LOT DETAILS

Materials:

black marble

Size Notes:

overall; the fireplace 131cm. high, 205,5cm. wide, 72cm. deep

Literature:

[1] I.M. Breedveldt Boer, Tekenen en Vasseren, het bedrijf van Jan Peter van Baurscheit (1699 – 1768) en de architectuur in het tweede kwart van de achttiende eeuw, Utrecht 2003. All information about the correspondence, way of working and collaboration with suppliers and craftsmen in the workshop comes from this thesis. [2] Mimi Debruyn, Bouwhistorische studie van het voormalig Koninklijk Paleis te Antwerpen, Meir 50, in opdracht van het Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Afdeling gebouwen, Antwerpen 2000. The two fireplaces are mentioned in ANP, 0/2/1095: nr. 86, p. 74-75 (Budget of 1813, done by VERLY on 28 juli 1812: Etat sommaire des Ouvrages à exécuter au Quartier Général Impérial d' Anvers. Budget 1813). Appartement de S. M. L' Impératrice: Section 99. Antichambre. Art. 756: 'Le nettoyage de la cheminée en marbre'. (p. 74). Appartement de S. M. L' Impératrice: Section 100. 1er Salon de l' Impératrice. Art. 760: 'Le nettoyage de la cheminée' (p. 75). [3] S.A.A. Insolvente Boedelskamer, 2115 Copeyeboek van Brieve, fol 5, letter to Monsieur J. Bommeaux on May 8 1748, idem fol 13, letter dating June 20. In this letter Van Baurscheit asks for five different samples of marble and he explains that in every room he would like to use a different colour of marble and aims for a different design for each fireplace. [4] Copeyeboek van Brieve, op.cit. a letter to Piersoel, marble supplier in Namen dating May 18 1748, contains exact instructions for the execution of a black marble fireplace in addition to the designs sent. [5] Also included in a major representative route. The chimneys were placed by craftsmen. The gilded wooden ornaments were supplied by the workshop. Mirrors were ordered from Sr. le Normant in Amsterdam, and the grisailles were produced by J.F. Geraerds. [6] When the commissioner unexpectedly died, the building work stopped for some time and the next owner, Lord Fraula, completed it. Some fireplaces by Van Baurscheit, which had already been ordered, were delivered, including a black one with yellow veins, which is now situated on the mezzanine of the caretaker in the right rear building. This fireplace is similar to the black marble copy described above. See also M. Debruyn, 'Het paleis op de Meir in Antwerpen. Van particuliere woning tot keizerlijke en koninklijke verblijfplaats', in: Gentse Bijdragen tot de Interieurgeschiedenis, vol. 33, 2004, Leuven: Peeters, 2004, p. 39-84, foto's p. 66.

Provenance:

The city palace Aan de Meir in Antwerp, Belgium