G L O B U S A E R O S TAT I C U S HANS VAN HOESE L
The Montgolfier brothers
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oseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, also called the Montgolfier brothers (respectively, born August 26, 1740, Annonay, France—died June 26, 1810, Balaruc-les-Bains; born January 6, 1745, Annonay, France—died Aug. 2, 1799, enroute from Lyon to Annonay), French brothers who were pioneer developers of the hot-air balloon and who conducted the first untethered flights. Joseph and Étienne were 2 of the 16 children of Pierre Montgolfier, whose prosperous paper factories in the small town of Vidalon, near Annonay, in southern France, ensured the financial support of their balloon experiments. While carrying on their father’s paper business, they maintained their interest in scientific experimentation. In 1782 they discovered that heated air, when collected inside a large lightweight paper or fabric bag, caused the bag to rise into the air. The Montgolfiers made the first public demonstration of this discovery on June 4, 1783, at the marketplace in Annonay. They filled their balloon with heated air by burning straw and wool under the opening at the bottom of the bag. The balloon rose into the air about 3,000 feet (1,000 metres), remained there some 10 minutes, and then settled to the ground more
than a mile and a half from where it rose. The Montgolfiers traveled to Paris and then to Versailles, where they repeated the experiment with a larger balloon on Sept. 19, 1783, sending a sheep, a rooster, and a duck aloft as passengers. The balloon floated for about 8 minutes and landed safely about 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) from the launch site. On Nov. 21, 1783, the first manned untethered flight took place in a Montgolfier balloon with Pilatre de Rozier and François Laurent, marquis d’Arlandes, as passengers. The balloon sailed over Paris for 5.5 miles (9 kilometres) in about 25 minutes. The two brothers were honoured by the French Académie des Sciences. They published books on aeronautics and continued their scientific careers. Joseph invented a calorimeter and the hydraulic ram, and Étienne developed a process for manufacturing vellum.
Handpainted plate with an impression of the flight of the first montgolfière with flowers on the rim 49 cm x 37 cm, France, early 19th century.
A very rare 18th century plate depicting Charles and Robert in the gondola, in 2015 sold at a Paris auction, hammer price €4800.
Daily progress bulletins were issued on the inflation; and the crowd was so great that on the 26th the balloon was moved secretly by night to the Champ de Mars, a distance of 4 kilometers. The balloon flew northwards for 45 minutes, pursued by chasers on horseback, and landed 21 kilometres away in the village of Gonesse where the reportedly terrified local peasants attacked it with pitchforks or knivesand destroyed it. The project was funded by a subscription organised by Barthélémy Faujas de Saint-Fond. Only a few days later, at 13:45 on December 1, 1783, professor Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers (Les Frères Robert) launched a new, manned hydrogen balloon from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, amid vast crowds and excitement. The balloon was held by ropes
and led to its final launch place by four of the leading noblemen in France, the Maréchal de Richelieu, Marshal de Biron, the Bailli de Suffren, and the Duke of Chaulnes. Jacques Charles was accompanied by Nicolas-Louis Robert as co-pilot of the 380-cubic-metre, hydrogen-filled balloon. The envelope was fitted with a hydrogen release valve, and was covered with a net from which the basket was suspended. Sand ballast was used to control altitude. They ascended to a height of about 500 meters and landed at sunset in Nesles-la-Vallée after a flight of 2 hours and 5 minutes, covering 36 km. The chasers on horseback, who were led by the Duc de Chartres, held down the craft while both Charles and Robert alighted. Charles then decided to ascend again, but alone this time because the balloon had lost
The first hydrogen balloon was the object of a 1932 Latvian post stamp. In 1986 in the USA this stamp was reissued, embossed in a thin layer of 23 carat gold. some of its hydrogen. This time he ascended rapidly to an altitude of about 3,000 meters, where he saw the sun again. He began suffering from aching pain in his ears so he ‘valved’ to release gas, and descended to land gently about 3 km away at Tour du Lay. Unlike the Robert brothers, Charles never flew again, although a balloon using hydrogen for its lift came to be called a Charlière in his honour. Charles and Robert carried a barometer and a thermometer to measure the pressure and the temperature of the air, making this not only the first manned hydrogen balloon flight, but also the first balloon flight to provide meteorological measurements of the atmosphere above the Earth’s surface. It is reported that 400,000 spectators witnessed the launch, and that hundreds had paid one
crown each to help finance the construction and receive access to a ‘special enclosure’ for a ‘close-up view’ of the take-off. Also present was Joseph Montgolfier, whom Charles honoured by asking him to release the small, bright green, pilot balloon to assess the wind and weather conditions.
Théière porcelain (height 24 cm) with the very first Montgolfière painted on the base and a steerable balloon on the pot and hydrogen balloon on the cover. This théière was part of the collection of the Manoir de Montsalvy in Cantal, France. Nowadays this castle is a retirement home. Signed: P. Maranne 1831.
Théière (tea pot set) a set of five pieces. Overall gold gilded porcelain teapot and cover and a carefully painted scenery painted on the base with a montgolfière with three people on board and a couple - probably suggesting the French King and Queen at the time of the flight of the first montgolfière - standing and waving on the balcony of a castle. Height 23 cm, signed P. Dorcay, 1830-1850.
Le Bordelais
Detail of the aerostat
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s a kind of follow-up of balloonflights in Paris, attempts were already undertaken in 1784 in Bordeaux for balloons to become airborne. An effort was described (Les Premiers Aéronautes Bordelais, 1910) to make a balloonflight on the 3rd of May 1784 from Place Royal in Bordeaux by Grassi and Périer. Possibly these attempts inspired the famous pottery Faïencerie Jean-Baptiste Boyer to enhance the production of wall plates portraying an aerostat. It is not clear whether a ‘montgolfière’ or a ‘charlière’ (hydrogen balloon) served as a model for the depiction. An argument for a ‘montgolfière’ would be the huge dimension of the canopy (baldachin) and the lack of a filling tube such as is needed for a gas-filled balloon. The large distance between
the basket and the bottom of the envelope may argue for a gas-filled balloon. Characteristic of this potter are the ever recurring mini bouquets with a flower (daisy), usually four, on the plate edge.
Between 1783 and 1786 this famous pottery produced a small run of plates depicting this aerostat.
Le Bordelais, Faïencerie Jean-Baptiste Boyer, Bordeaux. 18 th century, diameter 23 cm.