Maison Maquet

The Maquet brothers, Hector and Charles, established Maison Maquet in 1841. The eldest Maquet sibling was Auguste Maquet,{{Cite web|url=http://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/espace-professionnels/professionnels/chercheurs/rech-rec-art-home/notice-artiste.html?no_cache=1&nnumid=37077&retouroeuvre=%252Ffr%252Fcollections%252Fcatalogue-des-oeuvres%252Fnotice.html%253Fnnumid%253D64652|title=Photographie d'Auguste Maquet par Hector Maquet. Musée d'Orsay: Notice d'Artiste|website=musee-orsay.fr|language=fr|access-date=11 May 2018}} the novelist, playwright and famous ghost-writer of Alexandre Dumas, for whom he co-wrote several masterpieces such as The Three Musketeers, Queen Margot and The Count of Monte-Cristo.{{Cite book|title=Histoire d'une collaboration: Alexandre Dumas et Auguste Maquet. Documents inédits, portraits et fac-similés|last=Simon|first=Gustave|publisher=Le Joyeux Roger|year=2012|location=Montreal|pages=51–52}}

The Maquet company was created to commercialize the patent for the first machine-made envelopes, the use of which was still little known. This patent, the application for which was filed in 1841 and granted by the French Patent Office on 17 January 1842, described how to manufacture and use the "envelope-card-letter" (enveloppe-carte-lettre, in French), also called "a word in the Mail" (un mot à la Poste).Patent filed by Maquet on 16 August 1841 and granted on 17 January 1842, INPI, 1BA9546. Database of 19th-century French patents: http://bases-brevets19e.inpi.fr/ The invention of the envelope was the culminating point of a variety of measures taken since the 17th century to preserve correspondence confidentiality.

In 1846, Hector and Charles Maquet separated their activities: Charles managed the envelopes factory, while Hector ran the boutique shop on Rue de la Paix. In 1864, Hector Maquet registered as a trademark an elegant monogram mixing his initials.Trademark no. 1984, filed by Hector Maquet at the Commerce Court of Paris, 1864, INPI.

The house was first located at No. 20 (renumbered to No. 24) Rue de la Paix in Paris from 1841 to 1867 and then at No. 10 from 1868, where it remained for about a century. In the early 1970s, the house moved to 45 Rue Pierre Charron, where it kept a boutique shop until 1993. Though it did not have any commercial branch in the 19th century, Maquet eventually opened one in Nice at 16 Masséna Avenue (now Avenue de Verdun) in the early 20th century.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/451697037618982326/|title=Maison Maquet (Paris-Nice)|website=Pinterest|access-date=11 May 2018}}

Maison Maquet soon became one of the most fashionable personal stationery houses and enjoyed great fame during the French Second Empire. It even obtained the warrant of "official purveyor to Her Majesty the Empress". Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III regularly visited the shop on Rue de la Paix, where she was served by Madame Maquet.{{Cite book|title=Rapport du Comité d'Installation, Papeterie et Papetiers, Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900|location=Paris}}

Maquet was also favored by French aristocratic elites, and its clients included the Princess Pauline von Metternich, as well as the Rohan-Chabot and Costa de Beauregard families.Invoices for the wedding of their respective daughters, Countess of Rohan Chabot, February 1895, and Countess Costa de Beauregard, June 1895. Forney Library, 4-MS-FG-00122.

Maison Maquet's products were particularly trendy among foreign royal courts. Maquet notably supplied the Russian court, including the Great Duchess and the Great Duke Konstantin of Russia. In fact, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported in 1875 that the "stationary was adorned with the Great Duke's coat of arms, embellished with gold and colors enamel; of unparalleled richness and elegance."{{Cite news|date=21 October 1875|title=Petite Gazette|work=Le Figaro|page=3|language=fr|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k275744h/f3.item}} The Prince Axel of Denmark was also a faithful client of Maquet.{{Cite web|url=https://www.drouotonline.com/vente-aux-encheres-drouot/4673/souvenirs-historiques?offset=0&query=&lotGroupTheme=|title=Collection du prince et de la princesse Axel de Danemark – Souvenirs historiques militaria|website=drouotonline.com|access-date=11 May 2018}}

Later on, with the change of political regime and the onset of the IIIrd Republic, Maquet renewed its clientele and started to supply Republican institutions, including the Presidential Palace known as Palais de l’Elysée, Paris City Hall – the Hôtel de Ville de Paris – and French embassies, as well as financial institutions such as the French National Bank.Commercial catalog of Maison Maquet, 1904.

