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Lot Essay
Comte d'Artois and Pavillion de Bagatelle
The marks found on this rafraîchissoir are those of the Comte d'Artois, the youngest brother of Louis XVI. The 'GM' stands for garde meuble, and the cowned 'B' is that of the Pavillion de Bagatelle.
The pavillon at Bagatelle, designed by the architect François-Joseph Bélanger and constructed in 1777 in just nine weeks, is the result of a 100,000 livres bet between the comte d'Artois, and Queen Marie-Antoinette. The design for Bagatelle was conceived in only one night as a pleasure palace in the "antique" taste decorated with arabesques. In the Autumn of 1777 nine hundred craftsmen were working on the grounds, planting the trees and constructing the pavillion. Although the bet was won, the interior decoration was only completed in 1781. Intended for the use of the Prince and his closest friends, even the comtesse d'Artois was never allocated an appartment. It also served as a convenient resting point for the Prince between Saint-Germain and the Palais du Temple in Paris. For a full description of the decoration of Bagatelle see "La Folie d'Artois", Exhibition Catalogue, 1988, pp. 87-142.
The marks found on this rafraîchissoir are those of the Comte d'Artois, the youngest brother of Louis XVI. The 'GM' stands for garde meuble, and the cowned 'B' is that of the Pavillion de Bagatelle.
The pavillon at Bagatelle, designed by the architect François-Joseph Bélanger and constructed in 1777 in just nine weeks, is the result of a 100,000 livres bet between the comte d'Artois, and Queen Marie-Antoinette. The design for Bagatelle was conceived in only one night as a pleasure palace in the "antique" taste decorated with arabesques. In the Autumn of 1777 nine hundred craftsmen were working on the grounds, planting the trees and constructing the pavillion. Although the bet was won, the interior decoration was only completed in 1781. Intended for the use of the Prince and his closest friends, even the comtesse d'Artois was never allocated an appartment. It also served as a convenient resting point for the Prince between Saint-Germain and the Palais du Temple in Paris. For a full description of the decoration of Bagatelle see "La Folie d'Artois", Exhibition Catalogue, 1988, pp. 87-142.