Together with floor plans, Pierre de Rigaud's description of furnishings used in the space can help to determine where exactly pieces were placed in the room. For example, the "6 rideaux de Damas pour les 3. croisées" ("6 curtains for the three windows") likely refer to double curtains for the three windows facing the river. As visitors entered through the court or land side, they would have immediately been struck by the uniformity and luxury presented by the ordered appearance of the three windows and their damask curtains. The placement of furniture within rooms was also subject to a specific order and decorative principle, as seen in Rigaud's inventory of property stolen from the château in 1759.
The coin (from armoire d'encoignure, usually shortened to encoignure) first appeared in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. As its name suggests, this type of furniture was placed in the corner of a room like a corner cupboard or cabinet. Like the curtains adorning the three windows, a pair of encoignures such as that found in the château Saint-Louis would have helped to balance the salle de compagnie, perhaps on either side of the wall facing the river.
The work of an ébéniste, or cabinetmaker, it is possible that Rigaud purchased them in Paris; no such craftsmen are known to have operated in French colonial Canada. Unlike the menuisiers, or carvers responsible for making chairs and tables, ébénistes created case furniture. French ébénistes of the Ancien régime achieved renown for furniture embellished with intricate and costly veneers. Such veneers could be parquetry (repeating geometric shapes ) or marquetry (decorative forms including figures, floral designs, and others). Unfortunately, no detail is given regarding the actual designs or makers of the château's coins.
Rigaud's encoignures were also enhanced by the presence of ormolu, or gilt brass, mounts. The amount and type of mounts used on any piece of furniture were naturally based on the client's taste and preference. Surviving examples feature ormolu sabots (feet), entrées de serrure (keyholes and escutcheons), chutes (stems), descentes (descents), and decorative mounts for corners and aprons. Depending on personal taste and budget, encoignures could be rather heavily ornamented, as seen in a circa 1750 example ordered by the marquise de Pompadour for her château at Bellevue. This piece is actually rather understated compared to the king's apartments at Versailles. In contrast, a 1756 example for the dauphine Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, used at the château de Compiègne, features simple mounts at the feet and for the keyhole.
Historian Mimi Hellman has written about the "aesthetics of the glint" in eighteenth-century French interiors. Whatever the appearance or style of Rigaud's encoignures, it is clear that they would have helped to set a tone of formality and style in the salle de compagnie of the château Saint-Louis. With their polished marble tops, sleek marquetry, and glittering ormolu mounts, perhaps they held one of the several candlesticks mentioned in the inventory. Their flickering light would have been reflected in pier glasses and illuminated the green damask wall coverings.