Virtual tour #2

“The Retour d’ Egypte” bed

Look at the bed in the painting which is placed along the wall facing the window, as was the case with the beds at that time. Beds were usually orned with draped muslin curtains.

The style was elegant, refined much lighter than the style of beds and canopies of the 18th century and the Empire era.

The painting depicts one of a pair of beds which have remained in Château de Canisy.

Where can we find this bed in the castle today?

We can find the pair of beds which includes the one shown in the watercolor in the Polignac suite of the castle. The beds are topped with a canopy and white muslin curtains, in the style of the Restoration period. The bedspreads faithfully reproduce a decor evoking the style of ancien times, as was fashionable in the 1820s. The frieze that adorns the wallpaper of the suite is reminiscent of the one which appears in the watercolor..

The name of Polignac was given to this suite in honor and tribute to two personages close to us to the memory of which we are very attached: Prince Guy de Polignac, Bailli of the Sovereign Order of Malta, and his son, Prince Henri-Melchior de Polignac,  both of them having often resided at the château. The second reason why this suite has been named the Polignac suite is that this family played an historical although  controversial – role  at the time of the Bourbon Restoration . It was natural then to give this suite the name of an illustrious family of that time corresponding to the decor .

The choice of colors white, blue, gold is faithful to the colors used  in royal apartments at that time: White is the royal color par excellence, that of the flag. It has been therefore selected in the suite Polignac for the  muslin curtains of the beds and windows as well as for the white and gold boiseries, and the background of the wallpaper frieze, Blue is also the color of the king and therefore that of the moire(  a kind of silk) that adorns the walls, Gold is found in touches, everywhere in the room, in the different objects present: wall sconces, mirror, frames …

Check our next publications and pictures in the coming days!