DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1398#0281
PLATE 192.
A CENTRE-PIECE,
BY C. CHRISTOFLE & CO., PAEIS.
MCHRISTOFLE has obtained, and justly, so high a reputation as a manufacturer, that
• we expected to find in his productions something Jiors de ligne; nor were we disappointed;
since, aided by the munificence of the city of Paris, he has contributed to the Exhibition of 1862
a work of such magnificence and importance as we might in vain seek for elsewhere; for which,
and for other remarkable pieces, the International Jury awarded him a prize medal.
This splendid "surtout de table" was made for the city of Paris, after suggestions given
by Baron Haussman, Prefect of the Seine, as portion of a service to be used at the great civic
feasts. It was entirely executed in bronze, electro-gilt; it was eighteen feet in length, and valued
at 16,000 francs. The figures were executed under the direction of M. Baltard, city architect
and inspector of Pine Arts, Paris, by the following artists, who have all received the great prize
at Rome; viz., MM. Diebolt, Thomas, Maillet, Gumery, and Mathurin Moreau; the marine horses
were executed by M. Rouillard, the accessorial ornament by M. Auguste Madroux, and the
enamelling by M. Marguerito, M. Capy being the principal draughtsman. The centre group
consists of a ship, symbolical of the arms of the city of Paris; on the deck of which is seated
an allegorical figure of Paris, supported by figures representing Science, Art, Industry,
and Commerce; at the prow is an eagle, appearing to conduct the ship towards its future destiny.
The genius of Progress lights her on her course, and Prudence at the stern holds the rudder;
groups of tritons and dolphins are playing around her, and at each end of the composition are
placed genii and tritons driving sea-horses. Four candelabra unite the principal parts of the
design, and the entire piece is placed upon a base of plate-glass, surrounded by a richly-chased
moulding of water-leaves, very elegantly arranged, and formed of different shades of gold.
Above this, in our plate, is shown another smaller centre-piece in the Louis XVI. style,
made in the same material, the centre vase being open-cut, and intended to receive flowers. The
groups of children at each end are emblematic of the naval and commercial marine.
In connection with Mr. Garrard's fine centre-piece, Plate 121, we have given some account of
the great fountains which ornamented the festive tables during the Middle Ages ; we will now add
some notes upon the nef, or ship, which with the fountain and great salt formed one of the principal
features of the dinner-service. Its use will be seen from the following quotations:—It was placed
in front of the master of the house, and was made in the precious metals, as its name denotes,
in the form of a ship, with masts, rigging, and even sails of gold, silk, &c. In Count de Laborde's
" Glossaire " we find—in the " Roman de Garin," A.D. 1180—" Before Garin held Mauvoisin the
'nef,' all full of wine and claret." In the "Oomptes royaux," A.D. 1353, an entry is made of "a
great nef with sails." In Hudson Turner's " Domestic Architecture," vol. II., it is stated that
Piers Gaveston, A.D. 1313, had " a ship of silver on four wheels, enamelled in the sides; " and in the
Inventory of Edward III. is described " a ship of silver, with four wheels and dragons gilt at both
ends." In Barente's "Dukes of Burgundy" numerous "nefs" are mentioned; but the finest are
those in the inventories of the Duke of Anjou and Charles VI.; these were richly gilt and enamelled,
and furnished with a great number of grotesque figures: there also appear to have been large
centre-pieces, elaborately composed, but not actually in the form of a ship. In the "Isle des
Hermaphrodites," A.D. 1589, we read that at the end of the table was placed a large vessel
of silver, gilt and chased, made in the form of a ship, on which the lady of the house placed her
fan and gloves on coming to table : this vessel had drawers on each side, one of which contained
the napkins. Pew of these peculiar pieces are now to be found; but the Baron Lionel de Rothschild
is the fortunate possessor of a small silver-gilt nef, made by Valentine Jeger, probably of Augsburg,
m the year 1661: it consists of a hull with two tiers of guns; the deck, which takes off as a
cover, is furnished with two masts and their sails; on it are musketeers and officers, and two
sailors in the rigging, and the vessel is supported by a merman blowing a conch, on an oval stand
of embossed shells.—(Catalogue South Kensington Loan Museum, Part IV.) During the 18th century
this fashion went quite out, although M. de Laborde remarks that, as a matter of etiquette, the
««/ was put upon the royal table on state occasions up to the latter part of that century.
