A guéridon

In the middle of the Cabinet Room stands a guéridon with a circular liftable top made of Sevres porcelain plaques on a shaft forked in a tripod. Its top is adorned with seven painted porcelain plaques which illustrate the adventures of Telemachus, the mythological son of Odysseus and Penelope. This piece of furniture is the work of two Parisian artists: Martin Carlin, a cabinet maker of German origin who specialised in luxurious furniture for the wealthiest clients, adorned with plaques from Sèvres porcelain and lacquered panels; and Charles-Nicolas Dodin, a porcelain painter and goldsmith, who worked for the manufactory in Sèvres in the years 1754-1803.
This luxurious piece of furniture was a gift from Count d’Artois, the brother of Louis XVI King of France, to Elżbieta Grabowska, the mistress and presumed morganatic wife of Stanisław August. At first (1780-1782), the table was in the White House Villa in the Royal Łazienki Complex. In about 1786 it was transported to the completed European Monarchs’ Portrait Room at the Royal Castle. After the fall of Poland and Warsaw’s occupation by the Russians in 1795 it was moved, together with the king’s other luxury belongings, to his private residence in Łazienki where it remained until it was taken by the Russians during WW1. It was reclaimed in 1922 and three years later it came back to the Castle. After September 1939 it was stored in the National Museum. In 1984 it was placed in the European Monarchs’ Portrait Room in the Castle again.