Marie-Antoinette was an avid follower of fashion. The “Turkish” style was popular for smaller private spaces. It was a fantasy view of the Orient with symbols of the Ottoman empire—turbaned people, strings of pearls, camels, crescent moons and so on. Madame de Pompadour had, as usual, led the way. The private residence she built in Bellevue in 1750 featured a Turkish bedroom, complete with paintings of Madame de Pompadour dressed as a Sultana.
In 1776 Louis XVI’s younger brother had a “cabinet de Turque” in his new apartment at Versailles. The following year, when Marie-Antoinette was on a visit to the Chateau of Fontainebleau she decided she wanted to have her own Turkish boudoir above the official Queen’s bed chamber. Work was completed in a very short time.
Marie-Antoinette could access her boudoir directly via a spiral staircase in the room next to her bedroom. The same mechanical engineer who had installed the sliding mirrors in her boudoir at the Petit Trianon installed a sliding mirror which was even more sophisticated. The mirror, which could slide across to cover the window overlooking the garden, was operated by the push of a button. To minimise the noise he covered the pulleys etc with woollen fabric.
A two way mirror separated the boudoir from the “cabinet de toilette”.
To add to the atmosphere, sculptured incense burners were attached to the wall (circled right), allowing the 20 square meter room to be filled with beautiful floral fragrances.
