Pair of folding stools by François I Foliot

May 2012

During a stay in France in 1748-1749, Louise-Elisabeth de Parme, daughter of Louis XV, ordered a large number of pieces of furniture and objets d’art in Paris to decorate the ducal palace in Parma. This pair of folding stools, with the stamp of François I Foliot, probably formed part of her order. This type of seat, intended for ceremonial occasions, was very common in Versailles at the time and few have survived.

The Rock and the Belvedere in Versailles by Claude-Louis Chatelet

May 2012

The Belvedere and the Rock of the English garden of the Petit Trianon are faithfully depicted here by Claude-Louis Chatelet. The painter has, however, added a bridge and a pergola with columns between the pavilion and the Rock where in reality there was only a timber walkway. This oil on canvas repeats the view of a watercolour painted by Chatelet for the collection of plans and views of the Petit Trianon given in 1786 by Marie-Antoinette to one of her brothers, the Archduke Ferdinand, Duke of Brigsau and governor of Lombardy on his visit to Trianon (Modena, Biblioteca Estense).

The painting with its daytime view is very close to The Illumination of the Belvedere and the Rock of the Petit Trianon in 1781 in honour of the Comte de Provence, the king’s brother, or the Emperor of Austria Joseph II (MV 7796), also by Chatelet, dated 1781 and kept in Versailles. The pergola is absent here, while the timber walkway is clearly shown.

The Rock and the Belvedere will join the Night Festivity (MV 8384, donated by Baroness Liliane de Rothschild) and The Illumination, hung on the second floor of the Petit Trianon, from which one can in fact see the Belvedere

Desk top of the Library of Louis XVI

March 2012

This mahogany desk with gilt bronze decoration was made around 1785 by the cabinet-maker Jean-François Limonne for the library of Louis XVI located on the second floor of his apartment in the central section of the palace. It was used every day by Louis XVI for the numerous books that he consulted.

The large desk top (3.90m long and 1.85m wide) is supported by six moulded legs with copper capitals topped by a large gilt bronze peg enabling it to be dismantled. Each of the drawers around the rail has a keyhole plate with a ribbon pattern and a mobile ring on either side with a rosette pattern. The desk top carved in one piece was originally covered with green leather.

Matching deposits from the Institut de France and the palace of Versailles now enables this exceptional piece of furniture to return to its original location. In parallel, the palace of Versailles restores to the Musée Condé on the Chantilly estate, owned by the Institut de France, a writing table executed by André-Charles Boulle around 1715 for Louis-Henri de Bourbon, 7th Prince de Condé.

This acquisition was made possible thanks to matching deposits from the Institut de France and the palace of Versailles.

Jupiter’s Chariot between Justice and Piety by Noël Coypel

January 2012

This sketch by Noël Coypel prepared the painting of the central panel of the Queen’s Guardroom. It probably dates from 1671, when work on the Grand Apartments began and when the sketches were submitted to Louis XIV and Colbert for approval.

The subject is Jupiter’s chariot flanked by allegories of Justice and Piety. In the foreground we can see a personification of the planet itself in the form of a young woman holding a garland of flowers tied to four children symbolising the four satellites of the planet discovered by Galilee in 1609.

The sketch shows several differences from the completed painting; the most important is Jupiter’s gesture holding out his sceptre that does not appear on the ceiling. So this sketch shows the final modifications made before executing the painting and it forms a matching piece with the other sketch by Noël Coypel, Saturn’s Chariot between Forethought and Secrecy, acquired in 1994.

Punch-bowl from the dinner service with a sky-blue background of Louis XV

January 2012

This punch-bowl formed part of the large dinner service “à fond bleu céleste” (with a sky-blue background) executed for Louis XV between 1753 and 1755 at the royal porcelain Manufactory, then installed in the Château de Vincennes. It consisted of 1,749 pieces of soft-paste porcelain decorated with flowers and fruits in cartouches underlined in gold. The sky-blue background used was created by the chemist Hellot specially to mark this commission. After it was delivered, this service was used by the royal family until the end of the Ancien Régime.

Exceptional for its decoration and its ample size matching the huge set to which it belonged, this punch-bowl also stands out for its excellent state of conservation and its novelty at the time of the commission: it was a new design imported from England for a new drink, punch, served at the end of the meal with dessert. It accompanies the seven pieces belonging to the same service already on view in the palace of Versailles in the “porcelain” dining-room.

This acquisition was made possible thanks to the sponsorship of KPMG.