Bill for lights, 1869 (ref. JB/3/3/17)
The annual bundles of bills, from the 1850s to the 1880s, contain thousands of documents that give an amazing insight into living in Paris at the time. The bills cover utilities, food and drink, servants’ wages, clothing, purchases of household goods and equipment, entertainment and recreation. This bill - for lighting in their town house in Paris at 7 rue de Berlin – is one of many that has a lovely illustrated billhead.
Bill for Monbro fils aîné, 1854 (ref. JB/4/6)
Monbro fils aîné was a famous interior decorating firm in Paris, used extensively by John and Joséphine for decorating the Château du Barry at Louveciennes and their Paris town house. Most of the supervision work for these projects was entrusted to the father and son architects Auguste and Jules Pellechet. They scrutinised the bills and then, using red ink, made amendments and marked them for payment. The Château at Louveciennes was John’s wedding present to Joséphine in 1852. It was sold in 1860 and the money was used for building the Museum.
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