Tea at Trianon: Gifts from a King

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

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Gifts from a King

The magnificent gifts from Louis XVI to George Washington were sadly never delivered.

We all know the story of France’s joining the American cause of liberty from Britain. King Louis XVI considered himself a friend of President George Washington and wished to offer him a magnificent gift. Unfortunately and ironically, the French Revolution prevented the great gift to be delivered to the American hero. One of my contributors sent these images of a suite of Louis XVI gilt furniture with Aubusson covers with their “American themes” which are now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Along with the furniture a series of Gobelin Tapestries were to accompany the furniture as gifts from the King. This is an amazing story which I felt should be given greater exposure. This is an amazing story. A gift from a King to a rebellious American cause only to lose his head by his own band of revolutionaries. The irony of it all! (Read entire post.)

Sassy Countess said...: These items are very beautiful!

On a twist to this story, President Washington did receive the key to the Bastille.; November 8, 2012 at 7:24:00 AM EST
Anonymous said...: Exquisite! What a haunting irony, though. May they rest in eternal peace.; November 8, 2012 at 11:44:00 AM EST