Lot n° 191
Estimation :
5000 - 6000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 15 600EUR
Meiffren Conte (circa 1630 Marseille 1705) - Lot 191
Meiffren Conte (circa 1630 Marseille 1705)
Still life with ewers, armor and perfume burner
Oil on canvas
H. 114 cm x L. 144 cm
Provenance: Private collection, Paris
Bibliography: Michel Faré, Le grand siècle de la nature morte en
France, le XVIIè siècle, Société française du Livre, Paris, 1974, reproduced
p. 234
Our composition of Armors, ewers and incense burner is typical of Meiffren's work.
typical of Meiffren Conte's work, where we find on an entablature
on an entablature, and usually against a dark background, a skilful
and precious objects. In fact, it's
rich fabrics and carpets, in the tradition of compositions by
of the Maltese, seashells from distant seas, Chinese porcelain,
and, of course, silver and vermeil vases, incense burners and ewers
that our artist specialized in. Throughout his
throughout his career, a wealthy clientele commissioned such compositions, which he
which he always succeeded in renewing, even though he repeated several times
that he particularly liked. His works are also invaluable
evidence of the European pieces present at the Court of Louis XIV,
which have now disappeared and are only known through their mention in the
collections of the Mobilier Royal. This is particularly true of
one of the twelve large silver torches from the series designed by
designed by Le Brun and representing the labors of Hercules (Guiffrey,
1885, I, p. 79), which is faithfully reproduced in several of his
compositions. He probably drew on a large collection of engravings
repertoire of forms, but it was above all thanks to his links with the artists
artists, including his son Sauveur, who worked with Van der Meulen
and le Brun, that Conte was able to learn about some of the pieces
the Court.
The beautiful play on chiaroscuro, the decorative breadth of the compositions,
the diversity and rendering of precious materials, made Meiffren
Conte a very fashionable artist during his lifetime, provoking a veritable
for large, ceremonial still lifes. Mariette
devoted a few lines to him in his Abécédario: "He excelled in the depiction of
carpets, suits of armor and works of goldsmiths' and silversmiths' work
treated in painting with an extreme degree of truth..." (1854-56,
volume III, p. 114)
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