Lot Essay
The arms are those of Bauffremont, as borne by Anne-Antoine-Gontran de Bauffremont (1822-1897), prince de Bauffremont-Courtenay, subsequently prince duc de Bauffremont. He served in the army in Italy from 1832 to 1840 and, in later life, served as mayor of Brienne. In 1864 he was elected general counsellor for the region of Aube, a position he kept until the year of his death in 1897. He married in 1842 Pauline-Hilaire-Henriette-Noëmi d'Aubusson de la Feuillade.
According the ledgers of Maison Odiot in Paris, this tea and coffee service was presumably produced in December 1826 and recorded as a "modèle Brandille estampé, forme "Cantalou", forme plate et ramassée d'inspiration anglo-saxonne". It was gilt by one Deletang, gilder to the count Borghi. This service was one of the earlier works executed by Charles-Nicolas Odiot upon his return from London where he had spent three years working at Garrard between 1821 and 1823. The influence of this British manufacturer on Odiot's work is clearly apparent in the use of the die-stamping technique, also known as glyptique, and in the overall foliage and rococo pattern. Replacing the traditional sand-casting process, the design was impressed in high relief in a steel matrix using steam power. Separate parts were then cast and soldered together. This process, imported by Charles-Nicolas Odiot, drastically cut costs and time incurred by the production of such intricate pieces and revolutionized the commercialization of such decorative services.
[Photo caption: Design for the body of a similar tea or coffee pot which was used to impress the steel matix. Courtesy of Olivier Gaube du Gers, Maison Odiot, Paris]
According the ledgers of Maison Odiot in Paris, this tea and coffee service was presumably produced in December 1826 and recorded as a "modèle Brandille estampé, forme "Cantalou", forme plate et ramassée d'inspiration anglo-saxonne". It was gilt by one Deletang, gilder to the count Borghi. This service was one of the earlier works executed by Charles-Nicolas Odiot upon his return from London where he had spent three years working at Garrard between 1821 and 1823. The influence of this British manufacturer on Odiot's work is clearly apparent in the use of the die-stamping technique, also known as glyptique, and in the overall foliage and rococo pattern. Replacing the traditional sand-casting process, the design was impressed in high relief in a steel matrix using steam power. Separate parts were then cast and soldered together. This process, imported by Charles-Nicolas Odiot, drastically cut costs and time incurred by the production of such intricate pieces and revolutionized the commercialization of such decorative services.
[Photo caption: Design for the body of a similar tea or coffee pot which was used to impress the steel matix. Courtesy of Olivier Gaube du Gers, Maison Odiot, Paris]