For the Love of Gold

Madame de Pompadour had a weakness for gold - it is strange then that she was not a fan of jewellery! She had her own collection of "objets d'art" at her tome house in Paris, the Hôtel d'Evreux, that is a collection of gold tableware. This collection was accumulated between 1755-1757. When it was complete it consisted of spoons, an egg-cup, a coffee grinder, a dish warmer and a coffee pot - all in gold!
And of course it had to be of the best quality so the Marquise ordered her pieces from the best Parisian goldsmiths such as Durand. The collection was stored in a large wooden box. Today the only surviving item from this collection is the coffee grinder (look it up under "Artefacts") and the only reason as to why we know of these is from Madame de Pompadour's inventory list that was made after her death.