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. 

A rare original document sent from Queen Marie Antoinette while under house arrest in the Tuileries Palace.  In 1793, Beaugeard was a conspirator in the failed plot to rescue King Louis XIV from execution.