Cream jug 1798 - 1809
Silver gilt | Measurements 9.9 x 7.7 x 5.6 cm. Weight 158 g (whole object) | RCIN 48391
-
A small silver-gilt jug with a wide spout, plain handle and ovoid body; the upper border of berried lotus leaves above a band of palmettes, husks and quatrefoils on a matted ground.
Marks: Paris, 1798-1809 and maker's mark of Marie-Joseph-Gabriel GenuProvenance
As a seasoned campaigner Napoleon travelled with every possible necessity for eating, dressing, grooming, writing, surveying, map-making, dental and physical health. These items, created in an elegant, pared-down style, usually in silver gilt, were packed with ingenuity into numbered mahogany boxes or necessaires, many of the works fitting inside others.
Genu came from a dynasty of goldsmiths. He first entered his hallmark in 1788 and originally worked from a workshop rented by his father, close to the rue Saint-Honore. Genu frequently worked with the 'tabletier' Biennais, supplying travelling cases fitted with silver and silver-gilt objects to careful specifications, using neoclassical decorative motifs. His work appeared in services supplied to Napoleon himself as well as members of the imperial family: Josephine Bonaparte, Pauline Borghese and Napoleon II, King of Rome.
Purchased by Queen Mary -
Creator(s)
(nationality)Acquirer(s)
-
Medium and techniques
Silver gilt
Measurements
Measurements 9.9 x 7.7 x 5.6 cm. Weight 158 g (whole object)
158 g (Weight) (whole object)
Place of Production
Paris [Île-de-France]