Recently, an antique expert and cabinet maker was found guilty of forging and selling imitations of nine historic 18th-century armchairs, claiming to belong to French royals such as Marie Antoinette.
The judgment in the case applies to nine chairs and armchairs, which were allegedly commissioned by relatives of Louis XV and Louis XVI. According to Antiques expert Georges “Bill” Pallot and cabinet maker Bruno Desnoues, the items were then sold to the Versailles Castle through galleries in Paris and Sotheby’s, and sold them to the Palace of Versailles, to private collectors including Prince Al Thani, and to the Hermès Family. Art newspaper.
The court also highlighted the shortcomings in the procedures of the National Museum of Versailles, which adopted the leading scholars of royal furniture.
Pallot is one of Paris’s most famous 18th-century furniture experts and a global authority on royal chairs. Despite his skills, Desnoues created the forgers as a furniture restorator for Versailles furniture. Palot also runs the furniture department at Didier Aaron Gallery, which has not been prosecuted in a nine-year investigation.
Pallot and Desnoues pleaded guilty to crime when they were arrested in 2016.
On June 11, Pallot was sentenced to four years in prison, including 44 months of probation; he was fined 200,000 euros and was banned from working as an expert for five years. Desnoues was sentenced to three years in prison, which included a 32-month probation and a fine of 100,000 euros.
Both Pallot and Desnoues have served for four months before pretrial detention, and their suspension means they will not return to prison.
It is reported Art newspaper.
Laurent Kraemer and his prestigious gallery of the same name were also seriously negligently deceived for selling two fake Marie Antoire chairs to €2 million for the Katari prince Hamad Al Thani. Prosecutors sought a fine of 700,000 euros for the gallery, but Kremer and his gallery were acquitted.
The court concluded that Kraemer, who was also a victim of Pallot and Desnoues, said in the gallery hand that he was convinced that the items were real and returned to members of the Katari royal family.
However, Kraemer is still charged in another case, “a series of allegedly fake Boolean pieces and other Louis XIV furniture.” Art newspaper.
