Baron Ferdinand Rothschild (1839-98) -a member of the famous Rothschild banking dynasty -was responsible for creating Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, which is now home to the most important group of Hamilton Palace items still in Great Britain.

Following his father’s death in 1874, Ferdinand was able to buy Lodge Hill, with its panoramic views over the Vale of Aylesbury and the Chilterns, and erect a huge French Renaissance-style château, designed by the French architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur (1822-93). The 1882 Hamilton Palace sale came at just the right time for Ferdinand and his sister Alice, who inherited Waddesdon. Using the dealer Samuel Wertheimer, they were able to purchase three outstanding pieces of marquetry furniture by the great French royal ébéniste Jean-Henri Riesener. Ferdinand acquired the exquisite writing table made for Queen Marie-Antoinette, for the then very high sum of £6,000, and the secretaire from the private study of Louis XVI in the Petit Trianon, for £1,575; while Alice secured the commode or chest of drawers from the bedroom at Versailles of the Comtesse de Provence (the wife of the future Louis XVIII) for £2,310.