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Lot Essay
Comte Charles de Lariboisière of Brittany (b.1798) was the eldest son of the Général d'artillerie who, during the battle at Austerlitz, broke the ice on a lake with a canon, thus halting the Russian advance. Charles was Chamberlain under Napoleon I and député for Ille de Villaine from 1829-1835, when he became Pair de France. In 1852 he became Sénateur. His wife, born Elisa Roy, bestowed a grant to create a hospital which became the Hopital La Roboisière.
The present soup-tureen was part of a set ordered by the Comte de Lariboisière from Charles-Nicolas Odiot and delivered in 1851. The set comprised this large oval tureen and four circular tureens, called casseroles couvertes sur réchaud, with differing finials. The Odiot archives for 26 September, 1851 list the following commission:
'Pour M. le Cte de Lariboisière,
1 soupiére ovale 12359,50 F
4 casseroles 24074,60 F
Total: 36434,10 F Soldè.'
Charles-Nicolas Odiot exhibited the oval tureen or soupière at the Universal Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851. The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue of the 1851 Great Exhibition shows the tureen as having additional seated cherubs at the extremities of the stand. These were presumably removed by Odiot after the Exhibition as they may have made the piece impractical for use. The elaborate and naturalistic decoration had a great appeal for the Victorians, as shown by the award of the jury's Prize Medal for the tureen. Moreover the principle of design following use, was abundantly illustrated in its tortoise, barley, oxen and game trophies. Tallis' History and Description of the Crystal Palace, 1951, vol. III p. 31, illustrated pl. 6, notes approvingly:
'... we must not omit to notice a soup-tureen by Odiot, which struck us as singularly appropriate, as far as indicating the nature of the contents was desirable; in as much, as the well fed oxen, on whose shoulders the massive tureen was supported, having their heads only visible, suggested the idea, that the nature of the savoury compound could be no other than good rich bouillon, or more delicious ox-tail...'
One of the four casseroles was sold Sotheby's New York, 28 October 1987, lot 159, and a second was sold Christie's Geneva, 19 November 1996, lot 20.
The present soup-tureen was part of a set ordered by the Comte de Lariboisière from Charles-Nicolas Odiot and delivered in 1851. The set comprised this large oval tureen and four circular tureens, called casseroles couvertes sur réchaud, with differing finials. The Odiot archives for 26 September, 1851 list the following commission:
'Pour M. le Cte de Lariboisière,
1 soupiére ovale 12359,50 F
4 casseroles 24074,60 F
Total: 36434,10 F Soldè.'
Charles-Nicolas Odiot exhibited the oval tureen or soupière at the Universal Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851. The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue of the 1851 Great Exhibition shows the tureen as having additional seated cherubs at the extremities of the stand. These were presumably removed by Odiot after the Exhibition as they may have made the piece impractical for use. The elaborate and naturalistic decoration had a great appeal for the Victorians, as shown by the award of the jury's Prize Medal for the tureen. Moreover the principle of design following use, was abundantly illustrated in its tortoise, barley, oxen and game trophies. Tallis' History and Description of the Crystal Palace, 1951, vol. III p. 31, illustrated pl. 6, notes approvingly:
'... we must not omit to notice a soup-tureen by Odiot, which struck us as singularly appropriate, as far as indicating the nature of the contents was desirable; in as much, as the well fed oxen, on whose shoulders the massive tureen was supported, having their heads only visible, suggested the idea, that the nature of the savoury compound could be no other than good rich bouillon, or more delicious ox-tail...'
One of the four casseroles was sold Sotheby's New York, 28 October 1987, lot 159, and a second was sold Christie's Geneva, 19 November 1996, lot 20.