Experts Who Forged 18th-Century French Royal Furniture
Aged Materials to Imitate Antiques After Processing
Even the Palace of Versailles Was Deceived... Criminal Profits Reach 3.9 Billion KRW
The trial of a renowned furniture expert who forged 18th-century French royal furniture to deceive places such as the Palace of Versailles has begun. On the 25th (local time), Yonhap News quoted the French daily Le Monde, reporting, "The trial of 18th-century furniture expert Georges Pallot and carpenter Bruno Denou, who were indicted on charges including fraud, was held today at the Pontoise court."
This trial is drawing more attention as all the accused are prominent figures in the industry. Pallot, from a family of antique dealers, is an 18th-century French chair expert and has been called the "father of chairs" in the industry. Denou was also recognized as the top craftsman in decorative carving in 1984 and is known to have operated the most famous furniture restoration workshop in the Paris furniture craft district.
The two are accused of producing counterfeit chairs that decorated the salons of Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France, and Madame du Barry, the mistress of Louis XV, from 2007 to 2008, and selling them at high prices. They purchased furniture frames or processed materials themselves, then added marks or scratches to make them appear old, disguising them as antiques.
They then hired gilders or retired interior decorators to complete the finishing touches, attached labels taken from genuine pieces or fake signatures to make them look authentic, and Pallot proposed sales to famous galleries through intermediaries.
True to their craftsmanship, the forgeries were so sophisticated that auction houses, galleries, the Palace of Versailles, and even a Qatari prince were deceived. In 2009, the Palace of Versailles purchased a pair of fake chairs of Madame du Barry through the high-end antique gallery Krammer for 840,000 euros (approximately 1 billion KRW). In 2011, they also bought a counterfeit chair said to have been in Queen Antoinette’s room at a Sotheby’s auction for 420,000 euros (approximately 500 million KRW).
The brother of the Qatari king reportedly paid a staggering 2 million euros (approximately 2.6 billion KRW) for a pair of chairs believed to have been in Queen Antoinette’s Belvedere Pavilion. These chairs were designated as national treasures but were eventually revealed to be forgeries, and a full refund was received through Krammer.
The criminal proceeds they amassed in this manner are estimated to exceed 3 million euros (approximately 3.9 billion KRW). During the investigation, Pallot claimed, "When Denou was restoring a genuine pair of Madame du Barry’s chairs, the idea came up jokingly to make an identical pair and see if it would pass as authentic."
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