Kate Flitcroft
Co-Head of Department UK
Lot 13Ф,Y
JEAN-FRANCOIS-MARIE HUET-VILLIERS (FRENCH, 1772-1813) PORTRAIT MINIATURE OF LOUIS XVIII
26 April 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £765 inc. premium
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Jennifer Tonkin
Co-Head of Department UK
Charlotte Glyde
Specialist Consultant
JEAN-FRANCOIS-MARIE HUET-VILLIERS (FRENCH, 1772-1813) PORTRAIT MINIATURE OF LOUIS XVIII
Portraying Louis XVIII (1755-1824), King of France and Navarre (1814-1824) while in exile, wearing a white waistcoat, stock and chemise under his blue double-breasted coat, decorated with the breast star of the Order of Saint-Esprit and the red ribbon of The Royal French Order of Saint-Louis, watercolour on ivory, signed and dated Huet-Villiers 1810, gilt-mounted in a red leather travelling case between two glazed compartments, one set with gilt-initials, 'MJL', over plaited hair, the other with a handwritten label, "la mort nous sépara, l'amitié nous rassemble" ("when death pulls us apart, friendship brings us together"), accompanied by a separate handwritten note, "This case belonged to Charles X of France and originally contained the miniature etc. Given me by Mmes [sic] Tussauds. 1928.", ivory diameter 8.1cm
Footnotes
Please note, the United States Government has banned the import of ivory into the USA. The item within this lot containing ivory has been registered in accordance with the Ivory Act (Section 10). Ref. VPXBBH3H.
Provenance:
D. S. Lavender (Antiques) Ltd, 139A New Bond Street, London
A Private Collection of Jewels and Portrait Miniatures of Bourbon Interest
Lots 1 - 16 form part of a private collection of jewels, portrait miniatures and objects de vertu, predominantly relating to the Bourbon dynasty and dating from the 17th century onwards. Bourbon monarchs united France and part of the kingdom of Navarre in 1589, ruling both until the French Revolution of 1792. Restored briefly in 1814 and finally in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, the senior line of the Bourbons was overthrown again in the July Revolution of 1830. A cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years (1830–1848), until it too was deposed.
In 1808, Louis XVIII brought his wife, Marie Joséphine (1753-1810), to join him in England where the couple settled at Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire with over one hundred courtiers. Louis paid £500 in rent each year to the owner of the estate, Sir George Lee. As Prince Regent, the Prince of Wales (later George IV) was very charitable and granted the exiled Bourbons permanent right of asylum with extremely generous allowances.
Queen Marie Joséphine died on 13th November 1810. Her funeral was a magnificent occasion attended by the Bourbon court-in-exile. The funeral cortege was followed by the British royal family and Marie Joséphine was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey. Her body was removed a year later on Louis's orders and today Marie Joséphine rests in Cagliari Cathedral in Sardinia, her monument inscribed 'Galliarum Regina' (Queen of the Gauls).
After a failed invasion of Russia by Napoleon I in 1812, Louis XVIII issued a declaration from Hartwell, asserting that anyone who had served Napoleon or the Republic would not suffer any repercussions. After allied troops entered Paris on 31st March 1814, the French Senate invited Louis to resume the throne of France and Napoleon I abdicated on 11th April 1814.
