Lot 183 Dα

Numerous offices at the French court were associated with the honour of carrying a staff. Each staff was specially made for the bearer, for the marshals and dukes, the captains of the four companies of the royal guards, and the chamberlains. There were a total of twelve Masters of Ceremonies/Chamberlains and a Grand Maître, who was traditionally the head of the House of Condé. The staffs were designed differently depending on the office. There were plain staffs with black velvet and ivory pommels, but also one with diamonds for the supreme chamberlain.
The ceremonial staff of the maître d'hôtel was of particular importance at the great official meal at the French court in Versailles. The "Grand Couvert" was considered a daily symbol of royal power since the Middle Ages. The supper usually took place at 10 p.m. in the antechamber of the king or queen. Etiquette dictated that the king invite the queen, her children and grandchildren to dinner. The table was set by ladies-in-waiting, and the chair was provided for the king. The maître d'hôtel was responsible for seating the princes and princesses who were allowed to dine with the king. He had to ask the captain of the guard to notify the king. The latter then posted seven of his soldiers with shouldered carabines on each side of the royal table.
At the end of the Ancien Régime, the Grand Couvert was no longer held daily, but only on holidays and Sundays. It is extraordinary that a staff is preserved, because usually it was broken when its holder left office. Only two other French maître d'hôtel staffs from before the Revolution are known to exist, both with vermeil mountings: one was made between 1722 and 1727, meaning it belonged to an officer who came into charge at the beginning of Louis XV's reign. The second staff was donated a few years ago to the Société des Amis de Versailles and came from the property of the Comte de Royère. It bears the coat-of-arms of Jacques-Antoine Justinien de Robec, Baron de Palières, advisor to King Louis XIV. From 1663, he held the post of maître d'hôtel on behalf of Queen Marie-Thérèse until her death in 1683.
The staff presented here, the third surviving example from the Ancien Régime period, belonged, according to tradition, to André-Pierre Haudry de Soucy (1736 - 1817). His father André Haudry de Soucy (1688 - 1766) was a farmer, but also a councillor and secretary to King Louis XV. After his father's death in 1766, his son inherited numerous properties, including houses in Paris and vast estates south west of the capital, including the family estate of Soucy. He assumed the position of maître d'hôtel to King Louis XVI. Apparently he lived beyond his means, for it is recorded that he went bankrupt in 1781.