ROUSSEL, A. D. (EN)

Biographical Article

A.D. Roussel was an enigmatic figure, about whom research is rendered all the more difficult as the relevant archives in Colmar and Paris are currently not accessible.

We only have a mention in the register of donations and acquisitions of the Musée Unterlinden (managed by the Schongauer Society) written by André Trautmann, curator at the museum in the 1930s. He noted in January 1936, opposite the mention "Gift of Mme A.D. Roussel, 20, rue de la Terrasse, Paris":

"In January, I brought back from Paris a collection of Japanese works of art:

• 7 Inros with their Netzukés
• 8 Netzukés in the shape of a mask (hardwood)
• 7 sword guards (tsoubas)
• 1 opium pipe in its ivory case
• 2 bronze mirrors
• 1 jade (dragon)
• 5 red lacquer sake cups
• 2 leaf-shaped bowls (porcelain)
• 1 tortoiseshell fan (China)
• 14 chiseled mother-of-pearl tokens
• 1 dancer's hairpin
• A series of small bronzes, ornament of sabres
• (some undisplayed objects are placed in a box, in a cupboard)

Full inventory in Notebook: Langweil Room.

In addition Mme Roussel gave us:

• An 18th century enamel box (boîte à mouche) decorated inside and out with musical scores (transferred copper engraving). Marked "Dreuden") Display case in the 18th c. room

At the library :

• An album of 48 original Japanese watercolours (19th century)
• A Japanese poetry album with painting
• The Fables of Lafontaine, illustrated by Gustave Doré
• 1 Volume on Decorative Painting in Churches”.

Thus, regarding this collector, we know only the initials of her given names, her family name, and her address in Paris at the time of the donation. She could have been a woman named Marie Roussel, who lived at 20, rue de la Terrasse with Joséphine and Paul Jaffeux—who we can assume to be her servants—in the 1930s, according to the population censuses of 1931 and 1936 (AP D2M8 436, AP D2M8 663).

The inventory sheets of the museum mention a donation in 1931, as well as a possible profession of art dealer. This information, however, does not appear in the register of donations and acquisitions, and it would be necessary to have access to all the archives of the Schongauer Society to invalidate or confirm this.

The reasons for such a donation to the Musée Unterlinden are unknown.

The Collection

It is difficult to determine exactly which items at the Musée Unterlinden came from the Roussel bequest. This collection, small in size, was eclipsed by the substantial donations made to the museum by Florine de Langweil in the same years. Exhibited in the Langweil room without an in-depth inventory, the objects from the A.D. Roussel collection became mixed up with those of Florine Langweil. At the establishment of a summary inventory on October 31, 1961, before the objects in the Langweil room were placed in storage, the objects listed under the name "A.D. Roussel" no longer coincided in terms of dates, number, and denomination with those mentioned in the register of donations and acquisitions. So a comparison between the two is necessary.

In the register of donations and acquisitions, the only mention made of A.D Roussel objects is in January 1936 (date not specified). Mentioned are:

• “7 Inros with their Netzukes
• 8 Netzukés in the shape of a mask (hardwood)
• 7 sword guards (tsoubas)
• 1 opium pipe in its ivory case
• 2 bronze mirrors
• 1 jade (dragon)
• 5 red lacquer sake cups
• 2 leaf-shaped cups (porcelain)
• 1 tortoiseshell fan (China)
• 14 chiseled mother-of-pearl tokens
• 1 dancer's hairpin
• A series of small bronzes, ornament of sabres
• (some unexposed objects are placed in a box, in a cupboard)

Full inventory in Notebook: Langweil Room.

In addition Mme. Roussel gave us:

• An 18th century enamel box (boîte à mouche) decorated inside and out with musical scores (transferred copper engraving). Marked "Dreuden") Display case in the 18th c. room

At the library :

• An album of 48 original Japanese watercolours (19th century)
• A Japanese poetry album with painting
• The Fables of Lafontaine, illustrated by Gustave Doré
• 1 Volume on Decorative Painting in Churches »

These objects were exhibited for a time in the Langweil room. When they were crated to be deposited in the reserves on October 31, 1961 (the room being reallocated to other objects), a summary inventory was drawn up. It read:

"Gift of Madame A.D. Roussel, Paris, 1936

• 6 masks
• 1 ivory skull
• 4 sabre hilt ornaments
• 2 sabre guards
• 1 fan
• 1 pen holder
• 2 perfume bottles
• 6 different pieces, miniature insects etc…
• 1 philosopher statuette
• 1 feather
• 9 inlaid mother-of-pearl plates
• 5 lacquered saucers
• 6 earthenware statuettes
• 2 plates, Japanese art (gift from Mrs. Langweil)
• 1 sauce boat, Japanese art (gift from Mrs. Langweil)
• 1 perfume box "

