J.N.B. de Pouilly: Architect of New Orleans Cemeteries

As any narrative on de Pouilly does, this article relies on the groundbreaking research and thesis of Ann Merritt Masson, “The Mortuary Architecture of Jacques Nicolas Bussiere de Pouilly,” Tulane University thesis, 1992.  Which exquisitely analyzed de Pouilly’s work in New Orleans cemeteries.

Detail of Caballero tomb, designed by de Pouilly, St. Louis No. 2, Square 2. Photo by Emily Ford.

One hundred and forty years ago, on February 21, 1875, Jacques Nicholas Bussiere de Pouilly died in his home on St. Ann Street.
 
In his seventy years of life, de Pouilly had been the harbinger of European neoclassical and revival architecture in New Orleans.  We see his touch on our city streets – in St. Augustine Catholic Church, and most notably St. Louis Cathedral.  But his influence was arguably greatest in the city’s cemeteries.  De Pouilly’s work is present in nearly every viewpoint of St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and 2, and much of Cypress Grove Cemetery.  The breadth and innovation of his tomb architecture generated uncountable replications and inspirations, the products of which have shaped our burial grounds.

J.N.B. de Pouilly was born in July 1804 in Châtel-Censoir, France, southeast of Paris.  While much of his early life is unclear, it is assumed that in his architectural training he was influenced by the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, if not a student of the school himself.[1]
 
He arrived in New Orleans in 1833, a time in which the French-speaking population of the city hungered for reconnection with Continental styles.  He quickly became the architect of note for the city’s First District, designing the St. Louis Exchange Hotel, among many other residential, commercial, and religious projects.

Tomb of Héloïse and Abelard, Père Lachaise Cemetery. From Manuel et Itinraire du Curieux dans la Cimetiére du Père la Chaise, printed by Emler Frères, 1828.

De Pouilly had also transported with him from France the grand styles of Parisian funerary architecture, namely those present in Père Lachaise Cemetery.  Founded in 1804, the rolling greenery and stately Greek and Egyptian revival monuments of the cemetery had already become a matter of great interest by the 1830s.  Pattern books of Père Lachaise monuments were available by order, and de Pouilly quickly fell into cemetery projects for his French-speaking clients seeking a part of this revolution of funerary architecture. 
 
De Pouilly combined architectural styles and motifs from Greece and Rome, notably the inverted torch, acroterion, and pedimental styles.  He also designed Egyptian Revival tombs, best known of which is the Grailhe tomb in St. Louis No. 2.  But de Pouilly’s often converged, modified, or entirely reinvented his influences.  His combination of revival details and command of materials resulted in definitively unique structures.  Conversely, many of his designs were near-exact replications of Père Lachaise monuments.[2]

While Père Lachaise and Creole cemeteries like St. Louis may appear stylistically similar, de Pouilly had the significant task of fundamentally shifting the function of his New Orleans tombs from their Parisian prototype.  Although the monuments of Père Lachaise appear to be tombs or mausoleums, their design accommodates instead for below-ground burial.  That the architect’s designs kept their Parisian aesthetic while having been fundamentally re-worked to allow for above-ground burial is among the more impressive of his professional achievements.[3]

That de Pouilly worked so prolifically in cemeteries is, in itself, notable.  New Orleans cemeteries were (and are) overwhelmingly landscapes of vernacular design, meaning that tombs are created by the builders and seldom by formally-trained architects.  There are exceptions:  Pietro Gualdi designed the Societa Italiana tomb, and Father John Cambiaso is presumed to have designed the Jesuit tomb (now demolished), both in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.  However, this influence was rare.  With dozens of tombs attributed to his design, de Pouilly truly stands alone in his role within New Orleans cemetery history.

Yet de Pouilly did work with builders.  Based on de Pouilly’s own documents as well as signed work in situ, he contracted stonecutters and tomb builders who served a similar niche as his.  Namely, Paul Hippolyte Monsseaux and Florville Foy were the primary executers of his designs.  Both Foy and Monsseaux operated stonecutting shops next to the St. Louis Cemeteries – Monsseaux’s workshop was likely next door to de Pouilly’s building depot across from St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.  These French-speaking (and in Monsseaux’s case, French-born) builders created many of his best-known works, including the Iberian Society and Grailhe tombs.  

The Charbonnet tomb, St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 (1836) was manufactured in Paris and sent to New Orleans. The internee was born in San Domingue (Haiti), indicating strong cultural and stylistic ties within Francophone funerary art. Photo by Emily Ford.

In addition to the French St. Louis Cemeteries, de Pouilly worked also in American-dominated Cypress Grove Cemetery (est. 1840).  In Cypress Grove, de Pouilly additionally contracted with granite magnate Newton Richards to build the memorial of fallen firefighter Irad Ferry (died 1837).  He relied, too, on Monsseaux and Foy to construct such masterpieces as the Maunsel White tomb.  De Pouilly clearly had a strong grasp on the value of trade and materials, based on his choice of craftsmen and his apparent innovations in the world of cast stone.
 
