Tea at Trianon: Auction at Christie's

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Auction at Christie's

It is strange and fascinating that after so many years the possessions of Marie-Antoinette are still being auctioned off.

UDATE: Auction results, here. Share

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: The embroidery on the purse is exquisite! I would love to have such talent. She must have been quite accomplished. Do you know if MA had other talents as well?; October 16, 2008 at 5:35:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, Margaret, the queen was an artist when it came to needlework. She also wrote poetry, played the harp and pianoforte, and occasionally composed some simple tunes.; October 16, 2008 at 11:42:00 PM EDT
lara77 said...: I have heard that a museum in Chile bought the purse of Queen Marie Antoinette. THIS proves the French Republic while spending millions on the restoration of the Petit Trianon wants no reminders of the Reign of Terror. The murder of an innocent Queen and thousands of others by the FIRST French Republic is not what the FIFTH French Republic wants to be reminded of. SHAME on the French Government!; October 24, 2008 at 11:39:00 AM EDT