天工國際

法國 Sevres Style Madame du Barry Cup & Saucer
Mark : Sevres
Year : Unknown
Artist : Unsigned
Size : Cup - 6.4 cm H , 6.4 cm Dia. / Saucer - 11.6 cm Dia.
Madame du Barry, a portrait by du Barry's confidante, Elisabeth-Louise Vigee Le Brun.
Madame du Barry was born Marie-Jeanne Becu at Vaucouleurs, Lorraine in 1743, the illegitimate daughter of Anne Becu, who was variously reported as a seamstress or a cook. Her father was possibly Jean Baptiste Gormand of Vaubernier, a friar. During her childhood, one of her mother's extra-marital lovers funded her education at a convent.
At the age of 15 Marie-Jeanne moved to Paris, where, using the name Jeanne Rancon, she worked as a milliner's assistant in a shop. As reflected in art from the time, she was a remarkably attractive woman. Her beauty came to the attention of Jean du Barry, a nobleman, in 1763. He made her his mistress and helped establish her career as a courtesan in the highest circles of Parisian society, enabling her to take several wealthy men as her benefactors.
She first served as courtesan to Louis Francois Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu. Jean du Barry, however, saw her as a means of influence with Louis XV, who became aware of her in 1768. Marie-Jeanne, however, could not qualify as an official royal mistress unless she had a title; this was solved by her marriage to Du Barry's brother, Count Guillaume du Barry, in 1769. She was presented to the King's family and the court on April 2, 1769.
While she was part of the faction that brought down the Duke of Choiseul, Minister of foreign affairs, she was unlike her late predecessor Madame de Pompadour in that she had little political influence upon the King.
While known for her good nature and support of artists, the King's financial extravagance towards her was the source of increasing unpopularity. Her relationship with Marie Antoinette, the Dauphine of France was contentious. The dauphine supported Choiseul as the proponent of the alliance with Austria and also defied court protocol by refusing to speak to the Countess du Barry, due to her feelings about the latter's background.
At the King's request before his death in May 1774, she was banished from the court to the convent of Pont-au-Dames. Two years later she moved to her estate near Louveciennes, where she continued her career as a courtesan, having relationships with both Henry Seymour and the Duke of Brissac.
In 1792 she made several trips to London on the pretext of recovering stolen jewelry; she was suspected of giving financial aid to emigres from the French Revolution. In the following year, she was arrested by the Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris on charges of treason. While in prison, her cellmate was fellow courtesan Grace Elliot. After a trial, she was executed by guillotine on the Place de la Concorde on December 8, 1793, aged 50