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Chimneypiece

ca. 1770
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 523
Acquired in the late nineteenth century by Baron Frédéric-Jérôme Pichon (1812–1896), the original provenance of this oak paneling is not known. The baron, a well-known Parisian bibliophile and collector, incorporated the paneling, stripped of its original paint, into the large library that he installed on the first floor of his Paris residence, the Hôtel Lauzun, at 17, quai d’Anjou, on the Ile Saint-Louis. Dating from about 1770, the paneling was not in keeping with the seventeenth-century décor of the Hôtel Lauzun and was dismantled and sold in about 1906.

The three grisaille overdoor paintings in the style of Piat-Joseph Sauvage (1744–1818), the Carrara marble chimneypiece, and its framed overmantel mirror are contemporary with, but not original to, the room. Lacking evidence of the original paint color and finish, a glue-based distemper was chosen for the woodwork in this room in accordance with eighteenth-century techniques.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Chimneypiece
  • Date: ca. 1770
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Carrara marble
  • Dimensions: Overall (Marble mantlepiece, confirmed): H. 48 x W. 75 3/8 in. (121.9 x 191.5 cm);
    Overall (Size of fireplace opening, confirmed): H. 39 1/8 x W. 59 in. (99.4 x 149.9 cm);
    Overall (Iron fire back and sides, confirmed): H. 33 x W. 45 1/2 x D. 23 1/4 in. (83.8 x 115.6 x 59.1 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Architectural
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman Gift, 1976
  • Object Number: 1976.91.2
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

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Boiserie from the Hôtel Lauzun, Carved and painted oak, French, Paris
Boiserie from the Hôtel Lauzun
French, Paris
ca. 1770, with one modern panel
Chimneypiece (cheminée), François Joseph Belanger French, Verde di Levanto marble; patinated bronze and gilt bronze, French, Paris
Chimneypiece (cheminée)
Multiple artists/makers
1784
La Crainte des Traits de l'Amour, Jean-Louis Lemoyne, Marble, French, Paris
La Crainte des Traits de l'Amour
Jean-Louis Lemoyne
1739–40
Allegorical figure, François Girardon French, Marble, French, Paris
Allegorical figure
François Girardon
1672–75
Sabine Houdon (1787–1836), Jean Antoine Houdon French, White marble on gray marble socle, French, Paris
Sabine Houdon (1787–1836)
Jean Antoine Houdon
1788

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