JOURDE Philippe (EN)

Biographical Article

Formerly a merchant, Philippe Jourde became a journalist at Le Siècle and led an active political career in the Bouches-du-Rhône. He demonstrated great erudition and curiosity about history and art history.

The Birth of Republican Ideas

Originally from Puy-en-Velay, he was the son of Jean-Jacques Jourde, a merchant, and Claire Mourgues. For a time, he followed in his father's footsteps and ran a prosperous trading house in Buenos Aires (Barré H., 1913, p. 277). He continued this business in Paris, as a merchandise commissioner, and then soon turned to study law. His stay in the Americas had made him attuned to republican sensibilities. From 1852, the date of his return to France, Philippe Jourde began to vocalise these partisan ideas, positioning himself in the fight against the Empire. The press was a privileged vehicle for these messages.

As the President then honorary president of the Syndicat de la presse parisienne and of the Association de la presse parisienne, he served as editor-in-chief and managing director of the newspaper Le Siècle from 1868 to 1888. The newspaper,which waspart of the moderate republican movement, was particularly known for its literary columns, and it emphasised the serial publication of various stories. Jourde became a promoter of the Association des journaux parisiens from 1884 to 1885. Registered as the association’s first secretary, he was proclaimed honorary president on May 9, 1885. His portrait, executed by Auguste Feyen-Perrin (1826-1888), hung in the committee's deliberation room.

From Parisian Lawyer to Provençal Politician

Philippe Jourde became a judge at the Seine Commercial Court from 1870 to 1871, then President of the Paris Chamber of Commerce. He then left the capital, to get closer to Provence and Marseille in particular, which he considered "his adopted homeland" (Bulletin de l'Association des journalists parisiens, 1906, p. 30). His political involvement was thus anchored in this territory. He was elected general counsellor of the canton of Martigues, located in the arrondissement of Aix, without competition on November 4, 1877. He was twice elected president of this assembly, and he retained his mandate until 1895 (Barré H., 1913, p.277).

Philanthropist

As the president of the Société des victimes du devoir (Society of Victims of Duty), he was named chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, on April 15, 1890. In addition to his role in politics, Philippe Jourde turned out to be a philanthropist. He founded the Asile des marins de Martigues (Martigues Sailors' Asylum) (L'Illustration, 1900, p. 275), which he donated to the Association des secours aux gens de mer de la Méditerranée (Mediterranean Seafarers' Relief Association) (AD 13, 4 O 59 3). The establishment was inaugurated with great fanfare by the Minister of the Navy, Jean-Louis de Lanessan (1843-1919), who was also director of Le Siècle.

Philippe Jourde and Marseille Society

Philippe Jourde was a well-known art lover. He greatly admired Jules Cantini (1826-1916), a marble worker and sculptor, who left to the city of Marseille the bulk of his collection, gathered at 19, rue Grignan. In anticipation of the musée des Beaux-Arts, for which Jules Cantini designed the plans in 1913, Philippe Jourde donated a few works on deposit. These objects were claimed by his descendants during the council of municipal deliberation on November 22, 1913 (AM Marseille, 57 R 132).

On Tuesday, August 24, 1897, he attended the marriage of the violinist Louis Grobet (1851-1917) and the dedicated collector Marie Labadié (1852-1944), as a witness for the bride (La Vedette, 1897, p. 605).

Philippe Jourde can thus be understood as fully part of Marseille’s particularly dense circle of learned collectors, and inclined to patronage.

The Collection

The collection put together by Philippe Jourde evolved over the course of its existence and underwent numerous modifications. Given over to the city of Marseille, it demonstrates a certain taste for ceramics, with Asia occupying a modest place, alongside the factories of Rouen, Aprey, and Montpellier. Thus, the collection does not have one exclusive focus.

A Book Collection

Jourde’s library, consisting of 8,882 volumes, was bequeathed to his hometown (bibliothèque du Puy-en-Velay, Présentation du fonds [ligne]). The set reveals an enlightened and curious mind. In particular, it contains textbooks of geography and history, travelogues, specific works on contemporary subjects, and works of fiction. An analysis of the library’s content from the catalogue, available online, makes it possible to identify these main areas of interest. However, while Philippe Jourde expressed a certain curiosity for the East and the Far East, these works represent only a minor part when compared with the whole; slightly more than 200 works concern Asia. Thus one should note the existence of a broader body of works of general culture, which attests to the collector’s curiosity.

