Pair Of Pelgrim Leads From The Seine, Saint Pierre And Saint Michel, Lead, Paris, France.

Two pelgrim leads of the Seine, Saint Michel and Saint Pierre, lead, Paris, France.

A collector of rare or singular objects, of popular or scholarly origin, André Breton acquired what are commonly called "Seine plumbs". These objects, found at the time of Haussmann's work (as were also many coins) during the dredging of the Seine in the 19th century and the reconstruction of certain bridges in Paris, are made of lead, hence their usual designation. Most are historical: they show a scene or symbolize a story. Their scholarly repertoire was published in the 19th century in Paris by Hippolyte Arthur Forgeais. But their dating is still subject to doubt. The mystery of the Seine plumbs is evoked by André Breton in Magical Art, Éditions du Club du Livre, 1957, p. 169: "it is impossible, for example, to determine whether or not the mysterious statuettes known as Plombs de Seine represented a rudimentary stage of bewitchment, or transmit to us the memory of some cursed cult. Preserved magic mirrors generally in private museums, astrological talismans which seemed to be "arranged" abraxas in the same way as the monochromes of Gaffarel which were discussed above, only faintly evoke the demonic atmosphere of these chaotic pieces. Some of the statuettes from André Breton's collection are today kept at the National Museum of Modern Art, Georges Pompidou center. Élie Charles Flamand lifts a corner of the veil on these objects and puts forward a dating in his documented study, published in the journal Le Surréalisme, even, n°2, spring 1957, pp. 89, 90, 91. Tradition invokes the idea that the crusaders, on their way to the Holy Land, threw this type of figurine into the Seine as a guarantee of their safe return to France.

Related object : lot 164, PARIS MON AMOUR SIXTH EDITION Monday October 3, 2016 2:00 p.m. Drouot Richelieu - Room 9 - room 9 - 9, rue Drouot 75009 Paris