Another prestigious customer was the Paris Opera, for which Maquet printed several leaflets and programs.{{Citation|title=Théâtre national de l'opéra. La légende de Saint-Christophe de M. Vincent d'Indy : [estampe]|year=1920|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8438184d|access-date=11 May 2018}}

In 1908, Maquet changed hands: it became the property of businessman and architect Léon Tissier,{{Cite book|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58270813|title=Archives commerciales de la France : journal hebdomadaire...|date=25 December 1907|publisher=[s.n.]|location=Paris}} who rejuvenated the company through multiple artistic collaborations.{{Cite book|title=L'Art du parfum : Découverte et collection des flacons de parfum|last=Lefkowith|first=Christie Mayer|publisher=Celiv|location=Paris|pages=199}} Tissier, the son of a travel items manufacturer, also extended Maquet's range of leather goods products."Un Lalique au Ministère de la Défense?" on www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr Intent on making his way into the world of printing, he invested in new buildings and printing machinery located rue de Langhouat in the Goutte d’Or neighborhood in Paris, which he eventually yielded to the Établissements Gérault-Fouqueray in 1936.{{Cite book|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5578233p|title=Archives commerciales de la France : journal hebdomadaire...|date=22 April 1936|publisher=[s.n.]|location=Paris}}{{Cite book|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5578238r|title=Archives commerciales de la France : journal hebdomadaire...|date=24 April 1936|publisher=[s.n.]|location=Paris}}

In 1990, Maison Maquet was acquired by stationery manufacturer and engraver Cassegrain, only to cease its operations in 1994.

Twenty years later, in 2014, Maquet was taken over by Luvanis, a private investment company specializing in reviving sleeping beauty brands, which was notably behind the revival of trunk maker Moynat,{{Cite news|url=http://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/de-lummens-revival-model-5886947/|title=Arnaud de Lummen: Fashion's Brand Reviver|last=Socha|first=Miles|date=2 May 2012|work=Women's Wear Daily|access-date=11 May 2018}} and of couture house Paul Poiret.{{Cite news|url=http://madame.lefigaro.fr/style/les-dessous-de-la-renaissance-de-la-griffe-paul-poiret-sur-les-podiums-paris-yiqing-yin-270218-147461|title=Les dessous de la renaissance de la griffe Paul Poiret sur les podiums parisiens|work=Madame Figaro|access-date=11 May 2018|language=fr-FR}}

Maison Maquet first specialized in envelopes and luxury stationery, creating custom-made papers with coats of arms and monograms, heraldic paintings on parchment, business cards, wedding invitations, birth announcements, dinner invitations, and dance cards.Commercial catalogs of Maison Maquet, non-dated and 1904. It then extended its expertise to manufacture luxury leather goods, metalwork, and watches, before branching out to engraving and art printing. Maquet advertized through witty commercial catalogs, theatre programs, and fashion magazines such as the luxury magazine Les Modes.{{Cite web|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O693530/trade-card-unknown/|title=Maquet {{!}} Trade card {{!}} V&A Search the Collections|publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum|access-date=11 May 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/musee-carnavalet/oeuvres/etrennes-objets-d-art-curiosites-fayences-montees#infos-principales|title=Maquet {{!}} Etrennes, objets d'art, curiosités, fayences montées {{!}} Paris Musées|website=parismuseescollections.paris.fr|access-date=11 May 2018}}

Maison Maquet originally produced envelopes and various items of fine stationery. Its most famous in-house paper was known as the "empress paper" (papier impératrice), in an elegant shade of pearly grey between white and azure paper.Sophie de Fontanges, Les Succès du Jour, May 1869.

Maquet also manufactured travel diaries and notebooks. The French author Prosper Mérimée notably wrote the short novel La Chambre Bleue in 1866,{{Cite web|url=https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/La_Chambre_bleue_(M%C3%A9rim%C3%A9e)|title=La Chambre bleue (Mérimée) – Wikisource|website=fr.wikisource.org|language=fr|access-date=11 May 2018}} dedicated to Empress Eugénie, on a Maquet notebook bound with dark green Morocco leather, discreetly hand-tooled in gold leaf.{{Cite book|title=Catalogue de l'exposition organisée pour commémorer le 150e anniversaire de la naissance de Prosper Mérimée|publisher=Bibliothèque nationale|year=1953|location=Paris}}

At Maquet's, one could find all manners of writing accessories, from inkpots to blotting paper, including notepads, pencils, dip pens, and even paper knives and letter openers made of chiselled silver.

