Formerly the property of Marie Antoinette - an antique 18th century French mirror glass by repute owned and used by Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Purchased from the Estate of Napoleon III, whose wife, Empress Eugenie owned items from Antoinette. The mirror plate mounted in a later 19th century fine Walnut carved frame, labelled by means of an engraved silver plaque, reading ' This Glass Formerly Belonged To - Marie Antoinette - And Was Purchased At The Sale Of Napoleon's Effects'. The finely carved ebonised surround decorated with leaves and carved vines, and likely originally an easel frame but the stand now lost to antiquity. Total size approx; 53cm x 38cm. Visible Mirror Size: 38cm x 21.5cm. A rare and unique piece of Revolutionary France related history. Provenance: Has been in the collection of the same family for approximately fifty years, where it was inherited by the vendor's wife from a friend of her Grandmothers, c1980. To the rear of the mirror is a small note written in the hand of the Grandmother which reads, in part; 'Sold with effects of Empress Eugene....Camden House, Chislehurst, Kent'. (This original note is included in the sale, but is no longer attached to the back of the mirror). A copy of a catalogue for the auction at Camden Place, which was held on Wednesday 12th June 1889 by Christie, Manson & Woods, 'By Order Of The Executors Of Nathaniel WJ Strode, Esq. Deceased, Who Lent The Place Furnished To The Late Emperor Napoleon III For Eleven Years', is supplied with the mirror and it is presumed that this mirror is detailed in lot 318 as 'A toilet-glass, in frame of Indian Blackwood, pierced and carved with foliage.' A small archive of research into Camden House, conducted by the vendor, is also included. Empress Eugenie (Napoleon III's wife) worshipped Marie-Antoinette. The tragic end of that 'martyr queen' obsessed the Empress throughout her reign, and especially after the fall of the Second Empire, when Eugénie began strongly to identify herself with her royal predecessor. Eugénie followed Marie-Antoinette almost step for step. She lived in the same palaces and she even surrounded herself with furniture and objects which had belonged to the guillotined queen, so much so that the very ornate Louis XVI style came back into fashion, Eugénie organising an exhibition in the Marie-Antoinette's memory. (source: https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/paintings/the-empress-eugenie-in-18th-century-costume/) Marie Antoinette (2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria and was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. She became dauphine of France in May 1770 at age 14 upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, heir apparent to the French throne. On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended the throne as Louis XVI and she became queen.
Formerly the property of Marie Antoinette - an antique 18th century French mirror glass by repute owned and used by Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. Purchased from the Estate of Napoleon III, whose wife, Empress Eugenie owned items from Antoinette. The mirror plate mounted in a later 19th century fine Walnut carved frame, labelled by means of an engraved silver plaque, reading ' This Glass Formerly Belonged To - Marie Antoinette - And Was Purchased At The Sale Of Napoleon's Effects'. The finely carved ebonised surround decorated with leaves and carved vines, and likely originally an easel frame but the stand now lost to antiquity. Total size approx; 53cm x 38cm. Visible Mirror Size: 38cm x 21.5cm. A rare and unique piece of Revolutionary France related history. Provenance: Has been in the collection of the same family for approximately fifty years, where it was inherited by the vendor's wife from a friend of her Grandmothers, c1980. To the rear of the mirror is a small note written in the hand of the Grandmother which reads, in part; 'Sold with effects of Empress Eugene....Camden House, Chislehurst, Kent'. (This original note is included in the sale, but is no longer attached to the back of the mirror). A copy of a catalogue for the auction at Camden Place, which was held on Wednesday 12th June 1889 by Christie, Manson & Woods, 'By Order Of The Executors Of Nathaniel WJ Strode, Esq. Deceased, Who Lent The Place Furnished To The Late Emperor Napoleon III For Eleven Years', is supplied with the mirror and it is presumed that this mirror is detailed in lot 318 as 'A toilet-glass, in frame of Indian Blackwood, pierced and carved with foliage.' A small archive of research into Camden House, conducted by the vendor, is also included. Empress Eugenie (Napoleon III's wife) worshipped Marie-Antoinette. The tragic end of that 'martyr queen' obsessed the Empress throughout her reign, and especially after the fall of the Second Empire, when Eugénie began strongly to identify herself with her royal predecessor. Eugénie followed Marie-Antoinette almost step for step. She lived in the same palaces and she even surrounded herself with furniture and objects which had belonged to the guillotined queen, so much so that the very ornate Louis XVI style came back into fashion, Eugénie organising an exhibition in the Marie-Antoinette's memory. (source: https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/paintings/the-empress-eugenie-in-18th-century-costume/) Marie Antoinette (2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria and was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. She became dauphine of France in May 1770 at age 14 upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, heir apparent to the French throne. On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended the throne as Louis XVI and she became queen.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
