Project of octagonal building attr. to Antoine-François Peyre circa 1780

Beautiful project composed of three drawings, an elevation, a section and a floor plan in black ink, wash painting and watercolor, presented in two Louis XVI frames in carved and gilt wood (one double sided).

The building, completely symmetrical except for the carved carved decoration, consists of a circular cella with a pierced dome, decorated with vases, friezes and a central fountain supported by caryatids. The exterior of this building is decorated with a dancing maenads in reliefs, a frieze of rais-de-coeur, and a frieze of garlands.

This first round building is surrounded by a octagonal colonnade topped by a terrace with balustrades, and a circular drum decorated with figures in relief.

The water of the central fountain finally pours out in large basins of four fountains under arcs between the four stairs lined with sphinxes.

The drawings on laid paper have no written records outside a measure of "6 toises". The attribution to Antoine-François Peyre is based on an apocryphal handwritten on the back of a sheet, certainly known by transmission.

Antoine-François Peyre, brother of the famous architect Marie Joseph Peyre, was the winner of the grand prize of the Academy (later known as Rome Prize) in 1762, and staid at the Académie de France in Rome until 1766.

Becoming royal architect to Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye on his return, he was sent to the Elector of Trier, Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony in 1777, to complete his castle in Koblenz. Refuge at Fontainebleau during the French Revolution, he was imprisoned there during the Terror.

Peyre, who in 1777 also entered the Royal Academy of Architecture, is also a teacher. Among his pupils were Charles Percier, Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, Antoine Vaudoyer and Louis-Pierre Baltard.

Its main achievements are
- The hotel Benoit de Sainte-Paule, completed in 1783 at 30 rue du Faubourg Poissonnière in Paris
- The castle of the Prince Electors of Koblenz, completed in 1786
- The construction in 1802 of a new wing and entrance gate for the castle of Ecouen
- The layout of the Palace of the Legion of Honour 1804-1812

Some stains, especially on the section drawing. Folds and wrinkles. The beautiful frames showing some lacks in the gilding.

Frame dimensions: 63 cm by 53.5 cm
Views dimensions: 38.5 cm by 31 cm