A COLLECTION UNIQUE IN THE WORLD!

 

This collection consists of more than 400 pipe furnaces made of various materials, mainly dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, numerous pipes and trimmings.
The aesthetic appeal of the collection constituted by Baroness Alice de Rothschild is clear: they are original and often exceptional objects, always of high quality workmanship. The decorative themes on the stove tops, regardless of the materials used, are due to the fact that these materials co-exist despite the chronological period concerned. The concerns of the moment are thus translated on the stoves by woodcarvers, porcelain decorators or clay pipemakers. For example, we draw your attention to pipes decorated with characters from the French Empire, whether they are famous (Napoleon, Blücher, Wellington) or anonymous (battle scenes). Other subjects remain omnipresent such as venery, animals (exotic or familiar). The scenes of daily life, however, provide some chronological elements, as the caracters’ clothes can evoke a particular period.

​

COLLECTION ICONOGRAPHY: 10 GREAT THEMES

​

            1) illustrations of scenes inspired by mythology (Greek or Roman)

            2) anthropomorphic stoves or ornamented stoves with famous or anonymous characters

            3) war themes (warriors in action or representations of military leaders)

            4) hunting and its various actors (human or animal)

            5) animals (zoomorphic or staged bowls)

            6) characteristic monuments or views of cities

            7) oriental patterns or characters

            8) curiosities, unusual or rare themes on pipes

            9) heraldry with the representation of various coats of arms

           10) the vegetal style with representations of flowers in the main theme but is also to embellish and accompany other subjects.

 

​​​​​​Extracts from the publication written by André Leclaire about Alice de Rothschild and her collection of smoking pipes