AN EMPIRE GILTWOOD MARQUISE

The marque au feu 'N' is possibly that of the château de Neuilly. Originally built in 1751 for Marc-Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d'Argenson (1696-1764), Neuilly subsequently belonged to Talleyrand and Joachim Murat, one of Napoleon's most distinguished generals who married Napoleon's youngest sister Caroline. When Murat was made King of Naples in 1808, Neuilly, together with its contents passed to his sister-in-law Pauline, Princesse Borghese. In 1818 the Duc d'Orléans, later Louis-Phillipe of France (1773-1850), bought the château and commissioned the architect Pierre Fontaine to refurbish it. Particularly favored by Louis-Philippe, during his reign (1830-48) the marque au feu of the château was altered to include his initials and numerous examples of items stamped 'N' with the additional 'LP' initials survive, however fewer examples stamped with simply the 'N' exist. A set of Louis XVI armchairs by Georges Jacob with the N marque au feu was sold from Millden, Christie's London, 20 January 2005, lot 112.