"Versailles Et Les Tables Royales En Europe" 1993 BABELON, Jean- Pierre (Preface).
$300
BABELON, Jean- Pierre (Preface)
Warmly inscribed for Nan (Kempner)... for so many reasons... love Geoffrey (Beene)
[387] pp.
Reunion Des Musees Nationaux, Paris
1993
12 1/4" x 9 3/4"
Ex-libris: Kitty D'Alessio [former head of Chanel NA]
Fine
Scroll Down for (12) Additional Scans:
As soon as King Louis XIV moved to Versailles, the palace became the place from which the most sumptuous and refined uses and tableware radiated in all the great courts of Europe. It was to Versailles that the princes and kings of Europe sent emissaries to observe the ritual of public meals, in order to imitate or adapt them. It was at Versailles that people came to admire the pieces of goldsmithery and porcelain, which were then ordered from the king's goldsmiths and the royal factory of Sèvres. Because of successive castings, then the Revolution, France has very few of these objects, but Europe has preserved them and makes it possible to bring together sumptuous collections. Thus, the great French goldsmith was present, particularly in Portugal and at the Danish Court, while the Crown of England and Russia possessed imposing porcelain services, whether it was the service of Louis XVI or the "cameo" service ordered by Empress Catherine II. The combination of these ensembles, beyond their beauty, makes it possible to reconstruct the evolution of royal uses and tableware, from the Ancien Régime to the Second Empire.