THE RIVER BIÈVRE AND THE MANUFACTORY OF THE GOBELINS.
The Brothers Gobelin--Lebrun--The Gobelins under Louis XIV.--At the Time
of the Revolution--The Manufactory of Sèvres.
The Bièvre is a stream which, many years ago, behaved so badly in the
matter of inundations that it was put under ground. Canalised
subterraneously, it runs beneath or by the side of the Horse Market,
passes near the Salpêtrière, and enters the Seine close to the Orleans
Railway terminus. It is between the Bièvre and the Rue Mouffetard that
the buildings of the Gobelins manufactory, so famed for its tapestry and
dyes, are situated.
The superiority of the products of this factory is by some attributed to
peculiar saline properties in the stream. Of these Rabelais speaks in
thoroughly Rabelaisian style; and it was doubtless in consequence of the
tinctorial qualities of the river that the brothers Gobelin established
on its banks their famous manufactory.
It is to these brothers that the name of the establishment is due. They
were famous dyers in Normandy, or, as is also said, at Rheims, in
Champagne; and, whatever their origin, they came to Paris in the middle
of the fifteenth century, and took up their position on the banks of the
river above mentioned.
The water of the Bièvre, while helping the development of Gobelin dyes,
is injured by them. Like all the streams which flow past dye works, the
Bièvre is perpetually stained; and in the present day there are many
scientific men who venture to affirm that the brilliant colours of the
Gobelin tapestry are in no way due to water of any kind, but to artistic
secrets belonging to the Gobelin brothers, and handed down by them to
their descendants or successors.
Under the reign of Louis XIV. the Gobelins was a sort of school of
furniture, in which not only tapestry but cabinet work of every kind was
cultivated. “Here,” writes a chronicler of the time, “two hundred and
fifty master weavers produced the richest tapestries, after the works of
our best painters. The school was extended in order to include sculptors
in metal and goldsmiths.”
A passion for ornamentation now took possession at once of the Court and
of Paris society generally; and the candelabra and the lamps produced at
the Gobelins were worthy of any palace. Most of the works produced at
the Gobelins, to whatever category they belonged, were intended as
presents to members of royal families and other persons of the very
first distinction. Among the painters attached to the Gobelins
manufactory may, in the first place, be mentioned the celebrated Lebrun
in the reign of Louis XIV., and under the government of Colbert. “And as
a matter of fact,” says an historian, “Lebrun gave to the Gobelins a
splendour which was steadily maintained.”
[Illustration: L’AVENUE DES GOBELINS.]
He painted for the manufactory, simply that they might be reproduced in
wool, some of his greatest pictures, including “The Battles of
Alexander,” “The History of Louis XIV.,” “The Twelve Months of the
Year,” “The Story of Moses,” etc. etc. Van der Meulen, Yvart, Boëls, and
others may be mentioned among the painters attached permanently to the
establishment.
When, on the death of Lebrun, Mignard succeeded him as Director of the
Gobelins, an architect, La Chapelle-Bessé, was appointed architect and
builder. Under the joint direction of painter and architect a school of
drawing was created at the Gobelins with Toby, Coysevox, and Sebastien
Leclerc as professors.
Unfortunately the reverses sustained by Louis XIV. during the last year
of his reign led to the discharge of the best workmen at the Gobelins,
whom it was thought impossible any longer to pay; and from this time the
establishment has occupied itself only with the production of tapestry,
to the neglect of medals, cameos, cabinet work, and artistic furniture
generally.
Specimens of the Gobelin tapestry were often given away as presents
either to crowned heads or to celebrities of less eminence whom the king
wished to honour with some mark of distinction. Thus there may still be
seen at Windsor Castle the tapestries of “Esther” and of “Jason and
Medea,” given to the King of England by Louis XIV. The King of Siam, the
Emperor of Russia, the Duke of Lorraine, and the King of Prussia
received similar presents. Occasionally, too, the Gobelins executed
orders for men of wealth and of high position; and in every country in
Europe so rare a work of art as a Gobelin tapestry gave a character to
the furniture of a room, indeed of a whole house.
[Illustration: THE BIÈVRE IN THE GARDENS OF THE GOBELINS.]
The Revolution was but little favourable to the Gobelin manufactory.
Writing on the subject in 1790, Marat said: “No one has any idea abroad
of establishments maintained at the expense of the State in connection
with fine arts or rather manufactures: the honour of this invention was
reserved for France. Such are, among others, the manufactories of Sèvres
and of the Gobelins. The latter costs annually 100,000 francs; it is
difficult to say why, unless it be to enrich intriguers and rogues.”
In spite of Marat’s report the Gobelin manufactory was not interfered
with; not at least in theory. The Government subvention was not formally
withdrawn, but it ceased to be paid. The Consulate, seeing how entirely
the place was neglected, appointed a director at a fixed salary, and
took the place generally under its charge. The Empire regarded the
Gobelins as a state institution, and paid largely towards its support.
It enjoyed also the full patronage of the Bourbons after the
Restoration. The government of Louis Philippe ordered, at great cost, a
whole series of tapestries representing the royal palaces and residences
of France, which were intended for the decoration of these very
mansions. At the same time, continuing ancient traditions, the king
ordered a number of tapestries for presentation to foreign potentates.
