Wall Panelling (boiseries), c. 1739

[1] The history of the decoration of the Château de La Norville was discovered and thoroughly described by Bruno Pons, Grands décors français, 1650-1800: reconstitués en Angleterre, aux Etats-Unis, en Amérique du Sud et en France, Dijon, 1995: 221-426. The author first notified the NGA of his findings in 1993. See also Abbé A.E. Genty, Histoire de la Norville et de sa seigneurie, Paris, 1885: 112-129.

[2] Mrs. Rice was born Eleanor Elkins in Philadelphia; her first husband was George Dunton Widener, who perished with their elder son, Harry, in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. She married Dr. Alexander Hamilton Rice in 1915; her two other children with Widener inherited the New York residence after Dr. Rice's death.

Records of the Carlhian firm are in the Special Collections of the Research Library at The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, accession number 930092. Copies of documents referring to the wall panelling are in NGA curatorial files; see in particular the letter of 6 July 1923 from André Carlhian to Mrs. Rice, in which he tells her that "the Pineau boiserie which you bought from Fauché comes from the Chateau de la Norville, near Arpajon - about 20 miles from Paris." Duveen Brothers, Inc., dealers with branches in London, New York, and Paris, were also involved with the building and furnishing of the Rice mansion.