Description

The sale of the Duc d’Aumont’s collection in December 1782 was one of the great events of the eighteenth-century Paris art market: hardstone vases, porphyry, Oriental porcelain and above all the gilt-bronze mounts of Pierre Gouthière, bought by Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette among others. Baron Charles Davillier (1823-1883), collector and historian of the decorative arts, republished the catalogue in 1870 with the prices and buyers of each lot, notes on the later history of the pieces, and thirty-two plates of the surviving objects. This is a faithful print-on-demand facsimile of the 1870 edition, reproduced in full from a library copy. The historical text is reproduced without modification; only the format, margins and legibility have been reset for modern printing.