Renaissance Period Fireplace Plate With The Coat Of Arms Of Jehan Fontaine, Alderman Of Paris 1611/1612

Exceptional Renaissance period fireplace plate, dating from the 16th or very early 17th century, with the coat of arms of Jehan Fontaine, alderman of Paris in 1611/1612, whose family over three successive generations received the position of jurors of the city of Paris, controllers in this city and masters of the carpentry works and buildings of the king. The aldermanship is a system of judicial organization in which cases are heard and judged by courts, composed of professional magistrates and citizens appointed or elected to participate in the delivery of justice. The aldermen are generally elected by professional or union organizations. Jehan Fontaine carried out his duties brilliantly, and was entrusted with important responsibilities, to the point that Queen Marie de Medici praised him. Jehan Fontaine came from a distinguished line of carpenters. Jehan Fontaine's grandfather, also named Jehan, and his father, Léonard, accepted the estimate of 1300 livres for the carpentry work of the room commissioned by the new King, Henri II, in the Parc des Tournelles in 1549. Léonard (15??/1593), Jehan Fontaine's father, carried out work at the Louvre and worked on the construction of the King's residence, among other things. Married to Blaise Payen in 1563, he was Centenier for the district of Thomas Du Ru in 1567. Like his father, Jehan Fontaine, alderman of the city of Paris in 1611, worked from 1578 on the project and partly on the construction of the Pont Neuf, inaugurated in 1607, of which he would control the foundations of the piers in 1582. He also participated in drawing up the plans for the new building of the Hôtel de Ville, he was responsible for regulating the work of enlarging the Porte Nesle and was appointed expert to choose the location of the Pont Marie, among other things. He married in 1581 to Jehanne Chambiges (Sambige, Chambigen, Sanbiche, according to the sources). (Marriage certificate transcribed). The family owned a building from 1544 until the end of the 16th century, under the name of the printing house of the bellows-Vert, installed around 1474, rue Saint Jacques, in front of the college of Marmoutier, now the Louis Legrand high school. The couple, Jehan and Jehanne, lived on the quai des Ormes, also called quai de l'Arche Beaufils and now quai des Célestins. (Mutual donation document transcribed). Jehan set up a "yard" for storing and working wood, commonly called "the King's yard", the first sponsor of the house, quai des Ormes, from 1587. His coat of arms was recorded on the Armorial of the Aldermen of the City of Paris in 1611. The shield, in a cartouche with cut leather, is surrounded by a crown of fruit, two laurel branches encircle it. Its broken arched pediment, topped with an Inca mask, rises from an entablature adorned with a frieze of interlacing loaded with rosettes. The ailerons end with two rams' heads and a pair of protruding volutes adorn its eventful outline. Our last photo: Painting "The Provost of Merchants and the Bureau of the City of Paris" in 1610, painted in 1611 by Georges Lallemant, (Nancy, around 1575 - Paris, in 1636), coats of arms above the figures allow them to be identified, Musée Carnavalet, History of Paris. The year following the death of Henri IV, at the request of Queen Marie de Medici, no renewal of the members of the Bureau took place. Coat of arms: Azure, with a golden chevron, accompanied in chief by two roses and in base by a silver fountain. This plaque was found in Côte d'Or in Mirebeau sur Bèze. It weighs 190 kg. Documentation will be sent to the purchaser. Sources: - ARMORIAL OF THE CITY OF PARIS - M. Borel d'Hauterive (1859), Names and coats of arms of the Aldermen of the city of Paris, 1411 - 1789 - Records of the deliberations of the Bureau of the City of Paris. - Le Héraut d'armes, Illustrated Review of the Nobility, 1803, volume 1, p. 454. - National Society of Antiquaries of France, 1817, p. 198. - Grand Armorial of France, Henri Jougla de Morenas, 1938, no. 15649, volume 4, p. 20. - Birth certificate of Jehan Fontaine, probably with a transcription error for his date of birth. Laborde Fund (Paris). - Mutual donation deed transcribed. Laborde Fund (Paris). - Fontaine / Chambiges marriage certificate transcribed. Laborde Fund (Paris). Thanks to Mrs. Christine Chazeau and Stephen Kinloch-Pichat for their valuable assistance. You can visit our website: www.claudeaugustin.com