L'Assemblée - Au Salon
Print
1783-4 (printed)
1783-4 (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This engraving and etching is one of a pair (along with L’Assemblée - Au Concert, museum number E.364-2013) made by François Dequevauviller based on gouache paintings by Nicholas Lavreince. Nicolas Lavreince (real name Niclas Lafrensen) was a Swedish miniaturist, draughtsman and gouache painter active in Paris until 1791. Originally his father’s pupil, he visited Paris 1771-3 before returning to Sweden where he was made a member of the Stockholm Academy. Returning to Paris in 1774 he made numerous models for engravers including the gouaches on which these two prints are based.
When L’Assemblée - Au Salon was announced in the Journal de Paris of 20 March 1783 priced at 9 livres it was noted in the best celebrity journalistic style that “Cette estampe nous paraît représenter assez bien ce qui se passe dans les meilleures assemblées ”. It has been suggested that it depicts the salon of the Duc de Luynes to whom the print is dedicated. (This is presumably Louis-Joseph-Charles-Amable d’ Albert de Luynes , (1748-1807) sixth Duc de Luynes.) Whether this room on a palatial scale bore any resemblance to his actual residence is unclear but the image clearly satisfied the aspirational impulses of Parisian print buyers.
According to Mimi Hellman, L’Assemblée au Salon, “seems to typify this mode of elegantly appointed French ease. ... Regularly spaced arcades, separated by fluted pilasters and capped by a richly articulated cornice, enframe the windows, doors and two mirrors placed over a fireplace and console table. Matching light fixtures flank the mirrors, and identical large urns set on pedestals punctuate the corners of the room… The chairs match; in actual rooms such sets were distributed at regular intervals along the walls-one is visible in this position to the right of the console table-and displaced according to the spatial and social conditions of different leisure situations.
Eighteenth Century Studies, Vol. 32, no. 4, Summer 1999, p. 415-445.
When L’Assemblée - Au Salon was announced in the Journal de Paris of 20 March 1783 priced at 9 livres it was noted in the best celebrity journalistic style that “Cette estampe nous paraît représenter assez bien ce qui se passe dans les meilleures assemblées ”. It has been suggested that it depicts the salon of the Duc de Luynes to whom the print is dedicated. (This is presumably Louis-Joseph-Charles-Amable d’ Albert de Luynes , (1748-1807) sixth Duc de Luynes.) Whether this room on a palatial scale bore any resemblance to his actual residence is unclear but the image clearly satisfied the aspirational impulses of Parisian print buyers.
According to Mimi Hellman, L’Assemblée au Salon, “seems to typify this mode of elegantly appointed French ease. ... Regularly spaced arcades, separated by fluted pilasters and capped by a richly articulated cornice, enframe the windows, doors and two mirrors placed over a fireplace and console table. Matching light fixtures flank the mirrors, and identical large urns set on pedestals punctuate the corners of the room… The chairs match; in actual rooms such sets were distributed at regular intervals along the walls-one is visible in this position to the right of the console table-and displaced according to the spatial and social conditions of different leisure situations.
Eighteenth Century Studies, Vol. 32, no. 4, Summer 1999, p. 415-445.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | L'Assemblée - Au Salon (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Engraving and etching |
| Brief description | L'Assemblée - Au Salon, etching and engraving by François Dequevauviller after Nicholas Lavreince (Laureince, Niclas Lafrensen), 1783-4. |
| Physical description | Indoor Salon scene. Six women and five men are standing or sitting in a large, opulent room filled with cabriole chairs, armchair, tables and a screen. Corinthian pilasters line the walls. A chandelier hangs from a tasselled rope from the ceiling and there are candles in sconces around the room. Around the top edges of the room is an elaborate cornice, including acanthus scrollwork decoration. The ceiling has been painted with images of cherubs and garlands. There are three arches set into the back wall, of which the two outermost contain doors, and above these are paintings of cherubs and vases. The central arch has a mantle, clock and large mirror. Three arches are visible along the wall on the left hand side, the two outermost with windows with drapes, the centre being a fireplace with vase and two bowls of roses on the mantle and large mirror above. There are vases with garland decorations and more garlands around the room. The floor is parquet. A woman sits in a chair by one of these windows and reads. Near the centre of the picture, a man and a woman are playing a dice game, with a man observing from behind. To the right a group of three women and two men are playing a card game on right hand side of the image. To the centre right of the image, a man and a seated woman are having a conversation. Two dogs are playing in the centre of the image. In the lower margin below the image is a representation of the coat of arms of Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon set among a military trophy. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Purchase supported by Emanuel von Baeyer in honour of the members of staff of the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum |
| Object history | Purchase from Emanuel von Baeyer, with support from printseller. RF 2013/899. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This engraving and etching is one of a pair (along with L’Assemblée - Au Concert, museum number E.364-2013) made by François Dequevauviller based on gouache paintings by Nicholas Lavreince. Nicolas Lavreince (real name Niclas Lafrensen) was a Swedish miniaturist, draughtsman and gouache painter active in Paris until 1791. Originally his father’s pupil, he visited Paris 1771-3 before returning to Sweden where he was made a member of the Stockholm Academy. Returning to Paris in 1774 he made numerous models for engravers including the gouaches on which these two prints are based. When L’Assemblée - Au Salon was announced in the Journal de Paris of 20 March 1783 priced at 9 livres it was noted in the best celebrity journalistic style that “Cette estampe nous paraît représenter assez bien ce qui se passe dans les meilleures assemblées ”. It has been suggested that it depicts the salon of the Duc de Luynes to whom the print is dedicated. (This is presumably Louis-Joseph-Charles-Amable d’ Albert de Luynes , (1748-1807) sixth Duc de Luynes.) Whether this room on a palatial scale bore any resemblance to his actual residence is unclear but the image clearly satisfied the aspirational impulses of Parisian print buyers. According to Mimi Hellman, L’Assemblée au Salon, “seems to typify this mode of elegantly appointed French ease. ... Regularly spaced arcades, separated by fluted pilasters and capped by a richly articulated cornice, enframe the windows, doors and two mirrors placed over a fireplace and console table. Matching light fixtures flank the mirrors, and identical large urns set on pedestals punctuate the corners of the room… The chairs match; in actual rooms such sets were distributed at regular intervals along the walls-one is visible in this position to the right of the console table-and displaced according to the spatial and social conditions of different leisure situations. Eighteenth Century Studies, Vol. 32, no. 4, Summer 1999, p. 415-445. |
| Associated object | E.364-2013 (Pair) |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.365-2013 |
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| Record created | March 11, 2013 |
| Record URL |
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