Situated in the city of Rueil-Malmaison, about 15 kilometers west of Paris’ city center, the picturesque Chateau de Malmaison was once home to one of France’s most famous couples: Josephine de Beauharnais and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Although the historic estate changed hands over the years, it is now a national museum dedicated to the memory of the emperor and his wife, and to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death, Japanese artist Setsuko Klossowska de Rola, who goes by just her first name, was asked to create a collection of tableware inspired by the couple. Her exhibition, “Regardes de Setsuko” (“Through the Eyes of Setsuko"), ran from Oct. 26 until Nov. 15.
Five years before Napoleon became the emperor of France in 1804, de Beauharnais purchased the chateau and put great effort into transforming the rundown manor and surrounding 150 acres of meadows and trees into what she later described in a letter as “the most beautiful and curious garden in Europe, a model of good cultivation.”