This damask towel measuring 3ft 5in x 2ft 5in (1m x 75cm) and decorated with wreaths of fleur de lys and a central bouquet of roses will feature in Osenat’s La Royauté à Versailles auction, to be held in Versailles on April 5.

Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | ATG Reporter

The towel comes with a note written in ink translating as: “this was a towel used by Marie Antoinette during the coronation, and which was kept by Mgneur de Coussy who used it during his emigration and from whom we got it.”

Jean-Charles de Coucy (1746-1824) was Chaplain to the Queen Marie Antoinette in 1776 and then became canon of Rheims. He was appointed Bishop of La Rochelle in 1789 but his monarchist sympathies forced him into exile in 1791.

The towel has remained within de Coucy’s family, says the auction house, as when it was consigned by his descendants to auction at M Marc Ferri in 1979, it was purchased by another branch of the family.

It has an estimate of €2000-3000.