PARIS - BRAQUENIE - A HISTORY OF FRENCH DECOR

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1 PARIS - BRAQUENIE - A HISTORY OF FRENCH DECOR SALE, 27 OCTOBER 2005 A set of gouache and watercolour sketches for tapestry, Centuries Estimate : 1.000/1.500 A collection of Cheverny and Indiennes showing at Braquenié's A set of gouache and watercolour on paper, centuries Estimate : 600/800

Allégorie des douze mois de l'année after

Estimate: 15,000/ 20,000 Tapestry, Univers

2 Allégorie des douze mois de l'année after Claude II Audran, Antoine Watteau and Alexandre-François Desportes A set of twleves tapestry sketches, oil on canvas Estimate: 15,000/ 20,000 Tapestry, Univers marin after a sketch by Alain Hieronimus, 1958 Estimate : 800/1.200

A 18 Century Beauvais flat stitch for a chair upholstery Estimate: 500 / 800 A three leaf folding screen in so-called Savonnerie weave in the style of Louis XV.

3 A 18 Century Beauvais flat stitch for a chair upholstery Estimate: 500 / 800 A three leaf folding screen in so-called Savonnerie weave in the style of Louis XV. Each leaf is decorated with birds poised on flowering shrubs Estimate: / At the Galerie Charpentier, Sotheby's will offer a number of tapestries, gouache and watercolour plans, sketches of tapestries, chair upholstery, rugs and furniture from Braquenié. Around 300 lots, to be sold without reserve, will illustrate the history of French décor and attest to the richness of taste and comfort in the late 19th century adopted by châteaux and large residences throughout the world. LA MAISON BRAQUENIÉ Founded at the beginning of the 19th century, a period during which France had established itself in the domain of the decorative arts, Braquenié was able to create a universe of matching rugs and fabrics for the most prestigious décors. In 1821, Pierre-Antoine Demy and his wife took over the family business and set up in rue Vivienne in Paris where they assembled the most beautiful collections of rugs and tapestries in the capital. The business was successful from the start and in 1830, was named by King Louis-Philippe as "silk fabric merchant to the King". Ten years later, it acquired the "atelier de Paris" in Aubusson and then implemented a policy of creating exclusive models which was to make it famous. In the middle of the 19th century, the house, now in partnership with Alexandre Braquenié, offered everything flourishing society could want: the Empress Eugénie and Napoléon III, Duc Pozzo di Borgo, the Marquess de la Païva and the Rothschild family all became loyal clients. Official orders flooded in: a rug was woven for the Palais du Luxembourg, another for Notre Dame de Paris and for the Vatican. Its reputation extended beyond the borders of France, with the courts of Spain, Italy and Russia and Sultan Said, the pasha of Egypt, ordering their décors from Braquenié. Prestigious orders continued to be the mainstay of the business during the 19th century, for example those completed for the liner "Normandie" and replicas of historic décors, notably for the Grand Trianon. Right from the very beginning, Braquenié always blended tradition and innovation, associating reproductions of forgotten designs with orders from a number of new designers. It has regularly worked in partnership with contemporary artists, the most famous of which were Picart-Le-Doux, Saint-Saëns and Lurçat. In 1991, the company "Pierre Frey" bought this living cultural heritage. Respectful of the glorious past of the old established house, it has preserved its soul while bringing it into the 21st century. In 2003, Patrick Frey created a department responsible for bringing together and reorganising all the archives relating to the history of Braquenié. Its

4 mission is to preserve this varied inheritance enriched with designs and acquisitions, to propose new sources of inspiration to the Group's design bureaux and offer clients and interior decorators a customised service. Today, Braquenié concentrates on the textile trades (silk, prints and weaves) and custom made rugs, and has entrusted Sotheby's with the dispersion of part of its tapestry related documentation. Braquenié has chosen to carefully conserve its textile archives and will continue to add to them. THE BRAQUENIE COLLECTION The collection brings together examples of tapestries made or acquired by La Maison Braquenié (petit point, gros point, flat weave, canvas and tapestry) since the 17th century. Some, accompanied by the initial plans, illustrate the different stages in the creation of a design, from the sketch to the textile version via the planned placing of a design within a particular décor. Allégorie des douze mois de l'année after Claude II Audran, Antoine Watteau and Alexandre-François Desportes is a marvellous example. These twelve pictures, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000, are followed by a gouache and watercolour on paper showing the décor for which these panels were destined (estimate:100 / 150 ). Among the tapestry sketches are a pair of 20th century French school canvases offering an elegant composition of weapons trophies and garlands of flowers (estimate: 600 / 800 ). The sale will offer a large selection of tapestries dating from the 17th to 20th centuries. The oldest piece, woven in Flanders in the middle of the 17th century, is Cléopâtre in which she is sitting inside accompanied by two servants, allowing a serpent to wind around her left arm (estimate:8.000 / ). La Pêche, a tapestry realised from a Huet sketch, shows a romantic 18th century style scene (estimate:1,000 / 1,500 ). Illustrative of the section devoted to modern design, is a third entitled Univers marin which was produced at Aubusson in 1958 from a sketch by Alain Hieronimus, the French illustrator who was a contemporary of Jean Lurçat (estimate:800 / 1,200 ). A set of four flat weave 18th century style tapestry panels is decorated with musical trophies suspended on garlands above huge bouquets of flowers against a cream and red background (estimate:5,000 / 8,000 ). Among the rugs are several Aubusson designs that will arouse the interest of enthusiasts including a large flat weave Louis XVI style rug with a decoration of Athenians adorned with flowers against a cream background (estimate:6,000 / 8,000 ). A Savonnerie flat weave design has an 18th century style composition: a central medallion with floral motifs surrounded by garlands and flowers on a black background framed by a frieze with a geometric design (285 x 390 cm, estimate: 4,000 / 5,000 ). The sale will offer a variety of chair upholstery including a gros point canvas in the style of the second half of the 17th century, with a decoration of pomegranates, broad leaves, stylised fruit and flowers (estimation for the lot composed of several pieces: 1,200 /1,800 ). A Beauvais flat stitch tapestry with a vase décor from which a bouquet of flowers emerges is a beautiful example of the upholstery in fashion in the 18th century (estimate:500 / 800 ). The sale will consist of some furniture including a three leaf folding screen in so-called Savonnerie weave in the style of Louis XV. Each leaf is decorated with birds poised on flowering shrubs (estimate:6,000 / 8,000 ). A rectangular Louis XVI style gilded wood seat sculpted with lattice work and rosettes, covered with a flat weave tapestry showing a dog in a medallion will also be proposed (estimate:1,000 / 1,500 ). * estimates do not include buyer's commission Please contact the press services SOTHEBY'S Sophie Dufresne 76 rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré Paris Tel: sophie.dufresne@sothebys.com PIERRE FREY - BRAQUENIE French press Véronique Lopez y Cabello

5 AGENCE VERONIQUE LOPEZ galerie Vivienne Paris Tel: contact@agencelopez.com International press Lorraine Frey PIERRE FREY - BRAQUENIE 47 rue des Petits-Champs Paris Tel: press@pierrefrey.com 5 Approval N of 25 October 2001 Sale directed by Philipp Duc de Württemberg, Alain Renner and Stéphanie Denizet

Rococo. The Century of Louis XV

Rococo. The Century of Louis XV Rococo The Century of Louis XV 1700-1800 1 The Marquise de Pompadour became the mistress of Louis XV, king of France, in 1745. François Boucher painted this portrait, which hangs in the Louvre museum in