Richard de Lalonde (after), Pair of consoles, probably from the Hôtel de La Vaupalière according to the inscription “DelaVaup” under one marbletop, detail, circa 1760–1765, Galerie Léage, former Madame Henriette Bouvier Collection
Between the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and the avenue des Champs-Élysées stands one of the finest hôtels particuliers built in the second half of the 18th century. A jewel of neoclassical architecture, it housed a superb furniture collection during the Age of Enlightenment.
Jean-François Œben, Secretary from the Hôtel de La Vaupalière, forming a pair with a chiffonnier (OA 5167), seized during the Revolution at the Hôtel de La Vaupalière, circa 1760, Paris, Musée du Louvre (inv. OA 5166)
© Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Thierry Ollivier
Jean-François Œben, Secretary, circa 1760, Galerie Léage
The district of Le Roule experienced significant development in the 1720s, when the Regent and the court returned to Paris. Aristocrats, struggling to find suitable accommodations in the capital, invested in this faubourg, which was then largely inhabited by market gardeners cultivating the surrounding vegetable plots and orchards. Numerous hôtels particuliers were built there. Aristocrats, financiers, and members of the bourgeoisie lived harmoniously in this fashionable new neighborhood, of which the Marquis de Bombelles wrote in 1788 that there was “no part of the capital more convenient or more lively to inhabit.”
It was in this context that the architect Marie-Louis Colignon (1726–1793) acquired several parcels of land in 1765 between rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and the Champs-Élysées. After demolishing the few houses and the brewery that occupied the site, he began in 1768 the construction of a splendid mansion set between a courtyard and a garden.
Elevation of the garden side of the Hôtel de La Vaupalière, 1768
The result of an ambitious design, the building displayed a bold and early neoclassical vocabulary. With a central two-story block flanked by low wings, its ornamentation and rhythm drew inspiration from the Petit Trianon recently erected by Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698–1782). The palatial scale of the house befitted its first tenant, Pierre-Charles-Étienne Maignart, Marquis de La Vaupalière (1730–1816). First sub-lieutenant of the King’s First Company of Musketeers, he obtained in 1769, with his wife, a lifetime lease on the mansion, which would henceforth bear his name.
Living in grand style, the Marquis de La Vaupalière moved in the highest social circles. His fondness for gambling led him to frequent the salons of the Prince de Conti, the Duc de Chartres, the Prince de Condé, and Madame de Genlis. The Marquis and Marquise entertained a cultivated society with great splendor. In 1783, some sixty guests attended at their home the first reading of the remarkably modern Mariage de Figaro by its author, Beaumarchais. A few years later, in 1788, a lavish celebration for the wedding of Mademoiselle de Matignon was held at the Hôtel de La Vaupalière. The banquet table featured an actual flowing river populated with live fish and bordered by miniature houses and tiny animated figures. A magnificent fireworks display, orchestrated by the famous Ruggieri, brought the evening to a spectacular close.
Richard de Lalonde (after), Pair of consoles, probably from the Hôtel de La Vaupalière according to the inscription “DelaVaup” under one marbletop, circa 1760–1765, Galerie Léage, former Madame Henriette Bouvier Collection
Renowned for the magnificence of its hosts, the Hôtel de La Vaupalière was also famous for its interiors and furnishings. The Marquis possessed refined and luxurious taste. Before the completion of the works in 1769, he ordered modifications and enhancements to the carved wood paneling of the mansion’s salons. He called upon the most renowned and innovative artisans of the time. Already a client of Jean-François Œben (1721–1763) in the early 1760s, he also commissioned the bronzier Jean-Jacques Caffieri (1725–1792) and the cabinetmaker Pierre Garnier (1726/1727–1806). Like many amateurs of his era, he also sourced pieces from the great marchand mercier Dominique Daguerre.
Several pieces of furniture from the Hôtel de La Vaupalière are still known today. All belong to the Greek taste that developed in Paris in the 1760s. A secretary and matching chiffonnier, made by Œben around 1760, are now in the Musée du Louvre. Their marquetry veneer in a “cube sans fond” pattern and their gilt-bronze ornamentation draw on ancient Roman decorative motifs. Probably originating from the Hôtel de La Vaupalière—as suggested by a handwritten inscription beneath one of the marble tops—this pair of consoles in our collection also exemplifies this particularly innovative taste.
Pierre Garnier, Japanese lacquer secretary, seized at the Hôtel de La Vaupalière in 1795, then placed in at the Minister of Justice’s house in 1796, circa 1770⁄1775, Paris, Musée du Louvre (inv. OA 6084)© 2017 GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Stéphane Maréchalle
After the French Revolution, the Marquis and Marquise de La Vaupalière emigrated as early as 1790. The mansion and its contents were placed under sequestration and became one of Paris’s nineteen official furniture depots. Its furnishings were dispersed in several sales in 1795 and 1796, and even disposed of in large groups during the first and second national lotteries. However, the reputation of the marquis’s furniture attracted the attention of savvy citizens: Bayard, inspector of the Garde-Meuble National, reserved several pieces for the Luxembourg Palace, then the seat of the Directory, including the aforementioned secretary and chiffonnier, as well as a superb Japanese-lacquer secretary by Garnier. Considered among the most beautiful pieces ever produced by the cabinetmaker, the latter was eventually placed in the residence of the Minister of Justice on Place Vendôme in 1796 and has since entered the collections of the Musée du Louvre
The dining room of the Hôtel de La Vaupalière, now the headquarters of AXA, after its restoration by interior designer François-Joseph Graf.
After undergoing numerous alterations and reductions in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Hôtel de La Vaupalière is now incorporated into a modern architectural complex and houses the headquarters of AXA. Restored in the late 1990s under the direction of decorator François-Joseph Graf, it has once again been furnished with an exceptional ensemble of 18th-century furniture.
Bibliography:
Dominique Fernandès, “Hôtel de la Vaupalière”, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Délégation à l’Action Artistique de la Ville de Paris, 1994, pp. 271- 281.
Valérie Bougault, “La Vaupalière, une demeure hors du temps”, in Connaissance des Arts, n°663, Septembre 2008, pp. 150–155.
Christophe Huchet de Quénetain, Pierre Garnier, Les Éditions de l’Amateur, 2003
