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RESEARCH PRODUCT

La dynastie Beurdeley (1818-1895) : entre boutique et atelier. Une histoire du commerce des curiosités et de la création d’objets d’art au XIXe siècle

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The Beurdeley dynasty was established in Paris from 1818 to 1895. They were active in the trade of "curiosities" (as antiques were then described) but they also founded a workshop for the manufacture of furniture and gilt bronzes. The study of their business reveals the increasing value devoted to curiosities, the consumption and the circulation of works of art, both antique and modern, the trade and the workshop practices throughout the nineteenth century. The dual activity of dealer and manufacturer is significant and exposes the correlations between the commerce, the development of the taste for old objects following the intense circulation of merchandises triggered by the Revolution, and a modern production built on a system of references appropriating patterns from the 17th and 18th centuries. The market for curiosities developed around dealers, the first to compile knowledge, particularly with catalogs and auctions booming. Later, through the development of their collections, museums encouraged the fad. Selling old and new works of art was not unusual for a dealer but the Beurdeley’s double vocation brings to light the transfer of knowledge from the shop to the workshop and the extent of the influences and practices that occur between trade and commerce, between the old and the new. The workshop analysis reveals an organisation inherited from the guilds era, before entering the age of industry. It reflects the transition between the appropriation of the Ancien régime heritage and the establishment of a modern structure following the aim for the development of a luxury industry whose international influence is growing, stimulated by the great exhibitions. Established in the heart of the Parisian market, the Beurdeley business gained a strong reputation and by the nature of their trade and their production they participated in the formation of a French international style, based on the appropriation of the eighteenth century and promoted by the cosmopolitan elites from the 1850s well into the 20th century.