MARK OF MARTIN-GUILLAUME BIENNAIS, PARIS, 1809-1816

Details

A FRENCH SILVER-GILT KNIFE BELONGING TO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
MARK OF MARTIN-GUILLAUME BIENNAIS, PARIS, 1809-1816
The handle chased with Imperial eagle beneath a crown, surrounded by two bees, the base with initial N within a laurel wreath, the ferrule with a profile of Napoleon with laurel crown, marked on handle, the blade stamped AU SINGE VIOLET, also marked with English hallmarks for William Knight II, London, 1816
8 in. (20.3 cm.) long
The crowned Imperial eagle is that of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

Lot Essay

An identical knife belonging to Napoleon is illustrated in Anne Dion-Tenenbaum, L'orfèvre de Napoléon: Martin-Guillaume Biennais, p. 73. After Napoleon was defeated a second time, he boarded the British man-of-war Bellerphon and landed at Plymouth in 1815. It is possible that this knife was seized and subsequently hallmarked in London in 1816. The knife also may have been part of a group of silver looted from Napoleon's carriage at Waterloo in 1815 that included a teapot, tea caddy, and cup that were sold at Christie's, Geneva, November 19, 1986, lot 49.

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