Madame de Sévigné’s desk

Anonyme, Anonyme

    • 4e quart du 17e siècle
    • Mobilier
    • Bureau
    • Bois (matériau), Bambou, Laque, Vernis, Laiton
    • Don manuel
    • MB224

The desk, which was donated to the museum and enriches the collection of Parisian celebrity souvenirs, reminds us of how much the marchioness loved to write. It comes from the Château des Rochers, where Madame de Sévigné frequently stayed, and we can imagine the famous marchioness writing several of her letters on the drop-leaf that was used as a writing table.

A rare example of furniture made in southern China for the French East India Company in the late seventeenth century, it is characterized by the difference in decoration between one side that is typically Western and the sides covered with traditional Chinese designs. Decorated with flowers, fruits, birds and butterflies on a black lacquered background, the desk bears the dual coats of arms of the Rabutin and Sévigné families and bears witness to the artistic exchanges between the Far East and Europe in the 17th century.