Pierre Legrain Stool with Jacques Doucet Provenance at the Brooklyn Museum?

Hello Dear Readers.  Just another quick post.  The other week I found myself attending an event at the Brooklyn Museum for the first time in many years I hate to admit.  Just beyond the lobby is a grand installation entitled "Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn".  The concept is part of a sweeping trend among Museums to get more artworks out of the storerooms and display them en mass not only to show off their holdings but also to make cross cultural connections.  It was a display case of African and African inspired furniture that stopped me in my tracks.

"Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn" installation    Image: Brooklyn Museum

As I rounded the case I knew at once I was seeing an art deco masterwork by the French designer Pierre Legrain.

Pierre Legrain Stool, Ca. 1923   Image: Brooklyn Museum

The form is African in origin but is rendered in the materials of art deco luxury, namely lacquer and galuchat.  Legrain works are exceeding rare as he died in 1929.  It was for this reason I was keen to read the gallery text to find its provenance.  Unfortunately there was no listed provenance beyond the credit line "Purchased with funds given by an anonymous donor".  Fortunately the accession number "73.142" may provide some insight.  You see, accession numbers are typically a combination of the year that the object is acquired and the number of the bequest/object donated in that year.  The stool's number would suggest that it was acquired in 1973 which was was in close proximity to a major event in the nascent art deco market...that would be the groundbreaking sale of the collection of Jacques Doucet.  For background on Doucet and his awe inspiring collection see my previous post here.

Collection Jacques Doucet, Hotel Drouot, Paris 8 November 1972    Image via diktats.com

The couturier Jacques Doucet died in 1929 and eventually the contents of his studio in Neuilly Sur Seine were placed in storage only to be rediscovered by his descendants decades later when the storage facility was closing down.  The subsequent sale in November of 1972 is a subject of legend in the decorative arts community and pieces ended up in the best collections and museums across the globe.  Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the sale catalogue at my fingertips or else I would settle this mystery in mere moments...therefore, we are left to consult the period images of the studio.

View of Doucet's Studio at Neuilly-sur-Seine, circa 1930     Image: L'Illustration, No.  4845

In the image above a very similar stool to the one at the Brooklyn museum can be seen just to the left of the monumental Lalique door.

Detail of stool in Doucet's Studio    Image: L'Illustration, No. 4845

The seat is of the same shape and proportion as is the rectangular stepped base, but the legs appear to be comprised of four posts and not faceted columns.  Its also hard to tell if there is a cream central support.  This lack of detail may be due to the period method of tinting these images or it may in-fact not be the same Legrain stool.  Thankfully, the Centre Pompidou's catalogue for their recent Eileen Gray exhibition published another view of the Studio that I had never seen before.

Studio Jacques Doucet Neuilly-sur-Seine    Image: Institut national d'histoire de l'art

Detail of Legrain Stool in Doucet's Studio     Image: Institut national d'histoire de l'art

If the Brooklyn Museum's stool is from Doucet's fabled studio, this appears to be an image of it in-situ.  It is of the same overall shape, possesses the central cream support, and you can make out the collars on the four faceted legs as they catch the light.  I need to consult a copy of Doucet's sale to be sure, but if I were a gambling man I would suspect that this is indeed the example now in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum....I will provide updates as the truth emerges.

On a side note, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has an African inspired Legrain stool that was purchased from the 1972 Doucet sale.  It was on view a few years back, but alas is now safely in storage.

Pierre Legrain carved rosewood stool for Jacques Doucet, ca. 1925   Image: Metmuseum.org

This stool borrows its form from an African headrest but is of the proportion of a low stool.  The sister to this stool was sold from the outstanding Dray Collection presented at Christie's Paris in 2006.  It achieved the tidy sum of $660,066.

