| The bindings shown above appeared on eBay not long after I had completed some pages on Boyet's bindings for the comte d'Hoym (click here to see this) as well as one on bindings a la grotesque by Boyet (click here to see this). So naturally I was keen to try and scoop up these bindings. The seller who is usualy very precise in his descriptions, failed to recognize, the arms of Charles-Henry comte d'Hoym (1694-1736), ambassadeur de Saxe-Pologne en France et célèbre bibliophile, this was a lucky break, and I managed to get them at a reasonable price. Of course I was sure that these bindings were from Boyet, but you can never be 100% certain about anything on eBay, which is why I think you can find some good bargains there. The last Boyet ebay binding that we looked at turned out to be more mysterious than antisipated and now we have another that holds a few surprises. The first thing that we need to authenticate is the arms of comte d'Hoym. On a previous page I went to great lengths to try to find differences in these armorial stamps (click here to see this) now we have some that can be scanned at 1200 dpi, and if differences exist in these stamps they will be hard to hide at this resolution. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, we see a black and white example of the arms of Comte d'Hoym these derive from a signed Padeloup binding that has been reproduced in Seymour De Ricci's French signed bindings in the Mortimer L. Schiff Collection, Paris, 1935. compared with our eBay example. The last time that I tried to compare the Padeloup example with Boyet examples, the differences were so small that without greater magnification nothing certain could be concluded. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, we see enlarged details from a selection of bindings, that have been decorated with this medium sized stamp. The only thing that is really clear is that our Boyet stamp is probably authentic compared with the other examples, the one marked 'eBay' is yet aother that can be found on eBay. The differences that we see could be from excessive gold in the imprint or damage of one kind or another. We need to look at this at at even higher resolution. |
| In Comparative Diagram 3, we are beginning to suspect that there are real differences between the Boyet examples and that of the Padeloup Ricci 5, we can focus on the tiny crowned Eagle and notice distinct differences that are not accidental or the result of lighting or too much gold in the imprint. |
| Now in Comparative Diagram 4, the Padeloup detail is at the limit of useful reproduction where as the 1200 dpi Boyet scan allows us to view the differences, the wings of the eagles in particular are quite different, as is the angle of the head, this is not the same tool however well made. The engraver of these stamps was a true master of the art, faithfully reproducing the original down to the finest details, details that would escape the human eye, such as the eye of the eagle which would measure to be about the width of a human hair. |
| The next thing that I wanted to test was the tomb label palettes, these of course looked very much like Boyet palette VII. (click here to see a collection of Boyet palettes). Here I had to really look at all the VII palettes recorded so far and after hours of testing came to the conclusion that Boyet was using 2 nearly identical VII palettes. In Comparative Diagram 5 we see the differences in two pairs of examples that are exceptionally well preserved. The green arrows pointing out a detail that is obvious in the VII-A examples namely a strong indentation under the cartouches, this feature is absent in the VII-B examples. Next the blue arrows pointing out the fact that the VII-B pods that crown the cartouches are mostly flat topped compared with the more prominently capped VII-A examples. These differences are clearly distinct enough to separate this palette into an A and B model. |
| In Comparative Diagram we see our eBay example Jugemens compared with A and B examples of this palette, we can add another difference in these palettes and that is that the A group is larger than the B group. These palettes are very hard to compare exactly however I managed to find a section of another VII-A example that matches our eBay example, shown below in the Comparative Diagram 7 overlay, this close fit confirms that the palettes on our example do derive from the Boyet workshops. We know from the research of Thoinan and Gruel that comte d'Hoym was one of Boyet's principal clients, so we would not be surprised if we find Boyet imprints here, however there are some unusual and surprising features on these bindings that we will detail on the next page. |
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click here to return to the HOME page. click here to see an INDEX of the 2017 pages. see below links to previous work |
| Even experts are sometimes wrong, before you spend thousands on a book, please do your own research! Just because I say a certain binding can be attributed to le Maitre isn't any kind of guarantee, don't take my word for it, go a step further and get your own proof. In these pages I have provided you with a way of doing just that. |
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