Comte de Pourtalès Collection

The Art Collection of James-Alexandre, comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier was a collection of sculpture, antiques and paintings owned by James-Alexandre de Pourtalès, Comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier until his death in 1855.[1]

Portrait of the Comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier, by Paul Delaroche, 1846.

History

The Comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier (1776–1855), was a Swiss-French banker who served as Chamberlain to the King of Prussia and was awarded the title of Count by King Frederick William III, who ruled Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars and the end of the Holy Roman Empire.[1]

The collection was largely held at Hôtel de Pourtalès, his hôtel particulier (essentially a grand townhouse) on Rue Tronchet in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon. The collection, which started with a vase,[2] included the Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals and works by Bronzino, Rembrandt, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and a Sandro Botticelli portrait.[3] In 1825, he donated a mummy and coffin he acquired from the Thedenat-Duvent sale, to the Berlin Museum.[1]

In February and March 1865, ten years after his death, his collection was auctioned off in Paris in accordance with his will. The majority of his collection was photographed and published in a large folio catalog by Goupil & Cie.[4][5] The Laughing Cavalier was purchased by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (who outbid Baron James Mayer de Rothschild). William Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney bought some of the important Egyptian objects. Sir Charles Thomas Newton spent 60,919 francs on bronzes and vases for the British Museum, and 47,000 francs on Giustiniani's Apollo.[1]

Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals
Portrait of a Young Man with a Book by Agnolo Bronzino, 1540
Saint Philip Neri, by Carlo Dolci, c. 1645
"The Healing of Palladia by Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian", by Fra Angelico, c. 1438–1440[6]
Portrait of a Youth. by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1482–1485[6]
Allegory of Love, by the Workshop of Titian, c. 1520–1540[6]
Ill-Matched Lovers, by Quentin Massys, c. 1520–1525[6]
The Apostle Paul, by Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1657[6]
Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara, by Battista Dossi, c. 1519–1530
"The Landscape Painter" by François Boucher
Bearing of the Cross with St. Veronica, by Lucas van Leyden, c. 1510s
Henri d'Albret King of Navarre, by Léonard Limousin, 1556
Anne de Pisseleu Duchesse d'Étampes, by Corneille de Lyon, c. 1535–40

Head of Apollo, that was once in the collection of Vincenzo Giustiniani, Roman copy of c. 120–140
Head of the Borghese Hera
Apollo, holding his (lost) bow in the right hand and a (lost) laurel branch in the left hand
Mercury, holding a lost object, probably a tortoise, 1st century BC
Funerary stele of Jason, c. 100 BC
Sacrifice to Demeter (Ceres) and Core (Proserpine), c. 340–320 BC
Actaeon attacked by his hounds by Dolon Painter
Dionysos holding a kantharos, c. 490–480 BC
Dionysos and Ploutos surrounded by satyrs and maenads, c. 370–360 BC
Peleus wrestling Thetis and holding her as she transforms into a snake, c. 460 BC
The actor Xanthias, standing next to a statuette of Heracles, c. 350–340 BC
Zeus wielding the thunderbolt in his right hand, c. 480–470 BC
"The Destruction of the Hosts of Pharaoh" (front), by Jacques Courtois, early 17th century
"The Destruction of the Hosts of Pharaoh" (back), by Jacques Courtois, early 17th century
Dish with Achelous and Theseus, by Maestro Domenego da Venezia, c. 1550–70

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