Pierre Legrain carved hardwood stool for Jeanne Tachard, Circa 1925.   Image: Christie's

The Christie's catalogue notes that while Legrain's works for his top clients were generally unique pieces it is believed that since Jacques Doucet and Jeanne Tachard were close friends some exceptions could be made.  The Yves Saint Laurent sale at Christie's in 2009 yielded yet another rare stool by Legrain.  This stool can be traced directly to Jacques Doucet as it was lot 43 in the 1972 sale of his collection.

Legrain carved hardwood stool for Jacques Doucet, ca. 1925   Image: Christie's

I have always loved this particular example.  It is overtly African in inspiration but the supports to me also skew into the arena of the machine age becoming stylized gears.  Christie's sold this work for $589,130.

As a final aside, I am pleased that more period images of Doucet's collection are coming to light.  As reader's of this blog know I love seeing works as they were presented in their original context.  This recently published image is no exception as it clearly shows two "old friends" that I have marveled at for years.

Studio Jacques Doucet Neuilly-sur-Seine    Image: Institut national d'histoire de l'art

At the immediate left you can see two figures from Eileen Gray's screen "Le Destin".  The work dates to 1914 and was one of the first Gray pieces that Doucet acquired.  It resurfaced in his 1972 sale where it achieved $36,000.  It presently resides in a private collection.

Doucet's Studio detail showing Gray's "Le Destin"   Image: Institut national d'histoire de l'art

Eileen Gray's "Le Destin" lacquered wood screen, ca. 1914    Image via marcbongaerts.nl

Another work visible in the image of the studio is a bit hard to make-out but is well know today as it resides in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.

Detail of Doucet's Studio showing the Legrain side cabinet at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs  
Image: Institut national d'histoire de l'art

It is a bit hazy but if you know the work it becomes clear.  I shot a few images of this piece when I was last in Paris.

Pierre Legrain & Gustave Miklos side cabinet, ca. 1923   Image: Aestheticus Rex

Detail of the Gustav Miklos silvered and enameled panel.  Image: Aestheticus Rex

In the period photo you can just pick out the graphic nature of the stylized African panel by Gustave Miklos.  It is all very exciting.  I am trying to get my hands of a copy of the 1972 Doucet sale as we speak.  Updates to follow.  Until next time...--AR.

UPDATE:
Well in the days since penning this post I have discovered that a stool of the same exact model as the one at the Brooklyn Museum is in the possession of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Pierre Legrain Stool, ca. 1923       Image: © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

It is part of the Sidney and Frances Lewis bequest and the listed provenance is none other than Jacques Doucet.  I am very curious to know if there was a pair made for Doucet, or if the example at the Brooklyn Museum was made for another client.  I should have my hands on a copy of the Doucet sale in a few days...details to follow.

UPDATE II:
Well the mystery has been solved on two fronts.  I was able to find a copy of the Doucet auction and there was only one stool of this design offered, lot 33.  This would mean that Doucet's Legrain stool is definitely the example in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Jacques Doucet's Legrain stool, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 8 November 1972, lot 33 ($4300)

The Brooklyn Museum also confirmed that theirs was indeed not from the Doucet sale but was actually acquired from an Italian collection and it was originally made for the de Crespi family with whom Legrain designed textiles.  Examples of this collaboration were evidently shown at the 1925 Exposition in Paris and recall his work in luxury bookbinding.

Pierre Legrain textile designs for Benigno Crespi, ca. 1925   Image via Flickr

Until next time.--AR

Rare Tiffany Furniture on the Block at Ivey-Selkirk

Louis C. Tiffany and Samuel Colman carved and micromosaic inlaid side chair.    Image via Ivey-Selkirk

Hello dear readers.  A dedicated follower tipped me off to this exciting Tiffany consignment that has emerged at St. Louis regional auction house Ivey-Selkirk.