A Shifting Collection

The composition of the collection morphed over time. In Paris, Philippe Jourde gathered the bronzes of Barye (Antoine-Louis Barye, 1795-1875), part of which he sold as he was about to move to Provence. He dispensed of a few more objects at an auction held at Hôtel Drouot on May 4, 1881, a sale that had great repercussions in the art world. Paul Mantz (1821-1895), of the Chronique des beaux-arts, praised the collection of paintings. The art critic paints a portrait of "a spiritual man", "a man of letters who is at the same time a man of taste", evoking not only "a very healthy taste", "choice cuts", " a collection of works above all interesting", "well-conceived, serious", where modern art is shown not "in its grandeurs […] but in its familiarities" (Mantz P., 1881, p. III). It included painters Camille Corot (1796-1875), Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), Alberto Pasini (1829-1899), Jean-Barthold Jongkind (1819-1891), Antoine Vollon (1833-1900), and even Felix Ziem (1821-1911). Philippe Jourde was said to be little attracted to scrupulous realism, and no doubt the premises of impressionism and the orientalising tendencies of Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) or Pasini pushed him towards other horizons. The watercolour by Jules Ferdinand Jacquemart (1837-1880), Jeune Femme regardant des bibelots japonais (lot 107), is perhaps an indication of a reversal of posture, leading to a renewal of the collection, the collector being determined to "replace the decent with the exquisite and the good with the best" (Mantz P., 1881, p. IX), unless these were indications of a budding interest in Asia.

In the advertisement accompanying the April 15, 1874 issue of the newspaper Le Siècle, its director referred to Voyage en Asie by Théodore Duret (1838-1927), which had just been published by Editions Michel Lévy frères, as a work by "one of the most likeable and popular talents".

The Asia of Philippe Jourde in the Collections of the City of Marseille

The works acquired by the city of Marseille show a pronounced taste for recent porcelain from China and Japan. Two objects bear the mark of the Fukagawa Seiji Kaisha factory. While the first pieces produced by the family business attest to refined tastes, which aroused the enthusiasm of the Japanese imperial court, production was then directed towards the export market, responding to Western demands. Streamlining production allowed for higher quantity manufacturing, standardised designs meant to fit any shape. Both dishes come from that period. Furthermore, the Arita porcelain dish with floral decoration, designed according to the Imari palette (inv. GF 3701), of rather coarse workmanship, and the plate of the same workmanship, with Imari decoration compartmentalised in medallions (inv. GF 3699), in which a pomegranate tree constrained by a fence appears, are imbued with a rather hieratic style.

The collection also contains an interesting dish (inv. GF 3652), dating from the Edo period (1603-1868), which testifies to the appropriation by Japan of Chinese techniques of ceramics. This white-blue porcelain is an imitation of Chinese kraak style tableware from the Wanli period (萬曆) [1572-1620]. This type of porcelain corresponds to the first orders from the East India Company (VOC), the Dutch seeking to overcome supply difficulties in China in this conflicting period of dynastic transition. These decorations, evoking a lake landscape populated by deer, are a unique feature of Japanese production exported to Europe from 1679 to 1681 (Viallé, 2000).

Regarding Chinese production, the collection includes a pair of dishes of slightly different sizes in white-blue porcelain from the East India Company, which can be dated to the Qianlong (乾隆) period [1735-1796]. There is also a pair of vases covered with "eight precious objects", in polychrome wucai (五彩) [five colors], objects also intended for export.

In conclusion, Philippe Jourde appeared to be a collector of his times who was sensitive to its realities. On the other hand, it is difficult to assess the place that Asia represented in his collection, without a complete view of it. At best, we can observe that the collection of heterogeneous ceramics was completed by Japanese and Chinese porcelain, pieces which, of recent manufacture, were undoubtedly more accessible on the local market.