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ex-libris THE WORLD OF EX-LIBRIS |
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A historical retrospective 2 EX-LIBRIS FROM THE ENLIGHTENMENT TO DECADENCE 1700 -1860 |
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2c OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 1700-1800
One may say that all over Europe, the 18th century brought a substantial
change in heraldic style as well as in decorative arts in
general. Artists tended to abandon the heavy baroque ornamentation
for lighter, more fanciful decoration, and having exhaust-ed
that vein, then turned in reaction to neoclassical canons.
Heavy decoration persisted in the north-western part of Europe
somewhat later. France and Switzerland were to a great extent
trend-setters, and their styles were picked up and copied further
and further afield. The latter’s ex-libris are closer in style to
French ones in the 18th century, though they were more comparable
to German ones in the earlier period. Documentation and
registers of ex-libris in Belgium and the Netherlands, as in
Eastern Europe, are sadly lacking.
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2c/1. ? ( ?F)  LE GILLON, C2, ø 142, c.1700.
A difficult piece to situate geographically. The preceding owner, de Rozières, wrote on the back Belgium - Flanders - France, and probably the plate comes from that triangular area. It is superb, but its style does not quite fit either of the three countries. |
2c/2. ? (?B) FRANçOIS JOS. DE WAVRECHIN DULOMPRET, C2,
129 x 114, c.1725.
A charmingly naive image, typical of its time – as can be seen from the pediment on which the mermen and shield rest. |
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2c/3. ? ( ?B) BOSSCHAERT DE BOUWEL, C2, 120 x 130, c.1730.
From registers of arms, one can determine that the owner’s mother was a van der Piet, and his wife a Kneyt – but little more is known. |
2c/4. François Harrewyn (B, 1700-1764) VICOMTE DE
SANDROUINS, C2, 192 x 178, c.1750.
A striking, large ex-libris by the Brussels artist Harrewyn. Such plates were often used as simple heraldic illustrations as well as bookplates. |
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2c/5. Franz Pilsen (B, 1700-1784) STANDAERT, C2, 195 x
167, c.1750.
This ex-libris was made for a member of the Standaert family who was abbot of St. Peter of Ghent. It is in ‘rocaille’ style, but strikes the trained eye as being neither French nor German, but somewhere in between. |
2c/6. Louis Joseph Fruijtiers (B, 1715-1782) GENTIS, C2,
114 x 79, 1750.
Viz. Schwencke, p. 10.
Active in Antwerp, Fruijtiers engraved a substantial number of bookplates and was an important influence in his time. This ecclesiastical plate shows a fine balance of traditional heraldic style and mid-eighteenth century ‘rocaille’. |
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2c/7. François Harrewyn (B, 1700-1764) JEAN FRANçOIS
FOPPENS, C2 + C3, 88 x 65,c.1750.
A charming plate for Foppens (1689-1761), who was a historian and diplomat, and a canon of the Cathedral of Bruges. Though heraldic in subject, it is more pictorial in style. Another version for the same owner has a typographical cartouche, and a third was made for Dominic Xavier Foppens. |
2c/8. ? (?B) DU BOSQUIEL DE BONDUES, C2, 203 x 134, c.1790.
A throwback to an earlier style, were it not for the shape of the cartouche and its fish-scale pattern. The owner was president of the Parliament of Flanders in 1790. |
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2c/9. Carl Storklin (CH) FRANZ ANTON REDING VON
BIBEREGG, C2, 163 x 136, 1735, Weg 5812.
Viz. AFE-l 1898 p. 24 ill., S.Bl.Exl. 1904 p. 41, AHS 1913 p. 5 ill. 1, etc. Active in Zug around 1730 to 1750, Storklin engraved this plate for Reding (1665-1745) who was apostolic pronuntius. The supporters, fanciful and exotic, remind one of the interest caused by distant lands in the 18th century. |
2c/10. ? Thomas Manessier (CH) GABRIEL DE SEIGNEUX, C2,
178 x 131, c.1740, Weg 6543.
Viz. Morton 176. A strong frontal heraldic presentation for the plate of Seigneux (1695-1775), from an old Swiss baronial family. |
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2c/11. ? (CH) JOSEPH FRANçOIS NICHOLAS GRISET DE FOREL,
C2, 95 x 75, c.1750, Weg 3165.
Viz. Vevey p. 73, ill.
The owner (1701-1786) was a Knight of Malta and Gentleman-in-waiting to the King of Saxony. His plate show a beautiful combination of the attributes of a Knight of Malta (the chief of the shield, the Maltese cross and necklace of the Order) and a trophy plate. |
2c/12. ? (S) REUTERHOLM, C2, 89 x 80, c.1730.
Until the Bernadotte dynasty, Swedish bookplates tended to be modest versions of north German ex-libris, such as this one and the following. |
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2c/13. ? (S) CHRISTIAN DE NETTELBLA, C3, 102 x 65, c.1750.
Without its modest ‘rocaille’ cartouche, this bookplate could be dated much earlier. A smaller and simpler version of this plate exists, 72 x 54 mm. |
2c/14. ? (I) BORROMEO - ARESE, C2, 71 x 65, c.1750.
A rare variant of Gelli No. 2, p. 68., for a member of the princely Borromeo family. An interesting combination of mantling and ‘rocaille’ cartouche. |
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2c/15. Jacobo de la Piedra (E) JOAQUIN DE LAMAS Y
SOTOMAIOR, C2, 135 x 68, 1747, Vindel 493.
Viz. Vindel, ill.
A beautifully balanced Spanish plate, one of the most refined of its period, with an admirable mixture of heraldic, decorative and pictorial elements. As many Iberian families, this one has branches both in Spain and Portugal. |
End of 2c
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