While still producing envelopes and stationery, Maison Maquet became a luxury leather goods manufacturer. Maison Maquet proposed a wide range of leather goods, including handbags and travel bags, as well as vanity cases, wallets, cardholders and purses. Maquet also sold lawyers’ satchels (serviettes d’avocats) and garnished tourist blotters ("buvards-touriste garnis").Commercials for Maquet in L’Illustration, on 5 November 1910, and 4 January 2 August and 3 November 1913. The house developed a whole line of travel items. Inkpots, paper trays, as well as small leather goods, both sturdy and beautiful, were featured in the house's commercial catalogs.

In addition to her personal stationery, Empress Eugénie also purchased her leather goods at Maquet. Maquet's luxury leather goods department catered to a clientele of artists such as the French comedian Jane Sabrier, who matched one of her fashionable outfits with a Maquet bag in reindeer leather in 1909.{{Cite journal|date=15 November 1909|title=La mode actuelle au théâtre|journal=Comoedia Illustré|pages=116}}

In 1938, Maquet was selected to contribute pieces to the trousseau of the two dolls gifted to Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret during the official visit of their parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The gift, intended to reinforce the Entente Cordiale between France and the United Kingdom, displayed French craftsmanship through a 360-piece trousseau in the tradition of Parisian haute couture. Maquet's contributions consisted in leather goods and accessories: two writing cases, one in blue, the other in red, each with its notepaper monogrammed to the dolls’ initials, and a miniature gold pen.{{Cite book|title=Dolls for the Princesses: The Story of France and Marianne|last=Eaton|first=Faith|publisher=Royal Collection Enterprises|year=2002|location=London|pages=76}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/93234/writing-cases|title=Maquet [Paris] - Writing cases|website=royalcollection.org.uk|access-date=11 May 2018}}

In the 1960s, Audrey Hepburn, Hubert de Givenchy's muse, shopped at Maquet's for her leather goods. She notably possessed five Maquet-branded wallets, all made of black leather.{{Cite web|url=https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/audrey-hepburn-personal-collection-part-iii/five-black-leather-wallets-55/56049|title=Maquet, Five Black Leather Wallets. Audrey Hepburn: The Personal Collection, Part III|last=Christies|website=Christies.com|access-date=11 May 2018}}

Maquet added watchmaking to its activities, selling bracelet watches and clocks for phaetons and automobiles.

Applying the same craftsmanship to tobacco articles, the house commercialized lighters, cigar and cigarette boxes. In the early 20th century, it made many lighters from Chinese snuff boxes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pinterest.fr/claudefp/maison-maquet-paris-nice-briquets-%C3%A0-friction/|title=Maison Maquet (Paris-Nice): briquets à friction|website=Pinterest|access-date=11 May 2018}} Maquet became famous for combining old components into new objects in the orientalist fashion typical of decorative arts at the time.

Furthermore, Maquet boxes, renowned for their refinement, were used to store letters as much as jewels.

Hector Maquet notably shot the portrait of his brother Auguste. Soon he sold works of other photographers in the Paris boutique, including those of Polish photographer Boleslaw Matuszewski.{{Cite journal|last=Mazaraki|first=Magdalena|date=1 December 2004|title=Boleslaw Matuszewski :photographe et opérateur de cinéma|url=https://journals.openedition.org/1895/301|journal=1895. Mille Huit Cent Quatre-vingt-quinze|language=fr|issue=44|pages=47–65|doi=10.4000/1895.301|issn=0769-0959|doi-access=free}} Frames and photo albums were now also on the shelves of Maison Maquet.

In the early 20th century, Maison Maquet diversified into engraving, and art printing, collaborating with drawing artists, lithographers, poster makers, and engravers including Guy Arnoux, George Barbier, Albert Besnard, Umberto Brunelleschi, Octave Denis Victor Guillonnet, Henri Lebasque, Georges Lepape, Valdo-Barbey, and Adolphe Willette.

