Finding Aid for the Altounian-Lorbet Study Photographs of Sculpture and Decorative Arts, 1906 - 1954

Finding aid prepared by Jan Bender


Descriptive Summary

Title: Altounian-Lorbet study photographs of sculpture and decorative arts
Date (inclusive): 1906-1954
Number: 88.P.1
Creator/Collector: Altounian-Lorbet Antiquaires (firm)
Physical Description: 7.2 linear feet (25 boxes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The Altounian-Lorbet study photographs of sculpture and decorative arts document the works of art sold by or offered to the dealership and reflect the firm's specialization in medieval sculpture and minor arts, decorative arts of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and Egyptian and Greek antiquities. The photographs constitute a primary record of works available on the European art market before World War II, particularly in the area of monumental sculpture, and include documentation of pre- and post-restoration states of some works.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record  for this collection. Click here for the access policy .
Language: Collection material is in French.

Biographical/Historical Note

Altounian-Lorbet Antiquaires was a dealership originally established in Paris about 1906 by Joseph Altounian. Altounian was joined in the business by his wife, Henriette Lorbet, in 1924, and the shop subsequently relocated to Mâcon. From the early teens through the 1940s, Altounian-Lorbet was a major source of Egyptian and Greek antiquities, medieval sculpture, and decorative arts of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries for museums and private collectors. Altounian-Lorbet was notable for the high quality and importance of the works it handled. This held especially true for medieval sculpture, for which it was one of the main suppliers to French and American collections. Many pieces now in the United States trace their source to Altounian-Lorbet, through its close relations with the New York dealer, Joseph Brummer. In 1954, the business was passed on to their daughter, Jacqueline Altounian-Lorbet, and her husband, Bernard Rousset, who shifted the firm's emphasis from ancient and medieval art to period furniture.

Administrative Information

Access

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Publication Rights

Photographs and permissions must be obtained from copyright holder(s). For further information, contact Library Reproductions and Permissions .

Preferred Citation

Altounian-Lorbet study photographs of sculpture and decorative arts, 1906 - 1954, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 88.P.1
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa88p1

Acquisition Information

Acquired in 1988.

Processing History

Jan Bender created the collection inventory in 2014, and Ann Harrison completed the finding aid.

Scope and Content of Collection

The Altounian-Lorbet study photographs of sculpture and decorative arts document the works of art sold by or offered to the dealership and reflect the firm's specialization in medieval sculpture and minor arts, decorative arts of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and Egyptian and Greek antiquities. The photographs constitute a primary record of works available on the European art market before World War II, particularly in the area of monumental sculpture, and include documentation of the pre- and post-restoration states of some works.
Approximately forty percent of the collection consists of images of sculpture (including architectural ensembles), primarily Romanesque and Gothic, with some Renaissance works, in stone, wood, and ivory, and with an emphasis on French works. A further thirty percent of the images are devoted to works of decorative arts from the medieval period through the eighteenth century, including furniture, tapestries and other textiles, boiseries, clocks, enamels and metalwork. Fifteen percent of the photographs are of works of ancient art, primarily Egyptian and Classical sculpture and Greek vases. The collection also includes approximately 250 photographs of European paintings (primarily medieval and Renaissance periods) and 100 photographs of non-Western art (African, Chinese, southeast Asian, and pre-Columbian objects).

Arrangement

The collection is primarily arranged by medium, and then by culture.

Indexing Terms

Subjects - Topics

Art--Conservation and restoration
Decoration and ornament, Architectural
Decorative arts, Medieval--Europe
Decorative arts--Europe
Enamel and enameling--Europe
Furniture--Europe
Metal-work--Europe
Painting, European
Sculpture, Classical
Sculpture, Egyptian
Sculpture, Gothic
Sculpture, Renaissance
Sculpture, Romanesque
Sculpture, Romanesque--France
Tapestry--Europe
Textile fabrics--Europe
Vases, Greek

Genres and Forms of Material

Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Gelatin silver prints


 

Altounian-Lorbet study photographs of sculpture and decorative arts

 

Architectural elements and sculpture

 

