A gold thread Embroidery of Royal French interest

A gold thread Embroidery of Royal French interest, of rectangular form with a central roundel of entwined initials beneath a crown and pendant foliage, all above a beribboned floral garland, worked in gold thread, seed pearls and glass beads, bearing numerous labels including one stating, ‘Worked by the ladies-in-waiting of Mme Louise, born in 1737 and daughter of Louis XV, who took it to the Carmel of St. Denis in 1769. When the Convent was disbanded during the French Revolution, one of the nuns, Sister Mary Charlotte, bright it to England.’

Footnote: Louise-Marie of France (15 July 1737 – 23 December 1787) was a French princess and Carmelite, the youngest of the ten children of Louis XV. She entered the Carmelite convent (now the Musée d’art et d’histoire de Saint-Denis) at Saint-Denis in 1770 under the name of Thérèse of Saint Augustine, and served as prioress in 1773-1779 and 1785-1787. She was declared venerable in 1873.

Provenance: sold to Mr Baer of Glazenwood, Bradwell, Braintree, Essex, by J.J. Patrickson & Son Ltd, Fulham Road, Chelsea. Glazenwood was formerly an impressive stately mansion with gardens in the formal french style. Between 1808 and 1845 these were re-planted with exotic American plants by Samuel Curtis (1779-1860) an English botanist and publisher who specialised in Spermatophytes.