6 June - 27 July 2008
The Art Gallery of South Australia’s sumptuous new exhibition, Empires & Splendour: The David Roche Collection offers visitors the chance to immerse themselves in oldworld opulence and grandeur through 100 luxury decorative arts objects from 18th and 19th century France, Britain, Russia and Germany.
This internationally renowned private collection – compiled over a lifetime by astute
Adelaide collector and philanthropist David Roche – has never been publicly displayed before.
Detail: Clemente Ciuli, maker of mosaic top, Italy, working early 19th century, Charles Percier and Pierre–François Léonard Fontaine, designers of base, France, 1764 – 1838 and 1762 – 1853, attributed to Jacob Desmalter, maker of base, France, 1770 – 1841, Centre table (gueridon), c1810, Paris, mahogany, gilt bronze mounts, micro–mosaic top, inlaid marble border, 81.5 cm, 111.0 cm (diam); The David Roche Foundation.
"The David Roche Collection, with its remarkable breadth and quality, is testament to one man’s lifelong passion and commitment to collecting, displaying and sharing art and beauty” says Christopher Menz, Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia and co-curator of the exhibition. “We are delighted to be working with Mr Roche and the David Roche Foundation to reveal some of the treasures from this major collection to the public for the first time” he said.
Among the highlights in
Empires & Splendour is exquisite porcelain by Chelsea,
Meissen, Worcester and Sèvres, luxurious bronze and gilded metalware, and sumptuous objects by
Fabergé. Also on display is furniture by leading designers Thomas Hope, Chippendale the Younger and
George Bullock, along with paintings and sculpture by important artists of the period.
A number of works in the
Roche Collection boast connections to some of the most
famous figures in history, and to a raft of aristocrats from across Europe.
Some of the many objects with fascinating provenance include: Napoleon Bonaparte’s flintlock
pistol; Catherine the Great’s armchair; plates from a dinner service owned by the Duke of
Gloucester, brother of George III; and a fashionable kangaroo-themed plate given as part of a
dinner service by Empress Josephine and Napoleon, to his sister Pauline on her marriage to Prince
Camillo Borghese.
Curator of Decorative Arts and co-curator of the exhibition, Robert Reason, believes the
collection is the richer for these historical connections: “Each object in the exhibition is
already exemplary for its outstanding design and workmanship, but the fact that some of these
pieces can be traced to the most celebrated figures of their day makes them even more precious” he
says.
Accompanying this splendid exhibition is an appropriately lavish book, featuring detailed
images of the
David Roche Collection, beyond just those selected for
display at the Art Gallery. The book also includes scholarly essays by the Director, Curators and
other experts, as well as a foreword by Mr Roche himself.
Exhibition sponsors
