Marie Antoinette's

An 18th century athènienne sits in the corner of a room used for entertaining.

Pair of tripod stands (athèniennes) After a design by Jean-Henri Eberts. 1773, Carved and gilded pine; brass liners; gilt bronze. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809), Une prêtresse brûle de l'encens sur un trépied, dite La Vertueuse Athénienne. Toile. H. 0,895 ; L. 0,670. 1762. Strasbourg, musée des Beaux-Arts.

Detail.

I love Christies' description and uses of this versatile period piece:

The multi-purpose athénienne was intended for entertaining in the salon or boudoir and was accordingly fitted with casters and an ormolu-mounted patinated copper cassolette, silvered on the inside and containing a removable spirit lamp, above which was set a tin-plated double boiler, surmounted by a marble slab and a patinated copper cover.

A Pair of Louis XVI Style Atheniennes. Ordered by Lord Duveen through the Decorateur L. Alavoine circa 1932-34. Ormolu mounted giltwood. Christies.

Here are 8 ways to use the Athénienne:

1. an ornament and focal point in the middle of a room 
2. a table under a pier mirror , or in a corner, or as a pedestal to support a candelabrum or a piece of sculpture 
3. a perfume burner 
4. a heater for making coffee, tea, or chocolate 
5. a goldfish bowl 
6. a planter to grow bulbs in winter 
7. a bowl for cut flowers 
8. a device for keeping bouillon or other drinks warm. 

"no form of gambling frauds are more numerous than those with cards. A thousand combinations are possible with them. Endless tricks can be played by the adroit and unscrupulous dealer of cards. Some are traditional, almost as old as the hills. Cards have been 'forced' with marvellous, incomprehensible skill: packs have been prepared and substituted with uncommon dexterity."

May your weekend adventures have happier endings, and your gambling habit be honest!

Marie Antoinette set many fashion standards, as we all know so well, with the help of Rose Bertin.  The woman became a household name, her shop, Le Grand Mogol in Paris, infamous.  The façade was done up in marble and inside featured portraits of the royal queens of Europe and beyond (if they were clients of Mdm Bertin!) If you weren't convinced her shop was the place to be, the new gowns on display would have done the trick!

Two rooms of her shop held her designs, and customers could browse and choose what they liked.  She owned the upstairs of the shop, as well, where her employees worked.  She employed thrirty seamstresses who worked adding the flowers, ruffles, ribbons, lace and trim to all the custom orders that were received.

This dressmaker, if you will, was well known to dabble in haberdashery, and her hats were truly a big seller.  She designed hats for all occasions and had them displayed at her shop.  If you were in the market for a hat, you could visit her store and be shown up to thirty unique hats at once!

One reason the hats were so in demand was their affordable price.  Although they were still pricey, in comparison with a Bertin gown, it was quite manageable.  Fashionable women with smaller annual incomes would do just as well to have three Rose Bertin hats than one gown.

Her hats also became popular gifts for men to buy for ladies.  There was no sizing or worries about color.  At Mdm Bertin's shop, gentlemen could only be sold items that were at the height of fashion, so ladies could rest assured the gift would be perfect every time.