A CENTRE-PIECE,
BY C. CHRISTOFLE & CO., PAEIS.
MCHRISTOFLE has obtained, and justly, so high a reputation as a manufacturer, that
• we expected to find in his productions something Jiors de ligne; nor were we disappointed;
since, aided by the munificence of the city of Paris, he has contributed to the Exhibition of 1862
a work of such magnificence and importance as we might in vain seek for elsewhere; for which,
and for other remarkable pieces, the International Jury awarded him a prize medal.
This splendid "surtout de table" was made for the city of Paris, after suggestions given
by Baron Haussman, Prefect of the Seine, as portion of a service to be used at the great civic
feasts. It was entirely executed in bronze, electro-gilt; it was eighteen feet in length, and valued
at 16,000 francs. The figures were executed under the direction of M. Baltard, city architect
and inspector of Pine Arts, Paris, by the following artists, who have all received the great prize
at Rome; viz., MM. Diebolt, Thomas, Maillet, Gumery, and Mathurin Moreau; the marine horses
were executed by M. Rouillard, the accessorial ornament by M. Auguste Madroux, and the
enamelling by M. Marguerito, M. Capy being the principal draughtsman. The centre group
consists of a ship, symbolical of the arms of the city of Paris; on the deck of which is seated
an allegorical figure of Paris, supported by figures representing Science, Art, Industry,
and Commerce; at the prow is an eagle, appearing to conduct the ship towards its future destiny.
The genius of Progress lights her on her course, and Prudence at the stern holds the rudder;
groups of tritons and dolphins are playing around her, and at each end of the composition are
placed genii and tritons driving sea-horses. Four candelabra unite the principal parts of the
design, and the entire piece is placed upon a base of plate-glass, surrounded by a richly-chased
moulding of water-leaves, very elegantly arranged, and formed of different shades of gold.
Above this, in our plate, is shown another smaller centre-piece in the Louis XVI. style,
made in the same material, the centre vase being open-cut, and intended to receive flowers. The
groups of children at each end are emblematic of the naval and commercial marine.
In connection with Mr. Garrard's fine centre-piece, Plate 121, we have given some account of
the great fountains which ornamented the festive tables during the Middle Ages ; we will now add
some notes upon the nef, or ship, which with the fountain and great salt formed one of the principal
features of the dinner-service. Its use will be seen from the following quotations:—It was placed
in front of the master of the house, and was made in the precious metals, as its name denotes,
in the form of a ship, with masts, rigging, and even sails of gold, silk, &c. In Count de Laborde's
" Glossaire " we find—in the " Roman de Garin," A.D. 1180—" Before Garin held Mauvoisin the
'nef,' all full of wine and claret." In the "Oomptes royaux," A.D. 1353, an entry is made of "a
great nef with sails." In Hudson Turner's " Domestic Architecture," vol. II., it is stated that
Piers Gaveston, A.D. 1313, had " a ship of silver on four wheels, enamelled in the sides; " and in the
Inventory of Edward III. is described " a ship of silver, with four wheels and dragons gilt at both
ends." In Barente's "Dukes of Burgundy" numerous "nefs" are mentioned; but the finest are
those in the inventories of the Duke of Anjou and Charles VI.; these were richly gilt and enamelled,
and furnished with a great number of grotesque figures: there also appear to have been large
centre-pieces, elaborately composed, but not actually in the form of a ship. In the "Isle des
Hermaphrodites," A.D. 1589, we read that at the end of the table was placed a large vessel
of silver, gilt and chased, made in the form of a ship, on which the lady of the house placed her
fan and gloves on coming to table : this vessel had drawers on each side, one of which contained
the napkins. Pew of these peculiar pieces are now to be found; but the Baron Lionel de Rothschild
is the fortunate possessor of a small silver-gilt nef, made by Valentine Jeger, probably of Augsburg,
m the year 1661: it consists of a hull with two tiers of guns; the deck, which takes off as a
cover, is furnished with two masts and their sails; on it are musketeers and officers, and two
sailors in the rigging, and the vessel is supported by a merman blowing a conch, on an oval stand
of embossed shells.—(Catalogue South Kensington Loan Museum, Part IV.) During the 18th century
this fashion went quite out, although M. de Laborde remarks that, as a matter of etiquette, the
««/ was put upon the royal table on state occasions up to the latter part of that century.