CHINE - XIXe siècle - Lot 90

Lot n° 90
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Estimation :
6000 - 8000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 7 800EUR
CHINE - XIXe siècle - Lot 90
CHINE - XIXe siècle Throne seat cushion cover in yellow silk embroidered with gold and polychrome threads of lotuses in their foliage and bats. The foliage is embroidered with shaded blue threads (san lan). 186 x 81 cm (Wear, faded colors). Mounted on panel. Provenance: According to family tradition, this silk was brought back by Captain-Count de ...., who took part in the entire Chinese campaign (1859-1862). It was kept in his château in the south of France, where it remains to this day. In 2005, the embroidery underwent a light restoration by a specialist authorized by the Museums of France and Heritage departments, and a member of the Ateliers de France. It was then removed from the screen on which it had been mounted and placed on a delicate flat support. The restoration report and corresponding invoice will be given to the purchaser. Below is a photo taken around 1920 in the château grounds. It shows children acting in front of the screen supporting the silk brought back by their ancestor. Extract from the memoirs of Colonel-Marquis de ....., when he was Captain-Count of ..... and took part in the China campaign. China campaign: .... "October 2, 1860. ...Around nine o'clock, I heard a few shots on the side of the Palais d'été. Monsieur de Pina, a naval lieutenant, had gone over the Palais gate with a few men, and found a few Tartars who, after putting up little resistance, disappeared into the night. The next morning, a non-commissioned officer whom I had sent to the camp on an errand, told me that everyone was visiting the Palais. Palace. My officers then asked me for permission to visit the Palace. I granted them permission, on condition that they went one after the other. They came back laden with trinkets, some of which they offered to me; from what they told me, the camp was strewn with gold-embroidered Chinese garments, numerous rolls of silk of every color, rare furs thrown on the ground and trampled on by all passers-by, as well as small pieces of furniture and trinkets of all kinds, music boxes, clocks, English watches from the gifts made to the emperor Kiang-Hi by the French ambassador to France. Kiang-Hi by the English ambassador Lord Macartenay on behalf of his Government. Around noon I saw five heavily laden carriages, driven by Chinese men and escorted by an officer and two English dragoons, about a hundred yards from my post. I recognized the officer as Major Herbert Slade, my friend and relative from the Crimean campaign. I sent him a sergeant to tell him that he was coming to talk to me and that he couldn't pass. Major Slade arrived at full gallop, and recognizing me, he realized it was a prank, stopped his carriages near the grand guard and had coffee with us. -" Well, my dear friend, I hear we've plundered the Summer Palace. -" My God," he replied, "these are just a few souvenirs. The brave Slade did not enjoy his little souvenirs, for the General in command of the English army gave orders that everything taken from the Summer Palace by the English should be collected and auctioned off, and that the resulting sum should then be divided." "February 4, 1861. I have sent my family some objects from the Summer Palace of the Emperor of China that were given to me or bought from the soldiers, including a large Peking lacquer box found in the trunk room. Peking lacquer box found in the throne room" .... Extract from General de Montauban's report to the Minister of War War, dated from headquarters in front of Peking on October 12, 1860: ....splendeur du Palais d'été.... Jade gift for Queen Victoria Victoria and the same for Napoleon III ...
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