It just goes to show that items we have in our everyday lives can very often hold a secret that makes them worth a small fortune.
Like many royals, Queen Marie Antoinette is a historical figure who still inspires much interest in the world of collecting. Each of her personal effects, or objects linked to her history, earn substantial sums at auction.
On 14 November, a leather and white satin shoe worn by the sovereign two centuries ago was sold for €43,750 (£39,050) at Osenat, a house specialising in the sale of historical souvenirs and objects of the Empire. The shoe had some marks caused by age but had been treasured by the same family since the end of the 18th century, passing religiously from one generation to the next.
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Made in kid, silk adorned with three ribbons and equipped with a small heel covered with grey, the shoe measures 22.5 cm long, the equivalent of a size 36 today. According to an expert at the auction house, its royal provenance is beyond doubt: the shoe would have landed in the hands of Marie-Émilie Leschevin – a close friend of Madame Campan, the Queen's first chambermaid – the ancestor of the family who put it up for sale.
Presented with an estimate between €8,000 and €10,000 (£7,140 and £8,925), the honourable shoe reached four times its estimate and the same amount paid for a travel trunk that also belonged to the queen, which was presented for sale last May at Osenat.
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On 13 November, a mirror with a doubly prestigious provenance appeared on the market. First used by Marie Antoinette, it was then recorded in the possessions of Napoleon III, whose wife Eugenie collected objects related to the sovereign (whom she admired).
Given to the current owners by a relative in the 1980s, the French mirror has an engraved silver plaque, clearly indicating its history: “This mirror belonged to Marie-Antoinette and was acquired during a sale of Napoleon's personal effects [III, editor's note]”. Seeing only a dash of humour, the owners ignored the plaque and hung the mirror in the bathroom of their house, where it remained for over 40 years.
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“[They] thought it was a bit of fun, and probably not true,” commented auctioneer Andy Stowe of UK house East Bristol Auctions. Its provenance has nevertheless been proven thanks to a Christie's catalogue dated 1889, wherein the object is listed as the property of Napoleon III, whose estate was the subject of the sale. According to experts, the 50 by 40 cm mirror was part of a larger arrangement of mirrors, arranged in one of the queen's palaces.
Mounted in an intricately carved walnut frame from the second half of the 19th century (the frame was added before the 1889 sale), the mirror went for £8,500 at East Bristol Auctions, £10,000 including fees. “To imagine Marie Antoinette herself staring into this mirror is just wonderful,” added the auctioneer. “And it just goes to show that items we have in our everyday lives can very often hold a secret that makes them worth a small fortune”.
