As author of this catalogue of French silver in the J. Paul Getty Museum, I stand upon the shoulders of many. First and foremost, my debt is to those who built the collection, J. Paul Getty and the Museum’s first curator of decorative arts, Gillian Wilson (who retired in 2003 as curator emerita), and then to the dealers and specialists who advised them. The silver object files in the Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department of the J. Paul Getty Museum are rich sources of information gradually accumulated over the years by former staff, notably Adrian Sassoon, David H. Cohen, and Gay Nieda Gassmann, and external colleagues, such as Clare Le Corbeiller of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Bruno Pons, an independent researcher; and Alexandre Pradère, formerly of Sotheby’s, Paris, and for many years now an independent art historian.
The preparation of this volume benefitted fundamentally from the generosity of three mentors in the fields of European and British silver studies: Michèle Bimbenet-Privat of the Musée du Louvre, Paris; Peter Fuhring of the Fondation Custodia, Paris; and Tessa Murdoch, of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection (on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London). Each examined the collection at the J. Paul Getty Museum and shared the breadth of their knowledge, expertise, and observations. No mark was too small, obscure, or impartially struck to elude their eye. Their patience in entertaining long conversations, study sessions, and collection visits elsewhere advanced my understanding and encouraged my efforts. My second debt is to them.
Many colleagues, academics, and art dealers on both sides of the Atlantic facilitated access to collections and answered research queries. Their institutional affiliations listed below (in alphabetical order) were current at the time when they graciously supported my endeavors: Alastair Dickenson of Alastair Dickenson Ltd., Godalming, U.K.; Hugo Chapman of the British Museum, London; Jon Culverhouse of Burghley House, Stamford, U.K.; Stéphane Castelluccio of the Centre André Chastel (CNRS), Paris; Jean Vittet of the Château de Fontainebleau; Stephen Harrison of the Cleveland Museum of Art; Alan P. Darr and Yao-Fen You of the Detroit Institute of Arts; Alexis Kugel of Galerie J. Kugel, Paris; Stephanie Souroujon and Dora Thornton of the Goldsmith’s Company, London; Ulrike Weinhold of the Grünes Gewölbe, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; Ellenor M. Alcorn, Wolfram Koeppe, Denny Stone, and Luke Syson of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Anne Forray-Carlier, Audrey Gay-Mazuel, and Sophie Motsch of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; Olivier Hurstel, Antonin Macé de Lépinay, and Constance Rubini of the Musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design de Bordeaux; Jannic Durand, Frédéric Dassas, Catherine Gougeon, and Marie-Hélène de Ribou of the Musée du Louvre, Paris; Hélène Cavalié of the Mobilier national, Paris; Christine Kitzlinger of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg; Godfrey Evans, Stephen Jackson, Emily Taylor, and Helen Wyld of the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh; Jane Gallagher and Richard Swinscoe (Kedleston Hall, Derby, U.K.) and James Rothwell (London), of the National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Francis Norton of S. J. Phillips, Ltd., London; Dorothea Burstyn of the Silver Society of Canada; Anna McAlaney and Susan Palmer of Sir John Soane’s Museum, London; João Magalhães of Sotheby’s, London; Gareth Harris of Smith and Harris, Manufacturing Goldsmiths, London; Karin Annette Möller and Torsten Fried of the Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany; Lisa Gee and Gareth Hughes of the Portland Collection, the Harley Gallery, Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire, U.K.; Alice Minter of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection (on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London); Marina N. Lopato, Olga Lokalova, and Katja Abramova of the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg; Pascal-François Bertrand of the Université de Bordeaux-Montaigne; Teresa Leonor M. Vale of the Universidade de Lisboa; David M. Mitchell of the University of London; Antonia Boström, Kirstin Kennedy, and James Robinson of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Mia Jackson, Ulrich Leben, and Pippa Shirley of Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, U.K. (National Trust / Rothschild Foundation); and Linda H. Roth of the Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. Several independent art historians and scholars kindly aided the cause: Meredith Chilton; Ines Elsner; Gordon Glanville and Philippa Glanville; Michael Hall; Hyejin Lee; James Lomax; Sheila O’Connell; and Alexander von Solodkoff.
I learned about traditional silversmithing techniques from Rod Kelly, Goldsmith and Silversmith, the South House Silver Workshop Trust, Shetland; Charlie Spurrier, Silver Steward and Collections Conservator, the Goldsmith’s Company, London; and Tonny Beentjes, Professor of Metal Conservation and Restoration, Universiteit van Amsterdam. Of course, one does not learn about material properties or technical skills in a few short weeks or intermittent conversations. For a more profound understanding of silver, fortunately I was immersed for more than four years in the scientific investigations of the decorative arts and sculpture conservators at the J. Paul Getty Museum: Jane Bassett, Arlen Heginbotham, Julie Wolfe, Jessica Chasen, and Karen Bishop. Their deftness in utilizing analytical instruments at the Museum and at the Getty Conservation Institute, and their interpretation of data, greatly informed the entries in this catalogue. Julie Wolfe, moreover, undertook the majority of technical examinations on the objects to address questions concerning alloys, fabrication, alteration, and condition. She also photographed a very large number of marks, inscriptions, and armorials. Additionally, she attentively read the manuscript and clarified several key points. My third debt of gratitude goes to her and to Jessica Chasen, who contributed the masterful technical summary of the Franco-Anglo water fountain (cat. no. 1), created in Paris in 1661–63 and altered in London in the late seventeenth century and again in the mid-eighteenth century. Their efforts and this catalogue benefitted from Arlen Heginbotham’s expertise in X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy for the elemental analysis of silver alloys.
Other departments at the Getty Center worked behind the scenes to produce this beautiful publication. Members of the Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department extended their knowledge, support, and guidance: Anne-Lise Desmas, Jeffrey Weaver, Amanda Berman, and Dulcinea Cano. Anne-Lise Desmas, Senior Curator and Department Head, also critically read the manuscript and suggested helpful improvements. The project was ably assisted by several important collaborative teams: preparators and mount makers in the Museum; reference, special collections, interlibrary loan, and circulation, as well as institutional records and archives in the Getty Research Institute; and imaging services in Getty Digital including Michael Smith, Rebecca Vera-Martinez, Stacey Rain Strickler, Gary Hughes, and Johana Herrera. Getty Publications brought the volume to fruition; thanks especially to Kara Kirk, Karen Levine, Nola Butler, Greg Albers, Ruth Evans Lane, Kurt Hauser, Victoria Gallina, Dina Murokh, Nancy Rivera, and freelance copyeditor Zsofia Jilling.
To all these, thank you.
- Charissa Bremer-David