Model for a Royal Jewel Cabinet

Description Dugourc entered this model in a contest held in 1787 to choose a design for Queen Marie-Antoinette's new jewel cabinet at the palace of Versailles. The jury selected another entry which was constructed the following year and is now in the Queen's bedroom in the palace. Dugourc, a multi-talented designer, received commissions from the comte de Provence (Louis XVI's brother and the future Louis XVIII) and from both Paul I and Catherine the Great of Russia as well as from Gustavus III of Sweden. The Walters piece, an extremely rare model for a royal commission, reflects the prevailing neoclassical style in the use of such motifs as caryatids (pilasters in the form of human torsos) Greek sphinxes, delicate "rinceaux" (scrollwork) and lyres. Encased in the roundels are the monograms of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Exhibitions

• Vive la France! French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1999-2000.

Provenance Marie Antoinette, Versailles, 1787, by commission; Mme Lelong (?); H. W. Harding; Henry Walters, Baltimore, July 11, 1911, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1911