#VERSAILLES

[illustratus]

Portrait of Joseph Fouché

[thegoldensanctuary]

Part VI: The 1702 Summer Set(N⁰ 1379) :

Tradition required the bedchamber decor to be changed twice a year, alternating between a winter set and a summer one. Although set 1881 is not explicitly referred to as the winter set in the Garde-Meuble until 1740 [125], André Félibien informs us that the practice of using red velvet for winter in the King’s bedchamber predated 1701 [126]. If set 1881 was already used for winter by 1701, then which set was used as a summer replacement in 1702? The answer can be found in the 1708 inventory [127], where a set of silver-background brocade is listed under number 1379. Set 1379 was initially delivered in May 1689 as an augmentation of set 867, delivered nine years earlier for the bath apartments [128].

6.1 The Tapestry Itself

Described in 1680 as alternating narrow pieces of two different brocades—one “silver background with figures of a shepherd and shepherdess” and the other “gold and silver with rinceau, outlined at the edge with ponceau” [129]—the 1689 Garde-Meuble entry, while consistent in describing the shepherd silver brocade, specifies that the other had a green background but omits the rinceau ornaments. The most complete description appears in the 1708 inventory: “Rich furniture of two brocades, one with silver background with figures of shepherd and shepherdess in gold and silver, and the other with green background chiseled with gold and with flowers of silver and gold” [130].

The 1689 delivery was intended to fill an alcove with eight pieces of silver shepherd brocade and seven pieces of the green brocade [131]; this layout remained the same in the 1701 bedchamber [132].

6.2 The Bed

The main element of set 1379 was its state bed, impressive in its dimensions. Its components were as follows:

No Headboard: None of the descriptions indicate the presence of a headboard.

The Headcloth: Described in 1689 as being like the curtains, “of ponceau brocade” [133]. As seen in Part 6.1, no ponceau brocade is mentioned in the set; instead, the color ponceau only appears as a border for the green-background brocade. This discrepancy is later clarified in 1708 when the curtains and headcloth are accurately described as “green background brocade with flowers of gold and silver outlined at the edge with ponceau” [134].

The Valences: Unlike previous descriptions, a more precise one does not come from the 1708 inventory, where they are mentioned along with the cantonières, bonne grace, and bases as simply being of “shepherd brocade” [135], but from the May 1689 Garde-Meuble entry, which states: “Three outer valences, with additional buttonholes, shells, tassels, and other embroidery taken from the campane left from the frieze of the tapestry; four inner valences. The seven valences [three outer + four inner] are entirely of the shepherd brocade, garnished at the bottom by large campane embroidery and at the top and sides by smaller campanes, with ponceau gros de tours lining” [136].

The Curtains: The fabric for the curtains matched the set: some were of shepherd brocade, while others were of the green brocade.The 1689 description specifies that the two bonne graces, two cantonières, and three bases were of the shepherd brocade, while the four outer-layer curtains were of the “ponceau brocade” [137]. As with the headcloth, the term "ponceau brocade" actually refers to the “green background brocade with flowers of gold and silver outlined at the edge with ponceau,” as inferred from the 1708 inventory [138].

The Quilt: Described in both 1689 and 1708 as being of “ponceau brocade” [139], the same caution regarding interpretation should be applied as above.

The Case Curtain: Made of 24 pieces of green taffeta sewn together, with large and medium gold and silver fringes at the bottom and sides [140].

The Columns: The two front columns were covered in sheaths: one in a brocade featuring Solomonic columns embroidered in gold and silver on a crimson satin background, and the other in a brocade with silver stripes and satin stripes adorned with gold and silver floral embroidery [141].

The Vases/Finials: Four in total (one at each corner), filled with feathers. No further information about the materials used is provided.

6.3 The Armchairs and Stools

The original 1680 description briefly mentions the presence of two armchairs [142].

In 1689, the armchairs and stools received new frames, which were “gilded and silver-plated.” The 12 stools from 1680 were replaced with eight folding stools at that time [143].

