35 - RARE SET OF 19 GOLD BUTTONS THAT PROBABLY BELONGED TO QUEEN MARIE-ANTOINETTE

RARE SET OF 19 GOLD BUTTONS THAT PROBABLY BELONGED TO QUEEN MARIE-ANTOINETTE A set of nineteen 18k gold (750 parts per thousand) garment buttons, four of which are larger in diameter than the other fifteen, decorated with concentric circles surrounded by undulating foliage on an amati background. Probably foreign work from the late 18th century. Prestigious French hallmarks, including that of master goldsmith Guillaume Côme (who stamped his work in 1777). Diameter: 1.5 and 2 cm. Total weight: 28.6 g. Provenance - Probably Queen Marie Antoinette (1755–1793). - Given by Marie Antoinette to the Duchess of Polignac, née Yolande-Gabrielle de Polastron (1749–1793), one of the queen’s closest friends and her principal confidante, according to the catalog of the 1894 exhibition (see below). - Passed down through the family to her great-grandson, Count Guy de Polignac (1852–1901). - Then passed down through the family to her daughter-in-law, Nina Floyd Crosby, Marquise Melchior de Polignac (1881–1966). - Martial Lapeyre Collection (1904–1984). Described in the post-mortem inventory as “having belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette.” - Fondation Napoléon (Paris) following Martial Lapeyre’s bequest in 1984. Exhibitions - Marie-Antoinette and Her Time, Galerie Sedelmeyer, Paris, 1894 (exh. cat. no. 82, p. 38, listed as part of the Count of Polignac’s collection). - Marie-Antoinette, Archduchess, Dauphine, and Queen, Palace of Versailles, May 16–November 2, 1955 (exh. cat. no. 472, p. 164, listed as part of the Marquise de Polignac’s collection). - The Life of Marie Antoinette, July 7–September 2, 2012, Nagoya City Museum (Japan).