Louis C. Tiffany and Samuel Colman set of four carved and micro mosaic inlaid primavera wood side  chairs    Image via Ivey Selkirk

Louis C. Tiffany and Samuel Colman micro mosaic inlaid carved primavera wood side table   Image via Ivey-Selkirk

The table is being offered on its own at $70,000-100,000 and the chairs are being offered as a set of four at $30,000-40,000.  While it is not in their description, the primary wood is tropical primavera which is a blonde timber with a fine grain not unlike mahogany.  The pieces are further embellished with fine wood and brass micro mosaic bands and small square panels.  The catalogue does correctly note that this group of furniture relates to the suite Tiffany and Colman created for the music room of sugar baron H. O. Havemeyer's Manhattan mansion.  A settee from that commission surfaced at Doyle New York in February of 2012 achieving a staggering $422,500.  You can read the details in my previous post.

Louis C. Tiffany and Samuel Colman carved wood settee offered at Doyle's New York    Image via Doyle's New York

Music room of the H. O. Havemeyer house, New York, circa 1891   Image via Flickr

While the works are very similar in their exotic influence, carving and overall details, the Ivey-Selkirk group is actually a dead ringer for a pair of Tiffany/Colman armchairs in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Louis C. Tiffany and Samuel Colman  carved and micro mosaic inlaid primavera wood armchair, circa 1891    Image via Metmuseum.org

If I were a gambling man I would guess that they all were from the same original commission.  The table and chairs at Ivey-Selkirk have no listed provenance and the armchairs at the Metropolitan Museum merely list their 1964 donation by Mr. and Mrs. George E. Seligman.  While we do not know their origins they are all made of the same materials and match in the fine details.

Tiffany/Colman table at Ivey-Selkirk    Image via Ivey-Selkirk

Tiffany/Colman chairs at Ivey-Selkirk   Image via Ivey-Selkirk

Tiffany/Colman armchairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art    Image via Metmuseum.org

The lush flowers are the same from their shallowly carved roots up to their overlapping leaves and blooms.  The array of fine micro mosaic inlays are exact as well.

Micro mosaic detail from the Tiffany/Colman table at Ivey-Selkirk    Image via Ivey-Selkirk

Micro mosaic detail from the Tiffany/Colman chairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art   Image via Metmuseum.org

Micro mosaic detail from the Tiffany/Colman table at Ivey-Selkirk  Image via Ivey-Selkirk

Micro mosaic detail from the Tiffany/Colman chairs at Ivey-Selkirk   Image via Ivey-Selkirk

Micro mosaic detail from the Tiffany/Colman armchairs at the Metropolitan Museum   Image via Metmuseum.org

And while the table is now lacking its glass ball feet, there is evidence that it had them as the side chairs and the armchairs at the Met do.  Note the same reeded round tapered legs as well.

Leg detail from the Tiffany/Colman table at Ivey-Selkirk  Image via Ivey-Selkirk

Leg and caster detail from the Tiffany/Colman chairs at Ivey-Selkirk   Image via Ivey-Selkirk

Leg and caster detail from the Tiffany/Colman armchairs at the Metropolitan Museum   Image via Metmuseum.org

The table and side chairs are in "estate condition" meaning that it appears they have been untouched which is what serious collectors dream about.  It is much easer to improve fine chips, scratches and a darkened original finish than to attempt to reverse an aggressive restoration.  The Tiffany group at Ivey-Selkirk truly ticks all the boxes and I expect them fly at these conservative estimates.  Expect results well into the six figures for each lot.  I am positive all the requisite advisors, dealers and important collectors are circling as we speak.  Items like these do not come to light every season so this is a big deal in the Tiffany world.  I do hope that Metropolitan Museum has a donor step-in to buy the group as it would be a perfect ending to have this mystery Tiffany commission reunited at long last.  Until March 16th we wait.--A.R.

