Click Image to ZoomEnlarge Image
Capperan, Gabriel (1700-1788)
Receipt of Payment Signed
"Capperan". Paris, 1781. c. 5" h x 6.75" w. 1 p. on vellum. In very good condition. A small square of paper laid down at left corner. Pinhole near center.Eighteenth-century receipt signed by French cellist and Concert Spirituel backer.
French musician and Concert Spirituel backer Gabriel Capperan signs a receipt (sometimes called a quittance) for a sum of 330 livres owed by the Duc d'Orleans. Capperan had purchased a bond from the Duc and received biannual annuities from the investment for decades. These bonds were quite popular among men of Capperan's socio-economic standing; the money earned from them was, essentially, an interest payment, but called an "annuity" because interest was illegal at the time.
Gabriel Capperan is best remembered for his involvement in the Concert Spirituel, for which he provided some financial backing and management throughout the 1750s and 1760s. The enormously successful public series was founded in 1725 and Capperan's initial investment likely went toward the renovation of its concert hall at the Tuileries. Capperan was also a cellist who played in the orchestra of the Paris Opéra and held a position in the Vingt-Quatre Violons du Roi.
ALS-16210$500