Surtout de table by Pierre-Philippe Thomire at the Wilanów Palace
The paper concerns the Empire centrepiece at the Wilanów palace, manufactured by Pierre-Phillipe Thomire. It is assumed that it was bought by count Stanisław Kostka Potocki in Paris in 1808. There is no monograph about Pierre-Phillipe Thomire’s production of Empire tableware. This study concentrates...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.iaepan.pl/khkm/article/view/2488 |
| _version_ | 1798024051579420672 |
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| author | Milena Hübner |
| author_facet | Milena Hübner |
| author_sort | Milena Hübner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The paper concerns the Empire centrepiece at the Wilanów palace, manufactured by Pierre-Phillipe Thomire. It is assumed that it was bought by count Stanisław Kostka Potocki in Paris in 1808.
There is no monograph about Pierre-Phillipe Thomire’s production of Empire tableware. This study concentrates on the Wilanów centrepiece, aiming to verify the previous knowledge on the subject and to establish what items constituted this surtout de table, what was its function and place in the Wilanów Palace. The significance of the Wilanów centrepiece was also explored in juxtaposition to the production of the Thomire, Duterme et Cie and other tableware of the period. The items forming the surtout de table were formally, stylistically and ichnographically analysed, taking the rules of the Empire style into consideration. The X-ray fluorescence spectrometry examination of the set proved it was made of brass rather than bronze.
The production of Pierre-Phillipe Thomire, a brazier as well as bronzesmith, was also presented in the article. The Wilanów centrepiece was compared with contemporary objects as well as other products of the Thomire, Duterme et Cie. Using the French, German, English and Russian scientific literature to confront the Wilanów surtout de table with the artistic achievements of the period, it was possible to evaluate its quality. Moreover, the presence of Thomire’s other products in Polish collections was established.
Analysis of count Stanisław Kostka Potocki’s public activity and interests allowed to explore his motivation for buying the products of Thomire’s workshop. The sources concerned with the acquiring of the centrepiece by the count and with its placement in the Wilanów palace provided new information about other possible sets of tableware which consisted of objects now erroneously thought as being a part of just one surtout de table. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:56:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2746e3b0ed8046049a2f73b78df06d4f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0023-5881 2719-6496 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:56:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej |
| spelling | doaj.art-2746e3b0ed8046049a2f73b78df06d4f2022-12-22T04:10:43ZengInstitute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of SciencesKwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej0023-58812719-64962020-10-0168310.23858/KHKM68.2020.3.005Surtout de table by Pierre-Philippe Thomire at the Wilanów PalaceMilena Hübner0Doctoral School of Humanities, Theology and Arts Academia Artium Humaniorum Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Collegium Humanisticum, ul. W. Bojarskiego 1/ C 0.17, 87-100 ToruńThe paper concerns the Empire centrepiece at the Wilanów palace, manufactured by Pierre-Phillipe Thomire. It is assumed that it was bought by count Stanisław Kostka Potocki in Paris in 1808. There is no monograph about Pierre-Phillipe Thomire’s production of Empire tableware. This study concentrates on the Wilanów centrepiece, aiming to verify the previous knowledge on the subject and to establish what items constituted this surtout de table, what was its function and place in the Wilanów Palace. The significance of the Wilanów centrepiece was also explored in juxtaposition to the production of the Thomire, Duterme et Cie and other tableware of the period. The items forming the surtout de table were formally, stylistically and ichnographically analysed, taking the rules of the Empire style into consideration. The X-ray fluorescence spectrometry examination of the set proved it was made of brass rather than bronze. The production of Pierre-Phillipe Thomire, a brazier as well as bronzesmith, was also presented in the article. The Wilanów centrepiece was compared with contemporary objects as well as other products of the Thomire, Duterme et Cie. Using the French, German, English and Russian scientific literature to confront the Wilanów surtout de table with the artistic achievements of the period, it was possible to evaluate its quality. Moreover, the presence of Thomire’s other products in Polish collections was established. Analysis of count Stanisław Kostka Potocki’s public activity and interests allowed to explore his motivation for buying the products of Thomire’s workshop. The sources concerned with the acquiring of the centrepiece by the count and with its placement in the Wilanów palace provided new information about other possible sets of tableware which consisted of objects now erroneously thought as being a part of just one surtout de table.https://journals.iaepan.pl/khkm/article/view/2488ThomireEmpirecentrepiecesurtout de tablebronzebrass |
| spellingShingle | Milena Hübner Surtout de table by Pierre-Philippe Thomire at the Wilanów Palace Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej Thomire Empire centrepiece surtout de table bronze brass |
| title | Surtout de table by Pierre-Philippe Thomire at the Wilanów Palace |
| title_full | Surtout de table by Pierre-Philippe Thomire at the Wilanów Palace |
| title_fullStr | Surtout de table by Pierre-Philippe Thomire at the Wilanów Palace |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surtout de table by Pierre-Philippe Thomire at the Wilanów Palace |
| title_short | Surtout de table by Pierre-Philippe Thomire at the Wilanów Palace |
| title_sort | surtout de table by pierre philippe thomire at the wilanow palace |
| topic | Thomire Empire centrepiece surtout de table bronze brass |
| url | https://journals.iaepan.pl/khkm/article/view/2488 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT milenahubner surtoutdetablebypierrephilippethomireatthewilanowpalace |