Tabletop detail of Tiffany/Coleman table at Ivey-Selkirk   Image via Ivey-Selkirk

UPDATE:

I have been in touch with the specialists at Ivey-Selkirk and have gotten a bit more information.  It appears that their Tiffany group of furniture was acquired by the family of the present owners in Washington, D.C. in 1968-69 from a house sale or other trade source.  As is often the case the trail has run cold.  In the course of my research (according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art) I read that Louis C. Tiffany displayed furniture with these Indian inspired inlays at the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago.  Tiffany described the micro mosaic as "patterns . . . made of thousands of squares of natural wood, one sixteenth-of-an-inch in size, of different colors, and each individual square surrounded by a minute line of metal."  To my knowledge there is no known image of the works displayed bearing this technique, so alas I cannot say with certainty that the Ivey-Selkirk group along with the Met Museum armchairs were at the World's fair.  But, it cannot be ruled out either.  They do not appear in the known images of the Havemeyer Mansion and precious little is known regarding other private commissions of that period.  Unusual Tiffany pieces have surfaced before achieving wild results with absolutely no provenance so I wouldn't rule out the present group or the World Fair connection.  We have a week to go and I for one am on pins and needles.  Until next time--AR.

Tabletop detail of Tiffany/Coleman table at Ivey-Selkirk   Image via Ivey-Selkirk

UPDATE:

Well dear readers...the sale is still ongoing as I am writing this but I can confirm that both lots have sold.  The table achieved a hammer price of $60,000 ($72,600 with premium) and the chairs sold for $45,000 ($54,450 with premium).  I was a bit surprised that they stayed comfortably within their estimates.  Perhaps it was their condition or the lack of deeper provenance information.  I am sure we will see these pieces again maybe at the Met Museum, an antique show or a larger auction in New York.  Until next time--AR.

Auction Accidents: The Herter Brothers Edition

Now dear readers, this one goes back nearly a decade but it was a rather exciting discovery at the time. May I present the "ormolu-mounted lapis lazuli-inset and etched onyx pedestals" offered in the Christie's 19th Century Sale on April 24, 2002.

Image via Christie's

They were offered with no provenance and very little information besides their general description and an estimate of $25,000-30,000. Understandably, Christie's was taken aback when the lot soared to $130,500 and sold to top Victorian furniture dealer Margot Johnson. It turns out that there was a great provenance involved...there always is in these cases. I present a period photograph of the drawing room from the William H. Vanderbilt residence at 640 Fifth Avenue ca. 1882.

Inspiring, no? The home was decorated by the notable firm of Herter Brothers and was beyond lavish...even by the standards of 5th Avenue at the time. Now it may be hard to see what I am getting at so here is a detail.

This is a detail of the doorway in the center of the image above, note the columns flanking it. Thankfully for us Mr. Vanderbilt had the entire home documented in Edward Strahan's Mr. Vanderbilt's Home and Collections of 1883. It has richly colored images that give a true sense of the decoration.

Detail

It seems that Margot Johnson had a very keen eye, but according to an article in the Maine Antiques Digest she did not act alone. She was seen at the exhibition for the sale viewing the columns with Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen. It seems that Margot Johnson was purchasing them for the museum with the aid of American Wing donors Barrie A. and Deedee Wigmore. Within six months of the sale they were restored to their original appearance and installed at the museum.

Detail

Detail

As you can see the lapis-lazuli stones were removed and replaced with red glass cabochons to restore the original look as seen in the illustrations below. The left is a detail from the period photo, the center are as they appeared at Christie's and the right are as they appear today.

The cataloging on the Met's website reveals that it is their opinion that the columns do not come from the doorways, but from matching floor lamps that were in the corners....see the period images below.

Detail

I am not sure how they came to this distinction but I defer to their judgement. The Met also notes that Christie's specialist Sebastian Davies informed them that the consignor of the columns was a South American dealer. Little is known about their journey. The house underwent a complete redecoration in 1915 and was sold by the Vanderbilt family in 1942 and subsequently demolished. While we don't know exactly where they were for nearly ninety years it is great that they surfaced in such a dramatic fashion.

Update!

A reader brought to my attention that Hirschl & Adler Galleries offered a console from the drawing room at the Winter Antiques Show in 2002. Very small world of goods indeed. According to Antiques and Fine Arts Magazine the console descended in the Vanderbilt family and then made it into the collection of Liberace...go figure.

Image via Hirschl & Adler Galleries