In a significant blow to the art world, Bill Pallot, a prominent French art expert specializing in 18th-century French furniture, is set to stand trial on charges of forgery. Pallot is accused of orchestrating an elaborate scam between 2008 and 2015, involving the creation and sale of furniture falsely attributed to the 18th century, fetching exorbitant prices from buyers, including the prestigious Palace of Versailles.
The allegations, considered one of the most substantial forgery scandals in recent art history, extend to Pallot’s collaborator Bruno Desnoues, a prominent woodcarver. The duo is accused of producing and selling chairs between 2007 and 2008, deceitfully presenting them as historic pieces once adorning the chambers of historical figures such as Madame du Barry and Marie Antoinette.
Known for his distinctive long hair and sartorial elegance, Pallot, 59, earned the moniker “Père la chaise,” a clever play on Paris’s Père-Lachaise cemetery and the phrase “father of the chair.”
The audacious scam remained undetected for years, only coming to light in 2016 when investigators uncovered anomalies in the transactions dating back to 2014. The scandal prompted the Ministry of Culture to conduct an audit of Versailles’ acquisitions policy.
This revelation follows other scandals that have recently rattled the upper echelons of France’s esteemed museums. Former Louvre museum director Jean-Luc Martinez faced charges last year related to an alleged conspiracy to conceal the origin of archaeological treasures suspected of being smuggled out of Egypt during the Arab Spring upheaval. Despite an appeal to dismiss the charges, France’s highest court, the Court de Cassation, rejected Martinez’s plea on Wednesday.
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By AFP
