Manuscript document signed on behalf of the Queen (“Marie Antoinette") and countersigned, both signatures by her secretary Pierre Jean Baptiste Beaugeard, 1 page, folio, Paris, 31 January 1791, to her cousin, thanking him for his New Year greetings and assuring him of her affections. Dispatch slits, overall in very fine condition and with a scarce paper seal depicting Marie Antoinette’s coat of arms present to the lower left. Matted and framed with an engraved portrait "MARIE ANTOINETTE - JOSEPH. JEANNE (d'Autriche)...Gravé d'après un Dessin de Moreau)". Visible area of letter and portrait, each 8 x 12 inches (20.3 x 30.5), overall 21 x 16 inches (53.3 x 40.6). Unexamined out of frame, 2 inch tear to blank area visible, toning around the edges, else apparently fine, though would benefit from a fresh acid-free mat. Read More...
Wooden tea table owned by the Stravinsky family, ca. late 18th/early19th c., likely acquired in California ca. 1940, where it was very much a part of daily life. Stravinsky and his wife Vera used this table for their afternoon tea and patience games, as well as evening drinks. Smoking accompanied all of these activities, and the cigarette burns scattered across the surface of the table were deliberately preserved when the table was refinished in 2009. 40 inches in diameter plus two nesting extension leaves. Together with a digital image of the composer shown working at the table and a signed letter of provenance. Read More...