Henry Auguste (1756-1816) - A design for a wine cooler; and a design for a salver, with a smaller study of a cup and a base, circa 1806

Auction Closed

June 25, 05:03 PM GMT

Estimate

25,000 - 40,000 EUR

Lot Details

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Description

pen, black ink and golden brown wash, heightened with white, bears red Odiot Collection stamp numbered 511 in pen and ink, over 77 in pencil, said to be inscribed (verso) : Pour L'empereur de perse ;

the second bears the red Odiot Collection stamp numbered 509 in pen and brown ink; said to be inscribed (verso) : Pour L'empereur de perse


(2)


The wine cooler : 45,5 x 36 cm ; 18 in x 14 1/4 in

The salver : 50,5 x 46,5 cm ; 20 in x 18 1/4 in

Maison Odiot, Paris ;

Sotheby's New York, Old Master Drawings, 29 January 2014, lots 133 and 136.

 

J. Fregnac, Les Grands Orfèvres de Louis XIII à Charles X, Paris, 1965, pp. 261, 271, 273

Odiot, maître-orfèvre du XIXe siècle, Paris, 1975, exhibition catalogue, Hôtel Georges V, Paris, October 1975, n°60 and n°61

J.-M. Pinçon et O. Gaube du Gers, Odiot, l'Orfèvre, Paris, 1990, ill. p. 71

Odiot, maître-orfèvre du XIXe siècle, Hôtel Georges V, Paris, October 1975

As a skilled diplomat, Napoleon seeks to forge ties with Persia following the victory at Jena in 1806, aiming to bolster the eastern front against Russia by securing allies. To win the favor of Shah Fath-Ali, he commissions a grand vermeil service from Henry Auguste, of which our two drawings are designs. Unfortunately, General Gardanne’s embassy to Tehran falters, and the service is only partially completed.


The drawings for the cooler and the stand reflect a neoclassical style, with handles ending in marine faun heads for the cooler, their bodies adorned with bees—one of the Empire’s new symbols—alongside griffins. They echo the Empire style crafted by Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, the reign’s appointed ornamentalists. The stand centers on the imperial arms.


This service, embodying the era’s classical elegance, could have impressed the Shah of Persia with its sophistication and political symbolism had it been fully realized.


The pair of coolers, completed between 1806 and 1809, reside today in a private collection.


This object, along with three others, is decorated with Napoleon’s emblematic bee; one medallion bears an enameled miniature of the Shah, while the second features a miniature of Napoleon in coronation robes.


The drawing of the stand and cup recalls drinking services used in Middle Eastern countries, adorned with a scattering of bees, centered on the imperial arms and the Legion of Honor collar.


Henry Auguste (1759–1816)


Son of Louis XVI’s goldsmith Robert-Joseph Auguste, Henry trains in his father’s workshop before taking its helm around 1784–1785. He works for Louis XVI, navigates the Revolution’s upheavals, and later serves the Emperor. Though receiving fewer commissions than Biennais or Odiot, he is tasked by the City of Paris in 1804 with creating the grand vermeil service—a gift for the Emperor—largely preserved at the Château de Fontainebleau.


Tragically, he faces bankruptcy in 1806, fleeing to England and then Saint-Domingue in 1809. Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot acquires his workshop in 1810, preserving the Auguste family’s drawings, which allow Odiot to draw inspiration from this great goldsmithing dynasty and apply his own workshop’s stamp.