Already, a defendant twirling around in a three-piece suit in one of the correctional chambers of the court in Pontoise (north of Paris) is, how to put it? Unusual. As are having the names Guerrand-Hermès and Château de Versailles included in the list of plaintiffs. Rare, too, to hear Marie Antoinette, the Duchesse du Barry, Louis XVI, the Rothschild families, Guerlain and a Qatari prince discussed on the stand. But above all, it was rare to see such amused curiosity on the judges' faces. This curiosity remained with them throughout the two days of hearings devoted, on Wednesday, March 26, and Thursday, March 27, to the sale of fake 18th-century chairs, which fooled reputed experts, prestigious dealers, wealthy customers and a national institution.
In the dock, there were two of them together, plus another one. On the one hand, Bruno Desnoues, 69, an expert cabinetmaker, and Bill Pallot, 61, an undisputed specialist in 18th-century French chairs and author of the reference book on the subject. On the other, gallery owner Laurent Kraemer, 68, head of the family business of the same name, as blatantly unhappy as he was indignant at having been placed in the same hot seat.
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