Ancien hôtel de Besenval ou ancien hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, actuellement siège de l'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris 7e Arrondissement
Précision de la localisation : 6 - A priori satisfaisante >> Votre avis :
Crédit photo : Moonik - Sous licence Creative Commons
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Adresse renseignée dans la base Mérimée :
142 rue de Grenelle
75007 Paris 7e Arrondissement - France
Code Insee de la commune : 75107
Paris [75] - Paris - Ile de France - Ile-de-France
Adresse approximative issue des coordonnées GPS (latitude et longitude) :
142 Rue de Grenelle 75007 Paris
Eléments protégés :
La façade sur jardin et la décoration XVIIIe siècle de la chambre à coucher, de la salle à manger et du cabinet avec plafond peint : inscription par arrêté du 20 octobre 1928
Périodes de construction :
XVIIIe siècle
Propriété d'un état étranger
Informations pratiques de visite ou services :
Ouvert ou fermé à la visite, location de salle, chambres d'hôtes ?
Autres photographies :
![Ancien hôtel de Besenval ou ancien hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, actuellement siège de l'Ambassade de Suisse - English: Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval's (1721–1791) commode à vantaux from 1778 by Martin Carlin (1730–1785) which was once placed in the baron’s bedroom at his home in Paris, the Hôtel de Besenval. The commode is a rectangular breakfronted cabinet veneered with ebony, mounted with plaques of pietra dura fruit and decorated with chased gilt-bronze mounts. It has a black marble top. The central vertical door with segmental apron, is flanked by two doors and drawers above. The central door has pietra dura vase of flowers and fruit with insects. The commode stands on tapered, square baluster legs which were once altered in the 19th century probably to gain height for the piece of furniture. However, the alterations to the legs were reversed during subsequent restorations in the second half of the 20th century (the photograph of the 1920s still shows the alterations to the upper part of the legs).
Above all else this commode is a vehicle for the display of the pietra dura panels that adorn the front and sides. The ostentatious massing of these panels, seven carved in relief with fruit on the front and six inlaid panels at either end, consciously evokes the luxury and splendour of the grand siècle, as do the unusually densely modelled gilt bronze mounts. The panels themselves almost certainly come from one of the great cabinets made for King Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) in the royal workshops at the Gobelins Manufactory. During conservation, two of the relief panels were found to be signed on the back Gachetti [sic], for Gian Ambrogio Giachetti, a Florentine lapidary working at the Gobelins Manufactory between 1670 and 1675.
Most of these royal cabinets were broken up in the 18th century as they went out of fashion, but the pietra dura panels were preserved as precious objects in their own right. With the revival of interest in the Louis XIV period during the 1760s and 1770s, these panels began to be recycled on neo-classical furniture. Among the marchands-merciers (dealer-decorators) who specialised in this field were P.-F. Julliot and Dominique Daguerre. It was almost certainly the latter who commissioned this ambitious piece from Martin Carlin, one of a group of cabinet-makers who worked more or less exclusively for Daguerre. Pieces of furniture like this commode à vantaux were the ultimate luxury furniture back then.
The first owner of this commode à vantaux was the Parisian opera singer Marie-Joséphine Laguerre (1754–1782). It appeared in the sale of her collection, among other furniture by Carlin and Weisweiler. Subsequently it belonged to the Baron de Besenval, a Swiss military officer in French service and close friend of Qeen Marie-Antoinette of France (1755–1793), at whose sale on 10 August 1795 Daguerre's connection with its manufacture was first noted.
King George IV (1762–1830) acquired the commode in Paris in 1828 through his confectioner François Benois for GBP375. It may first have been placed in the king's temporary apartments in St James's Palace, but was intended eventually for the rebuilt Buckingham Palace. It is now on display in the Green Drawing Room.
Provenance of the commode à vantaux: Probably made for Marie-Josephine Laguerre, c.1778; her sale Paris; Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, placed in his bedroom at the Hôtel de Besenval in Paris, the sale of his collection on 10 August 1795; J.-J.-P.-A. Lapeyrière sale, Paris, 1825; bought in Paris for George IV, May 1828 by François Benois (Jutsham II, p.251). Repaired by J. Taylor in April 1839.
The commode is stamped four times with M. CARLIN JME Reference: Jane Roberts: Royal Treasures: A Golden Jubilee Celebration, catalogue entry commode à vantaux 1778, Royal Collection, London, 2022](https://p.monumentum.fr/galerie/maxi/00566/566706-english-pierre-victor-baron-de-besenvals-1721-1791-commode-a-vantaux-from-1778-by-martin-carlin-1730-1785-which-was-once-placed-in-the-barons-bedroom-at-his-home-in-paris-the-hotel-de-besenval-the-com.jpg)
Fiche Mérimée : PA00088705
Dernière mise à jour de la fiche Monumentum : 2024-12-08
Consultez le programme des Journées du Patrimoine pour le Monument Historique Ancien hôtel de Besenval ou ancien hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, actuellement siège de l'Ambassade de Suisse situé à Paris 7e Arrondissement en consultant le programme officiel des JEP 2024.
Monuments Historiques à proximité :
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Ancien hôtel de Ravannes
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Chapelle des Catéchismes
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Crèmerie
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Hôtel
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Hôtel Kinski ou Kunsky
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Hôtel de Noirmoutier ou de Sens, actuellement résidence du préfet de région
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Hôtel de Praslin
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Hôtel de Sommery
Paris 7e Arrondissement - Hôtel du Châtelet ou ancien archevêché de Paris, actuellement ministère du travail
Cartes postales anciennes à proximité :
