Gilt, moulded and painted oak.
HISTORY: executed circa 1781 under the supervision of the architect Nicolas-Claude Girardin (1749-1786), probably by the painter Étienne de La Vallée-Poussin (1733-1793) for the bathing apartment of the financier Nicolas Beaujon (1718-1786) inside the ‘Folie Beaujon’ in the faubourg du Roule in Paris; acquired on 28th September 1846 at the same time as the house located at n°. 12, rue Fortunée, now at n°. 22, rue Balzac, by Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850); then passed on to the collection of his widow, Madame Hanska until 1882; acquired on 19th January 1882 at the same time as the Hôtel Balzac by Baroness Salomon de Rothschild.
PROVENANCE: former collection of Baroness Salomon de Rothschild (1843-1922), née Adèle de Rothschild, daughter of Baron Mayer-Carl de Rothschild, the son of the founder of the Napolitan branch of the family, and wife in 1862 of Salomon de Rothschild, third son of James de Rothschild, the founder of the French branch of the family.
LITERATURE: Paul Jarry, Cénacles et vieux logis parisiens, Paris, undated; Paul Jarry, Le dernier logis de Balzac, Paris, 1924; René Dupuis, “La chartreuse et le quartier Beaujon”, Bulletin de la Société de l’Histoire de Paris et de l’Ile-de-France, 62nd year, Paris, 1935, p. 97-132; Alexandre Gady, “Folie Beaujon et chapelle Saint-Nicolas”, Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Paris et son Patrimoine dirigée par Béatrice de Andia, Paris, 1994, p. 354-362; Thierry Claeys, “Nicolas Beaujon”, Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Paris et son Patrimoine dirigée par Béatrice de Andia, Paris, 1994, p. 363; Anne Panchout, “Maison de Balzac”, Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Paris et son Patrimoine dirigée par Béatrice de Andia, Paris, 1994, p. 364-366; Pauline Prévost-Marcilhacy, “Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild”, Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Paris et son Patrimoine dirigée par Béatrice de Andia, Paris, 1994, p. 367-371; Bruno Pons, Grands décors français, 1650-1800, Dijon, 1995, p. 40-46; Michel Steve, “Les intérieurs”, La villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Paris, 2002, p. 106-107.
