Vente de mars 2017

Originating from Lyon (France), Xavier (1867-1966) and Leon (1875-1936) Givaudan are prime examples of successful industrialists from the pre-war years. The brothers excelled in the production of synthetic perfumes, soaps and chemicals and made their fortune with the dawn of the 20th century.

Xavier Givaudan began his education at the Martinière School in Lyon alongside the Lumière brothers. He finished his schooling with Pharmacist diploma. In 1891 he created a company in Lyon which later took on the name Givaudan-Lavirotte & Cie making chemical products and pharmaceuticals. His brother, Leon, studied at the Polytechnic School in Zurich and carried out research on essential oils and synthetic perfumes.

With joint ambitions, the brothers rented a large plot of land in Vernier on the banks of the river Rhone near Geneva at the end of the 19^th century. Here they built a factory for the business then named “Société Léon Givaudan et Compagnie” which became known fairly rapidly among perfume producers. When conscripted in 1914, Leon brought his brother Xavier from Lyon to take care of the business in Vernier. He settled in Geneva and bought a large neo-gothic townhouse at the corner of rue de la Cloche and Quai du Mont-Blanc.  After the war, Leon settled in Paris and the house of Givaudan spread beyond the Franco-Swiss borders with branches opening in Germany, Great Britain, throughout Europe, Brazil and in the United States. 

These two erudite entrepreneurs developed a certain taste for 18^th century art. Their personal wealth afforded them assistance from the best art dealers of the early 20th century in creating a refined collection. Amongst their advisors was Jacques Seligmann & Fils from Paris, an important dealer whose client base included the likes of Count Moïse de Camondo, Baron Edmond de Rothschild and Henry Frick. The family archives show that Seligmann assisted Xavier with the purchase of a magnificent pair of candelabras attributed to Rémond (lot 591) and advised the brothers on purchasing paintings, notably those of Hubert Robert (1733-1808) (lots 803 and 804) from the Charpentier Gallery.

Upon his death in 1966, Xavier left his fabulous collection of gold and enamel snuff boxes to the Art and History Museum of Geneva and received the same year the ‘Genève reconnaissante’ medal thanking him for his philanthropy in the Canton.

All the lots marked in blue throughout the catalogue are from the Xavier and Leon Givaudan collection (the first having inherited part of his brother’s collection after his death in 1936) and have been passed down through the family to the current owners. A selection of 18^th century books from the collection will be sold in June 2017 at our Antiquarian book sale.