Joseph Bonnier was a French aristocrat

Aristocracy (class)

The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...

, whose fortune allowed him to have an army career, notably as colonel of the régiment des Dragons-Dauphin and maréchal des logis de la Maison royale. On his father's death he left Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 to take over his job as treasurer of Languedoc

Languedoc

Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...

. Made baron

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...

 of la Mosson, he built a folly

Folly

In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...

, the château de la Mosson

Montpellier follies

Surrounding the French city of Montpellier are a number of chateaux, old country mansions or follies, built by wealthy merchants, from the 18th century onwards. Some of them had and still have their own wines. Jean Giral was amongst the architects hired by the merchants.The follies are the visible...

near Montpellier. A great lover of the arts and sciences, he became famous for the collection he built up in his Parisian hôtel. On his death his fortune was squandered and the château sacked.