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From Home Furnishing Business
France's National Treasures Land on eBay
August 13,
2014 by in Designer Weekly 
The décor of the ornate French presidential palace is a history-laden exercise in high style, furnished with artworks, furniture and other national treasures from the estate’s impressive holdings.
However, a few weeks ago the French government was embarrassed by a story that French taxpayer money went to repairing shredded armrests and a urine-soaked sofa sullied by former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s dogs. A few weeks ago, an annual budget report from France’s Court of Auditors revealed that 32 works of art and 625 pieces of furniture were missing from the Élysée Palace and other presidential residences.
In a new incident, first reported in the print version of French daily Le Figaro on Friday and online by others, objects from France’s legendary Sèvres porcelain factory, a historic royal entity now run by the state, have been discovered on eBay by the French interior ministry. According to Le Figaro, the objects are believed to have been taken a half-century ago by “a military attaché from the 1950s who had a habit of giving them away as gifts.”
In France, artworks are lent to the presidential residence (and presidential hunting lodge retreat La Lanterne in Versailles, as well as former official retreat turned national monument Fort de Brégançon on the French Riviera) by France’s museums.
Read Entire Story Source: Slate