Héros malgré lui : le bureau de la signature du traité de Versailles
This article examines the unusual history of a seemingly ordinary eighteenth-century writing desk that has been in the Château de Versailles collection since 1914. Attributed to the cabinetmaker Charles Cressent (1685–1768), the desk had no known existence until 1863, when it was sent to the Palais...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
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École du Louvre
2024-05-01
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| Series: | Les Cahiers de l'École du Louvre |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/cel/31020 |
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| Summary: | This article examines the unusual history of a seemingly ordinary eighteenth-century writing desk that has been in the Château de Versailles collection since 1914. Attributed to the cabinetmaker Charles Cressent (1685–1768), the desk had no known existence until 1863, when it was sent to the Palais de Compiègne. After moving to the Mobilier National and then to the Louvre, it was at Versailles that its history took an unexpected turn: on 28 June 1919, it became the “signing desk” at the peace treaty ceremony that ended the First World War. From then on, the piece of furniture moved from anonymity to fame in the 1920s and 1930s, thanks in particular to the postcards publicising the event. Kept under close surveillance at the Château de Chambord from 1939 to 1945, due to the interest shown in it by the German authorities, it was returned to its Versailles home at the end of the conflict. Exhibited for many years in the Salon du Conseil, part of the Grands Appartements circuit, it is now on display in the chateau’s new history gallery, which opened in September 2023. A symbol of the First World War, and viewed through this single prism since 1919, the desk has followed a trajectory comparable to that of a film actor: a total unknown, propelled for a few hours into the diplomatic limelight, who achieved international fame, still present 100 years after the First World War. |
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| ISSN: | 2262-208X |