Heads up

photo Denis Gliksman, Inrap

The tomb of a Celtic prince dating from the 5th century BC was recently discovered in the Champagne region of France.

I haven't made any such monumental discoveries but

do seem to keep coming across interesting faces these days.

photo: Le style et la matière

Foire de Chatou

quot capita, tot sensus

"So many heads, so many opinions," said Terrence.

photo: Le style et la matière
Foire de Chatou

And Youtube says that cats will change your outlook. 

I hear that in the US, Uber  delivers kittens like call-girls or clowns to offices 

for entertainment between 12 and 4pm. Am I the only one to find that unpleasantly odd?
Cats at your service?

photo: Le style et la matière
Musée de Cluny

 A regretful monster squelched under the unrelentingly firm hold of
St Margaret's foot in a painted panel of the saint from the 13th century.

photo: Le style et la matière
Musée de Cluny

Carvings of the kings of Judah were from the facade of Notre Dame de Paris c.1220.

These statuary heads served as foundation filler for post-revolutionary construction. 

photo: Le style et la matière
Musée de Cluny

Sable from the Middle Ages;
its handsome coat aside, the marten has an expressive face.

photo: Le style et la matière

Musée de Cluny

Rock crystal lions

photo: Le style et la matière
Musée de Cluny

A child's moony face carved in
chalcedony from 2nd century Rome.

photo: Le style et la matière
Musée de Cluny

Reliquary busts

photo: Le style et la matière
The holy family c.1500 Alsace
Musée de Cluny

Tu m'as fait tourner la tête....
Gentle, dear!

And as silly as it might be, all this relative roundness has me humming
"Mon manège à moi"

The tale of the three beds from the château of Effiat

This is not a tale of cottages. No, the story begins in a certain château in Auvergne.

Wikicommons

It was a proud dwelling built between 1626-28 by the Marshal of Effiat, Antoine Coëffier de Ruzé, counselor to Louis XIII and close friend of Richelieu.
 His château held at three beds,
They were sold at auction in 1856, as were the rest of the furnishings that had managed to be keep intact until then.

Through my various explorations this way and that, I realized that I had seen all three of these beds and had photographed them, although my pictures aren't all of the same quality. I thought I would reunite the beds here and supplement better pictures where needed.
My story is a simple one. A document really. There are no indignant bears or sassy little girls  - unless Time itself could be said to hold the role of Goldilocks!

photo:RMN Louvre

The most famous of these beds is today in the département des arts décoratifs at the Louvre. It is the perfect example of the bed à la française or the lit en housse (covered bed) of the mid 17th century and one of the few beds to come down to us from the period with its original textiles. With its hangings of Genoa velvet down, it makes a cube and has the solemn air of a catafalque. Underneath all that exhuberant fabric, the bed posts are said to be uterly simple. The luxurious aspect of beds of this time owed entirely to their upholstery and trim. In fact if few of these marvelous beds have survived, it is because the precious textiles wore out and the plain wood, usually of no value in itself, was probably burned.

Abraham Brosse

This engraving by Abraham Bosse shows the cords for raising the curtains - the 17th century gradually left the expression courtines behind for rideaux.
Otherwise tie backs were used to attach the curtains to the posts.

photo Cluny via Chest of books

An early image shows the hangings parted but we don't see the headboard.

photo: jpbraud decoration

It may have been like this one, Effiat bed No. 2  at the chateau of Azay le Rideau whose hangings have been beautifully reconstitued here.

photo Marc Walter

These seem to be the original bed textiles found in Jacques Anquetil's book La Soie en Occident.

photo: Le style et la matière

To quote Bill Pallot,

"Beds were greatly prized pieces of furniture in the 17th century 

and as such described very precisely in inventories. Louis XIII had one 

covered with purple damask and adorned with large gold embroidery, Richelieu 

owned another with tapestry of white satin and gold embroidery and Mazarin 

possessed several. Beds accompanied their owners in their travels. They were 

taken apart and placed in leather trunks. Often monumental in size, they 

were set in a corner of the bedchamber. 

Abraham Brosse

The space between the bed and the 

wall was called the 'ruelle' (narrow street). This was where private 

gatherings were held as it was customary to receive company at home while 

lying in bed."

photo: Le style et la matière

photo: Le style et la matière

photo RMN

Finally, my visit to the Musée de la Renaissance at Ecouen a few weeks ago permited me to see Effiat bed No. 3. Made in the late 16th century, it is the oldest of the trio but retains some 19th century modifications.

photo: Le style et la matière

The hangings are not original and the curators plan to restore it to its 19th century state as it was presented by Sommerard at the Hotel de Cluny in what was called the
chamber of Francois I.

photo: Le style et la matière

This ornately carved bedstead
has fine detailing on the foot posts

photo: Le style et la matière

and military cariatides at the head of the bed.

image: RMN

This engraving of the Musée de Cluny depicts the brimming cabinet d'amateur atmosphere that reigned in 1840. There must have been some indecision as to how to assemble the posts. Here the cariatides have been installed at the foot of the bed rather than at its head. 

 I have seen other beds with four cariatides or atlantes, never only two as we see here. 

© Léon et Lévy / Roger-Viollet

Here, somewhat later but still at Cluny, the columns have been switched around in the way 

which is today believed to be the correct assembly of the bed.

