Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The Museum Year 2011
The Year
Acquisitions
Art of Europe: July 2009–June 2011
Inkstand
1803
Attributed to Alexis Decaix (French, d. 1811)
Length x width: 31.8 x 26.7 cm (12 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.)
Gilt and patinated bronze; wood
Classification: Decorative arts
Culture: English
Accession number: 2010.1039
Description: This inkstand stand belongs to a group associated with the leading bronze-mount manufacturer of the Georgian era Alexis Decaix and closely relates to a yew wood example acquired by the Prince of Wales, later George IV. The design of the mounts has strong affinities with the engravings illustrated in Thomas Hope's seminal publication, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration of 1807 which includes the introductory reference: `Throughout this vast metropolis, teeming as it does with artificers and tradesman I have, after the most laborious search, only been able to find...(one man)...to whose industry and talent I could ...confide the execution of the more enriched portion of my designs: namely Decaix...a bronzist and native of France...'
Provenance/Ownership History: Late 1980s, H. Blairman and Sons, London. Acquired on the London art market by Horace Wood Brock, New York; 2010, gift of Horace Wood Brock to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 26, 2011)
Gift of Horace Wood Brock