De Pouilly’s career was marred by two construction disasters in the 1850s – first, the collapse of the central tower of St. Louis Cathedral while de Poilly was head architect, and second the collapse of a balcony at the Orleans Theatre.  From this point onward, his rising star waned, but it appears never to have faded in New Orleans cemeteries.

The tomb of the New Lusitanos, designed by de Pouilly. The final tomb was simpler than the architect's original drawings, owing to the client's sensibilities. Photo taken in 1957, just prior to the demolition of the cemetery. (LIFE Magazine, Robert W. Kelley)

In 1874, de Pouilly composed the final drawing in his only surviving sketchbook – a tomb he designed for himself and his family.  This tomb, like many depicted in his prolific sketches, would never be constructed.  Instead, de Pouilly was interred in a family wall vault in St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.  Although the location was surely not intentional, the wall provides a lovely view of a number of de Pouilly-designed tombs.  In a nearly-illegible detail to his memorial tablet, the signature of Florville Foy can be detected as the carving hand of de Pouilly's final tablet.
 
De Pouilly’s obituary on February 22nd spoke grandly of a man who lived honestly and in service of his profession:

It is a name that will be treasured with fond recollections in the memories of a numerous host of friends and admirers of a man whose noble career should serve as an exemplar to future travelers through a world where principle too often yields the victory to the persuasions of temptation.  The noble dead live forever; they leave behind a reputation to which time adds dignity unto dignity, rectitude unto rectitude.  J.N. de Pouilly was born in France in the year 1805.  On arriving at the age of manhood he adopted the honorable profession of architecture, and in 1833, at the age of twenty-eight, he came to this country and practiced his calling in this city.
 
Some of our most prominent buildings remain as trophies of his professional skill. He planned the Cathedral, the St. Louis Hotel, the Citizen’s Bank and the church of St. Augustin, besides many other structures of importance.  

From Pere la Chaise, by Mary Martha Sherwood, printed by F. Houlston and Son, 1823.

St. Peter’s lofty dome cenotaphs the name of Michael Angelo [sic]:  Sir Christopher Wren’s greatness is sepulchred in the mightiness of St. Paul’s.  Mr. De Pouilly fashioned no wonders such as these, but yet a greater, the enduring fabric of an honest life, and will be entombed in the constant remembrance of devoted friends.
 
After a painful and lingering illness, Mr. De Pouilly, hoary with the winters of seventy years, and surrounded by children and other relatives, bade farewell to things of earth.  This sad event occurred yesterday, Sunday, 21st.[4]

Burial vault of J.N.B. de Pouilly, St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, Square 1. Photo by Emily Ford.

The Daily Picayune made no note of the many cenotaphs de Pouilly himself had helped write, in the tablets and along the aisles of our cemeteries.  But if 140 years is a sufficient measure of the timelessness and impact of one’s work, his name certainly engraved upon many more memorials than just his own.
 
Below is a gallery of only a portion of de Pouilly’s work, and a few tombs inspired by his designs.  Photos by Emily Ford unless otherwise noted.

Tomb of the Iberian Society (1843), St. Louis Cemetery No. 2. Constructed by P.H. Monsseaux.

Left, Caballero tomb. Above, tomb of Blineau et Carriere. Both located in St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.

Tomb of the Cazadores (1836), St. Louis Cemetery No. 2. Historic descriptions of its tomb depict it as grandiose. It has seen better days.

Left, A.D. Crossman monument (1859), Greenwood Cemetery. Photo by Mike and Bushy Hartman (FindaGrave). Above, Grailhe tomb (1850), St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.

Duplantier family tomb, St. Louis No. 2.

Above, Delachaise tomb (1850s) St. Louis Cemetery No. 2. Left, Societe Francaise tomb, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 (Wikimedia Commons User Infrogmation)

Tomb of Irad Ferry (1837), Cypress Grove Cemetery. Constructed by Newton Richards.

Above, Kohn tomb, photo by FindaGrave user AJ. Left, Maunsel White tomb (1869), both in Cypress Grove Cemetery. The tomb of Maunsel White was constructed by Monsseaux.

Above, Orleans Artillery tomb, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 (Wikimedia Commons user Infrogmation). Right, Puig tomb, St. Louis Cemetery No. 2

​[1] Ann Merritt Masson, “The Mortuary Architecture of Jacques Nicolas Bussiere de Pouilly,” 5-7.
[2] Peggy McDowell and Richard E. Meyer, The Revival Styles in American Mortuary Art (Popular Press, 1994), 59.
[3] Masson, 30-35.​
​[4] “In Memoriam – J.N. de Pouilly,” Daily Picayune, February 22, 1875, 2.