Friday, September 13, 2013

Roi of Light: Chanel and Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil

Recently, in the renovation of the Ritz in Paris, a previously undiscovered Charles Le Brun painting was discovered hanging in plain sight in Coco Chanel's suite and was sold at Christies by the owner of the Ritz, Mohamed Al Fayed, to benefit the Dodi Al Fayed foundation.  Charles Le Brun was the masterful decorator of Versailles who brought the magnificent vision of Louis XIV to a mirrored, gilded, parqueted, dressed to impress reality.  Louis humbly chose the sun as his emblem and became known as Le Roi Soleil.  And his emblem appears throughout Versailles such as on this door knob...


In the mid 1980s Karl Lagerfeld began amassing a collection of 18th century furnishings to live la vie Louis XIV.  It is from this period in Lagerfeld's life when he was successor to Coco Chanel and buying armoires by Jean-Henri Reisner, one of the master furniture makers under Louis XIV, and lighting his dining room solely by candlelight, that he did these super fabulous Le Roi Soleil earrings.


I love that KL put the gilded Sun God on a large resin disk.  Magnifique don't you think?!  And truly, who has visited Versailles does not dream of living la vie Louis XIV??

Circa 1990 Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Le Roi Soleil gilt and resin earrings.  Signed.
To purchase please email info@rarevintage or phone 212.581.7273

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