BIENNAIS (1764-1843). - Lot 277

Lot n° 277
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Estimation :
12000 - 15000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 31 200EUR
BIENNAIS (1764-1843). - Lot 277
BIENNAIS (1764-1843). Beautiful silver-gilt sugar bowl bearing the arms of NAPOLEON I, KING OF ITALY In the form of a covered urn. Round lid decorated with a medallion of water flowers and florets, ebony handle, carved with gadroons. Body with two scrolled grips, decorated with flowers, ending in two medallions with two medallions featuring female masks. Upper belt decorated with a series of medallions: -on the front, the "Great Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Italy", - on either side, two female faces adorned with branches and laurel leaves, facing each other; -to the rear, a Gorgon's head, also featuring two women's faces faces adorned with garlands of fruit and bunches of grapes. facing each other. Surrounded by a beaded frieze and adorned with water leaves. The whole resting on a chased pedestal decorated en suite. Title mark cock 1. Paris 950, guarantee mark Paris (1798-1809) Goldsmith's hallmark of Martin Guillaume Biennais. Goldsmiths' association hallmark (1794-1797). Ht : 15 cm. T.B.E. First Empire period. Related piece: A coffee pot transformed into a chocolate pot with the arms of Napoleon King of Italy and similar is preserved in the Musée du Louvre, inv. OA 10270. Provenance: - Former Napoleonic Collection of the Palais Princier de Monaco, N°167, Osenat, Fontainebleau November 15, 2014 Martin-Guillaume BIENNAIS, son of a ploughman from Orne, became a servant then a turner in Argentan in 1785. In 1788, he opened a tablet-making business at 510 rue Saint-Honoré, near the Pavillon de Marsan in the Louvre. By 1791, the workshop which bore the strange name "Au Singe Violet", was thriving. Its time came in 1799, when the young general Bonaparte commissioned various objects for his campaigns. Biennais accepted the order, knowing that it that it would only be honored later. In 1804, Biennais was officially named "goldsmith to His Majesty the Emperor". Under the Empire, following the Emperor's example, all members of the imperial family entrusted their orders to Biennais. When, in May 1805, Napoleon took possession of the new kingdom of Italy, Biennais once again benefited from his largesse. However, only a very small number of coins still bear Napoleon's arms as King of Italy. Indeed, the majority having had been sent to Vienna when the Empire fell, the Austrian Emperor decided to have the to remove the imperial arms and replace them with his own. This service can still be seen today at the Hofburg. "Biennese coins bearing the arms of Napoleon King of Italy are extremely rare. We know of one tray and one coffee pot bearing this coat of arms; on the other hand, the service of the service of the Kingdom of Italy (now in Vienna) used to bear these arms, before they were of Francis I of Austria". Bibliography: L'orfèvre de Napoléon, Martin Guillaume Biennais (1764-1843), R.M.N., 2003. In her book, Anne Dion also mentions a tray (from the Albert Frère collection). Albert Frère, n°97, Collection Diane sale, Sotheby's Geneva, 16/11/2005) and a coffee pot illustrated in Connaissance des Arts, November 1966, p. 84.
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