I attended a very interesting lunch-time lecture in the
Wallace Collection on the subject of `Marie –Antoinette – Trendsetter in the
French Decorative Arts`. Presented by Gabrielle Verrall - an elegant and
eloquent speaker – the story took us to the Château de Versailles, a playground
of young, naïve, spoilt and uneducated Marie- Antoinette, whose indulgence of
choice was art, fashion and idleness. Her
marriage to King Louis XVI wasn`t consummated for the first seven years, but
despite her unhappy relationship, or maybe because of it, she spent lavishly,
creating visual delectability wherever she went.
She found Court life boring – she has resided in Versailles
for 21 years – and started refurbishing her private apartments in 1777.
On the left, the first piece of furniture – a writing desk –
supplied by Jean-Henri Riesener, for Marie-Antoinette`s private study at Versailles,
c. 1780
She was expected to spend generously on her attire, to be
able to outshine other women at Court, and quickly become tastemaker
extraordinaire. And so the power of fashion – which reigns to these days – was born.
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