RARE COUVERT COMPLET EN ARGENT AUX ARMES DE L’EMPEREUR... Lot 141

RARE COUVERT COMPLET EN ARGENT AUX ARMES DE L’EMPEREUR NAPOLÉON IER PAR BIENNAIS, COMPOSÉ D’UNE FOURCHETTE DE TABLE, UNE CUILLÈRE À SOUPE ET UN COUTEAU DE TABLE - Soup spoon coming from Saint Helena, model with nets-violin, out of silver (950 thousandths). L. 21 cm. Weight : 85,4 g. Engraved with the large arms of the Emperor Napoleon I and numbered " 619 " on the edge. Paris, 1798-1809. Title mark with the first rooster and guarantee mark with the head of an old man. Goldsmiths' hallmarks of BIENNAIS and Pierre Benoit LORILLON. - Table fork coming from Saint Helena, model with nets-violin, out of silver (950 thousandths). L.20,5 cm. Weight : 92,1 g. Engraved with the large arms of the Emperor Napoleon I and numbered " 508 " on the edge. Paris, 1798-1809. Title mark with the first rooster and guarantee mark with the head of an old man. Goldsmith's mark of Pierre Nicolas SOMME (for BIENNAIS). - Table knife coming from the looting of the Berline, model with nets, out of silver (950 thousandths) and steel blade. L. 24 cm. Gross weight : 76,3 g. Stamped with the large arms of the Emperor Napoleon I. Blade stamped with an "H" under a crown and marked Grangeret, cutler of the Emperor (since 1806). Paris, 1809-1819. Title mark with the second cock and guarantee mark with the head of Minerva. Goldsmith's hallmark of BIENNAIS. Austrian control mark, Saint Polten, 1810-1822. Exhibition Napoleon's sedan, the mystery of the spoils of Waterloo. Museum of the Legion of Honor, March 7 to July 8, 2012 (the knife only). History Martin Guillaume Biennais is considered one of the greatest French goldsmiths. During the Empire, he was the goldsmith of the imperial court and above all the official goldsmith of Emperor Napoleon I. In 1802, he obtained the exclusive right to supply the Emperor's table. Thus, he made a service in silver and a service in vermeil which were completed in 1810 and 1811. The cutlery of the large silver service model is of the greatest rarity, as it is known that all the silverware remaining in France was melted down in the 19th century, notably by Napoleon III. Thus, the remaining silverware can only come from St. Helena or from the looting of the sedan at Waterloo. Our exceptional complete silver set of the Emperor Napoleon I comes from both at the same time, the cutlery numbered 508 and 619 comes from St. Helena while the knife comes from the looting of the sedan, the evening of June 18, 1815. The Emperor was caught in the traffic jam caused by the rout and had to leave his sedan in a hurry, leaving his bicorn and many personal effects including his silverware. The Prussian troops led by Blücher looted the sedan and shared the booty. The knife has the particularity of being inscribed with the hallmark of Saint Polten in Austria (general control 1810-1822), since all the silverware taken from the sedan was re-stamped afterwards. Other rare pieces of cutlery from this model can be found in the Château de la Malmaison and the Château de Fontainebleau. Related works - A place setting from the looting of the Berline, sold at Kâ-Mondo, June 24, 2015, lot 147 (sold for €31,000). - A complete Emperor's cutlery, in a case, from Joseph Bonaparte, Osenat sale, November 20, 2016, lot 372 (auctioned €26,250). - A set of five table spoons, five table forks, three tea spoons and six table knives, sold at Christie's, Paris, December 19, 2007, lot 173 (sold for €162,000). - A spoon from the Emperor's service, in a case, with an autograph label signed by Joseph Bonaparte, brother of the Emperor " Tiré du nécessaire de l'Empereur : donné par moi, à mon neveu François Clary. 1839 ". Sale on April 24, 2011, Maître Bailleul (Bayeux).