French

 

by original location

Box 1, Folder 1

Autun

Box 1, Folder 2

Beaujolais

Box 1, Folder 2

Beaune

Box 1, Folder 3

Bonnefont

Box 1, Folder 4

Bulle

Box 1, Folder 5

Champagne

Box 1, Folder 6

Chapelle-de-Vie

Box 1, Folder 7

Charroux

Box 1, Folder 8

Chartres

Box 1, Folder 9

Château de Hautrive

Box 1, Folder 10

Cluny

Box 1, Folder 11

Colle-sur-Loup

Box 1, Folder 12

Conques

Box 1, Folder 13

Dinan

Box 1, Folder 14

Eysses

Box 1, Folder 15

Fère-en-Tardenois

Box 1, Folder 16

Île-de-France

Box 1, Folder 17

Ivry-la-Bataille

Box 1, Folder 18

Lombez

Box 1, Folder 19

Lyon

Box 1, Folder 20

Meaux

Box 1, Folder 21

Montgaroult

Box 1, Folder 21

Mont Saint-Michel

Box 1, Folder 22

Moutiers-Saint-Jean

Box 2, Folder 1

Nivernais

Box 2, Folder 2

Notre-Dame de Paris

Box 2, Folder 3

Paris

Box 2, Folder 4

Parthenay

Box 2, Folder 6

Reims

Box 2, Folder 5

Rhône Valley

Box 2, Folder 7

Roman France

Box 2, Folder 8

Roussillon

Box 2, Folder 9

Saint-Denis

Box 2, Folder 10

Saint Guilhem

Box 2, Folder 11

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés

Box 2, Folder 12

Saint-Thibault

Box 2, Folder 13

Sarlat

Box 2, Folder 14

Savigny

Box 2, Folder 15-16

Southwest France

Box 2, Folder 17

Toulouse

Box 2, Folder 17

Tournus

Box 2, Folder 18

Troyes

 

by current location

Box 2, Folder 19

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Box 2, Folder 20

Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art

 

by element type

Box 3, Folder 1

Bosses and corbels

Box 3, Folder 2

Church ruins

Box 3-4

Doors and gateways

Box 4, Folder 2-4

Fonts and wells

Box 4, Folder 5

Garden

Box 4, Folder 6

Hearths

Box 5, Folder 1-3

Interiors

Box 5, Folder 4-6

Pillars

Box 6

Sculptural decoration

Box 6, Folder 1-3

Gothic

Box 6, Folder 4-5

Romanesque

Box 6, Folder 6-8

Post-Medieval

Box 6, Folder 9

Stocklet Collection

Box 7, Folder 1-3

Windows

Box 7, Folder 4

Varia

Box 7, Folder 5

Installations

Box 25*, Folder 1

Oversized photographs

Box 8, Folder 1

English

Box 8, Folder 2

Italian

Box 8, Folder 3

Spanish

 

Unidentified

Box 7, Folder 4

Standard

Box 25*, Folder 2

Oversized photographs

 

Sculpture

Box 9-10

French

Box 11, Folder 1

Germanic

Box 11, Folder 2-4

Italian

Box 11, Folder 5

Unidentified

Box 11, Folder 6

Fakes

Box 25*, Folder 3-4

Oversized photographs: Italian, unidentified

 

Painting

Box 12, Folder 1-3

French

Box 12, Folder 4

German

Box 13, Folder 1-7

Italian

Box 14, Folder 1-2

Netherlandish and Flemish

Box 14, Folder 3-4

Spanish

Box 14, Folder 5

Unidentified

Box 25*, Folder 5-7

Oversized photographs: Italian, Netherlandish and Flemish, unidentified

 

Minor and decorative arts

Box 15, Folder 1

Arms and armor

Box 15, Folder 2

Candelabra and lamps

Box 15, Folder 3-4

Ceramics: faience, porcelain

Box 15, Folder 5

Clocks

Box 16-17

Furniture

Box 18, Folder 1

Ivory

Box 18, Folder 2

Manuscript illumination

Box 18, Folder 3

Metal work

Box 18, Folder 4

Musical instruments

Box 19, Folder 1

Stained glass

Box 19, Folder 2-6

Textiles, tapestries, beadwork

Box 25*, Folder 8

Oversized photographs: metalwork, musical instruments, pottery and textiles

 

Antiquities

Box 20, Folder 1-10

Egyptian: sculpture, minor arts, painting

Box 21, Folder 1-8

Greek: sculpture, pottery, metalwork

Box 22, Folder 1-8

Roman: sculpture, metalwork, mosaic, pottery

Box 23, Folder 1-4

Graeco-Roman: sculpture

Box 23, Folder 5

Cypriot

Box 23, Folder 6-7

Near Eastern: Sumerian, Assyrian

Box 23, Folder 8

Unidentified

Box 25*, Folder 9

Oversized photographs: Roman, Graeco-Roman and Near Eastern

Box 24, Folder 1-3

Non-Western: African, Asian, Mesoamerican