Lot 93: Jean I Berain (Saint-Mihiel 1640-1711 Paris)

A design for a fireplace below a mirror decorated with a medallion of King Louis XIV and two Allegories of Fortune holding the Royal Crown over two trophies; the mirror flanked with alternative designs of candelabra held by nudes, the sides with trophies and a winged statue of Victory, the tablet with a trophy and the fire-back decorated with two sphinxes
with inscription 'Dessin original de Jean Bérain, (XVII e siècle). Dessin' (twice) on the mount
black lead, pen and black ink, grey wash, the outlines incised, the verso rubbed with red chalk
10 3/4 x 6 7/8 in. (274 x 176 mm.)

In reverse by Pierre Giffart, for Premier cahier de modèles de cheminées, Paris, pl. I.

This design was engraved by Pierre Giffart for the Premier cahier de modèles de cheminées published by Berain himself. Of the five other prints of this cahier three were engraved by Scotin and one by Bojan. Each print consists of two fireplaces often composed of alternative solutions and an element of boiserie.
The drawing for the other fireplace on plate I was exhibited in 1880 at the Union centrale des Arts décoratifs (Catalogue descriptif des dessins de décoration et d'ornements de maîtres anciens exposés au Musée des Arts décoratifs, no. 15) from the collection of E. Foulc (R.-A. Weigert, Jean I Berain, dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet du roi, Paris, 1937, under no. 187).
The present design appears, as Baron Pichon first pointed out (in Archives de l'Art français, 1855-60, IV, pp. 322-9), in the boiserie in the background of a picture in Versailles depicting the Regent and his son, the duc de Chartres, in his study (C. Constans, Les Peintures, Paris, II, 1995, no. 6143). The Regent's study was formerly that of the Grand Dauphin (1660-1711) in Versailles. His desk and the rest of the boiseries were also designed by Berain.
Another study by Berain for a fireplace is in the Copper Union Museum in New York (R.P. Wunder, Extravagant Drawings, New York, 1982, pl. 35) and an album of drawings from Berain's studio, also of fireplaces, is in Berlin (E. Berckenhagen, Die Französischen Zeichnungen der Kunstbibliothek Berlin, Berlin, 1970, nos. Hdz 116-133).
Berain studied with Henri Gissey, Dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet du roi, and took over his position in 1675. He then worked extensively for King Louis XIV, devising decoration for interiors, operas, and boats as well as organising parties and fire-works. He gave his name to a style of decoration used from the later years of King Louis XIV's reign until the mid 18th Century.