SECANDA paper models for downloading

About...

The Château du Grand Blottereau was built, in the mid-18th century, by the Nantes slave shipowner Gabriel Michel. He was also director of the Compagnie des Indes orientales.

This elegant building, surrounded by a vast park, is today included in the Nantes urban area, but, at the time of its construction, it was located in the countryside on the banks of the Loire River, on the territory of the former commune of Doulon.

This type of luxurious “pleasure house”, built on the outskirts of the town by Nantes rich shipowners in addition to their more professional private mansions (in the Île Feydeau and Quai de la Fosse), was named “folie nantaise” (Nantes madness / extravagance).

Testifying to the slave-trading past of its first owner and of the city of Nantes (France's leading slave port in the 18th century), one of the sculpted masks on this château depicts the face of a young girl with distinctly African features.

Built of soft limestone, tuffeau, the building has suffered from erosion. It was also slightly damaged by bombing during the Second World War, due to its proximity to a railroad line. To date, only partial restoration work has been carried out (consolidation and waterproofing).

N.B.: the model features galleries with glazed doors windows (attested by an old photograph), which were probably originally openwork. The number of steps has also been modified (+2 at the front, -2 at the rear) in order to eliminate the slight slope of the natural ground.

License: common law (copyright) | Author: Secanda

Free use for private purposes. Any commercial use is prohibited.

Categories: Pleasure castles, mansions and palaces | Early modern period | France | France /Brittany |