A pair of Louis-Philippe gilt and patinated bronze candlesticks, mid-19th century

Château d’Eu, Normandy

Located in the centre of the town of Eu, Normandy, the château d'Eu surrounded by traditional French gardens was built from 1578 under the direction of Henry I, Duke of Guise, and his wife, Catherine de Clèves and was completed in 1665 by Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, cousin of King Louis XIV, also known as ‘la Grande Mademoiselle’. Since its acquisition by La Grande Mademoiselle in October 1657, the château remained in the property of the Orléans family during the 18^th century from the Duke de Maine and his sons, to the Duke de Penthièvre. From 1821, as inherited from his mother the Duchesse d’Orléans, the château served as the summer residence of King Louis-Phillipe I (1773-1850), who restored and re-furbished it. It was at the château that under the auspices of the “Entente Cordiale”, or the Cordial Understanding, that Louis-Phillipe hosted Queen Victoria on two separate occasions, in 1843 and again in 1845.

When the Second Empire was established in 1852, the property came into the possession of Philippe, Count of Paris (1838–1894), the grandson of King Louis Philippe I. As head of the House of Orléans and pretender to the throne, he returns to France in 1871 after years of exile and after two Orléans residences - château d’Amboise and the château d’Eu - are returned to him. With the influential architect Violet-le-Duc, he refurbishes and modernises Eu from 1872 and these commodes are probably part of this campaign that last until the Count of Paris is once again sent into exile in 1886.  

Between 1905 to 1921, the château became the residence of Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu (1891-1921), a grandson of King Louis Philippe I and his wife Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil. Their eldest son, Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, sold the Château to the Brazilian entrepreneur Assis Chateaubriand.