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Lot Essay
The coat-of-arms to the left are those of the French noble family De la Baume Pluvinel, going back to Antoine de Pluvinel (1552-1620), King Louis XIII's master of equitation.
Mellerio dits Meller
The story of the renowned house of Mellerio begins with a royal privilege: in 1613, a young chimney cleaner discovered a plot against King Louis XIII. When Marie de Médicis was warned of the conspiracy she rewarded Jean-Marie Mellerio and the Lombard community of Paris by granting them the privilege of "peddling cut crystal, hardware and other small goods" throughout the Kingdom.
The Mellerio family, originally from Italy, had arrived in France a century earlier and Gallicized their name, changing it to Meller, their jewellery business later known as "Mellerio dits Meller". The privilege granted in 1613, renewed successively by Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI, marked the beginning of the Mellerio family's success. The accounting ledgers, kept since 1780, reveal that the clientele was a glittering assembly of aristocrats, high society families and courts of Europe.
Under the First Empire (1804-14) Mellerio became the accredited jewelery purveyor of Empress Josephine. The firm's distinguished customers included also the Princess Borghese (Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon's second sister), several of the imperial marshals of France, King Louis-Philippe, Queen Marie-Amélie, and many other members of the court and of the aristocracy.
In 1848, branches were opened in Baden-Baden, the elegant German spa town, and in Madrid. One of the family's clients in Madrid was Eugénie de Montijo, future Empress of the French. Under the Second Empire crowned heads and celebrities visiting Paris from all over the world found their way to the shop on the rue de la Paix.
Today, Mellerio dits Meller has branches in the world's most important cities, offering creations made by "the most French jeweler of all" - and the oldest too.
Mellerio dits Meller
The story of the renowned house of Mellerio begins with a royal privilege: in 1613, a young chimney cleaner discovered a plot against King Louis XIII. When Marie de Médicis was warned of the conspiracy she rewarded Jean-Marie Mellerio and the Lombard community of Paris by granting them the privilege of "peddling cut crystal, hardware and other small goods" throughout the Kingdom.
The Mellerio family, originally from Italy, had arrived in France a century earlier and Gallicized their name, changing it to Meller, their jewellery business later known as "Mellerio dits Meller". The privilege granted in 1613, renewed successively by Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI, marked the beginning of the Mellerio family's success. The accounting ledgers, kept since 1780, reveal that the clientele was a glittering assembly of aristocrats, high society families and courts of Europe.
Under the First Empire (1804-14) Mellerio became the accredited jewelery purveyor of Empress Josephine. The firm's distinguished customers included also the Princess Borghese (Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon's second sister), several of the imperial marshals of France, King Louis-Philippe, Queen Marie-Amélie, and many other members of the court and of the aristocracy.
In 1848, branches were opened in Baden-Baden, the elegant German spa town, and in Madrid. One of the family's clients in Madrid was Eugénie de Montijo, future Empress of the French. Under the Second Empire crowned heads and celebrities visiting Paris from all over the world found their way to the shop on the rue de la Paix.
Today, Mellerio dits Meller has branches in the world's most important cities, offering creations made by "the most French jeweler of all" - and the oldest too.