The game table

This mahogany secretary could also be used as a game table: tric-trac, which was very popular at Court because of its complex rules requiring a fine strategy. The game board, made of ebony inlaid with ivory, may look familiar: tric-trac is often considered to be the ancestor of modern Backgammon.

The Bible lost and found

Sometimes things happen by chance... The son of the baker in Hautefort lives in Paris. An antiques enthusiast, he browses the fairs when, one day, his eyes are drawn to a coat of arms that he knows well. They were those of Hautefort! He had just found the 14 volumes of a Bible in French and Latin, which had disappeared from the château since the Revolution. This is how, 200 years later, these volumes were able to return to their original place, and in perfect condition. You can see them in the large library to your right.

Henri Pussort by painter Robert Nanteuil.

An uncle of Colbert, Henri Pussort was one of the most feared figures in the reign of Louis XIV. He contributed to the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet, the builder of Vaux-le-Vicomte, who was succeeded by... Jean-Baptiste Colbert. A member of the Conseil d'État, he became the Dean of the Conseil d'État and sat on the kingdom's finance council. Boileau described him as follows: "his claws, vainly shortened by himself, are already getting longer, still in blackened ink..... Admire the superb painting of the collar by the painter Nanteuil, a great portraitist of the century of Louis XIV.