A LATE LOUIS XVI WHITE-PAINTED AND PARCEL-GILT MARQUISE

Built for Louis XV the château de Compiègne was, together with Versailles and Fontainebleau, one of the three main royal residences and the preferred summer residence due to the extensive hunting grounds in the Compiègne forests. In 1750, Louis XV's preferred architect, Ange-Jacques Gabriel, proposed a thorough renovation of the château. Work began in 1751 and was finished in 1788 by Gabriel's student, Le Dreux de La Châtre, when this suite could have arrived at Compiègne. During the French Revolution, Compiègne was under the jurisdiction of the Minister for the Interior, whose task it was to liquidate all assets. In 1795, all the château's furniture ensembles were sold and its works of art sent to the Muséum Central.