Kolbe & Fanning
Auction 159 6 Mar 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
The Nini Moulds, First Described
Des Méloizes, Albert. OBSERVATIONS SUR LES MOULES DES MÉDAILLONS DE JEAN-BAPTISTE NINI. Congrès archéologique de France (XXXVe session, séances générales tenues à Carcassonne, a Narbonne, a Perpignan et a Béziers en 1868...), Paris, 1869. Small 8vo, somewhat later white cloth-backed mottled boards; green spine label, gilt. lxv, (1), 411, (1) pages; illustrated throughout; 2 folding plans [Des Méloizes's article is found on pages 67–73]. Near fine, with remarkably fresh leaves. A very rare paper by Albert des Méloizes, in which he first discussed the moulds from which Jean-Baptiste Nini produced his terra cotta medallions. To quote Richard Margolis, "In this important paper, presented in 1868, the Marquis Albert des Méloizes describes at some length, and for the first time, the moulds from which Nini cast his medallions, insisting that the original moulds were made of terra cotta, rather than metal, which Villers had claimed. As part of his presentation he displayed (but didn't illustrate in his paper), a series of medallions in patinated plaster which had been cast from these moulds. A copy of this rare paper was examined in the library of the Musée Monétaire in Paris." The actual title of Des Méloizes's contribution to the meeting is in the form of a question: "Existe-t-il des moules en terre, des médaillons si justement appréciés de Nini? Doit-on les considérer comme des moules origininaux?" We have used the more descriptive title used by Margolis when referring to it. Richard Margolis replied upon a photocopy of this paper (vide infra) when writing his Benjamin Franklin in Terra Cotta. The present volume is the only lot in this sale that was never actually owned by Margolis: as much as he tried, he never located an original copy. It has been posthumously added to his library secure in the knowledge that he would have eagerly purchased it had it been made available to him.
Des Méloizes, Albert. OBSERVATIONS SUR LES MOULES DES MÉDAILLONS DE JEAN-BAPTISTE NINI. Congrès archéologique de France (XXXVe session, séances générales tenues à Carcassonne, a Narbonne, a Perpignan et a Béziers en 1868...), Paris, 1869. Small 8vo, somewhat later white cloth-backed mottled boards; green spine label, gilt. lxv, (1), 411, (1) pages; illustrated throughout; 2 folding plans [Des Méloizes's article is found on pages 67–73]. Near fine, with remarkably fresh leaves. A very rare paper by Albert des Méloizes, in which he first discussed the moulds from which Jean-Baptiste Nini produced his terra cotta medallions. To quote Richard Margolis, "In this important paper, presented in 1868, the Marquis Albert des Méloizes describes at some length, and for the first time, the moulds from which Nini cast his medallions, insisting that the original moulds were made of terra cotta, rather than metal, which Villers had claimed. As part of his presentation he displayed (but didn't illustrate in his paper), a series of medallions in patinated plaster which had been cast from these moulds. A copy of this rare paper was examined in the library of the Musée Monétaire in Paris." The actual title of Des Méloizes's contribution to the meeting is in the form of a question: "Existe-t-il des moules en terre, des médaillons si justement appréciés de Nini? Doit-on les considérer comme des moules origininaux?" We have used the more descriptive title used by Margolis when referring to it. Richard Margolis replied upon a photocopy of this paper (vide infra) when writing his Benjamin Franklin in Terra Cotta. The present volume is the only lot in this sale that was never actually owned by Margolis: as much as he tried, he never located an original copy. It has been posthumously added to his library secure in the knowledge that he would have eagerly purchased it had it been made available to him.