The Revolution auctioned Versailles's furniture in 17,000 lots, and a top expert was convicted in 2025 of forging royal chairs for the buy-back market

After the monarchy fell, the Convention ordered the royal contents of Versailles sold. The auction ran from 25 August 1793 to 11 August 1794 in about 17,000 lots, down to mirrors and baths. Agents of George III bought some of the finest pieces. Restoration began under the curator Pierre de Nolhac in 1892. From the 1950s, under Gérald van der Kemp, the museum set out to return the palace to its 1789 state, and buying back original furnishings became one of its costliest efforts. Bill Pallot was a leading expert on 18th-century French chairs. He had the woodcarver Bruno Desnoues make chairs said to come from the rooms of Marie Antoinette and Madame du Barry. A pair said to come from Marie Antoinette's Belvédère pavilion was classed a national treasure in December 2013 at Versailles's request. Versailles did not buy them because of the price. The Kraemer gallery sold them for about €2 million and refunded the buyer in 2015. Versailles did buy other pieces later reported to be fakes, including three chairs attributed to Delanois^†. Police detained Pallot and the dealer Laurent Kraemer on 7 June 2016, and the culture minister ordered a review of national purchasing. The Pontoise criminal court tried the case from 25 March to 4 April 2025. On 11 June 2025 it convicted Pallot and Desnoues. Pallot was fined €200,000, given a prison sentence, mostly suspended, and barred from working as an expert for five years^†.