CIRCA 1755

These impressive bibliothèques once formed part of the collection of Gisèle Rueff-Béghin, whose father Joseph Béghin was an important industrialist and founder of the Béghin sugar empire. Starting in the 1920's, she assembled a superb collection of 18th century French furniture and Impressionist paintings, initially for an apartment on the Boulevard Montmorency and later an hôtel particulier in Neuilly, where she moved in 1966 with her third husband André Rueff. Her Impressionist paintings, including important works by Degas, Renoir, Matisse and Redon, were dispersed in a landmark sale in London in 1988.