Tea at Trianon: A Gift from the Dauphine Marie-Antoinette

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, January 1, 2020

A Gift from the Dauphine Marie-Antoinette

From WatchPro:

The diamond and mother-of-pearl calendar, dated 1774 was given out at court by Louis Dauphin and Marie-Antoinette Dauphine. It was given as a token of friendship to the court by the royals to celebrate the New Year. At Fellows, the calendar was the final lot of the sale, and it ended Fellows’ first Fine Jewellery sale on a high, as fierce bidding commenced. Bids in the room bounced back and forth until a telephone bidder came out victorious. Nicola Whittaker from Fellows Auctioneers, described how she and Fellows were delighted with the sale. She explained: “We are delighted to have sold such a historically interesting piece in our inaugural Fine Jewellery auction. It sold at a great price, similar to the price it achieved in Christie’s in 2015.” (Read more.)