| Friday, October 9, 2020

Dear Friend,

Furnishing a very large and stately French chateau so that it feels comfortable and elegant, “ce n’est pas une mince affaire!”

But what an excellent excuse it was, when decorating Chateau de Courtomer, to spend week after wonderful week in Paris, scouting finds at Drouot. Eblouissant...Subjugant...en fin, merveilleux!

I discovered the Hôtel Drouot in the company of le grand Edouard, our youngest child’s antiquarian godfather. Like a visitor to the underworld, I followed my guide into realms devoid of natural light. A man with a hammer in one hand lunged and pointed at various members of the audience with the other, disposing of all manner of objects. The luxuries of the Orient, the Old Masters of the Ancien Régime, the leather-bound books of a noble bibliophile, a pair of threadbare tapestries…the rich odds and ends of the material world were laid out in room after room for inspection and purchase. It was overwhelming and marvelous.

The Hôtel des Ventes Drouot opened in 1852 in Paris. It was and still is a public space, run by the Compagnie des Commissaires-Priseurs, the French auctioneer’s guild. Except for a brief intermission during the liberal days of the French Revolution, the Compagnie’s members held the monopoly on sales by auction in France until the beginning of the 21st century, when Sotheby’s and Christie’s elbowed their way in.

Auctions are an ancient means of setting a price, finding the highest bidder, and settling debts. On March 26, 193 A.D., the Roman Empire itself went on the block. Having assassinated the Emperor, his personal bodyguards sold the position to one of Rome’s senators. (Not surprisingly, the new Emperor met the same gory fate as his predecessor.)

James-Alexandre, comte de Pourtalès, shown here with some of his antiquities, was perhaps the greatest collector of the 19th century. His "hôtel particulier" in Paris included a museum. His collection was sold at Drouot.

The auction went into dormancy, like many institutions of ancient Rome, until Europe began to emerge from the Dark Ages. It was Saint Louis, France’s pious crusading king, who revived the institution in France. The sergents à verge ou à pied — officers with “a yardstick or a foot-long ruler” — were royal servants given the job of managing sales for settlement of debt and inheritance. Strapped for cash three centuries later, Henri II refined the office into maître-priseur vendeur in 1556. This office, which was for sale, gave the auctioneer the right to handle the public sale of all personal goods within a specified territorial limit.

The flourishing interest in collecting works of art and the antique throughout the 18th and 19th centuries made an art form out of the art auction itself. Objects were described in printed catalogues by erudite critics and “antiquaires.” Illustrations whetted the appetite. Famous collectors, the rich or the simply notorious, and crowds of enthusiastic on-lookers thronged to the auction, anticipating a lively public spectacle. By the 19th century, Paris was the world center for sales of art.

*La Grande Odalisque, by Ingres in 1814, belonged to James-Alexandre de Pourtalès. It was sold at Drouot with his collection and purchased for the Louvre Museum.*

Auctions had long been held on site or in spaces rented for the occasion, but in 1850, the Compagnie des Commisseurs-Priseurs constructed the purpose-built Hôtel Drouot. Sales held here were immediately legendary. The property of Louis-Philippe, exiled king of France, was sold at Drouot in 1852. The contents of the painter Delacroix’ studio were sold in 1864.

A year later, Drouot’s dispersal of the celebrated collection of the Swiss banker James-Alexandre, comte de Pourtalès, helped form the basis of institutions like the British Museum, the Hermitage, and the Antikensammlung in Berlin. Buyers competed ferociously for ancient vases and statues, objects and paintings. They employed various stratagems; a certain Mademoiselle Rousset, as dumpy and inconspicuous as Queen Victoria in her later years, discreetly bought for the Polish aristocrat Isabelle Czartoryska, whose family collection became the Czartoryski Museum in Poland. Some of the objects from the Pourtalès sale also ended up at the Musée de Beaux Arts in Rouen, near our own corner of Normandy.

Not all auctions in those glory days were as grand or unforgettable as these, of course. And Paris has since lost its primacy as the world’s art center. But Edouard and I, as we picked up our numbered bidding squares from a bored-looking clerk, knew that this was the place to find everything needed to bring Chateau de Courtomer back to life. And next week, more about Drouot and special finds.

A très bientôt, au Chateau de Courtomer,

P.S. It's been a busy few days, as we welcomed a lovely bride, her photographer, and her glamorous bridal entourage for a photo shoot and pre-nuptial celebration. Sophia has kindly allowed us to post some of the ravishing shots on Instagram and Facebook. Meanwhile, Monsieur Xavier is back at work in the petite maison. He proudly showed me a fully restored window, now resting securely in its stone opening. We expect to have this adorable little cottage ready for romantic stays in 2021.

Decorating with special finds...the French auction...