MANNHEIM Charles (EN)

Referred to as "the prince of experts" by Paul Eudel (1908), Charles Mannheim was associated with over 2000 Parisian auctions, listed in the Frits Lugt repertory until 1900. The second son of Sigismond Mannheim, he joined him in the curiosities business in 1852 (cf. his Légion d'honneur dossier AN, LH 62292). From 1861, they worked together as experts in art auctions, until Sigismond's departure in 1867 (Mestdagh, Saint-Raymond, forthcoming).

Among the famous sales he appraised (with his father until 1867) were those of the Pourtalès, Demidoff, Beauvau, Fould, Didier, San Donato, Double and Castellani collections in Rome (Eudel, 1885), and for Asian objects in particular, the sale of objects from the former Summer Palace "Yuen-Ming-Yuen" (1861), the Negroni sale (1864), the Du Sartel (1882 ; 1894) and Marquis (1883; 1890), among many others.

Following his father's retirement, Charles Mannheim abandoned his boutique in the rue de la Paix to concentrate his activity on expertise in Parisian public sales. In 1867, he moved to 7 rue St Georges, closer to the Hôtel Drouot. He occupied two offices, one on the first floor and the other on the second floor, while living in a large separate apartment on the second and third floors. Charles continues the privileged relationship formed by his father with auctioneer Charles Pillet, succeeded by Paul Chevallier, working as an expert for their art sales. He also sometimes helped organize so-called "composite" sales, bringing together small collections of objects belonging to different sellers. He always presides over these sales as an expert, and also buys on behalf of third parties, including a number of well-known collectors, earning commissions in the process. Following in his father's footsteps, he broadened his field of expertise from the traditional curiosities inherited from the Wunderkammer to 18th-century furniture and objets d'art, and then to Asian art, mainly from China and Japan (Mestdagh, 2019).

The Mannheims, father and son, were cited as the leading experts in many of the sales of Asian objects that followed the sack of the Peking Summer Palace in 1860. Their expertise in 18th-century works of art shifted to Chinese objects, which they knew mainly through the spectrum of European taste for mounted porcelain and lacquerware. Between 1861 and 1868, several auctions took place in Paris, offering Asian objects from the looted former Summer Palace in Peking. Many of these auctions were led by Charles Pillet, with Sigismond and Charles Mannheim as experts. Specializing in objets d'art, they were called upon for 10 of the 16 sales recorded in this relatively new field of expertise (Saint-Raymond, 2021).  In these same sales of objects from China, Charles Mannheim was also the second most important buyer after the Parisian importer Alphonse Chanton and the dealer Nicolas Malinet (Howald, Saint-Raymond, 2018). This is not surprising, since he acquired objects on behalf of several collectors.

As early as Sigismond's establishment in the Paris trade, it was reported that the Mannheims were buying for the Rothschilds, first for James Mayer de Rothschild, founder of the Paris branch of the family bank, and then for his sons Barons Alphonse and Gustave. Indeed, the family accounts bear witness to numerous purchases at auction through Charles Mannheim, between 1870 and 1892 (The Rothschild Archives, London, Laffitte papers). 

Charles Mannheim also played a role in developing museum collections and organizing exhibitions from 1865 onwards. It was his service to these institutions that earned him the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1901. He was an active member of the Union centrale des Arts décoratifs, sitting on the board of directors, and acting as negotiator on behalf of the Musée des Arts décoratifs, as the collection slowly built up in the 1880s-1890s (MAD Archives C2/13-14). He also lent objects to the many exhibitions held at the Pavillon de l'Industrie, and sold and donated objects to the Louvre and Cluny museums. An expert in numerous sales of porcelain collections, both European and Oriental, on several occasions he purchased pieces on behalf of the Musée de Sèvres (Fonds des archives du musée national de céramique 4W 435-516).

Unlike his father, Charles Mannheim had built up a personal collection, mainly comprising Renaissance art objects, a reminder of the dynastic company's original specialty. He had assembled antique and Renaissance bronzes, sculptures, ivories, Italian earthenware, Venetian glass, rock crystals and enamels. A catalog of his collection was published in 1898 by Emile Molinier (1857-1906), curator of the Musée du Louvre, who had already published the collection of Frédéric Spitzer, a colleague and friend of Charles Mannheim. At the turn of the century, his two sons, Jules-Léopold and Louis-Mayer, joined him as experts and continued to carry the Mannheim name at Hôtel Drouot, even after Charles' death in 1910, although he had never ceased his activity.