FRANCE, Picardy, 16th century Torso column... - Lot 119 - Daguerre

FRANCE, Picardy, 16th century Torso column decorated with coats of arms. Fragment of a limestone column. H. 72 cm Provenance : former collection Henri Aymard (1878- 1956). Of the three sculpted sides of this capital resting on a torso column, only two are still legible. The first one has three fleurs-de-lis, the coat of arms of the kingdom of France since the reign of Charles V. As for the second, it presents the arms of the Saint-Ferréol abbey in Essômes-sur- Marne in the Aisne department, which are blazoned as follows "Azure with a chevron of gold accompanied in chief by two stars of six points of the same in chief and a rose of gules in point". This abbey founded in 1090 by the bishop of Soissons, Thibaut de Pierrefonds, was home to a college of canons regulars of Saint Augustine. The building was renovated and re-consecrated in the 16th century and our fragment most certainly dates and our fragment most certainly dates from this period of reconstruction. Partially destroyed during the First World War, a restoration campaign took place between 1919 and 1930. Notary in the city of Loudun, Henri Aymard (1878-1956) had a passion for passion for antiques. He collected a large number of lapidary pieces from nearby monuments between 1920 and 1930. monuments between 1920 and 1930. By taste, but also in a step of safeguarding of a historical and artistic heritage historical and artistic heritage strongly impacted by the First World War, Henri Aymard wrote in 1944 to the parish priest of of the parish of Monts-sur-Guesnes: "I collected what seemed to me worthy of being collected to preserve them from a destruction destruction". It is in this context that the notary founded the House of Romanesque Art in Loudun, designed to showcase his collection his collection and of which his own house was the case. In parallel to this selection, Henri Aymard has kept a certain number of works in a a certain number of works in a personal collection, among which these two fragments of architecture.