And

“Display Case No. 1, Gift of Madame A.D. Roussel in Paris, 1931

• Earthenware, statuettes, 6 pieces
• 5 lacquered saucers
• 2 plates (Japanese art, 18th century, porcelain of (illegible) from Nabeshima)
• 3 gold-lacquered mirror boxes, Korin school, 17th century
• 7 perfume boxes, 16th century
• 2 bronze mirrors
• 8 saber guards
• 1 fan
• 6 wooden masks
• 1 ivory skull
• 2 perfume bottles
• 12 pins
• 1 case for ivory nibs
• 1 pencil case
• 1 small philosopher sculpture
• 4 small oval perfume boxes
• 1 hairpin
• 3 knives
• 15 sculpted mother-of-pearl plates
• 1 perfume box ornament".

As the contents of the display cases partially overlap, one can assume that the designated objects are the same. Moreover, as these mentions do not match those of the donations in the register of donations and acquisitions, it is highly probable that the Roussel objects and the Langweil objects were confused during their exhibition and then the inventory process in 1961.

Today, among the Asian objects, 59 numbers in the inventory of the Musée Unterlinden bear the name A.D. Roussel. Objects clearly identified as being from Roussel are:

• 4 sword hilt ornaments (menuki)
• 4 sabre pommels and ring pommels (fuchi kashira)
• 3 knife blades with two of them with their decorated handle (kozuka)
• 3 mask-shaped netsuke
• 3 small decorative objects in metal and in the shape of animals
• 27 prints
• 2 lacquer plates (only one inventory number)
• 4 lacquer cups
• 1 hairpin
• 1 pipe case
• 1 pipe
• A jade ornament
• 1 snuff box
• 1 fan
• 12 engraved mother-of-pearl plates (two inventory numbers)
• Two bronze mirrors

That is a total of 70 objects and 59 numbers. In these objects, the mother-of-pearl plates, the jade ornament, the snuffbox and the fan are potentially of Chinese origin. The other objects are Japanese, produced between the 17th and 19th centuries. The netsuke, fuchi kashira, kozuka, cups and prints are signed.

If we compare this list to the one drawn up in 1936, we observe that the inrô are missing with their netsuke, several mask-shaped netsuke, 7 sword guards (tsuba) and two porcelains. If the mention of "original Japanese watercolours" refers to prints, 21 are missing, as well as an "album of Japanese poetry with painting".

All the Roussel collections bear witness to a fairly eclectic taste, oriented towards small objects and prints. No large-scale object seems to integrate these collections. Likewise, ceramics and textiles are almost completely absent from these collections.

The 27 prints preserved today all represent kabuki theatre actors or female characters executed by major names in Japanese prints in the 19th century. Madame Roussel's taste thus seemed to have been directed exclusively towards the representation of characters and not interested in artists prior to the 19th century. In addition, some prints are isolated parts of triptychs. Their gift alone, without the other two sheets supposed to complete them, shows a certain ignorance on the part of the collector. In itself, the choice of these prints and the artists is very conventional and does not reflect a particularly enlightened view of the subject. Four prints bear a handwritten mention referring to the Barboutau collection on their mounting board (falsely written Barboutan on the inventory sheets and written BarboutAU or BarboutEAU in the annotations in an alternative way). A number may refer to a sales catalogue. Among these four prints, two (n.inv. 2018.0.9 and 2018.0.23) bear on the reverse of their composition a red seal with three Japanese characters: 場部戸. This seal remains to be identified but has no meaning in Japanese. It can, however, be read in Japanese as "Babudô" or a phonetic transcription of the name of Pierre Barboutau. The latter, recently the subject of a publication in Japanese, was once a big name in Japonisme but is now forgotten. He was an art dealer of humble origins who specialised in Asian objects, and whose publications of biographies of painters and printmaking artists in the early 20th century were then considered as references. It is therefore likely that two prints from the A.D. Roussel collections come from the sales of this art dealer and collector.

Among the militaria collected by A.D. Roussel, an engraved kozuka steel blade is exceptional. This is the only blade not bearing a signature (n.inv. 2012.0.174). This small blade has a decoration made by a chisel, whose variations in thickness imitate the irregularity of a brush stroke. The theme, addressed in a remarkably small and narrow format (L 20.1 cm; W 1.2 cm; D 0.2cm), comes from classical and literary culture: it illustrates the six geniuses of poetry (rokkasen 六歌仙), praised by Ki no Tsurayuki in his famous preface to the anthology Kokinshû (905). The six poets are represented on the blade, accompanied by their names: the poetess Ono Komachi, the men of court Ariwara no Narihira, Fun.ya no Yasuhide, and Ôtomo no Kuronushi, the religious figures Henjô and Kisen Hôshi. Most of these characters lived in the ninth century. They are represented on the blade seated, below their names.

The term rokkasen is engraved on the upper part of the blade. Below are six poems, one for each of the poets.