PAGE Théogène (EN)
Biographical article
Théogène-François Page was born on 3 March 1807 in Vitry-le-François. His father, Jean François Page, who was forty-eight when he was born, kept an inn and his mother was called Frandrine Angélique Michel (AN (French national archives), LH 2033-22). His military career was described in Étienne Taillemite’s Dictionnaire des Marins Français (2002, pp. 401–402). We will give a brief outline of his career in this article.
Théogène-François Page began his training at the École Polytechnique in 1825. He subsequently joined the French navy and took part in his first campaign in the Levant on board the Coureur. He became a midshipman in 1830 and that year took part in the capture of Algiers on board the Amphitrite. In 1836, after many campaigns in the Antilles, on the coasts of Mexico, and on the coasts of Western Africa, he was promoted to the rank of naval lieutenant. He contributed decisively to the capture of San Juan de Ulúa during the Mexican campaign, by providing strategic information that he obtained during a reconnaissance mission, disguised as a sailor. Promoted to Lieutenant-Commander in 1841, he took command of the Favorite, on which he carried out his first campaigns in the China Sea. In 1845, he was promoted to the rank of Captain, in command of La Reine Blanche and the naval base of the Isle de Bourbon and Madagascar. After briefly returning to France, he was appointed Rear Admiral in March 1858 and was given the command of part of the French expeditionary force during the Chinese campaign that ended with the Second Opium War (1856–1860). In 1861, he was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral, then returned to France, where, in 1863, he was appointed Maritime Prefect of Rochefort and presided over the Conseil de Travaux. He was promoted to the rank of Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur by decree on 11 August 1865. He died, unmarried, in Paris on 3 February 1867, in his residence at 11, Rue Gros in the 16th arrondissement. Part of his correspondence published after his death in the Revue des deux Mondes gave accounts of his first campaigns (Page T.-F., 1872).
The collection
Théogène-François Page’s extremely active career did not prevent him from taking an interest in art, and he compiled a very rich collection of Chinese and Japanese objets d’art. The collection included bronzes, objects carved in hardstone, ivory, or rhinoceros horn, porcelains, and other objects of every kind, such as accessories for opium smoking. He asked one of the most respected experts of his times, Albert Jacquemart (1808–1875, see D’Abrigeon, article on Albert Jacquemart) to draft the catalogue of his collection. The great connoisseur of Chinese porcelain had already drafted several catalogues for eminent collectors since those produced for Daigremont (Lugt 26072) and Marie Antoinette Malinet in 1862, and it was therefore no surprise that Théogène-François Page entrusted him with this task, probably after his return to France in 1863. Unusually, Albert Jacquemart did not mention any ancient provenances in the catalogue, which would indicate that Théogène-François Page did not acquire his collection at Parisian auctions, but rather during his military campaigns. As shown by Katrina Hill, the acquisition of objets d’art was far from being incompatible with military campaigns, in particular with regard to those associated with the Opium Wars in China (Hill, K., 2013; see also Hévia, J.-L., 2003). Two objects in the Page collection were explicitly indicated as coming from the Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan 圓明園), the palatial residence of the Manchu emperors, looted, then set alight by the Franco-British troops in 1860. One of these was a ‘libation cup with handles with a spout at the front; a lid with a lip ending with a dragon’s head; on the front corners are small winged dragons in relief. Beneath the Kien-long (Qianlong 乾隆) inscription from the Tai-Thsing Dynasty (da Qing 大清) on the lid, in an antique style, is another Ta-Chuan (Dazhuan大篆) inscription; large diameter: 13 cm.’ (Jacquemart, A., 1867, lot no. 78). The second object was a lacquered tortoiseshell box that Jacquemart believed was Japanese in origin (Jacquemart, A., 1867, lot no. 140).
Upon his death, the collection was sold at auction by the auctioneer Charles Pillet (1824–1887). The catalogue drafted by Albert Jacquemart was transformed into a sale catalogue. The collection of Chinese and Japanese objets d’art was complemented by Théogène-François Page’s precious furniture: bronze fittings, marquetry cabinets in the style of and from the eighteenth century. The 234 lots sold for a 15,638.75 francs, a sum that was paid to his heir, a certain Jeanne Louise Donay (AP, D48E3 58). Amongst the lots that reached the highest prices were two cloisonné enamel candlesticks that came from altar decorations (lot no. 54), purchased by a certain Lachenal for 636 francs. Recent studies into the Asian art market in Paris in the nineteenth century have highlighted the high prices attained by Chinese cloisonné enamel objects in the second half of the nineteenth century and at the sales held in the Palais d’Été (Saint-Raymond, L., 2021).
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