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Lot Essay
Another similar example, also by Biennais and engraved with the arms of Napoleon is in the collection of the Louvre (A-D. Tenenbaum, L'orfèvre de Napoléon, Paris, 2003, p. 29).
Martin-Guillaume Biennais (1764-1843) began his career as a cabinetmaker established by 1789 Biennais at 283, Rue Saint-Honoré, where is is recorded as a cabinetmaker and dealer in and maker of small objects. After 1797 he expanded his business to include the manufacture of silver, becoming the personal silversmith to Napoleon as early as 1798, when it is said that he supplied him with a nécessaire de voyage prior to his Egyptian campaign. Other items he produced for Napoleon include, in 1804, the crown and sceptre for his coronation and a nécessaires of different types, remarkable for the combination of forms of varying shapes and sizes that are ingeniously accommodated in a restricted space.
Martin-Guillaume Biennais (1764-1843) began his career as a cabinetmaker established by 1789 Biennais at 283, Rue Saint-Honoré, where is is recorded as a cabinetmaker and dealer in and maker of small objects. After 1797 he expanded his business to include the manufacture of silver, becoming the personal silversmith to Napoleon as early as 1798, when it is said that he supplied him with a nécessaire de voyage prior to his Egyptian campaign. Other items he produced for Napoleon include, in 1804, the crown and sceptre for his coronation and a nécessaires of different types, remarkable for the combination of forms of varying shapes and sizes that are ingeniously accommodated in a restricted space.