Maquet made artistic menus for the Paris Hôtel de Ville (lunch offered to Theodore Roosevelt on 25 April 1910;{{Cite web|url=https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/ark:/73873/pf0000649974?highlight=Maquet&posInPage=12&bookmark=aa62aa06-ccda-4f9e-8e84-6685b670d0ba&queryid=b6ccfbab-b3ff-4b81-b968-14b90435448c&searchType=all|title=Municipalité de Paris. Déjeuner offert à monsieur le président Roosevelt. Hôtel de Ville, 25 avril 1910 Paris|website=Bibliothèques spécialisées de la Ville de Paris|access-date=11 May 2018}} menu for the opening of the Pavilion of the City of Paris at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts on 14 May 1925{{Cite web|url=http://www.menustory.com/doumergue_diner_14-05-1925.html|title=Diner du 14 mai 1925 Hôtel de Ville de Paris|website=menustory.com|access-date=11 May 2018}}), for the Élysée Palace (dinner offered to King Peter I of Serbia on 16 November 1911, illustrated by Octave Denis Victor GuillonetMenu for the dinner offered to King Peter I of Serbia on 16 November 1911, illustrated by Octave Denis Victor Guillonet. Private collection.), for French embassies (dinner offered for the reception in honor of King George V by French President Raymond Poincaré at the French Embassy in London, on 25 June 1913, illustrated by George BarbierMenu for the dinner offered for the reception in honor of King George V by French President Raymond Poincaré at the French Embassy in London, on 25 June 1913, and illustrated by George Barbier. Private collection.), for the opening of the French section at the Brussels World Fair in 1910, for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (menus for the France Liner), and for the Drouant restaurant in Paris (host of both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Renaudot committee members’ monthly lunches since 1914 and 1926 respectively{{Cite web|url=http://collections.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/restaurant-drouant-18-rue-gaillon-paris|title=Restaurant Drouant 18 rue Gaillon Paris {{!}} Les Arts décoratifs|website=collections.lesartsdecoratifs.fr|language=fr|access-date=11 May 2018}}).

Maison Maquet printed a poster for the third French National Defense Loan, which was conceived by Albert Besnard in 1917,{{Cite web|url=http://recherche.archives.somme.fr/ark:/58483/a011353927000nPXrpu|title=Documents isolés – 3e emprunt de défense nationale. Souscrivez pour hâter la paix par la victoire – 1914–1918|website=recherche.archives.somme.fr|language=fr|access-date=11 May 2018}} and that for the Peace Loan, illustrated by Henri Lebasque in 1920.{{Cite news|url=http://histoirealasource.ille-et-vilaine.fr/14-18/items/show/5426|title=Lebasque, Henri (dessinateur), L'emprunt de la paix. Maquet, Gr. (imprimeur, Paris)|access-date=11 May 2018|language=fr}} Maquet created posters for Ocean liners, including for the Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique  and for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.

Maquet developed exclusive bookplates for the Prince of Hohenlohe (Chancellor of the German Empire from 1894 to 1900), André Kostolany,{{Cite web|url=https://www.ebay.fr/itm/EX-LIBRIS-ANDRE-B-KOSTOLANY-1906-1999-GRAVE-PAR-MAQUET/352270162829?hash=item5204f01b8d:g:vtAAAOSwEeFVL7RK|title=Ex-libris André B. Kostolany (1906–1999), gravé par Maquet|website=eBay|access-date=11 May 2018}} Raoul Warocqué (who ordered no less than 10,000 ex-libris from Maquet),{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DM1HAAAAYAAJ&q=maquet+ex+libris|title=La vie quotidienne de grands bourgeois au XIXe siècle: les Warocqué|last=Eynde|first=Maurice Van Den|date=1989|publisher=Musée Royal de Mariemont|language=fr}} and Thyra Seillière.{{Cite book|url=https://www.edition-originale.com/en/literature/first-and-precious-books/bataille-la-vierge-folle-1910-20998|title=La vierge folle|language=fr-FR}}

Maquet printed the volume Les Choses de Paul Poiret vues par George Lepape (1911){{Cite web |title=Les Choses de Paul Poiret vues par George Lepape {{!}} The Met |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/353154 |access-date=11 May 2018 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum}} in which Poiret collaborated with drawing artists, including Paul Iribe and Georges Lepape. Following this publication, the maison began publishing in 1912 an annual luxury magazine, Modes et manières d’aujourd’hui.{{Cite web |title=Modes et Manières d'Aujourd'hui {{!}} French {{!}} The Met |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/162875 |access-date=11 May 2018 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum}} Lepape was commissioned for the first issue, Martin for the second (1913), and George Barbier for the third (1914).