The armchairs were entirely covered with shepherd brocade on the backrest, seat, and armrests, with silver and gold braid and campane ornaments. The folding stools, on the other hand, had cushions made from a square of shepherd brocade surrounded by “ponceau brocade.” This term appears in both the 1689 Garde-Meuble entry [144] and the 1708 inventory [145]. We learn from the 1689 entry that there was not enough campane to decorate all eight folding stools; there was barely enough for six, and the remaining two had to rely on gold fringes instead [146]. This issue seems never to have been addressed, as the 1708 description notes this disparity as well [147].

These stools and armchairs were later encountered long after being removed from the bedchamber and returned to the Garde-Meuble, specifically in the 1775 general inventory of the Garde-Meuble, where they appear under number 106 among the brocade furnishings [148]. In this final description, we learn that, just as in 1708, the disparity in campane ornaments remained unaddressed and that the “ponceau brocade” mentioned in the 1689 and 1708 descriptions surrounding the shepherd brocade was, as expected, actually “of chiseled green background brocade, with silver and gold flowers” [149].

An additional armchair belonging to set 1870 is also listed in the 1708 inventory.

6.4 The Fire Screen

The fire screen was a new addition for the 1701 central bedchamber, as it was not part of the original delivery of set 1379 from May 1689. The 1708 inventory offers a lengthy description worth quoting in full:

“Fire screen with slide [écran à coulisse], covered on each side with a square of silver background brocade with vine, from which a grape hangs, with a shepherdess at the center enclosed by strips of green background brocade chiseled with gold, with gold and silver floral ornaments outlined at the edge with ponceau, garnished by a thin gold braid hiding the seam, with sculpted and gilded wood” [150].

6.6 The Table and Tablecloth

In 1689, at the initial delivery of the set, there were three different carpets (tapis), one of which was referred to as a table carpet (tapis de table) [151]. Although no table was provided with the initial delivery, the 1708 inventory mentions a fir wood table [152] with no inventory number listed directly after two of the aforementioned rugs, indicating that these other rugs were also likely table rugs, as was the first.

The first proper tablecloth was “made of the two brocades, garnished with fringes and gold and silver braids, lined with green taffeta” [153].

The second rug was made of green leather, with green taffeta lining and gold fringes.

The third rug, made of green taffeta with gold and silver fringes, is referred to in 1708 as the slipcover for the first.

6.7 The Portieres

The description of the four portieres is consistent between the 1689 Garde-Meuble entry and the 1708 description, comprising a total of five pieces of brocade sewn together: three of shepherd brocade and two of the green brocade, with campane ornaments at the bottom of two and fringes for the other two.

[125] AN O1/3453

[126] “The King’s bed is covered in red velvet in winter,” can be read in Félibien des Avaux, Description sommaire de Versailles ancienne et nouvelle, 1703 edition, p. 60. Despite the date of the edition, the rooms are described in their pre-1701 layout.

[127] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 2-4

[128] Guiffrey, Inventaire général du mobilier de la couronne sous Louis XIV, 1886 edition, vol. 2, p. 318

[129] Ibid

[130] AN O1/3445

[131] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 123 r⁰

[132] AN O1/3445

[133] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 122 r⁰

[134] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 2

[die-rosastrasse]

Analogues I took at Versailles last Summer

[pro-biocidal]

Kamijo + Sanaka (Hitomi)

[queenantoinetteoffrance]

Kirsten Dunst on the set of Marie Antoinette (2006)

[ancientsstudies]

Château de Versailles by michaelthecanadian.

[wgm-beautiful-world]

V E R S A I L L E S

[arwen-evenstar]

Season 1 Episode 1 "Welcome to Versailles" Versailles (2015–2018)

[matchtheminrenown]

historical costumes + aqua/teal

[agelessphotography]

Questel Staircase, Château de Versailles, Robert Polidori, 1985

[happyheidi]

𝖵𝖾𝗋𝗌𝖺𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗌 - 𝖬𝖺𝗋𝗂𝖾 𝖠𝗇𝗍𝗈𝗂𝗇𝖾𝗍𝗍𝖾 𝖤𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗌

𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵_𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦_𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨

[die-rosastrasse]

Château de Versailles

Versailles, France, 27 VIII 2023

[dolcesostenuto]

this is versailles | by rainiana

[twixnmix]

Josephine Baker performing at The Battle of Versailles Fashion Show at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France on November 28, 1973.

[ancientsstudies]

Château de Versailles by michaelthecanadian.

[jaeausten]

My place is by my husbands side.