Madame Élisabeth's Fabric Samples

This is a perfect example of how a great lady at the French court would order a new gown - the book is filled with fabric samples. This one belonged to Madame Élisabeth the sister of Louis XVI. The book is labelled with the year 1792 - Madame Élisabeth was imprisoned in the Tuileries alongside the royal family. That is one of the reasons as to why the fabrics are so simple; had it been a book from Versailles the fabrics would have been far more elaborate. It is the last book of this kind that Madame Élisabeth would own before her execution. The book was used differently than the other of its kind: a lady would use small pins to mark out the fabrics of her choice but this one has no holes at all. This suggests that someone would have taken the order immediately and considering that she was imprisoned she would have been guarded all the time.