Cluny is now specialized in art and artifacts of the middle ages, Ecouen is the place to go for the 

15-17th centuries which is why this bed is located there now.

photo: Le style et la matière.

No pomme , no panache naturally, on this 16th century bed from Effiat at Ecouen, 

but nearby in the textile department is displayed a vase-finial which looks very much like those on the later Effiat beds in the Louvre and at Azay. 

From this angle, in a case, we get a good close look at its construction 

and next to it is a charming miniature bed, once considered to be part of a doll house.

(C) RMN-Grand Palais Gérard Blot
(musée de la Renaissance, château d'Ecouen)  

It is now recognized as an upholsterer's or embroiderer's maquette. 

 This is a model of  a Duchesse bed 

which really only became popular at the end of the 17th century.

 Louis XIV himself prefered four posts.

****

For another article on beds and my own 17th century bed - 

look here

 It is carved with a commemorative date of 1601 and the initials I.V. and C.G.. 

The date probably refers to a wedding date.

One day I may find out just who I.V. and C.G. were...

Musée Mandet

photo: ville de Riom

As of January, the Musée Mandet in Riom has reopened after one year of extensive renovations. Installed in two hôtels particuliers, one classic, built with distinctive volcanic stone of Volvic from the 18th century and the other mostly built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Originally founded in 1866 to display the portraits of important personalities of the Auvergne region, the museum rapidly expanded its art collections with paintings and sculptures from Antiquity to the 19th century.

 "The musée Mandet underwent a spectacular development in 1983. Boosted by a donation from the Richard spouses, art amateurs and collectors from Riom, it doubled its exhibition area and bought some

1500 pieces - paintings, sculptures, ceramics, jewels, ivories, tapestries, furniture, enamels, copperware and silver and gold plate – that illustrate the main periods of the history of art, up to the XIXth century. These rich collections, in particular the civilian gold and silver pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries, were the point of departure in 1990 for the creation of a fund of contemporary decorative art based on gold and silver plate, from the 1950s to our day, under the impulse of Marie Josée Linou, chief curator of the museums of

Riom Communauté."

art-of-the-day

Now that you have a bit of background information, enjoy these beautiful comtemporary pieces. You can find more by following the link.

Hiroshi Suzuki (born 1961 in Miyagi, Japan), vase Aqua Poesy IX, 2005, silver © Karine Joannet - Vice-Versa

Mike Sharpe (born 1979), Teapot bug, 2003, silver plated copper © Karine Joannet - Vice-Versa

Marie Ducaté ,Vase Homme-papillons femmes-papillons, dans les fleurs 2000.
Dépôt du FNAC © Karine Joannet - Vice-Versa

photos of 3 art works from art-of-the-day



fare-thee-well - objets en fer

Can one object be more an object than another? These articles made of iron - wrought, cast, sculpted - seem to be the very essence of objects. Everything in the Musée LeSecq des Tournelles of Rouen is a useful and often, a usual item. It may be the heavy process of taming iron, the bending, stretching, heating, hammering it into shape that gives it such fighting spirit. From heavy forged grills to dainty lacy pierced screens, they seem to say, "I was made by the sweat of the brow and now I stand alone." Objects par excellence.

L'arbre sec or the dry tree is a symbol for a cloth merchant and gave its name to a very old street in Paris. This wrought iron tree hung there until c. 1660. The street is located just next to the Samaritaine and I used to go there often to see a friend so I was particularly interested to discover the meaning of the name and its textile link. It seems that cloth merchants referred to Oriental legend for their symbol, since the most beautiful fabrics came from the East. The legend speaks of a tree visited by pilgrims to the valley of Josephat in the Holy Land. It was thought to have existed since the beginning of the world and to have grown on Lot's burial place; by the time of the death of Christ, the tree was dry.


At the sign of the cloth seller. Here the merchant holds the emblems of his profession measuring stick and scissors.

"How do you do?"

One of my favorite items in the museum is this candlestick that seems to be tipping a brass hat. It is really a bougeoir avec éteignoir automatique/ candlestick with automatic snuffer - an important item for those who liked to read in bed. When the candle burned low, the brass snuffer would fold over the flame, extinguishing it and preventing the start of a fire even if the reader had nodded off over his book. These items continued to be perfected until the beginning of the 19Th century.

Light fixture from 1930 which recalls the ancestral tradition of nailing the night creature to barn doors to ward off bad luck.

Dentist's pliers in the form of a bird head. The fun way to have a tooth pulled.

This robust 15-16th century door knocker seems to taunt us to have survived so many a man.
Its arms serve to balance its weight.

English lock from an Oriental cabinet.

Master project for locksmith. Note sun and moon emblems.

German orthopedic corsets, artificial arm, defensive collars (?).

Strength in numbers.


Door knocker with lion and salamander.



A magic lantern, ancestor of the projector.

Strong boxes and coffers.

Canes

Miniature furniture
The museum sponsored contemporary artists to create new "fencing" to surround the museum garden. Each panel represents a part of the collection. Here Epées by Ferdinando Nava, Carole Nava (St Cler-sur-Epte), Michel Mouton (Brussels), Florence (Arras), Ludovic Boyer (Paris).

The collection was started by pioneering photographer, Henri Secq (1818-1882) and continued by his son. It is housed in the former church St Laurent built in the late 15th century and renovated in 1911 for the millennium of the city of Rouen.

For further views and close ups, visit the site Musée Le Secq des Tournelles.