Art Market Magazine - Visit zone-secure.net

20 March
In French jargon, they are known as "pipophiles",
meaning collectors of pipes: those objects enabling you
to smoke (tobacco, chiefly), whose rich variety comes
from the wide array of materials used to make them.
They range from plain, simple, functional wooden pipes
to elaborate examples in meerschaum and carved ivory:
genuine works of art rivalling the work of the finest
sculptors. The variety and the fact that the pipe is
common to many cultures make it an almost inexhaustible
theme for collection. Daniel Mazaleyrat chose it as
his sole focus. Well-known in the milieu, and considered
one of the specialists in the subject, Mazaleyrat was also
a collector, and gathered together over 500 pipes,
many of which have been exhibited or appear in
reference books, including one by Jean Rebeyrolles
published by Flammarion in 2001. The sale of his
collection on 22 March at Drouot (Piasa auction house)
looks set to be a memorable event for the speciality.
Connoisseurs will remember the Jean Laffont sales in
the Eighties at Drouot (Boisgirard auction house). More
Meerschaum and amber cigar-holder
representing the birth of Venus, in its own
darkened wood case, signed "JB"; Viennese
work from c. 1880, 12 x 27 cm.
Estimate: €5,000/8,000.
Daniel Mazaleyrat Collection,
when smoking becomes an art...
UPCOMING AUCTIONS THE MAGAZINE
recently, in 2009, the Musée de la Seita's collection was
a resounding success, totalling €494,700. On that
occasion, one carved clay and wood specimen from the
Democratic Republic of Congo fetched €33,500.
The 580 Daniel Mazaleyrat lots include this little
masterpiece made by a Viennese workshop in around
1880 (see photo). There are also 67 pipes in French and
German porcelain from the 18th and 19th centuries,
demonstrating the wide variety of themes found in this
genre. The more uncommon items in the collection
include models in ivory and bone, with one in the shape
of a woman's bust: an early 19th century piece from
Dieppe (€3,000/4,000). But the main part of the
Mazaleyrat collection, illustrating the leading
production centres, consists of clay pipes. These 380
lots exemplify the richness of French work during the
19th century, inseparable from names like Gambier and
Fiolet – a period when the pipe, a living medium for
popular imagery, was a true reflection of its times…
Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
N° 23 I GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
HD
>
25