Attribué à Société des sculpteurs-ornemanistes pour les Bâtiments du roi

PAIR OF IMPOSTS WITH MUSIC INSTRUMENTS Paris, first quarter of the 18th century Oak Restorations of use and maintenance H. 71 x W. 94 cm Provenance Former Jean-Pierre Jouve collection Private collection, Paris This pair of large-framed oak impostors represents two music trophies carved in the mass. In the center of the first panel, a trumpet and a lyre are intertwined; on the second, a bagpipe and a recorder. The instruments are held in place by a knotted ribbon, adorned with tassels of trimmings. All around, arabesques sculpted in flattened form blossom in the spandrels. The composition, in vogue at the Court of Louis XIV, was adapted in various forms by the sculptors working for the King's Buildings to decorate the royal apartments. André Legoupil, Marin Bellan, Pierre Taupin and Jules Degoullons formed an association to decorate the panelling of the King's Chamber at the Grand Trianon in 1700. Two or three intertwined musical instruments enliven the panels, one of which is a lyre topped by a palmette (fig. 1). It differs from ours by the presentation of the group leaning on a stool. This type of composition was soon replaced by the more modern one of the fall or trophy held by a ribbon (fi g. 2). In his sketches, perhaps a project for the Hôtel Dupille in Paris, Mathieu Legoupil, André's son and associate, shows a singular taste for acanthus and palmette motifs. Like the sculptor of our panels, he enriches the uprights of the lyre, the tip of a staff or the pocket of the musette with remarkably delicate ornaments. Further information from the collector is available in the PDF by QR code.