A TRIANON GUITAR Rare guitar called "en bâteau", the body in - Lot 291

Lot 291
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60000 - 80000 EUR
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Result : 78 000EUR
A TRIANON GUITAR Rare guitar called "en bâteau", the body in - Lot 291
A TRIANON GUITAR Rare guitar called "en bâteau", the body in fruitwood decorated with ivory and ebony fillets, the table in spruce of a beautiful tight grain, Parisian pistachios and a remarkable openwork ivory rosette representing two doves embracing on a temple of Love. Paris, Jacques-Philippe Michelot (1734 - 1814), late 18th century, circa 1775. Case : 44 cm - String : 64 cm (Remarkable freshness, instrument reassembled in 6 strings probably around 1810, minor accidents) PROVENANCE - Presumed gift from the Queen of France Marie-Antoinette to the Marquise de La Rochelambert-Thévalles (1758 - 1835) - Marquise de La Rochelambert-Thévalles, born Louise Elisabeth de Lostanges (1758 - 1835), lady-in-waiting of Madame Adélaïde of France, intimate of the Queen. - Passed by inheritance to her nephew Henri, Marquis de La Rochelambert (1789 - 1863) - Passed by inheritance and preserved to this day by descendants. Although there is no document to date that formally attests that this guitar was a gift from Queen Marie-Antoinette, this family information can be considered. Indeed, Patrick Barbier, a music historian, reports in his book "Marie Antoinette et la Musique" that Marie-Antoinette used to buy numerous musical instruments without any invoice and that she willingly gave them to her immediate circle. Considering the documented proximity of Queen Marie-Antoinette and the Marquise de La Rochelambert, this is quite likely. The Marquise de La Rochelambert-Thévales is an emblematic figure of the minutiae of Trianon and the royal court of Versailles in the late eighteenth century. Born Louise Elisabeth de Lostanges, she was baptized in Versailles on August 11, 1759, her godfather being none other than Louis de Bourbon, dauphin of France, father of King Louis XVI and her godmother Louise-Elisabeth de Bourbon, known as Madame de France, daughter of Louis XV. Her parents were familiar with the Court at Versailles. On December 1, 1778, she married François, Marquis de La Rochelambert-Thévalles and was immediately presented officially to the French Court as Marquise de La Rochelambert-Thévalles [Mercure de France, December 1778]. Thus, on September 9 of the following year, she was admitted to the honors of the Court and presented to the King: "On the 9th, the Marquise de la Rochelambert-Thévalle had the honor of being presented to the King & Queen, by Mme Adélaïde de France, in the capacity of lady to accompany this princess. [Journal politique ou gazette des gazettes, 1779] a quality she retained until 1792. [Almanach de la Cour, Seconde Édition, par William Ritchey Newton - 2020] Her contemporaries underlined her very beautiful voice and judged her to be a good musician. She was part of the circle of the queen Marie Antoinette, even playing at her side the role of Colombine. December 1781, she played with Madame Elisabeth in Chantilly [La vie de Madame Elisabeth, soeur de Louis XVI, 1869] She arrived on December 6, 1781 in Chantilly and played Éléonore in L'Amant Jaloux. It is said that she "plays and sings like an angel" [letter from the Marquise de Bombelles]. An anecdote during the Visit of Gustav III in France in 1784 underlines this. This monarch was invited to a concert given in his honor by Mesdames at Bellevue Castle. The queen sang with Mme La Rochelambert. Asked what he thought of the duet. He answered that Mme La Rochelambert made him find the evening charming and that Marie-Antoinette sang very well for a queen. Related in the memoirs of Louis XVIII written by the Duke of D***. (1832) : "In a concert given by the queen (Marie- Antoinette), where she sang with the viscountess of La Rochelambert who, to a charming figure joined a delicious voice, his Majesty asked the count of Haga if he had been satisfied. Ah! Madame," replied the Prince, "how could one not be, when one hears Madame de La Rochelambert." In 1786 the Tableau Parlant by Grétry was performed at the Trianon opera house, in which she played Colombine, the Queen was Isabelle and the Count of Artois was Léandre, Garat sang Pierrot. [recounted by Sophie Gay in Ellénore]. In 1789, she played a Proverb mixed with Ariettes entitled Le Déjeuner attendu, a play written by the Duke of Nevers Louis Jules Mancini-Mazarini. She survived the revolution during which she was exiled to Switzerland. Back in France, she frequented the salon of Joséphine de Beauharnais [Joséphine de Beauharnais, 1763 - 1796 By Frédéric Masson - 1899] A variety of rose (rosa muscosa) is named after her: Madame de La Roche-Lambert.
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