Wine Glass Cooler from the Rohan Service

Commissioned by Louis-René-Édouard, Prince de Rohan (1734-1803), Vienna, 1772 [1];

Anatole Nicolaievitch Demidoff, First Prince of San Donato (1813-1870), Florence, by 1870;

Purchased at his sale, Collections de San Donato, Première Vente, Objets d’art, Charles Pillet-Ch. Mannheim, Paris, March 23, 1870, lots 118-153, by William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (1817-1885), Dudley House, Park Lane, London, 1870 [2];

With S. Wertheimer & Sons, London, by October 21, 1891;

Purchased from S. Wertheimer & Sons by Leopold de Rothschild (1845-1917), 5 Hamilton Place, London, October 22, 1891-1917 [3];

By inheritance to his wife, Marie de Rothschild (1862-1937), 5 Hamilton Place, London, 1917-April 1937 [4];

By descent to her son, Anthony de Rothschild (1887-1961), Ascott House, Buckinghamshire, England, April 1937-March 1939 [5];

Purchased from Rothschild by the dealers I. Rosenbaum, N.V., Amsterdam, stock no. N.12, and transferred to Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York, stock no. 180, March 1939-1944 [6];

Purchased from Rosenberg & Stiebel by French & Co., New York, stock no. 43645, 1944 [7];

Purchased from French & Co. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1944.

NOTES:

[1] This object is part of the originally 368-piece dessert service commissioned by the Prince de Rohan in 1771, the year of his appointment as the French ambassador extraordinaire to Vienna. According to sales records in the Sèvres archive, the service was delivered September 7, 1772. The Nelson-Atkins owns ten pieces from the original service (Nelson-Atkins object nos. 44-14/1 through 44-14/10). Manufacture nationale de Sèvres archive, Registres des ventes au comptant et à crédit (1 janvier 1771-30 juin 1775), Vy 5, fol. 33 verso, fol. 34 recto.

[2] Lots 118 through 153 comprised a total of 172 pieces from the original 368-piece service. Dudley is named as the buyer in an annotated copy of the sale catalogue, University of California-Santa Barbara, and the London Times, “From Our Own Correspondent: France,” March 26, 1870, 6. Dudley’s porcelain collection was posthumously sold at The Splendid Collection of Old Porcelain, formed by the Right Honourable the late Earl of Dudley , Christie, Manson & Woods, May 21, 1886, but the Rohan service was not included in this sale. Considering the importance of the Rohan service—the value of which greatly exceeded the other services offered in the sale—it is possible, but not yet documented, that Wertheimer purchased the Rohan service from the Dudley estate prior to the sale. Wertheimer did buy at the Dudley sale, including pieces of a different Sèvres service that were sold individually.

[3] The S. Wertheimer & Sons receipt for Rothschild’s purchase is in the Rothschild Archive, London, RAL000/1373/8/2, copy in Nelson-Atkins curatorial file. The plate was included in In the Estate of the late Leopold de Rothschild, Esq. Schedule of Objects of Art, Etc. at 5, Hamilton Place, S.W. for which exemption of estate duty is claimed under the Finance Act, drawn up by Knight, Frank & Rutley, London, November 1917, pp. 52-53. Rothschild Archive, London, RAL 000/400/3&4.

[4] According to Leopold de Rothschild’s will, dated February 29, 1916, Leopold left his property and art collection to his wife Marie for her use during her lifetime and for division between their three sons following her death. See Rothschild Archive, London, RAL000/66/1. The service was included in an inventory of 5 Hamilton Place, London, made at the time of Marie’s death, in which it is described in two parts, both of which were located in the Housekeeper’s Room: a group of pieces bearing the Prince de Rohan monogram and valued at £800, and the pieces of the service without the monogram, valued at £250. Mrs. Leopold de Rothschild, Deceased, 5, Hamilton Place, W. I. Valuation for Probate of Furniture, Porcelain, Works of Art, and Effects, drawn up by Christie, Manson & Woods, July 1937, p. 140. Rothschild Archive, London, RAL 000/400/7. With thanks to Natalie Attwood, Deputy Archivist, Rothschild Archive, London for valuable assistance with this research.

[5] According to Marie de Rothschild’s will, dated January 24, 1936, Marie left her Ascott House residence to her son Anthony, and the remainder of her estate (including the contents of 5 Hamilton Place, London) was to be divided equally between her surviving sons Anthony and Lionel de Rothschild. In the subsequent lists of the divisions, Anthony received the ‘Sèvres Porcelain Service’ valued at £800 (the monogrammed pieces, see note 4), as well as the ‘Part of Service’ valued at £250 (unmonogrammed pieces), both sets of which were located in the Housekeeper’s Room. Rothschild Archive, London, RAL 000/228, XI/35/29 and XI/15/76/6. This service is not included in inventories of Anthony de Rothschild’s 42 Hill Street, London and Palace House, Newmarket homes from the 1930s and 1940s, and no inventory is known to exist for his Ascott House property.

[6] I. Rosenbaum, N.V. and Rosenberg & Stiebel were both operated by the Rosenberg family of art dealers. The date of the physical transfer of the service from Amsterdam to New York is unknown, but it was in New York by July 9, 1943, when French & Co. received five pieces from Rosenberg & Stiebel for examination. Frick Art Reference Library Archives, New York, MS.065 Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive, Ledgers-Purchases and Sales, 1944-1947 and Subject Files-French & Company, 1942-1956. With thanks to Elizabeth Kobert, Archivist, Frick Art Reference Library, for valuable assistance with this research.

[7] French & Co. purchased 180 pieces of the Rohan service from Rosenberg & Stiebel. This is eight more pieces than the 172 pieces Rosenberg & Stiebel acquired from Anthony de Rothschild. The extra pieces were acquired by Rosenberg & Stiebel from other sources, as described on an invoice to French & Co.: “With the exception of a few later acquisitions, the Service was sold at the auction of the famous San Donato Collection.” These additions, however, were different types than the Nelson-Atkins pieces, all of which were in the Demidoff collection. French & Co. purchased the service from Rosenberg & Stiebel in three parts: a group of 71 pieces for which $12,000 was paid July 3, 1944, a group of 59 pieces for which $11,000 was paid January 9, 1945, and a group of 50 pieces for which $5,000 was paid July 2, 1945 and another $5,000 was paid August 1, 1945. Getty Research Institute, Special Collections, French & Co. Stock Sheets (840027), box 52, folder 4 and Frick Art Reference Library Archives, New York, MS.065 Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive, Ledgers-Purchases and Sales, 1944-1947 and Subject Files-French & Company, 1942-1956.