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Exceptional ceremonial bed, says Henri III

Sunday, October 4th 2020

A neo-renaissance masterpiece in the Gavet collection

EXCEPTIONAL CEREMONIAL BED, known as "HENRI III" of the CHÂTEAU d'AMBOISE

In richly carved walnut, rectangular shape, highly architectural.
The canopy is supported by four term columns arranged two by two diagonally. The caryatids and atlantes take the form of satyrs and women carved from the top of the skull to their pelvis. Their butterfly-winged ears contribute to the hybridization of the figures. Their basins are adorned with masks taking a female or male form alternating the sex of each term. The base of the sheath-shaped column is carved with scrolls and rests on four ball feet.
The back of the bed in strong relief is decorated with a woman's mask in the center, accosted with rinceaux, fruit baskets and grimacing masks.
The various uprights are powerfully molded with straight and upside down palmettes.

19th century, neo-renaissance period.

Height. 275, Length. 258, Width. 199 cm.

Scientific study: the wood sample taken from a caryatid was best dated by the carbon 14 method from 1680 to 1764 for 32%, and nearly 50% for a dating from 1801 to 1894. CIRAM report of February 7, 2020 available on request.

Provenance:
- according to the historian Émile Molinier, bed bought from the Guyrod family in Annecy, Savoy?
- collection Émile Gavet, the bed not referenced at its sale in the Galerie Petit in 1897, Paris?
- according to an eminently respectable family tradition, comes from a sale of the Château d'Amboise,
- by descent, private collection, Normandy.

Bibliography:
- Émile Molinier, "Collection Émile Gavet, catalog raisonné, précédé d'une étude historique et archéologique sur les œuvres d'art qui composent cette collection", Paris, D. Jouaust's printing works, 7, rue de Lille, 7, 1889. Described and reproduced in engraving pp. 84, XLII, (under n°352).
- Muriel Barbier, "Le lit dit "de François Ier" de la collection Du Sommerard: questions en attente de réponses", September 10, 2018, illustrated fig. 10.

Exhibition:
Bed visible until October 1, 2020 as part of the public visit of the Château de l'Islette in Azay-le-Rideau (Indre-et-Loire), at the gracious invitation of Maître et Madame Pierre-André Michaud.

THE BED SAYS HENRI III D'ÉMILE GAVET

by Jacques FARRAN

Émile MOLINIER, Lit du règne d'Henri III de la collection d'Émile Gavet, Paris 1889
Émile MOLINIER, Lit du règne d'Henri III de la collection d'Émile Gavet, Paris 1889

Many mysteries "slumber" in this bed. Reputed formerly to be a bed Henri III, then in the XXth century as coming from the castle of Amboise, our investigation reveals that it finally did not accomodate the bed of the last king Valois, very implied in Amboise, but that it is nevertheless inscribed in any letter in the History of Art. Created during the 19th century, this bed embodies the taste of that time to reincarnate the great styles. In search of its origins, France prides itself on its glorious past. It is in turn Merovingian, medieval, or as for our bed: reborn. From the restorations of Viollet-le-Duc at Pierrefonds Castle or Notre-Dame de Paris to the rebirth of the Paris City Hall by Théodore Ballu, French artists return to their roots.

At the end of the 19th century, this bed was the pride of the collection of Émile Gavet, who attributed it to the reign of King Henri III. Émile Gavet was one of the most important "connoisseurs" of the time. The inventory of his collections reveals masterpieces, many of which have today joined prestigious institutions. A lover of Renaissance furniture and Haute Époque objects, he is also a collector of modern paintings. Thus, before joining the Musée d'Orsay, the most expensive painting in the world, Millet's "Angelus", once hung on its walls.

This bed is then considered to be the most prestigious bed of the French Renaissance, along with the bed known as "François I" in the collection of Alexandre du Sommerard, now in the National Museum of the Renaissance in the Château d'Écouen. But as its alter-ego in the Château d'Écouen, art historians have questioned its dating. If its decoration, carved with masterly skill, is inspired by the collections of engravings by Androuet du Cerceau or Crispin de Passe, the chemical study of its wood excludes that it is perfectly authentic.

False made to deceive, having played with the greatest specialists of the time, isn't this bed rather a reworked work? We cannot answer this question categorically. What piece of furniture can boast of having been considered one of the rarest of its time, to be found in Annecy in astonishing conditions and then sold to an illustrious Parisian collector, to be questioned as a masterpiece by Hugues Sambin, and finally to reach a Loire château? Perhaps the answer will be given by its next owner!

No museum in France or abroad can boast of possessing a true ceremonial Renaissance bed. The disappearance of all the originals has probably pushed the "indelicate" to reconstruct, transform or create from scratch copies inspired by the collections of ornaments that have come down to us. Our model is of great historical interest. Not as it was probably intended - as a testimony to the Renaissance - but rather for what it really is: the unique fantasy of the restless nights of a decried sovereign.
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