Lot n° 35
Estimation :
30000 - 40000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 67 600EUR
MAGNIFICENT NATIONAL AWARD SABER BY BOUTET - Lot 35
MAGNIFICENT NATIONAL AWARD SABER BY BOUTET
ATTRIBUTED TO ADMIRAL COMTE GANTEAUME HONORE-JOSEPH-ANTOINE.
Handle covered in chagrin with double filigree.
Short-skirted, hallmarked vermeil mount depicting a warrior in the antique style.
Hilt with one hollowed-out branch, chased with acanthus foliage, with two auricles, decorated on each side with the portrait of Neptune crowned on a radiant background, quillon curved towards the tip, carved with foliage, spider webs ending in a lion's head. Curved Klingenthal blade, flat-backed, with strong, wide counter-edge and hollow sides, finely engraved on one side with a laurel wreath holding a banner marked "Récompense", then trophies of arms under foliage.
On the other side, the same laurel wreath holding a banner marked "Nationale". Black chagrin-covered wooden scabbard with metal stitching and three vermeil fittings. Mantle engraved "Manuf à Versailles Entrep Boutet", (slightly worn), then a decorated ring bracelet, chased with a Roman-style trophy, Hercules club and glaive keyboard; the second ring bracelet decorated with a sphinx framed by two keyboards, one with a rooster; the other with a star.
Long, cut-out bouterolle, beautifully chased with flowers, oak leaves, rosettes, laurel leaves and rushes. Iron sting.
B.E. First Empire period.
Rooster hallmark 1 (1798-1809), goldsmith's hallmark, guarantee hallmark.
(slight traces of pitting on the blade, a ring piton and cap button replaced in the pattern, later chagrin).
N.B.: Rare. Under the First Empire, there were only three admirals in the navy.
This saber was loaned to Aries and reproduced in the 26th fascicule of 1978.
Provenance:
-Succession Ganteaume, sold in Lyon, expert M. Johnson, May 12, 1969.
-Acquired by Dr. Hutin as part of a collection.
-Sale by Dr. Hutin, March 26, 2000.
-L'Espadon Collection.
Biography:
Comte de, born in La Ciotat. At the age of fourteen, he embarked on a merchant ship commanded by his father; by the age of twenty-two, he had already completed seven campaigns: five in the Levant, two in the West Indies. When war broke out in 1778, he joined the Royal Navy, distinguished himself in several battles under the command of Count d'Estaing, and accompanied the Bailli de Suffren to the Indies as a frigate lieutenant. Taken prisoner by the English in 1793, he escaped from their hands, and in the same year was appointed lieutenant on the Jupiter, a vessel of 74. Captain the following year, he distinguished himself in three battles during the Irish campaign, and received several wounds. In 1795, he was put in charge of the Mediterranean cruise. Took part in the battle with the English army off Fréjus.
At the head of five ships, succeeded in rescuing Admiral Villeneuve's squadron, blocked by the English in the port of Smyrna. The following year, he saved Brest by bringing in supplies and ammunition. In 1798, in the naval battle of Aboukir, saved by a miracle from the explosion of the Orient, he was put in charge, with the rank of rear-admiral, of the naval forces on the Nile and on the coasts of Egypt. In 1799, Admiral Ganteaume brought Bonaparte back to France. After 18 Brumaire, joined the Conseil d'État as chairman of the naval committee. Soon afterwards, he was back at sea, contributing to the capture of Elba, and bringing back to the port of Brest, with other ships, an English vessel of 74.
The following year, he led the expedition to Santo Domingo with as much success as determination.
Maritime Prefect of Toulon in 1804, he was unable to go to war when hostilities resumed, due to ill health. Appointed Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor on Prairial 25, Year XIII, and Grand Eagle on February 2, 1805. In January 1808, at the head of the combined Rochefort and Toulon squadrons,
went to supply Corfu, blocked by an English squadron.
On April 18, Napoleon wrote to Minister Decrès: "I have received Ganteaume's report, please express my satisfaction with him, and let him know that I have appointed him Inspector General of the Navy. The result of his expedition is that Corfu now has a garrison of 10,000 men, thirty thousand rounds of powder, 12 million cartridges and two years' worth of food. Without this well-executed expedition, Corfu could not hold out.
Today, this island is impregnable".
In 1814, after the fall of Napoleon, Admiral de Ganteaume joined the provisional government. He was created chevalier de Saint-Louis on June 3. During the Hundred Days, he remained faithful to his last oath, and stayed in his homeland of Aubagne, near Marseille. He left to protect Toulon from foreign invasion. He was named Peer of France in 1815, and Commander of Saint-Louis in 1816. He died in 1818.
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