Three Rare Percier and Fontaine Albums

Published on 09 December 2022, by Marielle Brie de Lagerac

Auction on 20 December 2022 - 14:30 (CET) - Salle 7 - Hôtel Drouot - 75009

A set of three portfolios of projects that come directly from Pierre-François Fontaine’s library via his descendants attest to the two architects’ vision and show the changing urban fabric of Paris.

Pierre François Fontaine, collection of 41 plates including the development of the... Three Rare Percier and Fontaine Albums

Pierre François Fontaine, collection of 41 plates including the development of the Chaillot mountain, large in-folio, half-red morocco basane binding, 1820–1830, 30 double and 11 single plates, pen and ink and wash drawings with watercolor highlights.
Estimate: €80,000/120,000

They are two sides of the same architectural coin: Charles Percier (1764–1838) and Pierre-François Fontaine (1762–1853) worked together to create a new style steeped in Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquity. They wended their way through the demands of the Ancien Régime early in their career and those of the Consulate, the Empire, and the Restoration, accompanying changes in form without affecting substance. Fontaine’s Journal , begun in 1799, tracks his career. He was appointed government architect in January 1801, first architect to the Emperor in 1813 and worked on the regime’s first projects. He and Percier produced a number of watercolor plans, of which three large folio albums of original drawings are now up for sale. These exceptional documents are an immersion into the architectural ebullience of the…

This article is for subscribers only

You still have 85% left to read.

To discover more, Subscribe