L10237

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Lot 208
  • 208

Attributed to Louis Tessier

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Louis Tessier
  • An allegory of the Arts; An allegory of Design and Architecture
  • a pair, the latter inscribed: Voet
  • both oil on canvas
  • 26 3/8 x 34 1/2 inches

Provenance

With Chaucer Fine Arts, London;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 31 May 1990, lot 144, where acquired by the present owner.

Exhibited

London, Chaucer Fine Arts, Paintings and Drawings, Sculpture, Works of Art, 26 May - 14 July, 1985, no. 25.

Literature

Paintings and Drawings, Sculpture, Works of Art, exh. cat. London, Chaucer Fine Arts 1985, cat. no. 25, reproduced fig. 25.

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This pair of canvases has been recently lined with glue and restored. Both paintings seem to be in similar condition. What appears to be an original extension on the right edge of both paintings has been restored; these additions are less than an inch wide. There are retouches to both paintings, but in the composition entitled Allegory of the Arts, there are considerably less retouches than in the composition entitled Allegory of Design and Architecture and even in this subject the retouches address small blemishes in the white paper only and clearly the condition of both paintings is lovely.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Catalogue Note

This pair of paintings is representative of the eighteenth-century French artist Louis Tessier, whose oeuvre consists mostly of still-life compositions with elements of architecture and design. The foreshortened presentation of the objects depicted indicates that these works were likely created as overdoors; however, it is the probable commission of these works by a Dutch patron that distinguish them.  

All the inscriptions are in Dutch and the book has been identified as a popular volume of poetry titled Trou-ringh (Wedding Ring) by the celebrated Dutch author Jacob Cats. Furthermore, the architectural floorplan's measurements are in voeten, and the floorplan is characteristic of the long, narrow grachtenhuis (literally "canalside house") found alongside the canals in Amsterdam. It has been suggested that the floorplan might even represent the home in which the present paintings were to hang, with the book of poetry inferring that the home might be for a newly-married couple.

The presence of the various objects in each of the paintings points to an allegorical interpretation. Items such as the lyre, the quills, the book, foliage, palm spray, and the Mask of Comedy used in theatrical performances, all refer to the Arts while the architectural floorplan, instruments, maps and diagrams represent the elements of Design.  

An alternative attribution to the French painter the Marquise de Grollier, née de Fuligny-Damas, was suggested by Michel Faré at the time of the 1990 sale.