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Lot Essay
LOUIS PHILIPPE I, KING OF THE FRENCH (R.1830-1848)
Louis Philippe was born in 1773 in the Palais-Royal, Paris, the son of Louis Philippe II, then duc de Chartres and later duc d’Orléans (1747-1793). His mother was Louise-Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre (1753-1821). He served with some distinction in the army during the early years of the Revolution. As the Reign of Terror took hold he fled France at the age of nineteen and spent the next twenty-one years travelling, first throughout Europe and then the Americas. Whilst in Nova Scotia he and his brother met the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria. The meeting led to an enduring friendship with the British royal family. From 1800 until 1815 he lived in exile in England.
Following the abdication of Napoleon in 1815 the duc returned to Paris. Although he was received at the court of King Louis XVIII he resented the way his family had been treated under the Ancien Régime. It was during these years that he inherited the fabled Penthièvre dinner-service by Thomas Germain, Antoine-Sébastien Durand and Edmé-Pierre Balzac. He commissioned Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot to engrave or apply his arms to the existing service. The duc also acquired pieces second-hand to supplement it.
After the abdication of King Charles X as a consequence of the July Revolution, Louis Philippe was proclaimed King of the French, having been regent for his young cousin, Henri, duc de Bordeaux, for just eleven days. In common with the style of the silver he purchased from Odiot his rule was known for its unpretentious simplicity. However, his support came from the bourgeoisie and conditions for the poor continued to decline, partly resulting in the 1848 revolution and Louis Philippe’s own abdication. Louis Philippe died in exile in 1850 at Claremont, Surrey, a house lent to him by Queen Victoria.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CLAUDE ODIOT
Maison Odiot can trace its origins back to 1690. It was under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot, the grandson of the founder, Jean-Baptiste Gaspard Odiot, that its enduring reputation for producing the finest works in the neo-classical Empire style was established. Jean-Baptiste Claude was born in 1763. He served his apprenticeship and became a master in 1785, later succeeding his father in the business. He steadily built the firm’s reputation, coming to particular notice following the Exposition de l’industrie held in Paris in 1802. Following the bankruptcy, in 1809, of Henri Auguste, the celebrated neoclassical silversmith to Emperor Napoleon, Odiot was able to purchase many of his models and designs.
Soon after Odiot received many commissions from the French court, including a service made for Napoleon’s mother, styled ‘Madame Mère’, much of which was exhibited London, Christie’s, The Glory of the Goldsmith, 1989, nos. 17 and 18. The Russian Imperial court’s taste for French silver, most famously realised in the services made for Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (r.1762-1796) in the 18th century, continued with other commissions from the Russian court. Amongst these important services was a massive service for Count Branicki, whose wife was the niece of Gregory Potemkin (see Christie’s, London, 12 June 2007, lots 120-122) and another for Count Demidoff.
Louis Philippe was born in 1773 in the Palais-Royal, Paris, the son of Louis Philippe II, then duc de Chartres and later duc d’Orléans (1747-1793). His mother was Louise-Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre (1753-1821). He served with some distinction in the army during the early years of the Revolution. As the Reign of Terror took hold he fled France at the age of nineteen and spent the next twenty-one years travelling, first throughout Europe and then the Americas. Whilst in Nova Scotia he and his brother met the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria. The meeting led to an enduring friendship with the British royal family. From 1800 until 1815 he lived in exile in England.
Following the abdication of Napoleon in 1815 the duc returned to Paris. Although he was received at the court of King Louis XVIII he resented the way his family had been treated under the Ancien Régime. It was during these years that he inherited the fabled Penthièvre dinner-service by Thomas Germain, Antoine-Sébastien Durand and Edmé-Pierre Balzac. He commissioned Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot to engrave or apply his arms to the existing service. The duc also acquired pieces second-hand to supplement it.
After the abdication of King Charles X as a consequence of the July Revolution, Louis Philippe was proclaimed King of the French, having been regent for his young cousin, Henri, duc de Bordeaux, for just eleven days. In common with the style of the silver he purchased from Odiot his rule was known for its unpretentious simplicity. However, his support came from the bourgeoisie and conditions for the poor continued to decline, partly resulting in the 1848 revolution and Louis Philippe’s own abdication. Louis Philippe died in exile in 1850 at Claremont, Surrey, a house lent to him by Queen Victoria.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CLAUDE ODIOT
Maison Odiot can trace its origins back to 1690. It was under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot, the grandson of the founder, Jean-Baptiste Gaspard Odiot, that its enduring reputation for producing the finest works in the neo-classical Empire style was established. Jean-Baptiste Claude was born in 1763. He served his apprenticeship and became a master in 1785, later succeeding his father in the business. He steadily built the firm’s reputation, coming to particular notice following the Exposition de l’industrie held in Paris in 1802. Following the bankruptcy, in 1809, of Henri Auguste, the celebrated neoclassical silversmith to Emperor Napoleon, Odiot was able to purchase many of his models and designs.
Soon after Odiot received many commissions from the French court, including a service made for Napoleon’s mother, styled ‘Madame Mère’, much of which was exhibited London, Christie’s, The Glory of the Goldsmith, 1989, nos. 17 and 18. The Russian Imperial court’s taste for French silver, most famously realised in the services made for Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (r.1762-1796) in the 18th century, continued with other commissions from the Russian court. Amongst these important services was a massive service for Count Branicki, whose wife was the niece of Gregory Potemkin (see Christie’s, London, 12 June 2007, lots 120-122) and another for Count Demidoff.