The Art of Giving: Diplomacy at the Bourbon Court

Dr Helen Jacobsen, Executive Director of the Attingham Trust

Diplomatic gifts have always played a central role in international relations, despite – or perhaps because of - the ambiguity between gift and bribe. Hand-in-hand with France’s rise as a centre of fashion and supremacy in the decorative arts came an added reliance on luxury goods such as tapestries, carpets, gold boxes and porcelain as part of the diplomatic language. It was, however, a very structured language and many misunderstandings have arisen since - after all, who doesn’t love a good royal provenance? This talk will look at some of the beautiful works that were gifted and the context in which they were presented, hoping to shine a light into the highly prescribed world of diplomatic etiquette.