CHAMPAGNE: FROM VINES TO PLEASURE

Arts & Letters
(Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health)

Architect's Drawing by Armand Bègue and Ernest Kalas (School of Fine Arts))
Creators of the "Champagne Palace" at the Universal Exhibition in 1900)

Champagne MUMM: Drawing (1898) of the facade of the dispatch building
Scale: 0.006

   In 1898 the house of Mumm built cellars and offices next to the town hall, with two objectives: that they would be both aesthetically pleasing and functional. The building is a monument in our time to the high standards that were applied by the great champagne houses at every stage of production.

Extract from a description of the project ("La construction Moderne" 9-16 September 1899 page 591)

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Let us first consider the facade. Built in local hard stone and red bricks with a highly decorative frieze, its main feature is the large opening with a granite surround; the ornate metal door is set in glass Falconnier bricks stamped with an eagle (the house's motif) and would appear to serve only for the reception of huge crates and gigantic barrels.
The absence of other openings onto the street gives a certain grandeur and mystery to the facade, which becomes more decorative in the upper part with a life-sized frieze showing the various stages in the preparation of the wine of Champagne from the harvest to the sending out of the bottles.
There are five mosaic panels separated by stone caryatids by Guilbert-Martin, based on the drawings by Joseph Blanc and Guillonnet, the first and the last depict the tasks that are carried out in daylight: La Vendange and l'Expédition (Harvest and Dispatch), and the three intermediate panels show the various stages that take place in the cellars.
The four beautifully proportioned caryatids that separate the panels were carved by Wary, of Rheims, on the basis of models created by Emile Peynot.
An interesting feature is that to connect the two very different environments of the cellar and the open air, an underground atmosphere is suggested by a back wall in the three middle panels, and daylight by a sky effect that makes the two end panels stand out. The entire sequence is linked by garlands of vine branches that run along the top of the frieze.
The characters and accompanying elements are represented with rigorous attention to detail, making the panels a unique record of working methods in France in the nineteenth century.
The mosaic, in glazed one centimetre squares, faithfully reproduces all the details, capturing the finesse and colours of the original drawings, even the likenesses of the workers who posed for the various scenes, thus giving the reproductions significance in both cultural and racial terms.
The garlands are outlined in gold and there are descriptions in gold of the tasks shown; the four plinths separating the panels express the sentiments that are glorified by the wine of Champagne:

Virtus, Courage in war;
Ingenium, Genius;
Amor, Love;
Gaudium, Joy.
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Extract from a description of the project ("La Construction Moderne" 9-16 September 1899 page 591)

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