Monday, December 27, 2010

Parc & Château de Bagatelle part two

The Neoclassical Château de Bagatelle built 1777 for Comte d'Artois

Every time I go to Paris,France one of my favorite places to go is the Parc & Château de Bagatelle. Located in the Bois de Boulogne. The photo's are from May 2007. I was lucky to see at Bagatelle a exhibition on Sèvres porcelain by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres and silk from Lyons by the Manufacture de Soiries Prelle.
The Petit château was built by the Comte d'Artois and paid for by Marie Antoinette after she lost a bet. Marie-Antoinette wagered against the Comte, her brother-in-law, that the new château could not be completed within three months. The Comte won his bet, completing the house, the only residence ever designed and built expressly for him, in sixty-three days, from September 1777. The Comte engaged the neoclassical architect François-Joseph Bélanger to design the building. It is estimated that the project, which came to include manicured gardens, employed eight hundred workers working day and night cost over three million livres. The Comte was able to achieve building the small château by commandeering building material going to other building projects at great cost! Can you imagine in the 18th century everything tuck a long time to make, marble and wood was cut by man power. Building managers waiting for building supply's have to wait even longer because the Kings brother confiscated them. Bélanger's brother-in-law Jean-Démosthène Dugourc provided much of the decorative detail. The central domed feature was a music-room. The master bedroom was fitted up in the manner of a military tent, and Hubert Robert executed a set of six Italianate landscapes for the bathroom. Most of the ready made furnishings and decorative arts were provided by numerous Parisian marchand-merciers, notably Dominique Daguerre; a decorative painter was A.-L. Delabrière.







Painted Boiserie panel in the Music room by decorative painter was A.-L. Delabrière.



The Neoclassical Château de Bagatelle built 1777 for Comte d'Artois



 Plan for the Comte d'Artois bedroom fitted up in the manner of a military tent

Mantel in the Comte d'Artois bedroom

 Salon at Bagatelle






Embroidered silk made for Marie Antoinette's bedroom at the château de Fontainebleau

Embroidered silk made for Marie Antoinette's bedroom at the château de Fontainebleau

Embroidered silk made for Marie Antoinette's bedroom at the château de Fontainebleau


The silk relief peacock feather brocade of the curtains and wall-hangings in Marie Antoinette’s bed chamber in Versailles.

The silk relief peacock feather brocade of the curtains and wall-hangings in Marie Antoinette’s bed chamber in Versailles.

The silk relief peacock feather brocade of the curtains and wall-hangings in Marie Antoinette’s bed chamber in Versailles.











1 comment:

  1. Good evening. I absolutely adore your blog. Im a writer specialized in XVIII century history. I also published a book about Marie Antoinette and all her places (castles, museums, cafè) in Paris. I will come back to Paris in august and this time I would like to visit this marvellous palace, can I ask you if it's easy to reach the palais de Bagatelle by bus or train? I really cant understand the distances from google maps. Thank you very much in advanced and congratulations again for your interesting posts.
    Alice

    ReplyDelete