Maison Maquet designed the commercial catalogs of perfumers Rigaud, L.T. Piver,{{Cite web|url=http://catalogue.gazette-drouot.com/html/g/recherche.jsp?numPage=1&minEstim=&query=maquet+piver&maxEstim=&npp=20&filterDate=2&_exact=&email=&Submit=OK|title=Divers objets créés par Maquet pour LT Piver, dont des éventails publicitaires, des emballages et boîtes|website=catalogue.gazette-drouot.com|language=fr|access-date=11 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501094046/http://catalogue.gazette-drouot.com/html/g/recherche.jsp?numPage=1&minEstim=&query=maquet+piver&maxEstim=&npp=20&filterDate=2&_exact=&email=&Submit=OK|archive-date=1 May 2018|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.delcampe.net/fr/collections/calendriers/grand-format-1921-40/carte-ancienne-parfumee-calendrier-1933-1934-maison-l-t-piver-parfumeur-paris-parfum-daventure-maquet-grav-554279867.html|title=Carte ancienne parfumée – Calendrier 1933 / 1934 – Maison L.T. PIVER parfumeur PARIS – Parfum d'Aventure – Maquet Grav.|website=Delcampe – La Marketplace des collectionneurs|language=fr|access-date=11 May 2018}} and Guerlain.{{Cite book|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6495030b|title=[Notice sur l'histoire de la parfumerie Guerlain]|last=Guerlain|publisher=impr. de Maquet|location=Paris|language=fr}} Maquet printed many illustrations on advertising fans of Maison Duvelleroy. The maison created heading paper for Paul PoiretGeorges Lepape, heading paper of Paul Poiret, printed by Maquet, 1910s, Palais Galliéra, GALK3054. and a luxury commercial catalog for Jeanne Paquin (1911).{{Cite web |title=Lepape, Iribe, Barbier, L'éventail et la fourrure chez Paquin, Maquet |url=http://www.coutaubegarie.com/html/fiche.jsp?id=2771326&np=6&lng=fr&npp=20&ordre=&aff=1&r |access-date=11 May 2018 |website=Couteau-Bégarie |language=fr}} It also conceived ephemerals and various advertising materials for champagne houses such as Moët & Chandon{{Cite web|url=http://collections.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/moet-chandon-epernay-maison-fondee-en-1743|title=Moët & Chandon Epernay. Maison fondée en 1743 {{!}} Les Arts décoratifs|website=collections.lesartsdecoratifs.fr|language=fr|access-date=11 May 2018}} and Charles Heidsieck (1910). Some of this advertising material is now kept in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.{{Cite web|url=http://collections.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/skinwebsearch?f%5B0%5D=field_skfulltext:maquet|title=Maquet {{!}} Les Arts décoratifs|website=collections.lesartsdecoratifs.fr|language=fr|access-date=11 May 2018}}

• 1842 – Patent for a machine manufacturing envelopes (application filed on 16 August 1841, and granted on 17 January 1842).Patent, filed by Maquet in 1841, granted in 1842, on Database of 19th-century French patents: http://bases-brevets19e.inpi.fr/
• 1849 – Patent for a machine folding envelopes (application filed on 30 August 1848, and granted on 27 October 1849).Patent, filed by Maquet in 1848, granted in 1849, on Database of 19th-century French patents: http://bases-brevets19e.inpi.fr/
• 1850 – Patent for a machine allowing to simultaneously write and hide what one is writing so as to protect confidentiality (application filed on 9 September 1850, and granted on 2 November 1850).Patent, filed by Maquet on 1850, granted in 1850, on Database of 19th-century French patents: http://bases-brevets19e.inpi.fr/
• 1853 – Patent for improving envelopes (application filed on 19 July 1853, and granted on 24 August 1853).Patent, filed by Maquet in 1853, granted in 1853, on Database of 19th-century French patents: http://bases-brevets19e.inpi.fr/

• 1855 – Paris World's Fair: Bronze Medal. In December 1855, Le Magasin Pittoresque reviewed the Fair, and focused on the inkpot exhibited by Maquet, which was designed by Riester and sculpted in wood by Gayonnet. This inkpot, described as a "charming luxury piece of furniture,"{{Cite journal|date=December 1855|title=Exposition Universelle de 1855|journal=Le Magasin Pittoresque|volume=XXIII|pages=371}} combined medieval inspirations and fabulous creatures, fighting an imaginary struggle. This object reminds of Antoine-Louis Barye’s animal sculptures in the romantic style, especially through its expressiveness and violence.
• 1867 – Paris World's Fair: Silver Medal.
• 1913 – Ghent World's Fair: Great Prize (Class 92, Stationery).
• 1925 – International Exhibition of Decorative and Modern Industrial Arts: exhibited (Class 23, Perfumery).

• Smythson
• Moleskine

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