Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Paris 1646 - 1708 Marly-le-Roi) and Augustin-Charles d'Aviler (Paris 1653 - 1701 Montpellier)

Comprising: 

Façade principale sur la cour d'arivée (Main Facade of the Entrance Court)
Inscribed with instructions M. Puget et M. Gombaut...
Pen and brown ink, wash and watercolor
8 ½ x 15 inches

Façade des écuries et du porche, côte d'arrivée (Facade of the Stables and the Porch from the Entrance Court Side)
Pen and brown ink and watercolor
8 ¼ x 16 inches
(Stains)

Façade laterale (Lateral Facade)
With notations.
Pen and brown ink and watercolor
8 ¼ x 15 3/8 inches

Façade extérieure des écuries et du porche (Exterior Facade of the Stables and the Porch)
Pen and brown ink and watercolor
8 ½ x 16 inches

Élévation et plan d'un pavillon d'entreé avec un pont coulissant (Elevation and Plan for an Entrance Pavilion with Bridge)
Pen and brown ink and gray wash
8 ¼ x 14 1/8 inches

Coupe sur le centre du bâtiment principal (Section of the Center of the Main Building)
Pen and brown ink and watercolor
8 ½ x 15 3/8 inches

Plan du batiment au rez-de-chausée et premier étage, avec la cour et le bâtiment d'entrée (Plan of the Ground Floor and First Floor, with the Entrance Court and Building); (Plan of the Third Floor); (Section of the Length of the Lateral Pavilions of the Main Building with Mezzanines):  a group of three architectural drawings
Pen and brown ink and gray wash
The first:  8 ½ x 21 5/8 inches
The second:  8 ¼ x 11 ¾ inches
The third:  8 ¼ x 15 ¼ inches

Façade laterale des écuries (Side Facade of the Stables)
Pen and brown ink and watercolor
8 ½ x 15 3/8 inches

Sold: Sotheby's, Monaco, June 1988, lot 453
Acquired at the above sale by A. Alfred Taubman

As was noted in the 1988 sale catalogue, the style of this seemingly unexecuted complex of grand  buildings is typical of the work of the great French architect, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and the design for the stables in particular is strongly reminiscent of those that Mansart designed as part of his extensive work at the Palace of Versailles.  The attribution is also supported by the handwriting on the design for the principal façade, which seems to be comparable with that on drawings given to Mansart in the former Count Tessin Collection, in Stockholm, and also by the reference to the assistance of ‘M. Davillers’ – presumably Mansart’s main assistant, Augustin-Charles d’Aviler – that is inscribed on other drawings relating to the same project, which were also included in the 1988 sale.  One of those drawings is dated 1693, and it has therefore been assumed that the same date can be applied to the present works.  The sale catalogue also proposed that the drawings constituted an unexecuted project for a château intended for Louis XIV’s Secretary of State for War, François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, but since Louvois died in 1691, either the dating is erroneous, or the drawings were made for another patron.

Mansart studied under his famous great-uncle, François Mansart (1598-1666), who was one of the key originators of the classical tradition in French architecture.  Jules Hardouin-Mansart, in turn, did more to shape the visual landscape of Paris than any other architect except Baron Haussmann, nearly two centuries later.  Mansart was First Architect to King Louis XIV, and from 1675 he was responsible, along with Charles Le Brun, for reshaping Versailles, creating inter alia, the much-loved Hall of Mirrors.  Mansart also designed many other key Parisian landmarks, including, in 1680, the great domed chapel of the Hôtel des Invalides, and some ten years later the Place Vendôme. 

A - Main Entrance Courtyard Façade
Inscribed with the instructions: M. Puget et M. Gombaut trouvent bon que l’on doit ôter les 2 frontons des pavillons parce qu’il faut que le corps de logis les domine ; qu’il faut faire des pilastres au 2^e et 3^e ordre des coins et fenêtres avec chapiteaux au haut ; et une vaste corniche saillante en mode de bourrelet et talus au bas des fossés
Pen and brown ink, wash and watercolour
8 5/8 by 15 in.; 220 by 380 mm

B - Elevation of the stables and the porch, entrance court side
Pen and brown ink and watercolour
8 1/2 by 15 1/4 in.; 215 by 385 mm

C - Lateral elevation
With notations
Pen and brown ink and watercolour
8 1/2 by 15 1/4 in.; 215 by 387 mm

D - Exterior elevation of the stables and the porch
Pen and brown ink and watercolour
8 3/4 by 16 3/8 in.; 220 by 415 mm

E - Elevation and plan of an entrance pavillion with bridge
Pen and brown ink and gray wash
8 1/2 by 14 1/4 in.; 217 by 361 mm

F - Central cross-section of the main building
Pen and brown ink and watercolour
8 ½ by 15 3/8 in.; 215 by 390 mm

G - Plan of the ground floor and first floor, with the entrance court and building; Plan of the third floor; Cross-section of the length of the lateral pavillions of the main building, with mezzanine floors: a group of three architectural drawings
Pen and brown ink and gray wash
The first: 8 3/4 by 19 1/2 in.; 222 by 495 mm
The second: 8 3/4 by 11 ¾ in.; 222 by 300 mm
The third: 8 3/4 by 15 1/2 in.; 221 by 395 mm

H - Side elevation of the stables
Pen and brown ink and watercolour
18 3/4 by 15 1/2 in.; 220 by 393 mm