Day 186 - Writing desk and Marie-Antoinette chair



September 11, 2019

Finally, in gallery 527, I've found a room that I like a lot. Its cream-and-gold paneling, dating from about 1775, comes from the Hotel de Cabris in Grasse. Perhaps it's that the room, which appears to be a square about 40 feet on a side, admits natural light. Perhaps it's that the furniture, while gilded, has simpler, less fussy lines than the pieces in previous rooms. Perhaps it's that the upholstery is also mostly in cream and white, making for a harmonious appearance. Or perhaps it's just that I'm in a somewhat better mood, having gotten a good report from my doctor about my eye infection. 

I respond immediately and favorably to the two pieces at the front of the space (and maybe, too, that shapes my impression of the room as a whole). The first is an adjustable reading and writing table made of tulipwood and dating from about 1760-65. I suspect that one reason I like it is that I mistakenly took it for a music stand, although I couldn't see what purpose the oval tray would serve if that were the case. Now that I know it's a writing table,  I (kind of) get it: the tray could hold writing instruments, stationery, maybe a book. In any event, it's nice to think of people reading and writing, even if they were aristocrats - although maybe only members of the aristocracy and the haute bourgeoisie had the leisure and the skills to pursue those activities. What were rates of literacy in 18th century France, I wonder?

The second object is an armchair of carved and gilded beech, whose thickly cushioned seat makes it look vey comfortable. It turns out that I have good taste- the armchair was originally owned by Marie-Antoinette! Intended to furnish her grand cabinet interieur at Versailles, it was subsequently moved to the queen's billiards room! (Actually, it's hard to imagine that the game of billiards existed at that time, that the queen played it, and that this chair was thought appropriate for that space.) During the French Revolution, the chair was part of a set of furniture sold to Gouverneur Morris, who was the American minister to France from 1787 to 1794. Morris stored it in his  country home, Morrisania, in the Bronx.  It was given to the Met in 1944 and reupholstered in 2016 with a fabric woven in Lyon to duplicate the original design. Mrs. Wrightsman paid for the reupholstery, the placard says.

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