PROPERTY FROM THE GUSTAV RAU COLLECTION SOLD TO BENEFIT THE GERMAN COMMITTEE FOR UNICEF PORTRAIT MEDALLION WITH A GENTLEMAN, PROBABLY SIR JOHN HOUBLON, GOVERNOR OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND AND LORD MAYOR OF LONDON (1632-1712) with an old paper label to the reverse printed and inscribed in ink: David Le Marchand c.1674 d.1726. / Samuel Pepys. 1633-1703. / GEORGE BUCKTON BROWNE. / Exhibited Burlington Fine arts Club 1932. Cat No 220 / "Charles II loan Exhibition 1923 Cat no. 131. / ...entioned by M H Longhurst in "English Ivories" p.59 initialled: D.L.M. fec. ivory 21.2cm., 8 3/8 in
London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, Exhibition of Carvings in Ivory,
1923, no. 220
London, Young Women's Christian Association of Great Britain, 22-23
Grosvenor Place, A loan exhibition depicting the reign of Charles II,
1932, no.131
Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland; London, The British Museum;
Leeds, City Art Gallery, David Le Marchand 1674-1726. 'An Ingenious Man
for Carving in Ivory', 1996-1997, no. 70
Literature
G. Buckston Browne, Exhibition of Carvings in Ivory, exh. cat.
Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1923, no. 220, pl. LI
M. Longhurst, English Ivories, London, 1926, p. 59
A loan exhibition depicting the reign of Charles II, exh. cat. Young
Women's Christian Association of Great Britain, London, 1932, no. 131
L. Grodecki, Ivoires Français, Paris, 1947, p. 137
F. Davis: 'Talking about Salerooms', Country Life, 29 March 1979, p. 902
f.
C. Avery, David Le Marchand 1674-1726. 'An Ingenious Man for Carving in
Ivory', London, 1996, pp. 93-95, no. 70, pl. 8
Provenance
G. Buckston Browne Esq., 80 Wimpole Street, London W1
Sotheby's London, 27 April 1945, lot 62
Sotheby's London, 14 December 1978, lot 232
on loan to Museum Schnütgen, Cologne, September 2009 to December 2012
Notes
This superb relief portrait by the virtuoso French Huguenot ivory carver
David Le Marchard is one of the most important English Baroque ivories
in existence. Describing the medallion in 1996, Charles Avery observed
that it ‘is one of the more celebrated of David’s reliefs’
and noted that, ‘its large size and the direct, unflinching gaze
of the sitter engage a viewer’s attention immediately’
(Avery, op. cit., p. 94).
David Le Marchand was the foremost ivory carver, and one of the most
influential portraitists, operating in late 17th- and early 18th-century
Britain. He was born in 1674 in the Northern French port of Dieppe, a
town famed for its long tradition of ivory carving. With the Revocation
of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which persecuted the Huguenot community,
Le Marchand chose to flee to Britain, settling in Edinburgh in 1696,
where the city granted ‘Liberty and Licence to David Lemerchand
designer and cutter in Ivory to exercise the sd. Arte’ (Avery, op.
cit., p. 13). By 1700, Le Marchand moved to London, where he established
himself as one of the most fashionable portraitists in the city. His
sitters included many of the leading notables of the day, including Sir
Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys and Sir Isaac Newton. Le Marchand’s
oeuvre should ultimately be viewed against the backdrop of Restoration
London, a hive of commercial activity and the rapidly changing heart of
a burgeoning trading empire. The expensive medium of ivory and Le
Marchand’s dramatic Baroque style appealed particularly to those
men of enterprise who had helped to elevate The City. Le Marchand’s
most loyal patrons were the Raper’s, a family of wealthy silk
merchants, who were amongst the earliest Directors of the Bank of
England.
The present relief most probably represents Sir John Houblon, first
Governor of the Bank of England and Lord Mayor of London. The identity
of the sitter was proposed by Avery, who, noting the importance of the
Raper family's patronage to Le Marchand, looked for further patrons
within their circle, in particular, fellow founders of the Bank of
England. Within this small group of individuals, Houblon, who was of
Huguenot descent, emerges as the most likely candidate. A comparison
with Closterman’s 1696 painting of Houblon, confirms a strong
correspondence between him and the man portrayed in the present ivory.
Note the same oval-shaped eyes, hooded eyelids, fleshy cheeks, and
prominent lines running from the sides of the nose to the corners of the
mouth. Charles Avery suggests that it is likely that Le Marchand carved
the relief after Closterman’s portrait, and that it may have been
commissioned as a posthumous memento, possibly by members of the Raper
family. The absence of the inscription ad vivum, found on several other
Le Marchand ivories, would further indicate that the relief was carved
not from life, but posthumously. A previous suggestion that the portrait
represents Samuel Pepys can be discounted by a comparison with Le
Marchand's portrait of Pepys in the British Museum (inv. no. 458).
Within Le Marchand’s oeuvre, the present relief finds its closest
comparisons in his busts in the round. The majority of his other reliefs
depict the sitter in profile and in low relief, placing the present work
in a distinct and rarer class of alto-relievo carvings. This deep
carving, is believed to have been borne out of Le Marchand’s
practise of modelling his portraits in malleable wax prior to working
them in ivory. The only comparable reliefs in alto relievo, are his Sir
Isaac Newton in the Thomson Collection and his Thomas Guy in the V (inv.
no. A.I-1936), both of which similarly present the sitter en-face. The
arrangement of the extraordinary wig, open collar, comfortable fold of
flesh beneath the chin, drilled eyes and searching gaze, are, however,
closest to his Lord John Somers at Wimpole Hall, dated 1706. Another
relevant, though less elaborate, comparison is with a bust in the
Thomson collection dating to c. 1716-29, which is believed to represent
another Govenor of the Bank of England, Sir Humphry Morice; the central
parting of the wig terminating in almost rigid curls, is very similar to
that worn by Houblon. The turned head and generous drapes, are
particularly close to those seen in the bust of Francis Sambrooke, dated
1704, in the Thomson collection. On the basis of a comparison with the
Lord John Somers, Theuerkauff suggests that the present portrait dates
to the first decade of 18th century, whilst Avery, considering the
possibility that it could have been a posthumous tribute, dates the
relief to the second decade. What is clear, given the above comparisons,
is that the present ivory would almost certainly have been carved
between c. 1704-1716.
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