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"JEU DE PAUME"

added on August 16th, 2006

by Günter Pilz, Guatemala

On a First Day Cover from Mozambique (with Volleyball stamp # 003 and first day cancel as of 1987 05 15), I found this interesting cachet illustration. It is a 13th century engraving showing a ball game called "Jeu de Paume".

Here is the text on the reverse side of the cover:
VOLLEYBALL
"A drawing from an ancient engraving is shown on this First Day Cover. It shows a type of handball game from the thirteenth century known as "Jeu de Paume". Volleyball is a type of handball game that was originated in 1895 by William G. Morgan. During a game, two teams volley a light, inflated leather ball back and forth over the top of a net. The game has been part of the Olympic program since 1964."

Now I discovered the following stamp from Hungary, which was issued in a set to commemorate the origin of the sport of "tennis". As you can see, it shows the very same engraving.

Here is some more information related to "Jeu dExhibition of the History of e Paume", taken from the website www.jeudepaume.org. It seems that this tennis game was played in earlier days at these two venues, and at present the buildings house important art collections.

HISTORY JEU DE PAUME – Site Concorde

Originally, the building erected in the Tuileries gardens under Napoleon III, at the western end of the Terrasse des Feuillants, housed a real tennis (jeu de paume) court. In 1909, this space became an exhibition venue. In 1922, after major building work, the "Jeu de paume" became a genuine museum for permanent collections, while continuing to house temporary exhibitions. As the new annexe of the Musée du Luxembourg, it was home to the “Contemporary Foreign Schools”. In 1930, the Jeu de paume embarked on its own acquisitions policy and came to host works by the leading figures of the School of Paris (Modigliani, Van Dongen, Picasso, Chagall, Soutine, Juan Gris, Foujita, etc.). In 1932, the building took on the external appearance it has today. Exhibitions of modern art were organised there up to the Second World War, when the building was requisitioned by the occupying troops and became a warehouse for artworks, including those confiscated from Jewish art lovers. In 1947, the Musée du Jeu de paume was created, and filled with works by the Impressionists. As a result of further renovation work in 1958, the rooms were equipped with air conditioning and a system of natural lighting, allowing for a new presentation of the Impressionist works. However, these moved over the river to their natural home at the new Orsay museum of the 19th century in 1986. The museum of Impressionism in the Tuileries therefore closed.

In September 1987 the architect Antoine Stinco was chosen to rework the building. Without changing its external appearance, he remodelled the internal volume and created additional exhibition spaces plus a film and video theatre, a bookshop and a café. The rooms, with their contrasting sizes and shapes, made great use of natural light and offered views out over the Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, the Seine and the dome of Les Invalides. The Galerie Nationale du Jeu de paume was inaugurated in June 1991 by the President of the Republic, François Mitterrand. Directed by Alfred Pacquement and then by Daniel Abadie, this institution offered a fresh look at major modern and contemporary artists, and also introduced visitors to younger figures. Its role was also to be receptive to new disciplines such as cinema and video. This mission came to an end on 7 March 2004.

Some figures
Length and width: 80 x 13 m.
Useable area: 2,754.50 m2.
Exhibition area: 1,137 m2, comprising 9 rooms on 3 levels and 420 m of picture walls.
Ceiling height in most rooms: 4.50 m.

HISTORY JEU DE PAUME – Site Sully

A Renaissance mansion probably designed by Jean Androuet du Cerceau, the Hôtel de Sully enjoyed its heyday after 1634, when it was bought by the Duc de Sully, a minister of Henry IV. It was transformed by the architect François Le Vau in 1651. In 1827 the mansion became a young girls' boarding school. Part of the left wing was rented out to the heritage association, the Société des Amis des Monuments et des Arts, who founded a Paris history museum on the site.

The Hôtel was purchased by the French state in 1944 and fully restored. In 1967 it became the home of the Caisse Nationale des Monuments Historiques et des Sites, renamed in 2000 the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (Monum). In 1994, three rooms in the Hôtel de Sully were made available to the Mission du Patrimoine Photographique, which became the association Patrimoine Photographique in 2000. This association was set up to manage and disseminate the 14 photographic collections that have been donated to the state, those of: Daniel Boudinet, Marcel Bovis, Denise Colomb, Roger Corbeau, Amélie Galup, Studio Harcourt, André Kertész, François Kollar, Sam Lévin, Thérèse Le Prat, Roger Parry, René-Jacques, Bruno Réquillart and Raymond Voinquel.

Monograph and thematic photography exhibitions were put on in the rooms of the Hôtel de Sully from 1994 to 2004. In May 2004, Patrimoine Photographique merged with the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de paume and the Centre National de la Photographie.

Details and figures
The Jeu de paume exhibition rooms are accessed from garden at the back of the Hôtel de Sully.
Exhibition area: 300 m2, i.e., 4 rooms over three levels and 143 m of picture walls.
 

If you have some more detailled information about this game "Jeu de paume", please let me know. Write to me, clicking here:

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