“Peter the Great in the Tempest,” after Steuben’s picture, admirably
rendered in wool, was presented to the Tsar; the “Massacre of the
Mamelukes,” after Horace Vernet, to the Queen of England.
[Illustration: THE OLD BUILDINGS OF THE GOBELINS.]
The different revolutions which have taken place in France have never
for any length of time affected the position of the Gobelins, which
successive governments have learnt to regard as one of the glories of
France. For the beautiful, brilliant colours in use during the present
century the establishment has been indebted to the famous chemist and
centenarian, M. Chevreuil.
[Illustration: IN THE GARDENS OF THE GOBELINS.]
Among the masterpieces executed at the Gobelins may be mentioned the
portrait of Louis XIV., after Rigaud, of which the original may be seen
in the Louvre; “The Assumption” of Titian, an immense composition, some
thirty feet high; and the reproduction in wool of a number of delicate,
graceful pictures by Boucher, etc. etc. Since 1848 a school has been
established at the Gobelins, where the art of tapestry is systematically
studied by pupils and apprentices.
* * * * *
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE GOBELINS.]
Although not connected in any direct manner with the Gobelins, the
manufactory of Sèvres is associated with it as an establishment for art
work. It enjoys a similar reputation for the excellence of its products,
and is supported, like the Gobelins, by grants from the State, and by
state patronage of every kind. At St. Cloud in 1695 a manufactory of
pottery was started by the brothers Chicanneau, who took for their
trade-mark a sun, doubtless by way of flattery to Louis XIV., the Sun
King--“Le Roi Soleil.” The factory was visited in 1700 by the Duchess of
Burgundy, on whose recommendation it obtained special privileges in
1702. Twenty years later Henri Trou, Chicanneau’s son-in-law, and his
brother Gabriel, took the direction of the establishment, which at this
time prided itself on its imitations of China porcelain. In 1735 the
brothers Dubois, one a painter, the other a sculptor, quitted the
establishment of St. Cloud, where they had hitherto been employed, and
founded a rival establishment at Chantilly, under the patronage of the
Prince de Condé. The Dubois brothers afterwards moved to Vincennes; and
it was not until 1756 that general headquarters for the porcelain work
of Paris were fixed at Sèvres. The establishment belonged to a body of
shareholders. But four years after the company was started the king
bought up all the shares, thus becoming not only the patron but the
proprietor of the Sèvres manufactory. At once managing director and
monarch, Louis XIV. was able to forbid competition of every kind, and
under the severest penalties. To attempt to make porcelain elsewhere
than at Sèvres was not only a criminal offence, but almost an offence
of State.
Admirable as were the results obtained, the pieces of porcelain turned
out at Sèvres were seldom, if ever, quite perfect; and it was only the
cups, vases, plates and dishes in which there was some perhaps almost
imperceptible flaw that were offered for sale to the general public.
When perfection had been attained the fortunate work was reserved for
the royal palaces or for presentation to some foreign potentate. In 1761
a native of Strasburg, which for about a century had belonged to France,
sold to the Sèvres manufactory the secret of a so-called “hard paste”
porcelain which he had obtained from a relative, director of some
porcelain works in the neighbouring Palatinate.
Like the Gobelins, the manufactory of Sèvres was not interfered with by
the Revolution. From 1800 to 1847 it remained continuously under the
direction of Brongniart, who introduced many improvements in the
manufacture of porcelain, though he is thought to have paid more
attention scientifically to the matter than artistically to the form of
his products. Perfectly-made paste, but bad designs.
[Illustration: A STREET IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE GOBELINS.]
The Sèvres porcelain of the period of the First Empire was remarkable
for the stiffness and sham-academical style of the figures. From this
epoch dates the custom of reproducing on cups and saucers, vases and
plates, copies of great historical pictures and other unsuitable works.
The landscapes, the pastoral pieces of Watteau and of Boucher, were far
more appropriate.
Under the Second Empire the Sèvres manufactory cost the State 480,000
francs a year, and sold porcelain to the general public to the amount of
80,000 francs. There was a clear loss, then, to the establishment of
400,000 francs, or £16,000 a year. After the fall of the Empire an
attempt was made by M. Charles Garnier, the architect of the new opera,
and M. Jules Simon, at that time Minister of Public Instruction, to
place the Sèvres manufactory on a more satisfactory footing. A
commission was appointed with well-known artists, art-critics, and
manufacturers among its members, to consider what was to be done; and in
the first place M. Duc, the celebrated architect, was requested to draw
up a report on the subject.
M. Duc set forth that the fabrication of the material left nothing to be
desired, and that the artists who furnished designs for the porcelain
were unequalled. But there were not enough of them, and M. Duc’s main
proposal was that a school should be established in connection with the
Sèvres manufactory, precisely what had been proposed and adopted under
Louis Philippe’s reign in connection with the Gobelins. The school of
Sèvres was established in conformity with M. Duc’s recommendation, and
at the same time a “Sèvres prize” of the value of 2,000 francs was
instituted as an annual recompense to the author of the most artistic
design for pottery work.