[MALON de BERCY, Marie-Françoise, marquise de, née Tascherea - Lot 109

[MALON de BERCY, Marie-Françoise, marquise de, née Taschereau de Baudry] Inventory after the death of Melle Taschereau de Baudry, widow of Nicolas Charles Malon Bercy [June 30, 1786]. June 30, 1786 PRECIOUS MANUSCRIPT INVENTORY OF THE CHÂTEAU DE BERCY, WITH FOUR SUPERB PLANS, ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION MANUSCRIPT written in brown or black inks, in several hands, on more than 641 folios in-folio (330 x 205mm) "L'an 1786 le vendredi 30 juin trois heures de relevé à la requête" de Nicolas Charles de Malon de Bercy (...) husband of the late Marie Françoise Taschereau de Baudry and "honorary guardian of the seigneurs and demoiselle de Bercy", of his minor grandchildren: Charles Jean François de Malon de Bercy and Alexandrine Charlotte de Malon de Bercy, an inventory was made of his property, located: 1. Inventory of the mansion on rue de Varenne (f° 1-82r): furniture, everyday objects, paintings (only portraits are not valued), crockery, sculptures, clocks, wardrobe, cellar, cars etc. The books in the library are appraised by the bookseller A. F. Knapfen, rue Saint-André-des-Arts. It does not appear in the present manuscript 2. Château de Bercy (f° 83-244): the inventory of the vast residence at Bercy (grand château, petit château, chapel, library, salle de comédie and outbuildings) lasts from July 13 to 24. The notary inventoried the objects as he had done in a previous inventory at the time of the donation with usufruct reserve made to the son of the Marquis de Bercy, who predeceased his father. Missing items are listed and noted. The inventory of the cellars occupies 3 ff., while the crockery and silverware extend over 5 ff. Starting on f. 191, an inventory of the Bercy library extends to f. 238v, followed by jewelry, for example: "a cross of brilliant diamonds composed of a large diamond in the middle, six other medium-sized diamonds and twelve smaller diamonds, two pompons also of brilliant diamonds composed of a medium-sized diamond in the middle, seven surrounding diamonds and several smaller diamonds" 3. The inventory of the vast rural estate of Château de Baudry near Tours took place from July 28 to August 2, 1786 (123 ff.) 4. The inventory of papers ran from August 14 to October 19, 1786 (309 ff.). ATTACHMENTS: 4 superb handwritten watercolor and India ink fold-out plans of the Château de Bercy: 1. Plan of the first floor and alterations of the Château de Bercy (713 x 325mm) 2. Second floor (715 x 330mm); 3. Second floor (720 x 325mm) 4. A fourth plan made up of three complementary pieces in fragments CONTEMPORARY BINDING. Suede, morocco title-piece pastedown on upper board, in gilt lettering edged with gilt fillets. Some pages detached Château de Bercy is said to have been built by François Le Vau, brother of the famous Louis Le Vau, to designs by François Mansart. The wikipedia entry offers a marvellous understanding, through text and images, of what was one of the most important and beautiful châteaux built in the immediate vicinity of Paris, with its superb gardens on the banks of the Seine. All was dismantled, and nothing remains of Bercy. Above all, this manuscript reveals the relative neglect of the Bercy estate at the end of the 18th century. As the heirs were very young when their parents died, the estate was not settled until their emancipation (see next issue). Some of the Malon de Bercy archives are now divided between the Archives départementales du Val-de-Marne (fonds 46J), the Palais Galliera and the Musée de Sceaux. In the 19th century, certain sculptures and paintings were transferred to the Château de Brissac. WEBOGRAPHY : Gilles Moreau, "Artisans et marchands au services des Malon de Bercy" : https://orfevrerie.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/artisans-et-marchands-au-service-des-malon-de-bercy/