Gothic Ivories were early on an important collectors’ item. The Gothic Ivories Project has been busy publishing some very old catalogues of photos of pieces with unknown whereabouts
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE OF THE DEMOTTE, ANTIQUES DEALERS IN PARIS AND NEW YORK IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
A joint project of the Sculpture Department at the Musée du Louvre in Paris and the Medieval Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
The photographic archive of antiques dealers Georges-Joseph and Lucien Demotte is made up of over 5000 photographic glass plates. The majority of them reproduce art works sold in their two galleries in Paris and New York in the first quarter of the 20th century. Georges Demotte was based in Paris from c. 1900, and in New York from 1914 and he flourished as an antiques dealer in both cities. The domains he covered were varied (Islamic art, objets d’art, etc.), but sculpture was central to his business, and medieval sculpture in particular. At his death, his son Lucien took over, branching out to include modern and contemporary painting. The Albert Georges gallery, and later the Andrée Macé gallery took over their business and inherited the photographs the Demotte had assembled. The collection, initially offered to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1950s, who printed part of it on paper, was graciously deposited at the Sculpture Department at the Louvre in 1978. In 2010, the decision was taken to create a database whose aim would be to describe the photographs and the art works reproduced. The Musée du Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have been collaborating to develop this database and its online publication is now imminent. In the meantime, it is possible to consult it at the Louvre Sculpture Department. For full details, see HERE. The study of these glass plates greatly increases the knowledge we have of the provenance of these art works and of their material history (restorations, questions of authenticity). It also gives us precious insights into the history of taste, the history of collecting and of the art market at the beginning of the 20th century. As the Demotte dealt in ivory sculptures, the Gothic Ivories Project has recently been working with the Louvre and the Metropolitan to add these historic photographs to the online catalogue (see image on this page). To find them, just search for Demotte in the Copyright line (Advanced search page), or follow this link.
THE MACIET ALBUMS: A COLLABORATION WITH THE BIBLIOTHEQUE DES ARTS DECORATIFS IN PARIS
The Bibliothèque des Arts décoratifs does not only comprise books but also a very precious image archive which no one interested in art, and in particular decorative arts, should ignore. From 1885 to 1911, the art lover and collector Jules Maciet (b. 1846, d. 1911) assembled hundred of thousand of images, a vast collection of cuttings and photographs from very diverse sources arranged in large albums by material or type, then by period. After his death and until 1996, the curators of the Bibliothèque continued to enrich this unique resource. 250 000 images from this collection are now online, although this does not include the Ivory volumes. As was to be expected, several volumes were dedicated to ivory carvings and contained some pieces for which the project had hitherto found no trace. Several volumes were particularly interesting, as they illustrated objects included in Koechlin’s corpus arranged by Koechlin number, some of which he had not reproduced (325/12 to 14). To find which images come from the Maciet albums, just search for Maciet in the Copyright line (Advanced search page), or follow this link. For more information on this resource and how to consult the albums, see HERE.
COLLABORATION WITH THE DEPARTEMENT DES OBJETS D’ART OF THE MUSEE DU LOUVRE IN PARIS
The Département des Objets d’art at the Musée du Louvre gave us access to their important documentation on the subject of ivories, and we were thus able to enhance a large number of entries, thanks to their support. The Centre de Documentation is a very rich resource owing to the passion and dedication of generations of curators, several of whom had a particular interest for ivory carving. It is open to researchers and students every afternoon except on Tuesdays. For opening times and full details, see HERE.
COLLABORATION WITH THE MEDIATHEQUE DE L’ARCHITECTURE ET DU PATRIMOINE IN PARIS
The Médiathèque de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris has again tremendously enriched the Gothic Ivories catalogue. A few years ago, they provided us with images of classified objects scattered around France, in small parish churches and cathedral treasuries. But they are also home to the photographic archive of Raymond Koechlin, and you can imagine what THAT looks like…! The Médiathèque has done a fantastic job at digitising all of Koechlin’s photographs. This is not just medieval ivories, but also Asian and Islamic art, ceramics, metalwork, enamel… over 1700 images in total. We thus have been working together to make some of these historical images available on the Gothic Ivories website, while directing you all to their online database Mémoire via the ‘To purchase and image’ links (any link showing as www.culture.gouv.fr will bring you to relevant images on their site where you will be able to order high resolution images if you wish).
FEATURED PHOTO
© Fonds Demotte at The Cloisters Archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Crucifixion with the Virgin and saint John the Evangelist; female kneeling figure in donor position; sun and moon; clouds. Unknown location.
SOURCE:
Gothic Ivories Project at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London
