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63 - 18th century FRENCH SCHOOL Portrait of Charlotte Mahé de La …
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Estimate €300 - €500
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18th century FRENCH SCHOOL Portrait of Charlotte Mahé de La Bourdonnais née Combault d'Auteuil Round miniature. Silver, vermeil and metal frame. Total gross weight: 93.5 g - Diameter of the miniature: 6.8 cm - Total diameter with frame: 9.9 cm Wife of Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais (11 February 1699 in Saint-Malo - 10 November 1753 in Paris) was a French admiral and administrator, in the service of the French East India Company, frigate captain, governor of the islands of France and Bourbon, governor-general of the Mascareignes (1735-1740 and 1740-1746), prisoner of the Bastille. Born in Saint-Malo, he took to the seas at an early age. In 1718, he entered the service of the French East India Company as a lieutenant. In 1724, he was appointed captain. In 1725, at the head of a squadron armed with makeshift equipment, Captain Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais liberated the trading post of Mahé, on the Malabar coast, which had been occupied by the Marathas. The original name of the region is Mayyali, which means "the mouth of the black river". (The history of Mahé began when André Mollandin, the representative of the French East India Company, set foot on the island in 1721. On 2 April 1721, Mollandin and the râja Vazhunnavar of Badagara (transcribed as Bayanor de Bargaret in French documents) concluded an agreement allowing the French to establish a trading post, in fact a warehouse, at the mouth of the river. A fort was built in 1724. In 1725, the British persuaded Vazhunnavar to expel the French from Mayyali. Relations between Vazhunnavar and the French became strained and a conflict broke out. The French withdrew to Calicut, but recaptured the trading post in December. After Indian independence, like the other trading posts, Mahé remained under French jurisdiction before finally joining the Indian Union.) He then served for two years under the Viceroy of Portugal in Goa. In 1735, however, he returned to French service as Governor of Ile de France (Mauritius) and Ile Bourbon (Reunion Island). His first five years were marked by many successes: he contributed greatly to both their military and economic development (cultivation of manioc and sugar cane). In Bourbon, he developed the port of Saint-Denis and created the town of Saint-Louis. But in 1740, while visiting France, he was forced to leave for India to face the British Navy. He saved Mahé again, freed General Dupleix, who had locked himself in Pondicherry in 1746, and recaptured Madras in September 1747, after a siege that was virtually without a shot. After liberating Mahé, he came to the aid of Joseph François Dupleix, who was trapped in Pondicherry. La Bourdonnais, having failed to receive the expected reinforcements from France, set sail with a Compagnie flotilla and, with meagre resources, defeated Lord Peyton's fleet at Negapatam. Arriving at Pondicherry, he found himself at odds with Dupleix. He then laid siege to Madras, which capitulated on 24 September 1746. This daring move earned him the enmity of Joseph François Dupleix and led to La Bourdonnais being sent to the Bastille for speculation and maladministration. Arrested in 1748, he was not tried until 1751 and acquitted. But his health had declined considerably as a result of his imprisonment and the sadness of losing his property. For the rest of his life, he continued to make false accusations aimed at discrediting Dupleix. He died on 10 November 1753 in Paris. On his death, the king granted his widow a pension of 2400 livres. Autobiography B.-F. Mahé de La Bourdonnais: Mémoires historiques de B.-F. Mahé de La Bourdonnais, gouverneur des îles de France et de la Réunion, recueillis et publiés par son petit-fils... (Cte A.-C. Mahé de La Bourdonnais). Paris, 1890 (2nd edition Paris,1898)
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Auction time 06/05/2026 at 2:00 PM
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