Manuscript DS in French, signed “payez, Marie Antoinette,” one page, 8.5 x 12.5, December 31, 1784. An order to Treasurer General, directing him: "From our house of Finance to pay to La Marquis Antoine Francois Marie Randon De La Tona we here wish to instruct you to draw up a decree to provide for the maintenance and food for several of our officers during the current year. You shall pay sir Francois Hanon De la Gamier one of the horseman of our stables the sum of 60 pounds that we had agreed to pay him for services rendered during the October, November, and December quarters of the current year, and having reported said payment to bring back to us a receipt for the said sufficient sum of sixty pounds to be passed down to be passed down and allocated to incurred expenses made by our choice to defray the financial embarrassment of the king are very honorable Lord and spouse in Paris being that instructed we pray this be done without difficulty given at Versailles, 31 December 1784." Boldly endorsed at the conclusion by Marie Antoinette and countersigned by her secretary Nicolas-Joseph Beaugeard; in 1793, Beaugeard was a conspirator in the failed plot to rescue King Louis XIV from execution. In fine condition, with scattered light foxing. Consignor notes that this originates from the collection of Theogene Chavaillon.
Marie Antoinette's expenditures to maintain her flamboyant lifestyle and lavish palace were enormous, and during this time she was growing increasingly unpopular among the French people. By 1785, her public image had been tarnished beyond repair with the 'Diamond Necklace Affair,' when she was implicated in a fraudulent scheme to purchase an expensive necklace. A wonderful example boasting the bold, crisp signature of the infamous queen.
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