A parcel-gilt silver, enamelled gold and hardstone hand mirror, Louis & Philibert Audouard for Froment-Meurice, Paris, circa 1856

 

A wonderful object despite some condition problems due to age. The mirror is somewhat scratched and time-foxed; the coronet is lacking four strawberry leaves; one enamelled leaf is lacking on handle. Several leaves on swags are crumpled and lacking enamel; other minor enamel losses including on turquoise interlacing and feathers on arms.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Aimable-Jean-Jacques Pélissier, a soldier's soldier, was born in Maromme, near Rouen, in 1794. Following his education at the military academies of La Flèche and St-Cyr, he entered the army as a 2^nd Lieutenant in 1815. His career, spent mainly in Algeria, was extremely successful and he soon gained a reputation for efficiency and determination although what was seen as implacable firmness in military circles was even then sometimes viewed as brutal overkill by the general public. Nevertheless there was justified relief in early 1855 when General Pélissier took over command in the Crimea from Canrobert – 'Sébastopol n'était tombé que grâce à la persévérance de Pélissier ... tout s'était succédé selon le programme qu'il avait annoncé à l'empereur' (Commandant Grandin, Le Maréchal Pélissier, Abbeville, 1902, p. 181). Pélissier's assault on the Tower of Malakoff which ended the siege of Sebastabol was the culminating victory of the Crimean War and his rewards were swift. Napoleon III gave him a marshal's baton, creating him duc de Malakoff on his return to France the following year, with an annual pension of 100.000 francs. He was also awarded pensions and the highest chivalric orders by the allies. It was his bluff wartime success at liaising with France's prickliest ally, Great Britain, that led to his somewhat unlikely appointment as ambassador to the court of St James's in 1858 at a particularly tense time in relations between the two countries. The same year saw his marriage to a young and beautiful cousin of Empress Eugenie, the Marquisa Valera de la Paniega, with whom he was to have a daughter, Louise. Pélissier's last years, from 1860 until his death in 1864 were spent as governor-general of Algeria. Modern commentators on the maréchal are unforgiving: 'c'est un officier rude, brutal, explosif, qui porte mal son prénom d'Aimable' (Guiral & Brunon, Aspects de la vie politique et militaire en France au milieu du XIXe siècle à travers la correspondance reçue par le maréchal Pélissier, Paris, 1968). His contemporaries were less so, a fellow officer describing him as 'petit, gros, spirituel' and a Paris correspondent of the New York Times writing at the time of Louise's marriage describes his widow as living in a small hôtel in Paris, 'a very museum filled with relics of the glorious career of her husband' and states categorically that 'the Marshal was adored by all who knew him, and was anything but the coarse, ill-bred soldier which has been portrayed by some of his biographers'.

The sudden, early death, at the height of his powers, of François-Désiré Froment-Meurice in February 1855 a few months before the opening of the Paris Exposition Universelle was a tragedy. His indomitable widow, Louise Mainguet, 'résistant aux pressions', determined to keep the business going until her then teenage son was able to take over the reins in 1866. One of the reasons that she was able to do this was the fidelity of the team of fine craftsmen and associates assembled previously by her husband. Among these were the brothers Louis and Philibert-Honoré Audouard, described by the young Emile Froment-Meurice as 'à la main si sure ... deux des plus anciens collaborateurs de son père'. According to contemporary records, the chaser Louis (1814-1880) was often responsible for designing the works whereas 'le travail de bijouterie ... été dirigé par Philibert Audouard'. It is therefore not surprising that this mirror, which must have been made during the lacuna between the elder Froment-Meurice's death and the entry of his widow and son's makers' marks in 1865/6, should have the mark of the two brothers Audouard. A similar, less elaborate, hand mirror was shown by Froment-Meurice at the Great Exhibition 1851 ( see Ph. Burty, F-D Froment-Meurice, argentier de la ville de Paris, 1863, p. 44) and two examples chased and enamelled with children and animals were shown at the exhibition, Trésors d'argent, les Froment-Meurice, at the Musée de la Vie Romantique, Paris, in 2003 (catalogue nos. 46 & 47). The two flanking winged nymphs, the garlands of enamelled fruit and the prominent surmounting armorials all appear frequently in the Froment-Meurice firm's oeuvre.