BESANÇON, circa 1745-1770 ("C" crossed, "L" crowned). - Lot 53

BESANÇON, circa 1745-1770 ("C" crossed, "L" crowned). Very rare silver menagère, uniplat model, comprising seventeen pieces of cutlery, i.e. 34 pieces. All pieces engraved with the coat of arms of Louis-René-Ferdinand QUENTIN de RICHEBOURG de CHAMPCENETZ (1760-1794), Chevalier de l'Ordre de Malte (1776), known as "Le Chevalier de Champcenetz". Master Goldsmith: Pierre-François GRANDGUILLAUME (hallmark: PFGG), received Master in 1728. Total weight: 2384.6 gr. Note: Son of the governor of the Tuileries, Louis-René de Champcenetz was a biting wit and a dreaded pamphleteer of the late Ancien Régime. A contributor to the satirical journal Les Actes des Apôtres, he mocked revolutionaries, MPs and philosophers with acidic humor. Fleeing Paris after the fall of the monarchy, he returned for his books. He was arrested and sent to the scaffold on July 23, 1794.