The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-24
HOENTSCHEL ART TREASURES
AysTEN tTIC an HLI STR tTEy
HTsTORl or DECOR tTEON.
tas, Educational value Of Collection Pre-
.cn,ed by Mr.. Morgan TO t.e Metra-
poIItan Museum Progressive DcN eIop.
mpnt W styles Under FreN,.l Kings.

~, July Is, bP Ftp0T0 puDhehod to-
day unarr the head French Decorative Art
in IN. United States" the following inter-
es,rng article signed 10y VI. L. Roger Miles:
when a month ago the season Of golden
auctions came - an end we heard the
annual song about the exodus OF works
Cf art and the air resounded once more
with the lamentations Of sensitive people
who accepted ~ absolute truth the legend
tnal there il no longer anything beautiful
in France. all having been carried Of 10y
the force Of dollars. these melancholy
s,uls wouldJbe less troubled if they went
nftener TO seek for comfort In the Louvre
and other national museums. which are
%inmu,ably rich in mast erpieces.
When ! consider with what passion
fn,eign amsteurs seek for the besutiful
relics ~ French art | am not at all saddened.
will admit. ~ seeing them carry them
away across the ocean, and J. think that
j. IL very fortunate hat there should be
diffusion Of the genius az our artists Of
former times over all the Continent. la
th,s We have a fact. aud il would he pueriie
g. object to il on principles OF u sentimental
nature. An example will enable me 20 ex-
plain my thoughts more completely.
Very recently Mr.. Pierpont Morgan OBJ
famed from NJ. George Hoentschei 1.-THE
Partisan Of taste and erudition and ardent
amateur who presented the ceramic work
II Carries to the Petit Pslais) an incotn-
rarable collection which ". Hoentsche had
formed for himself in the course Of twenty
five wears or labor aud which constitutes
an unequalled mea Ms OF study for any one
who wishes to obtain information about
The evolution Of French taste and about the
professional technique ~ French decorative
artists and artisans from the thirteenth
century TO the beginning of the nineteenth.
When ! say hat the Hoentschel collection
Is = means Of study I mean that IL in moi
composed solely OF entire works Intended
a. charm the eve and perhaps to inspire
pride in the possessor. but that il also con-
tains fragments collected and classified
methodically To oblige the brain TO work
in any one who understands the language
af styles and the ira information Of lines
and volume according to the succession
n periods. To this multiple and pro-
Eressive symphony Of art. which in the
course Of the centuries has made Use Of all
rhythms 10 express beauty, there are no
pieces or fra gnents that are u~nimportsnt.
NJ George Hosntschel has made no mistake
W lIlE uoI n WI hVt ohh WV - NV
has presented the extraordinsry collection
to the Metropolitan Museum Of New York.
In his house in the boulevard Flsndrin
VI. George Hocntschel had arranged that
from he start the visitor should be ware Of
the object which he had set before himself
The first hall was surrounded with glass
Cases containing about forty pa nels, ar
ranged. il is true. With perfect taste, only
bronzes motifs. r fragments. documents, en-
ployed formerly on furniture and on wood
work. Ii was a delightful series OF gro
iesques for f~riezes. OF brackets. OF handles
for plaques, Of inlsying for rings, OF little
frames, Of esoutcheons, Of metal mirrors
with warm gliding which the mos, noted
ornament makers and engravers Of the end
Of the seventeenth century and the eigh-
tenth century had marked with their tools
Now, h is known how much ina gination.
amiabls caprice and talent was expended
Ivy these artists in these compliments to
decoration in these metal embroideries.
which they did not think were finished
until they had worked on them with the
rare which is taken in jewelry work.
From this first hall one passed into
the great hall Of the house. which was
separated by perpendicular partitions pro-
jecting from the walls into several side
s~lcoves. and in each Of these alcoves were
collected woodwork. furniture. panels.
chairs. columns. door lintsls and man
tells. carved or adorned with paint
ings, consoles. window mouldings,
frames. jambs. wood. marble. terra Gotta,
painting. everything which gave TO a
decoration Of original invention the char
acter of style; Louis XIV. Regency. Louis
XIV, Pompsdour. Louis XVI. all that gave
their irresistible charm to those palaces
or those pleasure houses that Blondel has
described in his Lessons on Architecture"
which read like hymns of enthusiasm in
honor of the art Of his time. q legitimate
enthusiasm. since the fragments OF IL which
come to us still arouse all our admiration.
1t il true that among the specimens
Of the Hoentschel collection there are some
which join historical interest 10 their in
trinsic beauty. Such are the library and
the woodwork in the Louis XIV. style,
the panels OF The Seasons and the parlor
decoration which come from the Chateau
Of Marty, the woodwork in Louis XIV. style
which adorned Marie Antoinette's boudoir
in the Tuileries, the gilded console in Louis
XIV. style which was in the Grand drawing
room Of the Chateau de Marty. m Of the
doors decorated by lie Prince that came
from the Salon des Grotesques at Versailles;
likewise the panel in Louis XIV. lyle coming
from the Chateau OF Rambouillet. and a
stall in carved and painted oak OF the
Louis XIV. period; two door linteis with
medsIlions OF the Louis XVI. style. and an
armchair that came from the Chateau OF
ST Cloud; "A Louis XIV. panel by Marot;
an armchair Of the beginning OF the reign
If Louis XIV. by Crescent, an oak panel
with carved angels heads OF the Regency
period from Notre Dame; Louis XVI. panels
carved by S%alambier; the whole series OF
decorations painted by Cudry. DE Troy.
Pilment, Valsyr, Coster. DE Witt. Sarvage.
Barthelemy. BouchardOn. DC,
In this hall. 80 favorably partitioned.
you obtained the exact feeling for the
styles which followed one another from
the last third OF the seventeenth century
10 the French Revolution; the Louis XIV.
slvle corrected by lie Brun with the idea
81 magnificent sumptuosity; the style oil
the Regency suddenly emancipated. solid