Jules and Paul Marmottan The Empire

The Empire

Boilly Louis-Léopold et Bidault J.J.Xavier 1758-1846

Fauteuils estampillés B.Molitor 1795-1800

Pierre Antoine Bellangé 1760 - 1844

François-Xavier Fabre 1766-1837

François, Baron Gérard, 1770-1837

After the death of his father in 1883, Paul Marmottan devoted himself full-time to the history and art of the First Empire.

At the same time he bought objets d'art and furniture all over Europe, with a view to building a collection devoted to that period. The result is a comprehensive, consistent picture of the decorative art of the time. The great cabinetmakers, such as Jacob the Elder and Jacob the Younger, Bernard Molitor and Pierre Antoine Bellanger, are represented by major pieces.

The collection of decorative Empire bronzes is just as rich as that of the furniture. Its candelabra, clocks and chandeliers bear the mark of the great artists of Napoleon's reign: Pierre-Philippe Thomire, Pierre-Victor Ledure, Claude François Rabiat and Jean-François Deverberie. The collection is rounded out by high-quality ceramic pieces, candelabra from the Sarreguemines Workshops, Sèvres porcelain settings and a Dagoty vase.

Paul Marmottan's collection of paintings, engravings and drawings is a direct reflection of his studies and writings on Louis Boilly, the Kingdom of Etruria, and the French School of painting from 1780 to 1830.

It includes views of Paris and its environs which are precious archival reminders of places now mostly lost to us, and of monuments, châteaux and parks: gateways on the Faubourg Saint-Martin and the Champs-Elysées, a carriage and horses in the courtyard of the Château of Neuilly and views of the Le Raincy park.
There are also portraits: those, for example, of Napoleon Bonaparte and his family, of Désirée Clary, of Elisa - and the famous gallery of portraits by Louis Boilly.