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Wed 26 Jun

Thomas COMPIGNÉ, d’après Joseph VERNET (1714-1789) - Rare gilded pewter medallion on a tortoiseshell base, presenting an animated port view surrounded by the inscription: "Seconde vue de Marseille - Fontaine St Jean excutée sur le tour par Compignié Tourneur du Roi à Paris d'après le Tableau original de M. Vernet peintre de Sa Majesté". Wear and tear. In a round wooden frame (cracks). Second half of the 18th century. Diameter: 7.8 cm (as seen). Frame: Diam: 10.4 cm History : The preferred tablemaker of King Louis XV, COMPIGNÉ specialized in the manufacture of boxes, tric-trac, a checkers, chess and snuffboxes. Today, his name is still associated with pewter relief paintings, the process of which remains a mystery. These works are executed on a lathe on a sheet of pewter embossed in relief on a matrix, then placed on a scale or cardboard support and decorated with gouache, gold, silver and colored varnish, giving them a precious charm. The most frequently represented subjects are landscapes with figures (views of Italy, Paris, etc.), historical subjects, reproductions of paintings by famous artists such as Horace Vernet, or views of châteaux. COMPIGNÉ's production is characterized by high quality craftsmanship; his epigone Claude-Louis Chevalier, who was probably trained in his workshop and received his master's degree in 1776, did not achieve the same degree of perfection. Solicited by cabinetmakers and "merchant-merchants", these craftsmen frequently decorated small tables, as attested by the example in the Doucet collection or the one in the Musée de l'Ile-de-France in St Jean Cap Ferrat. Other examples of this technique are preserved at Chantilly and at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Estim. 400 - 600 EUR