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Lot Essay
JEAN-BAPTISTE CLAUDE ODIOT
These magnificent works by the French Imperial goldsmiths Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot and the enduring firm of Maison Odiot, epitomise the sophisticated neo-classical taste of the court of Napoleon and those of the Royal Ducal Courts of Europe during the first quarter of the 19th century.
Maison Odiot can trace its origins back to 1690. Under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot, the grandson of the founder, Jean-Baptiste Gaspard Odiot, the firm’s 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 Nicolai Demidoff (lot 602) and another for Count Branicki (lots 604 and 605). whose wife was the niece of Gregory Potemkin Royal courts across Europe followed suit, such as the King of Sweden, who commissioned Odiot to create a figural double salt (lot 604), circa 1820.
These magnificent works by the French Imperial goldsmiths Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot and the enduring firm of Maison Odiot, epitomise the sophisticated neo-classical taste of the court of Napoleon and those of the Royal Ducal Courts of Europe during the first quarter of the 19th century.
Maison Odiot can trace its origins back to 1690. Under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot, the grandson of the founder, Jean-Baptiste Gaspard Odiot, the firm’s 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 Nicolai Demidoff (lot 602) and another for Count Branicki (lots 604 and 605). whose wife was the niece of Gregory Potemkin Royal courts across Europe followed suit, such as the King of Sweden, who commissioned Odiot to create a figural double salt (lot 604), circa 1820.