Precious furniture, torches, sofas in which Napoleon, kings and princes sat: more than 800 pieces of furniture, objects and seats housed in the collections of the Mobilier national, will join the châteaux of Versailles and Fontainebleau where they come from, announced Wednesday this establishment.
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At the Palace of Versailles and the two Trianons, pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries and important sets from the 19th century will be transferred.
The majority of them were part of the interior decoration of these residences.
The oldest are ten carved oak torches from the former administration of Menus-Plaisirs, the initial model of which was designed under Louis XIV.
For the nineteenth century, it will first be the furniture of the apartments of the staff of Versailles and the Trianons, composed almost exclusively of furniture from the Empire and the Restoration: a dozen folders from the Grand cabinet of the Emperor , a sofa and a loveseat in the Salon des Princes.
Nearly 450 pieces of furniture and seats will be transferred to Versailles.
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An equivalent transfer takes place between the Mobilier National and the Château de Fontainebleau.
The furniture belongs to all the furnishing periods of the castle in the 19th century.
Among the 400 pieces, appear those from Napoleon's apartments.
This is the case with mahogany chairs inlaid with ebony and pewter and a beautiful set of seats from Joséphine's boudoir.
Heir to the Crown Furniture Repository and then to the Imperial Furniture, the National Furniture, which has its headquarters at the former Gobelins factory in Paris, preserved these works, ensuring their preservation, maintenance and restoration.