Jules Allard
A family of cabinet makers:
Jules Allard is the most important member of the Allard family owned company. The son of Celestin Allard, who died in 1854, and who became a reknown cabinet-maker and upholsterer as early as 1832. Celestin seems to have has a flourishing business in Paris and had opened a branch in Brussels. The majority of his production was of furniture, but he was equally offering his services as a decorator. Celestin Allard participated in all the major national exhibitions between 1844 and 1849 when he won an honorable mention. He died in 18654.
Upon his death, his widow Marguerite-Victoire Lefèvre took over the family business, which became know as Mr Allard’s Widow’s company until 1860.
At this date she turned the company over to Jules Allard. From then on, the company grew exponentially and was very successful in developping an international clientele and gaining the appreciation of the critics.
Jules Allard, became partners with his sons in 1875 and Fernand Allard maintained the company until 1919.
Jules Allard and the World’s Fairs :
Already, Mr Allard’s Widow was present at the World’s Fair of 1855, where the jury had noted “the elegant lines, solid structure and nice arrangements of the ornementations”. The furniture she presented received an honorary mention from the jury. Jules Allard participated in all the following World’s Fairs until 1889, as well as several international exhibits of the Beaux Arts or the Arts Decoratifs. He was awarded the silver medal in the 1867 World’s Fair.
Ultimately he gained full recognition for his art in the Fair of 1878 when he received not only the gold medal but also became a Knight of the Legion d’Honneur, the highest distinction for merit in France. The National Archives attest to the high estime in which his contemporaries held him. Grohé, the famous cabinet-maker was one of the major backers for his nomination. A letter Jules Allard wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, gives a wealth of interesting facts about the development and importance of his company. You learn that he was at the head of a work force of 400 people and that it took two years of work to prepare for one of his pieces presented at the Fair of 1878.
The New World:
In 1878, in the World’s Fair Jury report, Jules Allard is presented as a supplier of “complete furnishing, decorations, cabinetry, sculpture, seats, tapestry and drapes.” Undoubtedly it was the broadness and quality of his productions that were compelling to the public at the exhibits. This may also be the time, Allard met William Morris Hunt the famous English decorator. Indeed, starting in 1880, Allard collaborated with Hunt in very prestigious interior decorations in the United States, especially for the most wealthy families of the East Coast, in New York and New Port.
It was following Hunt’s advice that Allard opened an office in New York in 1885. However, with the responsibility of major projects, Allard realized how difficult it was to create large French style decors in America. He could find the man power but not the history and jealously garded savoir faire of the French. Therefore the main elements of his decors he had main in his workshop in France, shipping the pieces over by boat. Allard also worked in partner ship with the decorator Ogden Codman, and alone. The names of those who he designed and built for were some of the most famous of the aristocracy of wealth of the East coast, the coal magnate Edward Jules Berwind and different members of the Vanderbilt family.
Jules Allard collaborated in the designs of the Marble House and The Elms in Newport, as well as Cornelius II Vanderbilt and William K. Vanderbilt’s mansions in New York City. He created for the latter’s wife, Alva, the famous music room decoration that made him famous and made his American career soar. The American branch of the Allard company coered much more that cabinetry the primary speciality of the Allard company. Jules Allard created complete rooms including all details such as, the paneling, the marbles, the lighting of this magnificient homes. It is through the quality of his work and the doversity of style she mastered that he became one of the most sought after designers of his times.
- photo 1 : Jules Allard's signature, source French National Archives.
- photo 2 : Carved pear wood hand mirror, by Allard and Chopin in 1867 for the World's Fair. The Art Journal published a picture of this mirror and spoke of Allard and Sons as one of the most "prominent cabinet-making company of Paris".
- photo 3 : Music Room, the Breakers. The Breakers was the summer house of Cornelius Vnaderbilt II and his wife Alice, built between 1893 and 1895, in New Port. Designed by R. Hunt, Jules Allard cooperated with th decorator Codman on the decor of many rooms.
- photo 4 : Morning Room, The Breakers. All the wall decoration - pilasters, cornices, panels - were created by Allard and sons.
- photo 5 : Grand Staircase, Marble House. The large bronze chandelier and most of the lighting were designed by Jules Allard.
- photo 6 : Gold Ballroom, Marble House, the most ornate in any Newport Mansion, is extraordinary created by Jules Allard, carved gilt wall panels, large chandeliers, mirrors and mythological figures.
