Antiques: French Regency period furniture set to be auctioned

Sat, 04 Jun, 2022 - 07:55

Des O’Sullivan

The almost unbelievable style involved in owning a door knocker by Diego Giacometti speaks volumes about Hubert de Givenchy — a collector with a unique taste for mixing and matching modernity and classicism.

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Deeply rooted in the culture of his country the world-renowned couturier always considered furniture in dialogue with works of art. His magnificent homes — Hôtel d’Orrouer in Paris and Château du Jonchet in the Loire Valley — display the fruits of this hugely successful quest for an ideal of classical beauty.

Starting next week the collection of Hubert de Givenchy comes up at four live auctions and two online sales at Christie’s in Paris. With 1,229 lots of extraordinary variety and richness put together with impeccable good taste the overall estimate is in the region of €50 million.

There are nearly 200 paintings including works by Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Claudio Bravo, Max Ernst and Kurt Schwitters: over 100 sculptures including works by Alberto and Diego Giacometti, Francois Girardon, Francois-Xavier Lalanne and Janine Janet and more than 440 examples of seat furniture by makers and designers from the 18th to the 20th century.

Online auctions — the art of living and the art of hospitality — get underway next Wednesday (June 8) and run to June 22 and June 23 respectively.

There will be four live auctions on successive days beginning with masterpieces on June 14. With a remarkable gathering of nearly 800 pieces of French and European furniture Christie’s promise that these sales will be unmissable.

A pair of monumental girandoles attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire for Tsar Paul I of Russia.

There are masterpieces of classical furniture from the French Regency period to the Neoclassical and beyond. Among them is a Regence console from the collection of Coco Chanel who frequently invited him for dinner. A potpourri vase is thought to have been acquired by the King of Naples around 1780 and a pair of monumental girandoles attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire were made for Tsar Paul I of Russia.

A Louis XVI gilt-beechwood bergere stamped by N. Quinibert Foliot, c1770 with fabric design by Georges Braque.

A Louis XVI bergere with a textile designed by Georges Braque is one example of his taste for reupholstering antique furniture with modern textiles. He loved the colour green for its calming and relaxing properties and a natural sponge painted in green by Charles Sevigny is a nod to another master of the art of mixing modern and classical works.

There are masterpieces of modern art from his friend and collaborator Alberto Giacometti whose Woman Walking is estimated at €20-€30 million.

This piece greeted visitors to the first drawing room in the home of Givenchy and Philippe Venet on Rue de Grenelle.

A key painting by Joan Miro is titled Passage of the Migratory Bird and there are several works by Alberto’s brother Diego Giacometti (whose door knocker was at Château du Jonchet) and more contemporary pieces by Claudio Bravo and Francois-Xavier Lalanne. It promises to be a sale to remember, well worth exploring online.

Save or splurge? Console tables ideal for hallway and beyond