FRENCH SCHOOL, Circa Late 1730s – 1770s
A Cabinet of Curiosities: Shells with Coral and a Wooden Box as well as Antiquities Including an Egyptian Ushabti on a Stone Plinth
Remnants of initials J. (?) E (?) S (?) on the stone plinth in the lower left center
oil on canvas
22.04 x 30.32 inches (56 x 77 cm.)
PROVENANCE
Anonymous sale, lot 96 (as Jacques van Es, “Coquillages”) on an old label on the reverse
Private Collection, France
As vividly depicted in this painting in early modern Europe shells as objects of curiosity along with tabletop sculpture were widely collected. Shells of vibrating color, strong patterns, sculptural elegance and rarity were particularly desirable. Almost all of the collectors in seventeenth century Amsterdam regarded shells as the linchpin of their collections, a trend which continued well into the eighteenth century. Ingeniously and sensing a prime opportunity the art dealer Edmé-François Gersaint began importing entire collections of shells from the Netherlands into Paris. Responsible for introducing auction sales as a form of entertainment for the elite of Paris in 1736, he held the first of eleven sales with descriptive catalogues. Titled Catalogue Raisonné de Coquilles, Insects, Plantes marines, et autres Curiosités naturelles, it had a frontispiece designed by François Boucher, a fellow shell enthusiast.[1] Gersaint’s efforts proved extraordinarily successful as shells in particular were viewed as luxury goods in what was known as the commerce de la curiosité a market composed of collectors, dealers, and natural historians that functioned as a social, intellectual and commercial network. Sales accelerated through the 1740s and Paris along with the Netherlands and London became the principal centers for sales of shells. By the middle of the eighteenth century there were over 450 private collections curieuses in Paris. Heterogeneous in nature collectors sought out what they perceived as “pretty, pleasant, refined, artistic, astonishing and unique” in their purchases.[2]
The market peaked for shells in 1757 when the Marquis of Bonnac sold his valuable collection in Paris, formed while Ambassador to the Netherlands. By the early 1760s prices levelled off until the market completely collapsed in the 1770s due to the development of widespread accessibility of shells as harvesting, preparation and transport were standardized.[3]
In this work centered among the objects is a blue Egyptian Ushabti statue. Such statues were funerary figurines placed in tombs in ancient Egypt. They were intended as servants in the afterlife to the deceased. Inscriptions in hieroglyphs, as visible here, covered the lower part of their body.[4]
In the eighteenth century a fad for all things Egyptian erupted due to studies in archaeology, the rise of travelers’ accounts that described ancient Egypt combined with Biblical texts, as well as renewed interest in classical authors. But perhaps most profoundly influential was the 1731 publication in Paris of Abbé Jean Terrasson’s Sethos, Histoire ou Vie tirée des Monuments anecdotes de l’ancienne Egypte in six volumes. Describing the Egyptian religion as mysterious and magical, with harrowing rituals and initiations sometimes set in the secret chambers of the pyramids, he seized the popular imagination, and his descriptions were taken as gospel. Although the supply was limited Egyptian artifacts became sought after by collectors for their cabinets of curiosities. Due to their scarcity a booming business in the production of copies also flourished.[5]
[1] Stephanie S. Dickey, “Shells, Prints, and the Discerning Eye” in Conchophilia, Shells, Art, and Curiosity in Early Modern Europe, Princeton University Press, Princeton & Oxford, 2021, pp. 159, 164-165.
[2] Bettina Dietz, “Mobile Objects: The Space of Shells in Eighteenth – Century France” in The British Journal for the History of Science, volume 39, no. 3, September 2006, pp. 365, 369 – 371.
[3] Stephanie S. Dickey, op.cit., p. 169; and Bettina Dietz, op.cit., p. 378.
[4] “Egyptian Ushabti” on West Semitic Research Project, at dornsife.usc.edu.
[5] Ronald H. Fritze, Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy, Reaktion Books, London, 2016, pp. 152 – 154.