que chargée d’études à l’Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art et
a enseigné à l’université de Lille
III. Elle a ensuite effectué diverses
missions de recherche pour des
services de l’Inventaire, le ministère de la Culture et de la Communication et le CNRS, notamment
sur l’architecture coloniale.
BERNARD LEVENEUR,
architectural dans les représentations gravées du XVIIIe siècle dans
le fonds Méjanes à Aix en Provence. Également enseignante
et chercheuse à l’école d’art et de
restauration d’Avignon jusqu’en
2010, elle est aussi chercheuse
associée au CRHIA de Nantes
(centre de recherche en histoire
internationale et atlantique) spécialisée dans l’histoire de l’architecture coloniale des ingénieurs
au XVIIIe siècle dans l’océan Indien.
JOSÉ MANUEL FERNANDÈS,
architecte de formation, diplômé
de l’École des Beaux-Arts de Lisbonne, en 1977, puis Docteur en
1993. Il occupe la haute fonction de maître de conférence en
Histoire de l’Architecture et de
l’Urbanisme à la Faculté d’Architecture de l’Université technique
de Lisbonne. Il est Membre du
conseil éditorial de la revue Monuments depuis 1994. Il étudie, écrit
et publie régulièrement sur des
sujets d’histoire, d’architecture et
d’urbanisme. Son dernier ouvrage
porte sur Le patrimoine d’origine
portugaise dans le monde - Architecture et Urbanisme publié en
2010-2011.
historien de l’art et de l’architecture, diplômé de l’École du Louvre
et attaché de conservation du
patrimoine. Il est responsable du
Musée Léon Dierx à Saint-Denis
pour la Direction de la Promotion
Culturelle et Sportive du Département de La Réunion. Ses principaux sujets de recherches sont les
suivants : l’architecture religieuse
à La Réunion ; les arts décoratifs
et le mobilier créole ; l’histoire de
la photographie à La Réunion ;
l’histoire de l’art et des artistes à KEVIN LE DOUDIC,
La Réunion et dans l’océan Indien. doctorant en histoire moderne
sur « La rencontre entre l’Asie et
ANNE-MARIE NIDA,
l’Occident dans la culture matédocteur ès arts et lettres. Sa thèse rielle des Français dans l’océan
portait sur le modèle antique Indien au XVIIIe siècle » au sein du
363
laboratoire d’histoire maritime
CERHIO CNRS de l’Université de
Bretagne-Sud. Ses thématiques
de recherches sont les suivantes :
la culture matérielle des Français
dans l’océan Indien au XVIIIe siècle ;
définition et évolution de la
notion d’exotisme, de l’inter-culturalité et des cultures hybrides ; les
logiques et les motivations liées à
la consommation et aux aménagements intérieurs ; les dynamiques
sociales et culturelles au sein
des comptoirs français de l’Inde ;
les mécanismes d’intégration
aux réseaux sociaux et commerciaux par le biais de la culture
matérielle.
RAFAEL MOREIRA,
professeur associé au Département d’Histoire de l’Art de l’Université Nouvelle de Lisbonne, où il
enseigne depuis 1982. Spécialiste
dans l’art de la Renaissance et l’architecture militaire, il se dédie
depuis 20 ans à l’art colonial portugais dans le monde du XVe au XIXe
siècles. Il étudie les villes, monuments et objets depuis l’Argentine jusqu’au Japon — et surtout
au Maroc, au Brésil, en Inde et à
Macao en Chine — qu’il essaye de
rassembler dans un corpus global.
VALÉRIE NÈGRE,
architecte diplômée de l’École
de Chaillot, historienne et titulaire d’un doctorat de l’Université Paris VIII. Elle enseigne
364
à l’École nationale supérieure
d’architecture Paris-La-Villette.
Elle est également responsable
de l’axe « Techniques, territoire,
architecture » du Centre d’Histoire des techniques et de l’environnement (CDHTE-Cnam). Ses
recherches portent sur l’histoire
de la construction aux XIXe et XXe
siècles. Elle publie également de
nombreux ouvrages.
KATIA LELOUTRE,
consultante. Elle travaille pour
Brunswick Arts, l’une des plus
grandes agences de communications spécialisée dans la promotion des arts et de la culture.
Diplômée d’une licence en littérature à l’Université Paris IV-Sorbonne et du Sotheby’s Art Institute, en arts décoratifs. Ses sujets
de recherches portent essentiellement sur le mobilier britannique.
KATHERINE HALL,
diplômée en langue et littérature
françaises à l’Université de Virginie, en Histoire des Arts décoratifs, du design et de la Culture du
Bard Graduate Center à New York,
et conservateur en arts décoratifs
au Louisiana State Museum. Elle
a travaillé au département design
et arts décoratifs au CooperHewitt National Design Museum,
et au département des publics
du Bard Graduate Center. En plus
de son expérience en conservation elle a également travaillé
pour le commerce de l’art et les
ventes d’art et de produits de luxe,
ainsi que pour le magazine Art
& Antiques. Ses travaux portent
plus particulièrement sur le mobilier et les intérieurs en France au
XVIIIe siècle. Elle organise actuellement une exposition sur la céramique Newcomb et le mouvement
Arts & Crafts en Louisiane.
SOPHIE THIBIER,
historienne de l’art, diplômée de
l’école du Louvre et d’un mastère
en communication culturelle et
marché de l’art. Elle est chargée
de mission pour le Musée des arts
décoratifs de l’océan Indien. Elle
se spécialise sur la question des
arts décoratifs dans l’océan Indien
et s’attache plus particulièrement
à la diffusion des collections
auprès des publics, pour une meilDAVID L. BARQUIST,
conservateur de la collection Die- leure connaissance du patrimoine
trich H. Richard Jr., pour les arts culturel et artistique.
décoratifs américains au Philadelphia Museum of Art. Il a étudié JOSÉ DE MONTERROSO TEIXEIRA,
les beaux-arts à l’Université Har- historien et historien de l’Art,
vard College et a obtenu une maî- adjoint au directeur de l’Institut
trise du Programme Winterthur du Patrimoine architectonique,
à l’Université du Delaware ainsi de Lisbonne. Auteur de plusieurs
que son doctorat en l’histoire ouvrages sur l’histoire de l’archide l’art à l’Université de Yale. Il a tecture de l’art et de l’histoire. Il a
publié et contribué à la rédaction notamment étudié et publié sur les
de nombreux ouvrages sur les arts constructions portugaises telles
décoratifs et organisé plusieurs que la chapelle royale du palais
expositions. Actuellement, il par- de Vila Viçosa ou le théâtre natioticipe à la réalisation du catalogue nal Sao Carlos au Portugal. Ses
de la collection d’argenterie amé- principales recherches portent
ricaine du Philadelphia Museum sur l’iconographie baroque portuof Art.
gaise, ainsi que sur l’architecture
et la sculpture au Brésil durant la
période coloniale.
365
MADOI
I S B N 9 7 8 -2 - 9 0 9 9 4 5 - 1 5 - 6
DESIGN GRAPHIQUE : KAMBOO
IMPRESSION : GRAPHICA
DL : AVRIL 2013
366
III
English version available on www.madoi.re
IV

Neoclassicism

Transcription

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