Tea at Trianon: The Jewels of France

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

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Jewels of France

Paris Atelier offers an extensive post on the jewels of royal and imperial France. I am always struck by how Marie-Antoinette, in spite of her reputation, is usually shown wearing only a few discreet pieces. Her daughter, Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, is portrayed below.

Anonymous said...: Thank you - this was a fascinating post. I have always had a love of jewelry!; April 14, 2009 at 3:00:00 PM EDT
May said...: Marie-Antoinette looks so lovely in that portrait. Her eyes are the same color as the jewel on her dress!; April 14, 2009 at 10:32:00 PM EDT
lara77 said...: The magnificent historical jewels, the priceless furniture and porcelain; a legacy unmatched in Europe at the time. ALL, sold off by a bloodthirsty immoral republic to foster death on the people of France and eventually Europe.Today in foreign collections we see spectacular works of art that should be in Versailles or the Louvre. That is the price of demagoguery.; April 15, 2009 at 8:25:00 AM EDT