FAURIE Célestine and Jules (EN)
Biographical article
Célestine Rigal (1854–1941) was the daughter of Jean Rigal and Alexandrine Combalbert. On 16 January 1881, in Cahors, she married Anthime Léon Jules Faurie (1850–?)—the son of Victor Faurie and Marguerite Lacoste—, who was a retired captain who formerly served in the garrison in Brest. In a will drafted on 27 April 1924, while she was still a widow, she bequeathed an ensemble of objects to the Musée de Cahors in memory of her husband (inv. no. MCAH, unknown). The judgement of the Prefecture of the Lot of 24 February 1942 endorsed the bequest, which comprised twelve objects, eleven of which came from Asia; the twelfth was an incense burner, probably North African in origin.
The collection
To date, we do not have any information about the way in which this collection was compiled. Jules Faurie, a ship’s captain, may have acquired these objects on his missions abroad. In 1924, his widow bequeathed—‘to be placed in the museum’—the ‘chinoiseries’ housed in her salon (MCAH, unknown). The porcelains consisted of two large vases, two bonbonnières, and a large dish. The collection also comprised a tray and a tobacco pot (in wood and mother-of-pearl marquetery), an ivory statuette of a woman, a wooden jewellery box, a lacquered tea chest, and a bronze Buddha.
