DUVAUX Lazare (EN)

Biographical article

Born circa 1703, Lazare Duvaux died in Paris on 23 November 1758, ‘at the age of around fifty-five’ and was buried the following day in the church of Saint-Eustache (AN (French national archives), MC/ET/XCIV/290, 29 November 1758. Duvaux, 1873, I, p. LXVIII, LXXXIII and II, p. 380, note 1).

Lazare Duvaux probably began his commercial activity at the end of the 1720s or at the beginning of the 1730s. Louis Courajod mentioned his business at Rue de la Monnaie, with the shop sign Chagrin de Turquie (Duvaux, L., 1873, I, p. LXIX). Duvaux subsequently moved, because, on 20 September 1739, he was described as a ‘Parisian bourgeois residing on the Rue Saint-Honoré’ (AN (French national archives), Y 4567^B). On 5 August 1758, Lazare Duvaux signed a lease with Thomas Joachim Hébert, a former dealer who had become an Equerry and Secretary to the King, to rent a house on the Rue Saint-Honoré, located opposite the Hôtel d’Aligre (opposite the present-day nos. 121–125), where he died three months later, on 23 November 1758 (AN (French national archives), MC/ET/CXIII/398, 5 August 1758). At the Hôtel de Lisieux, on the Rue Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, Lazare Duvaux also had stables for a horse and a shed for his two-seated carriage, a vehicle that was indispensable for travelling round as part of his métier (AN (French national archives), MC/ET/XCIV/290, 29 November 1758).

On 18 July 1755, Duvaux succeeded Claude Roussel (d.1755) as the king’s goldsmith and jeweller (AN (French national archives), O¹ *99, f. 201. Duvaux, 1873, I, pp. LXXVI, LXXVII) and was granted the privilege of being a ‘dealer following the Court’ before 1756.

Upon his death, his widow, Françoise-Nicole Boutron, continued her husband’s business activities until 26 April 1759 (Duvaux, L., 1873, II, p. 380, note 1, and p. 390), then sold off the business at auction, from 3 December 1759 to 7 January 1760 (Annonces, affiches et avis diverse, 26 November 1759, p. 731; 29 November 1759, p. 739; 17 December 1759, p. 779 and 3 January 1760, p. 4). His son, Jean-François Duvaux, who was fifteen at the time, did not take over the shop. He was subsequently employed in the service of the Comte d’Artois as Écuyer Maître d’Hôtel and was named a gendarme in the king’s guard (AN (French national archives), MC/ET/LXIX/768, 8–10 February 1783).

The métier of marchand-mercier or dealer

Lazare Duvaux belonged to the Corps des Marchands Merciers (dealers), the first mention of which dates from 1137. The statutes of July 1601, and above all those of January 1613, established the legal framework for their extremely varied business activities, ranging from the sale of charcoal or ham to that of brocade. At the end of the seventeenth century, the corporation comprised twenty specialties, as that of selling furniture and objects d’art had already emerged during Louis XIV’s reign (1638–1715) (Castelluccio, S., 2014).

The originality of the statutes of the Corps des Marchands Merciers lay in the fact that they were prohibited from making articles: only ‘enjolivement’—that is to say enhancement—was granted to them. This restriction led to the success of specialised dealers in the business of selling furniture and objects d’art: they could sell furniture and second-hand—known as ‘de hasard’ in the eighteenth century—objects, but above all porcelains and Oriental lacquer objects, as well as porcelains produced by European manufactories (Chantilly, Sèvres, and Meissen), ‘enjolivés’ (adorned) with gilt bronze mounts.

This freedom enabled them to enhance many objects in the fields of furniture and objets d’art, and they demonstrated great originality in order to attract and retain an aristocratic clientele that was eager for novelties and luxury goods (Duvaux, L., 1873, I; Vidal-Duru, 1911; Verlet, 1958; Watson F., September 1967; Sargentson, 1996; and Castelluccio, S., 2014).

The goods

Two documents provide details about Lazare Duvaux’s business dealings: on the one hand, his Journal du Crédit or Livre-Journal, in which every dealer had to record his daily business activities since the commercial code (Ordonnance sur le Commerce) promulgated in 1673. Duvaux would write down the date of the sale, the customer’s name, the type of goods sold or services provided, the amount of the transaction, and the settlement or outstanding amount of the purchases (Duvaux, 1873, II). On the other hand, his post-death inventory provided details about his stock upon his death, with an estimation of the stocked goods (AN (French national archives), MC/ET/XCIV/290, 29 November 1758).

