NEWS RELEASE: Peoria Riverfront Museum Acquires Louis XV Plate, Most Important Decorative Art Piece for Collection Since Opening

PEORIA, Ill., May 9, 2024 – The Peoria Riverfront Museum recently acquired a Louis XV plate considered the most important decorative art piece for its collection since the museum opened. The soft-paste Sèvres porcelain plate is from the service given by King Louis XV of France to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in 1758, which was considered the most expensive diplomatic gift of the 18th century. The historical significance of the plate is key to Peoria’s own history at the time, a robust French connection and story of the area’s founding that the museum is working on telling.

A press conference on May 9 at 11 a.m. will cover the acquisition of the plate and the museum’s French history initiative.

“Regarding the unique history of early French inhabitance in our region beginning in 1673, this extraordinary acquisition builds upon Peoria’s remarkable relationship with French history, arts and culture. This rare object will be a powerful storytelling tool that will deepen the understanding of our complex history,” said Bill Conger, chief curator of the Peoria Riverfront Museum.

“This beautiful plate is the most important decorative art acquisition since we opened the Peoria Riverfront Museum, a relic of the King of France Louis XV,” said John Morris, president and CEO of the Peoria Riverfront Museum. “Objects tell stories and stories inspire people. As we approach America’s 250th birthday, our Midwestern French connection is worthy of celebration. It reminds us of the French explorers and missionaries who settled the Peoria region before the American Revolution and the later French alliance that made our nation's independence possible.”

The King Louis XV plate, a gift from museum board member and collections committee chair Gretchen Hagen Petrakis to the museum’s permanent collection, is the most important decorative art piece highlighting the region’s French connection. It will be displayed in the museum galleries.

Several items related to French history already within the Peoria Riverfront Museum’s permanent collection were made as a donation by Madame Annette Clemenceau, the one-time daughter-in-law of George Clemenceau, the Prime Minister of France, who signed the last Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. Madame Clemenceau lived in Peoria from the mid-1950s until she died in 1966. Her entire estate was bequeathed to eight institutions in the area, including Lakeview Museum, which was given most of her decorative arts collection. Two of these items are a Louis XV-style armchair (fauteuil à la reine) circa the 20th century and a Louis XV-style ambulante table, circa 1760.

Earlier this month, museum officials met with Laurent Bili, Ambassador of France to the United States, during a French Heritage Corridor conference organized by the Consulate General of France in Chicago and held at the Chicago History Museum. The conference brought together constituents from the seven states that comprise the French Heritage Corridor: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin.

Peoria has a rich history of French influence, from the first French explorers, Father Marquette and Louis Joliet, who traversed here in 1673, to the first fort, Fort Crèvecœur, built on the east bank of the Illinois River by French explorers in 1680. The Peoria Riverfront Museum, uniquely located in the heart of North American Colonial France, is dedicated to telling the region’s story.