Accession number
PML 198162, fol. 98
Creator
Gillot, Claude, 1673-1722, printmaker.
Published
[Paris] : [Chez Huquier], [1722?]
Credit line
Purchased on the Gordon N. Ray Fund, 2018.
Notes
Title from finished state of print.
The finished state of this print, as published by Huqier, is signed "Gillot inv et sculp.", numbered "4" at upper right, and lettered: Flore / A Paris chez Huquier vis-à-vis le grand Châtelet Avec priv. du Roi.
"From a series of six designs for folding screens or tapestries. The whole set was meant to be engraved by Gillot after his own designs; however the artist died in 1722, leaving five plates unfinished and another (Thetis) lost. The unfinished plates were bought by Parisian publisher Gabriel Huquier, who commissioned Charles Nicolas Cochin to finish them and to replace the missing plate by a new one engraved by him after Gillot's preparatory drawing (1737). The plates remained in Huquier's possession until his death in 1772, when they were sold to Jacques François Chéreau."--Curator's comments, British Museum online catalog.
1st state of 3, as described by Populus, before all letters; Gillot's unfinished preliminary etching, with various elements of the design left unfinished or absent throughout, including the niche around the central figure of Flora and most of the border and decorative border elements, central medallion, the figure of the nymph at lower left, vine decoration, etc.; Gillot's plate ultimately completed for publication circa 1737 by Ch. N. Cochin fils.
Forms part of a collection of 586 etchings by and after Claude Gillot, mounted into a bound album by a former owner, with letterpress title page reading "Oeuvres de Gillot." (see PML 198162).
Library's copy trimmed to plate mark.
The finished state of this print, as published by Huqier, is signed "Gillot inv et sculp.", numbered "4" at upper right, and lettered: Flore / A Paris chez Huquier vis-à-vis le grand Châtelet Avec priv. du Roi.
"From a series of six designs for folding screens or tapestries. The whole set was meant to be engraved by Gillot after his own designs; however the artist died in 1722, leaving five plates unfinished and another (Thetis) lost. The unfinished plates were bought by Parisian publisher Gabriel Huquier, who commissioned Charles Nicolas Cochin to finish them and to replace the missing plate by a new one engraved by him after Gillot's preparatory drawing (1737). The plates remained in Huquier's possession until his death in 1772, when they were sold to Jacques François Chéreau."--Curator's comments, British Museum online catalog.
1st state of 3, as described by Populus, before all letters; Gillot's unfinished preliminary etching, with various elements of the design left unfinished or absent throughout, including the niche around the central figure of Flora and most of the border and decorative border elements, central medallion, the figure of the nymph at lower left, vine decoration, etc.; Gillot's plate ultimately completed for publication circa 1737 by Ch. N. Cochin fils.
Forms part of a collection of 586 etchings by and after Claude Gillot, mounted into a bound album by a former owner, with letterpress title page reading "Oeuvres de Gillot." (see PML 198162).
Library's copy trimmed to plate mark.
Description
1 print : etching ; image: 268 x 169 mm; sheet: 303 x 181 mm
Provenance
Acquired in Paris by Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton (1720-1794), Duke of Newcastle, Clumber Library, ca. 1750 (his arms on the front cover); by descent until his library was dispersed at Christie's, London, in four parts between 21 June 1937 and 14 February 1938; Fernand Pouillon (1912-1986), Jardin de Flore, Paris, Cent livres illustrés du XV au XX siècle (1977), item 40; Librarie Fernand de Nobele, Paris, Livres sur les beaux-arts, les arts decoratifs et les objets de collection, bibliographie, imprimerie (1981), lot no. 39204; André Jammes (b. 1927), Paris; sale, Paris, Hotel Drouot, 28 November 2018, lot 3.
Summary
Design for a folding screen or a tapestry, after Gillot, with Flora standing in an architectural niche (lacking in this state) carrying a basket of flowers and a flower wreath (lacking in this state); in ornamental frame incorporating flowers, trees, and garlands, with two female figures in the lower portion of the design, one holding a flute and drum and the other holding up a basket of flowers (both figures lacking in the state).
Classification
Catalog link
Department