Lazare Duvaux’s shop stocked a large variety of cabinetwork, with encoignures (corner cupboards), tables, commodes, Coromandel lacquer veneered commodes, wardrobes, bedside tables, secretaires, game tables, bidets, serre-papiers (paper holders), and tables de toilette, amongst other items. The selection of joinery furniture was less extensive, and included screens, paravents, fauteuils de toilette, table and console legs, and small gilt wood consoles.

With regard to lighting, they sold lustre chandeliers decorated with Bohemian crystals, girandoles, and chandeliers.

Duvaux sold a large variety of Chinese and Japanese porcelain (vases and statuettes of animals and figures), sold with or without mounts, and as decorative elements on girandoles, clocks, and lustre chandeliers. The proportion of porcelain wares (plates, cups, goblets, teapots, etc.) seemed to have been small (Castelluccio, S., 2013).

The Chinese and Japanese lacquered objects were still highly appreciated for their rarity and refinement (Castelluccio, S., 2019a). Duvaux sold a large assortment of cabarets, boxes, teapots, lacquered trays, with or without gilt bronze or silver—even gold for the most refined objects—decorations. He also sold Western furniture (commodes, secretaires, etc.) adorned with lacquered or Vernis Martin panels, a Western imitation of Oriental lacquers.

Chinese wallpapers were highly popular until the 1770s. Their fantastical qualities, bright colours, and motifs of flowers and birds inspired collectors to decorate the walls of their cabinets, as well as to adorn paravents and screens (Castelluccio, S., 2018a).

Alongside Oriental porcelains, Duvaux sold new European wares in this field, in particular those from Saxony. Sculptures predominated and formed the central element of ensembles created by the dealers, comprising articles such as girandoles, wall sconces, writing desks, and clocks, along with clocks from the East. Between 1748 and 1758, a third of the 394 sales of Saxony made by Duvaux comprised mounted objects and a quarter sculptures. However, Chantilly porcelains were marginal and, between 1748 and 1758, Duvaux only sold three of them and solely chamber pots (Castelluccio, S., 2020).

Lazare Duvaux was one of the official resellers of the Vincennes-Sèvres manufactory, ranging from articles used as tableware, including complete table services, to ornamental vases and biscuit sculptures. The amount of his purchases from the Sèvres manufactory was impressive: in 1758, he bought 73,589 livres worth of goods from it, benefitting from ‘a deduction of twelve per cent’, no doubt due to the large quantities purchased (AN (French national archives), Minutier Central, XCIV, 290, 29 November 1758).

His stock also comprised mirrored trumeaux and all the accessories required for their ornamentation, such as wall sconces and andirons, all in gilt bronze. He also sold pictures that could be hung on walls or used as overdoors.

Various objects complemented his diverse stock: small ornamental bronzes, silver stamps for sealing letters and documents, fountains, silver writing desks, snuffboxes, various cases, bellows, blinds, goldsmithery, and even dog collars.

The same kinds of furniture and objects were listed in his post-death inventory (AN (French national archives), Minutier Central, XCIV, 290, 29 November 1758), which comprised 642 Chinese and Japanese porcelains, 109 porcelain articles from Saxony, sixteen English, and only five ‘from France’, that is to say Sèvres. No objects from Chantilly featured on the list. The ensemble of lacquered objects comprised 121 articles. Duvaux stocked thirteen lacquered veneer cabinetwork items (commodes, wardrobes, secretaires, and encoignures).

Business activities

At the time of his death, Lazare Duvaux employed Jacques Antoine Rousseau and Jean Henri de Beaussen as garçons de boutique (shop assistants).

The dealer’s business activities were not restricted to selling goods and were complemented by many services offered to the clientele. The purchases were delivered to the customer’s home and Duvaux also handled the installation of the mirrored trumeaux, wall sconces, as well as Chinese wallpapers (Castelluccio, S., 2018a). Of course, he also provided decorations for porcelains, both Oriental and European, generally in gilt bronze.

