拍品专文
An almost identical pair of presse-papiers was sold by the Marquess of Cholmondeley in these Rooms, 'Works of Art from Houghton', 8 December 1994, lot 3
The LOPEZ-TARRAGOYA COLLECTION
(Lots 59-70)
The Baron de Lopez-Tarragoya was best known for his two great passions, breeding thoroughbreds and collecting 18th Century, principally French works of art. Descended from an ancient Spanish and Portuguese family, he was born in Paris where he established a firm at 8 rue Lafayette, specialising in the importation of pearls and precious stones. One of his ancestors was a member of the family who were the bankers of the Kings of Portugal.
His racing colours of yellow jacket, red trim and black silk became a familar sight in France and Spain from 1927 and particularly after he started breeding in 1933. At one time he owned in excess of two hundred horses, probably the best known of which was the stallion Châteauroux, who won six races including the Prix Monarque and the Prix de Bois Roussel and whose offspring were said to have won 150 million francs.
The Baron de Lopez-Tarragoya formed a distinguished art collection in the early part of the century, mainly acquired through the Parisian dealers Jacques Seligman, Bensimon and L. Kraemer et Fils. Seligman had purchased the bulk of the Hertford-Wallace property in 1914 from 2 rue Laffitte and the château de Bagatelle, which had been left to Lady Sackville by Sir John Murray Scott (d. 1912). Numerous items in the Lopez-Tarragoya Collection are said to have come from Sir Richard Wallace's Collection via this source. In addition, the Baron also frequented the great sales of the time at the Galerie Charpentier in Paris. He acquired items from the Lowenstein Collection and the collection of the comte de Montesquiou.
Various pieces of furniture formerly in the Lopez-Tarrogoya Collection are now in well-known museums. These include a pair of Louis XIV boulle marquetry torchères attributed to André-Charles Boulle, sold by Randon de Boisset in 1777 and now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California (illustrated C. Bremer-David, Decorative Arts, An illustrated Summary Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1993, p. 73, no. 106). This pair was purchased by the Baron from the princesse de Faucigny-Lucinge. The collection also included a rare St. Petersburg tapestry woven between 1737 and 1739 with the arms of the Empress Anna Ivanovna and now in the Hermitage and a Louis XIV giltwood console and equestrian bronze of Louis XIV, both now in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (given by M. Grog).
The Baronne de Lopez-Tarragoya maintained the stables with equal passion and success for a number of years, breeding such well-known thoroughbreds as Novio, Torero and Theia. She has also safeguarded the collection in her various homes
A PAIR OF REGENCE GILT-BRONZE PRESSE-PAPIERS
细节
A PAIR OF REGENCE GILT-BRONZE PRESSE-PAPIERS
Of rectangular shape decorated with acanthus scrolls on an imbricated ground, the handles decorated with stiff leaves
16in. x 21½in. (41cm. x 55cm.) (2)
Of rectangular shape decorated with acanthus scrolls on an imbricated ground, the handles decorated with stiff leaves
16in. x 21½in. (41cm. x 55cm.) (2)