Lot Essay
This ecritoire is recorded at the château de La Roche-Guyon in 1787 by the Englishman, Arthur Young in his Voyage d'Arthur Young en France 1787-1790: c'est dans cet encrier que Louvois a trempé sa plume pour signer la révocation de l'Edit de Nantes, et sans doute aussi l'ordre donné à Turenne de brûler le Palatinat. This reflected the family tradition that the boulle marquetry ecritoire and bureau plat had belonged to Louis XIV's famous minister Louvois. On his death in 1694, much of his furniture passed to his daughter Madeleine-Charlotte Le Tellier (1664-1735) who had married Francois VIII de La Rochefoucauld. In 1787 at the time of Arthur Young's visit, the château belonged to the duchesse d'Enville, Louvois' great-grandaughter.
The inventory carried out in 1848 following the death of François de La Rochefoucauld lists the ecritoire and the bureau plat in the Library: Un bureau en marqueterie de Boul et un encrier pareil prisés la somme de 1000 francs. This high estimate, equal to that of a chandelier or a pair of consoles in the grand salon, indicates the importance attached to the objects at the time.
The inventory carried out in 1848 following the death of François de La Rochefoucauld lists the ecritoire and the bureau plat in the Library: Un bureau en marqueterie de Boul et un encrier pareil prisés la somme de 1000 francs. This high estimate, equal to that of a chandelier or a pair of consoles in the grand salon, indicates the importance attached to the objects at the time.