Duvaux serviced and repaired all kinds of articles, from varnished or gilded bronzes to chandeliers, torn wallpaper, pieces of broken gold or silverware, watch movements, keys, and so on. He sold glass to replace the broken panes of a lantern, or for prints that needed to be framed, and accepted to exchange one item for another.

He also played the role of commissionaire for customers, buying objects on their behalf at post-death sales, such as that of the Duc de Tallard (1684–1755) in 1756.

The extent of his assets enabled him to almost entirely furnish his residences, such as the châteaux of Crécy and Champs and the apartment at Compiègne for the Marquise de Pompadour (1721–1764). Duvaux also had objects moved from the Château de Crécy, from which he transferred some of his furniture to that of Champs in September and October 1757. Madame de Pompadour also entrusted him with servicing the cabinetwork and gilt bronzes in her Château de Bellevue.

Duvaux also provided the furniture for the pavilions at Les Hubis and Verrière and that of the Château de Saint-Hubert for Louis XV (1710–1774), as well as that of the residence of Monsieur de Fontferrière in Auteuil.

In the event of shipping to the provinces or abroad, Duvaux carefully packed the objects in crates (using straw and hay), and delivered them to the person responsible for transporting the articles.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs readily solicited Duvaux to create diplomatic gifts, as was the case for those intended for Russia and Denmark.

The teams of craftsmen

To provide this large range of services, Lazare Duvaux depended on his team of craftsmen. At the time of his death, he was working with the clockmakers Moisy, Lenoir, and Mallon; the sculptor Houllier; the casters Leroy, Passe, Gallien, Buron, Vassan, Dugué, and Osmont; the upholsterers Collet and Nolleau; the gilder Amelin and the silver worker Lemoine; the gold and silversmiths Bellanger and Ducrollay; the cabinetmakers Macré and Dubois; the marble craftsman Trouard; and the varnishers Martin and Huet (AN (French national archives), MC/ET/XCIV/290, 29 November 1758).

The clientele

Like most of the dealers who specialised in selling furniture and objects d’art, Lazare Duvaux worked in the luxury category to cater to the clientele that purchased the most objects, that is to say the royal family and the French and European aristocracy.

Although his first delivery for the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne occurred on 29 January 1746 (AN (French national archives), O¹ *3314, f° 4), Lazare Duvaux became the regular dealer of Louis XV, Marie Leszczinska (1703–1768), and the royal family, circa 1747. The sovereigns, the Dauphin, and the second Dauphine, Marie Josèphe de Saxe (1731–1767), and the Filles du Roi subsequently appeared regularly in his Livre-Journal until the end of his commercial activity.

His clientele comprised the highest nobility and financiers. Major collectors, such as the Ducs d’Aumont (1709–1782) (Castelluccio, S., 2011, p. 76) and de Tallard, the painter François Boucher (1703–1770) (Castelluccio, S., 2019b; Rimaud, Y., 2019), Louis Augustin Angran de Fonspertuis (1669–1747), Augustin Blondel de Gagny (1685–1776) and his son Barthélémy Augustin Blondel d’Azaincourt, Gaignat, Jean de Julienne (1686–1766), and Ange Laurent de Lalive de July (1725–1779) readily purchase objects from him, such as lacquer articles, porcelains, and other Oriental objects, attesting to the high quality of his goods.

Lastly, there was another habitual practice amongst dealers—sales between confrères—to make up for missing items in their stock or rapidly meet the demand of a client. Amongst these were the dealers Dulac, Fayolle, Thomas-Joachim Hébert (1687–1773), the La Fresnayes, the Le Bruns, Machard, the goldsmith Jean Ducrollay (circa 1708–after 1776), and the faience artisans Gilles Bazin and Bailly (Duvaux, L., 1873, II).

Conclusion

Lazare Duvaux appears to have been one of the most famous eighteenth-century dealers, largely attested by his Livre-Journal. In the latter was recorded the range of his stock, the variety and complexity of his business activities, and the diverse sociological profiles of his clientele. The marchand-mercier assumed the roles of dealer, antique dealer, decorator, and purchasing agent, while providing a range of highly appreciated post-sale services. This document, complemented by his post-death inventory and many studies, enables us to gain an insight into the vital role played by dealers in the development of the trade in luxury objects in Paris in the eighteenth century, and in the diffusion of works created by artisans and manufactories, in particular that of Sèvres porcelain.