A million-dollar wardrobe and chair ... France sells Queen Marie Antoinette's furniture at auction
Two pieces of furniture once owned by French Queen Marie Antoinette are set to be auctioned on November 22 in Paris.
The two pieces, a 250-year-old chest of drawers and chair, are estimated to be worth between 800,000 and 1.2 million euros ($832,000 to $1.25 million) and 100,000 to 200,000 euros ($104,000 to $208,000), respectively.
Simon de Monicault, vice-president of Christie's auction house in France, said, "The two pieces have always enjoyed importance and have remained so for centuries, so even without taking into account their royal dimension, they are admired and appreciated."
The chest of drawers was made with Chinese-inspired designs and rare metal hardware for Marie Antoinette before she became queen in 1770, when she first arrived in France aged 15.
"We can imagine ... she was about to marry the one who would shortly afterwards become King Louis XVI," de Monicolt adds.
According to Reuters, the chair was the last piece requested by the queen at the time, before she was overthrown during the French Revolution and later executed at the age of 37.
And last year saw the sale of two diamond bracelets belonging to the former queen at an auction in Switzerland for $ 8.18 million, which exceeded several times the pre-sale estimates.
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