Lot Essay
A design for a Pot à Oille signed by Auguste, now at the Muée Napoléon I, Fontainebleau, part of the service Grand Vermeil offered by the city of Paris to Napoléon on the occasion of his coronation as Emperor on the 20 November 1804, J.-P. Samoyault, Versailles et les Tables Royales en Europe, exhib. cat., Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, no. 308, illustrated p. 212.
Another drawing related to the Nef, the most important piece of the service, was sold at Christie's, Monaco, 30 June 1995, lot 132, illustrated.
The service was commissioned on the 24 September 1804 to Auguste, to be ready forty-three days later. Auguste had to realize 746 pieces in vermeil. Fortunately for Auguste the coronation was delayed by three weeks and he was allowed to deliver the Grand Vermeil two weeks after the event. The commission has been initiated by the préfet of the Seine, Comte Frochot, of which the architect Jacques Molinos and Pierre-Paul Prud'hon were members, appointed to look after the progress of the project.
The task was enormous, and Auguste employed one hundred and fifty workers on it. If he were late he would have to pay a fine of FF50,000 - nearly a seventh of his payment.
It is interesting to note that the drawing for the nef sold in Monaco predates the commission by a year and a half - and the initials on it are 'NB', that of Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul and not 'N' of the Emperor as on the final work. The Grand Vermeil was therefore planned much earlier and the unexpected announcement of the coronation must have precipitated the commission.
Eventually 1069 pieces were delivered, two of which were pots à oille. The service remained complete up to the second Empire, when Napoléon III commissioned a new service using the melted silver from a set which belonged to his uncle. The Napoleonic emblems are actually all from the Second Empire. A number of pieces were kept for historical or artistic reasons, including the two pots à oille. Both have been in the château de Fontainebleau since 1984.
The pressure imposed on Auguste to produce such a large service encouraged him to re-use pieces he had made in 1789. The pot à oille bears marks of that year: only the figure on the top, designed by Dumont, and the base date from 1804. The Napoleonic emblems are all from the Second Empire. The present drawing differs from the object: the decoration is more elaborate and the heads of the sphinx are not on the base. The figure of History on the top is present in both works. A close examination of the motifs of this drawing would suiggest that it can be dated to 1804: the encircled eagles the frieze around the base and one of the medallions shows a general in a chariot crowned by Victory.
The present drawing must therefore have been a project to transform a Louis XVI-style object into an Empire piece, but the design was dropped.
Two pots à oille marked 1787, hence of a date similar to that used by Auguste for the Grand Vermeil service, were sold at Christie's, New York, 11 April 1995, lot 155. Despite the absence of the figure on the top and the form of the handles, the shape of the pot and the its decoration are in essence very similar to the design of the present drawing. The decoration has been simplified to correspond more to the Empire style.
The Pot à oille was used to contain meat and game pâté. The pieces were larger and were replaced during the Restauration by tureens.
Another drawing related to the Nef, the most important piece of the service, was sold at Christie's, Monaco, 30 June 1995, lot 132, illustrated.
The service was commissioned on the 24 September 1804 to Auguste, to be ready forty-three days later. Auguste had to realize 746 pieces in vermeil. Fortunately for Auguste the coronation was delayed by three weeks and he was allowed to deliver the Grand Vermeil two weeks after the event. The commission has been initiated by the préfet of the Seine, Comte Frochot, of which the architect Jacques Molinos and Pierre-Paul Prud'hon were members, appointed to look after the progress of the project.
The task was enormous, and Auguste employed one hundred and fifty workers on it. If he were late he would have to pay a fine of FF50,000 - nearly a seventh of his payment.
It is interesting to note that the drawing for the nef sold in Monaco predates the commission by a year and a half - and the initials on it are 'NB', that of Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul and not 'N' of the Emperor as on the final work. The Grand Vermeil was therefore planned much earlier and the unexpected announcement of the coronation must have precipitated the commission.
Eventually 1069 pieces were delivered, two of which were pots à oille. The service remained complete up to the second Empire, when Napoléon III commissioned a new service using the melted silver from a set which belonged to his uncle. The Napoleonic emblems are actually all from the Second Empire. A number of pieces were kept for historical or artistic reasons, including the two pots à oille. Both have been in the château de Fontainebleau since 1984.
The pressure imposed on Auguste to produce such a large service encouraged him to re-use pieces he had made in 1789. The pot à oille bears marks of that year: only the figure on the top, designed by Dumont, and the base date from 1804. The Napoleonic emblems are all from the Second Empire. The present drawing differs from the object: the decoration is more elaborate and the heads of the sphinx are not on the base. The figure of History on the top is present in both works. A close examination of the motifs of this drawing would suiggest that it can be dated to 1804: the encircled eagles the frieze around the base and one of the medallions shows a general in a chariot crowned by Victory.
The present drawing must therefore have been a project to transform a Louis XVI-style object into an Empire piece, but the design was dropped.
Two pots à oille marked 1787, hence of a date similar to that used by Auguste for the Grand Vermeil service, were sold at Christie's, New York, 11 April 1995, lot 155. Despite the absence of the figure on the top and the form of the handles, the shape of the pot and the its decoration are in essence very similar to the design of the present drawing. The decoration has been simplified to correspond more to the Empire style.
The Pot à oille was used to contain meat and game pâté. The pieces were larger and were replaced during the Restauration by tureens.