ODIOT- Louis Philippe period (1838-1848) - Lot 118

ODIOT- Louis Philippe period (1838-1848) Silver asparagus tongs (hallmark: Minerve) with pierced decoration of garlands of flowers and foliage, the handle with neo-Renaissance decoration of cut leather in the auricular style and wolves' heads surrounding the arms of Count Alphonse Gérard de Rayneval (1813-1858). Master Goldsmith: "FL" different from "cuillère". Odiot stamp in full. Gross weight : 219 gr. Provenance: - Château de VILLEPREUX - LE GOUZ de SAINT SEINE family. A rare example of the Louis-Philippe style in silverware from 1838 to 1848. Note: Alphonse Gérard, comte de Rayneval (1813-1858) was a French diplomat and foreign minister. Before 1836, he was embassy attaché in Madrid, then on September 5, 1836, became chief of staff to Prime Minister Mathieu Molé, and in 1839, first embassy secretary in Rome, under Ambassador Count Septime de Latour-Maubourg. In April 1844, he became First Secretary to the Embassy and Chargé d'Affaires in St. Petersburg, and on June 29, 1848, Minister Plenipotentiary of France to the Government of the Two Sicilies. On March 26, 1851 he became French ambassador to the Holy See, and on August 18, 1857 French ambassador to St Petersburg.