PRINCESS PAULINE BORGHESE. AN IMPERIAL FRENCH SILVER, SILVER-GILT, AND PARIS PORCELAIN CHOCOLATIÈRE DE VOYAGE, RETAILED BY MARTIN-GUILLAUME BIENNAIS, PARIS, CIRCA 1800 |

engraved with the cypher PB for Pauline Borghese, comprising: a silver chocolate pot, Marie-Gabriel Genu, Paris, 1798-1809, with two detachable turned wood handles, 15.7cm., 6 1/4 in. high, five silver-gilt mounted cut-glass caddies, the mounts, Jean-François Demoulins, Paris, 1798-1809, in two sizes, the mounts with bright-engraved rims, largest 12cm., 4 3/4 in. high; two silver-gilt-mounted bottles, unmarked, 6.3cm., 2 1/2 in. high; a silver-gilt strainer, Paris, 1798-1809, pierced with stars; two later George V silver-gilt coffee spoons and a caddy spoon, Francis Higgins & Son Ltd, London, 1920; together with a pair of Paris porcelain cups and saucers; all contained in a fitted brass bound mahogany case, the central cartouche engraved with the arms of Napoleon Bonaparte, lock mount engraved Biennais Md Tabletier ébéniste au Singe Violet Rue Honoré No. 511, Paris.

Princess Pauline Borghese (née Bonaparte), sister of the Emperor;
Prince Victor Napoléon (1862-1926);
Prince Louis Napoléon (1914-1997);

the mahogany case with a couple of shallow splits to the cover issuing from two corners (approximately 5cm + 4cm respectively). One side with a further split and a few scuffs as well as mark (approxinately 4x1cm). General light scuffs and scratches typical through age and usage. The gilt-tooled interior is in good order for age and usage. The porcelain cups and saucers are in good order except for a couple of small areas of gilding loss to the lower rim of one cup and very minor gilding loss in places. The chocolate pot with two detachable handles. The body with a couple of scuffs and scratches. Good clear marks. The two spoons and caddy spoon are later replacements dating to London 1920. The silver-gilt mounted boxes/jars arw in good order with clear marks. The glass is in good undamaged condition. Overall good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The Imperial arms engraved on the case are for Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. The monogram PB engraved on some of the contents is for Princess Pauline Borghese (née Bonaparte) (Fig.1). Pauline Bonaparte was born in 1780 in Ajaccio, Corsica, the second of Napoleon's sisters and considered the most beautiful. In 1797, much to Napoleon’s chagrin, she married one of his staff officers, General C-V-E Leclerc, travelling with him to Santo Domingo before his early death from yellow fever.

At home Napoleon’s prominence and wealth was rising and he found himself the de facto patron to the Bonaparte family. As an important family member, Pauline, upon her return to Paris, was introduced by her brother to Prince Camillo Borghese of the eminent Roman family with whom the Emperor seeked to create a dynastic alliance. After their marriage in 1803 Princess Pauline moved with Borghese to Rome. In 1804 Borghese received the title of a French Prince and in the ensuing years accompanied the Emperor on the Austrian and Prussian campaigns.

Her second marriage was an unhappy union, with Pauline spending most of her time in Paris, but despite this her relationship with Napoleon remained strong. The present lot, the case engraved with Napoleon’s coat-of arms and the contents with the monogram PB, was most likely a personal gift to Pauline from the Emperor rather than part of the larger Borghese Service commissioned by Napoleon upon their marriage.

The Borghese service comprised more than 500 silver-gilt objects and included over 1,000 pieces of table silver, primarily by the French Imperial silversmith Martin-Guillaume Biennais (1764-1843). Originally a cabinet maker and tabletier, by 1789 Biennais had established premises at 283 rue St Honoré 'Au Singe violet'. Following the definitive abolition of corporate regulations in 1797 Biennais diversified his business to include the production of silver and gilt items. He supplied Napoleon from as early as 1798 and assured his preferred place with the future Emperor when, upon Napoleon's return from Egypt in 1801, he was prepared to supply him plate on credit. With the expansion of Imperial glory Biennais' workshop was soon employing up to 600 workers and collaborators, including the master silversmith Marie-Joseph-Gabriel Genu, whose mark can be found on the chocolatiere in the present lot. The present service dates to post-June 19^th 1798, according to the silver marks, but before 1802 when Biennais registered his own goldsmiths mark. After 1804 he signed his objects 'Goldsmith to Napoleon' or 'First Goldsmith to the Emperor' after producing the crown and sceptre for Napoleon's coronations in Milan and Paris.

Biennais supplied not only dinner services and regalia, but opulent nécessaire de voyage, which typically included utensils for taking coffee, tea and chocolate. Napoleon himself was known to enjoy warm chocolate whilst on campaign or when working late as his trusted diplomat Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne writes in his memoirs in 1831, “at night he never ordered coffee, but chocolate, of which he made me take a cup with him. But this only happened when our business was prolonged till two or three in the morning”.

Nécessaire's came into fashion during the Regencé (1715-23) in France and were defined as a case with fitted compartments, easily transportable, containing a maximum of objects in a minimum of space. Biennais’ masterful creations in this field, predisposed from his early training as a tabletier, were supplied in various equipages to the Royal houses of Russia, Austria, and Bavaria, as well as multiple creations for the Emperor, including his campaign cassette which was used the morning of the battles of Ulm and Austerlitz.

As well as the Borghese nécessaire de voyage or supper service, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the gift of Audrey Love, and illustrated in A. Phillips and J. Sloane, Antiquity Revisited, English and French Silver-Gilt, from the Collection of Audrey Love, London, 1997, fig. 24), a nécessaire given to Pauline pre-marriage, subsequently bequeathed to her admirer the 10^th Duke of Hamilton in 1825, is in the National Museum of Scotland. Napoleon commissioned another nécessaire for his adopted niece Stephanie de Beauharnais, presented upon her marriage in 1806, now in the Royal Collection, and another for his second wife Marie-Louise in 1810 at a cost of 8,400 francs.