Madame du Barry (1743-1793) was born the illegitimate daughter of a dressmaker. An acknowledged beauty, her face was her fortune. She started her courtesan career at the tender age of 15 when she seduced her employer and went on to sleep her way to the top.
She eventually arrived at the French Royal Court at Versailles after her marriage to the debauched Count Jean du Barry. The aging King Louis XV signaled his interest in acquiring another mistress by sending her a bouquet of flowers tied with a string of diamonds. He showered her with jewelry and other extravagances at a time when the French treasury was virtually bankrupt. His favouritism was deeply resented.
After his death in 1774, she retired to her country estate near Sceaux, banished in part by Marie Antoinette, the new King's wife,who hated her and thought her common. The visiting English Duchess of Northumberland concurred. She described Madame du Barry as having a "wanton look" and considered her "vulgar, her voice loud, her language rough and indelicate."
She was missed by treasure hungry Revolutionaries back in 1789 at the start of the French Revolution but her activities and prior association with the old King eventually caught up with her. She was not content to just live quietly, taking on new lovers but in her naivety, she also made many trips to England in 1792 to recover stolen jewelry or so she said. In reality, she was transferring her treasures there. She should have stayed in England. She was eventually suspected of aiding French emigres fleeing the Reign of Terror and apprehended.
Shortly before her arrest, she buried her money and jewels around her chateau. Afterwards, she offered up their hiding places one by one in order to buy herself one more night of life. All save the location of her most important jewels and gold coin cache. But by then, they were through bargaining with her. Perhaps they believed they already had all her treasures but more likely, they just wanted to see the former King's mistress' head roll.
Marie Antoinette and particularly her husband, Louis XVI faced their executions with courage. Unlike them, Madame du Barry was hysterical when she was brought to the guillotine in 1793, screaming and begging for mercy in front of a hostile mob, right to the end. Her famous last words were "Encore un moment, monsieur le bourreau, un petit moment" ("Just a moment, executioner, just a brief moment").
The jewels she smuggled to England were eventually sold at auction and the money went back to France. The rest have not been found. Are they still hidden or were they already looted some 200 years ago?
Picture source
Related Post : The Last Queen of France's Pearls
References
Wikipedia : Madame du Barry
Tim Haydock (1986). Treasure Trove : Where to find the Great Lost Treasures of the World. Henry Holt and Co.
Robert Charroux (1962). Treasures of the World. Frederick Muller Ltd.
Mariane Fowler (2002). Hope: Adventures of a Diamond, Random House.
Liked what you read? Don't miss a post!
Subscribe 
via RSS OR Via Email It's FREE!
___________________
The Beading Gem's Journal
Madame Du Barry's Missing Jewelry
Monday, March 10, 2008
Bookmark this post with:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
no idea how i clicked my way to you...love this story.i will be back.thanks
What a great blog. I love the story.
I don't mind HOW people find my blog but I am sure glad when they do. Thanks Far From Perfect and Dancing Monkey Jewelry for loving this story.
Now you know why I find history so fascinating! Often, I am just glad we don't live in those times.
You never cease to amaze me with your jewelry history! Such tragic tales, and I don't blame her for asking for another moment!!
I guess traveling the beach with metal detectors is the wrong move, it's time to hop across the pond!
I'd love to see a squidoo lens of your jewelry history links! They are just so seedy, beady, scandalous, and exciting!
Amazing! A wonderful story!
Actually I do have all my past jewelry history posts already on my current squidoo site http://www.squidoo.com/gemstoneplacenames - these are sorted by gemstone colour.
On my blog (right sidebar), these past posts are grouped in post hubs by categories such as "biographical" "archaelogical", "historical" etc.
Thanks to all who have left comments - they do encourage me to post more biographical and historical stories in the future.
Thanks for the info! I hadn't been to your squidoo in a while, it's changed quite a bit!
You're going to keep me from getting much done, all these gem scandals to read about!!
Y'know I'm pretty sure my language would have been much more 'rough and indelicate" if I were being brought to the guillotine. Maybe she was more of a lady than they thought.
Okay maybe not. But people would have been covering their children's ears had it been me!
Just sayin'.
You got to admit, she was a fighter, from start to finish. Women didn't have many choices back then. Survival was tough enough without having to go through the French Revolution!
Post a Comment