Dealers

Rollin et Feuardent

Paris, France

Dealers in Paris. 6 people in the register connected with it.

History

c. 1868
The firm has opened a London branch, at 61 Great Russell Street opposite the British Museum, run by Félix Feuardent's son Gaston; Masson dates it before 1870 and Tatton-Brown/Masson says Gaston was its representative from about 1868. Paris address 12 rue Vivienne.
LondonGaston Louis Feuardent Felix-Bienaime Feuardent Masson 1992, pp. 146-147 Tatton-Brown 2001
30 April 1870
After the March 1870 Paris auction of his antiquities, Cesnola writes to Froehner calling the firm 'peu honorable': he says he had sent about 30 similar heads and 20 better ones, that Feuardent sold two for 1,100 francs but paid him 800 francs in Italian paper currency, and that consignments were reported as arriving 'comme une véritable purée'. This is Cesnola's allegation; Masson says the 'Feuardent' aimed at is Félix.
Luigi Palma di Cesnola Wilhelm Froehner Felix-Bienaime Feuardent Masson 1990, p. 11 Masson 1990, n. 53 Marangou 2000
1 May 1871
At Sotheby's second Cesnola sale Feuardent buys, among others, lot 31, a small amphora with a human face (Saint-Germain-en-Laye 22.231, bought 1874); a small lot inventoried BM 1871.7-8,1-6, mostly terracottas, reaches the British Museum through Rollin et Feuardent. Buyers in the January and May sales included Feuardent and Hoffmann.
Luigi Palma di Cesnola Henri Hoffmann Masson 1996
24 November 1871
Cesnola writes (24 and 29 November) that his entire collection of antiquities, apart from vases, is on its way to the London branch; the agreement is that the objects be exhibited there and, if unsold after a year, auctioned.
LondonLuigi Palma di Cesnola Gaston Louis Feuardent Masson 1992, p. 146 Marangou 2000
1872
Gaston Feuardent shows Cesnola's first collection at the London premises in autumn and winter 1872; J. S. Morgan and the Met trustee W. T. Blodgett visit in September, which leads to the Metropolitan Museum's decision to buy in December 1872. Masson notes the sale thus escaped the auction the firm would have held if it failed, and suggests the Feuardents may have preferred an auction.
LondonGaston Louis Feuardent Luigi Palma di Cesnola Masson 1996 Masson 1992, pp. 146-147
1879
Gaston Feuardent sets up independently in New York as 'Gaston L. Feuardent & Co.', 30 Lafayette Place (Masson 1992 dates the installation to 1879; Tatton-Brown/Masson says 1876).
New YorkGaston Louis Feuardent Masson 1992, p. 147 Tatton-Brown 2001
1880–1884
Gaston Feuardent attacks the authenticity and restoration of Cesnola's sculptures at the Metropolitan Museum (Art Amateur, August 1880); the 'Feuardent v. Cesnola' libel suit ends in 1884 with the jurors siding with Cesnola. Masson judges Cesnola innocent and Feuardent's ill will a result of the 1872 decision to sell en bloc.
Gaston Louis Feuardent Luigi Palma di Cesnola Clarence Cook Francis Bangs Joseph H. Choate Tatton-Brown 2001 Masson 1992, p. 153
1883
C. Rollin dies (1813-1883).
C. Rollin Masson 1990, n. 56
15 May 1884
At the Sotheby's Lawrence-Cesnola sale lot 1938, a funerary stele attributed to Tremetusha, goes first to Mason; when the same stone reappears at the 25 April 1892 sale (lot 276) it is sold for 2 pounds to Rollin and later enters the British Museum (inventory 1917, after a dispute between two departments).
Edwin Henry Lawrence Alessandro (Alexander) Palma di Cesnola Masson 1996
25 April 1892
At the Lawrence-Cesnola sale, Rollin buys lot 285, a bronze patera with Phoenician and Egyptian subjects, for over 13 pounds (British Museum 1892.5-19.1), and a bowl lot (no. 623) whose pieces came via the Victoria and Albert Museum to the British Museum in 1981 (BM 1981.8-10.8, a terracotta bath).
Edwin Henry Lawrence Alessandro (Alexander) Palma di Cesnola Masson 1996
1892
Several of Falkland Warren's Cypro-syllabic and Phoenician bilingual inscriptions from Tamassos are purchased by the British Museum through Rollin and Feuardent.
Falkland Warren Ulbrich & Kiely 2012
12 June 1893 – 16 June 1893
Sale of the Joly de Bammeville collection, with Rollin-Feuardent as experts and a catalogue by Froehner; a Cypriot crowned head of the 6th-5th c. BC from it later became no. 67 in a cited Catalogo. (The Piot sale of 27-30 May 1891 had the same experts; its Cypriot content is not stated.)
Wilhelm Froehner Hellmann 1991, nn. 34, 36

People

6 people

Staff and members · 3

Gaston Louis Feuardentstaff (c. 1868–c. 1876) · young representative; ran the London branch, 61 Great Russell StMasson 1996, pp. 6 Masson 1992, pp. 146-1471868
C. Rollinpartner (by 1883) · member or staffMasson 1990, n. 56
Felix-Bienaime Feuardentpartner · partner, later son-in-law of C. RollinMasson 1990, n. 56

Sellers and consignors · 3

Alfred Biliotticonsignor (1870–1870) · consigned objectsTatton-Brown 2001, n. 1081870
Falkland Warrenconsignor (1892–1892) · consigned objectsUlbrich & Kiely 20121892
Luigi Palma di Cesnolaconsignor (1870–1872)Masson 1992, pp. 146-147 Marangou 2000

Objects

Terracotta female-headed vase from Idalion illustrated by Cesnola; Barre, then Piot, passed to Rollin, then the De Clercq collection (no. 563)
1974.437from Idalion1974Masson 1996
Small Iron Age amphora with a human figure on the neck (Sotheby's May 1871 lot 31, bought by Feuardent; noted by Longpérier at the firm)
22.231via Rollin et Feuardent1874Masson 1996
Bronze patera with Phoenician and Egyptian mythological subjects, Lawrence-Cesnola sale lot 285
1892.5-19.1via Rollin et Feuardent1892Masson 1996
Clay idol (Base Ring bird-face figurine) from Alambra, from Gaston Feuardent via Paul Arndt (Munich) to Budapest in 1914
No. 67 in Csornay's cataloguefrom Alambravia Paul Julius Arndt1914Csornay-Caprez 2000

Sources

1.O. Masson (1990). “Correspondances chypriotes: lettres des frères Colonna-Ceccaldi et de L. Palma di Cesnola à W. Froehner”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 14, 29-44. Online
2.O. Masson (1992). “Diplomates et amateurs d'antiquités à Chypre vers 1866-1878”. Journal des Savants, 123-154.
3.Olivier Masson (1996). “La dispersion des antiquités chypriotes: les deux collections Cesnola”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 25, 3-32. Online
4.Veronica Tatton-Brown (ed.) (2001). Cyprus in the 19th Century AD: Fact, Fancy and Fiction. Oxford, Oxbow.
5.Anja Ulbrich, Thomas Kiely (2012). “Britain and the Archaeology of Cyprus. I. The long 19th century”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 42. Online
6.A. G. Marangou (ed.) (2000). The Consul Luigi Palma di Cesnola 1832-1904: Life and Deeds.
7.Marie-Christine Hellmann (1991). “W. Froehner et Chypre”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 16, 17-28. Online
8.Boldizsár Csornay-Caprez (2000). Cypriote Antiquities. Rome, L'Erma di Bretschneider.