PARIS 1714-1715 - Lot 178

PARIS 1714-1715 Four pieces of plain silver toiletry set consisting of two large powder boxes and two smaller circular boxes, one of which has a screw. Master silversmith: Sébastien LEBLOND, received in 1674, practiced on rue Saint-André des Arcs from 1702 to 1715. He is best known for his numerous chocolatières, most of which are of a plain, pansu design. Net weight: 370 g - 366 g - 158 g - 132 g - diameter: 7.2 cm - 7.3 cm - 11.8 cm - 11.8 cm - height: 5.5 cm Hallmarks: very well hallmarked on the reverse and in the lid Condition: weakness in the engraving of the coat of arms, old restoration on the lid of one of the boxes. They were commissioned in Paris from master silversmith Sébastien Leblond, received in 1674, on the occasion of the December 31, 1714 marriage of Louis-Alexis BEUFVIER (1684 - 1754) and Marie Anne DAVID de RY (1688 - 1718), whose arms they bear, topped by a Marquis crown. In a deed dated July 13, 1729, he calls himself "chevalier, marquis des Paliniers, seigneur des Bredurières, de la Bouanchaire, de la Jollandrie, Conseiller du Roi en tous ses conseils, Grand Sénéchal du Poitou en 1715 et Capitaine du château de Poitiers". Some "toilettes" appear in 18th-century paintings of aristocratic figures in interiors. The paintings by François-Hubert DROUAIS and François BOUCHER, both entitled "la toilette", reveal the importance of the practice of women receiving guests "à leur toilette", defined by the Académie Française dictionary in 1762 as follows: "On dit: voir une dame à sa toilette, l'entretenir à sa toilette", to mean: "to see her, to look after her while she dresses". Toilets could be composed of twenty pieces around a central piece: the free-standing mirror, framed by torches, ewer and basin, bowl and tray, brush, pelota box, vergettes, various flasks, clochette, mouchettes and tray and gantière. The Louvre recently acquired the vermeil toilette of Charlotte d'Orléans, granddaughter of Louis XIV, made by Nicolas Besnier (1684 - 1754) for her marriage to the Duke of Modena; that of the Duchesse de Cadaval by Etienne Pollet in 1738-1739; and that of the Countess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, made in Strasbourg in 1784 by master silversmith Oertel. The four boxes presented here form a rare ensemble from the Louis XIV period, having escaped the fonts and been preserved by the descendants of the family who commissioned them in 1714.