Marie louise

1811 · 90504 — Paris: de l'imprimerie Ballard 1811. Fine. de l'imprimerie Ballard Paris 1811 27.8 x 40.5 cm Relié First illustrated edition with 5 plates cf. Coll. Émile Brouwet II 2 168.Half black shagreen binding smooth spine decorated with gilt and blind fillets title lettered lengthwise in gilt joints and caps rubbed title repeated on the upper cover paper labels pasted to the lower left corner of the upper cover and the upper left corner of the inside back cover bookplate pasted to the inside back cover original front wrapper preserved corners worn mid-19th-century binding.Some light foxing.The five finely line-engraved plates by Cavelier and Pierron after drawings by Pierre-Paul Prud’hon bring together a selection of pieces of imperial furniture.The first set — a firescreen a dressing table with its mirror an armchair and a washstand — was executed in vermeil with lapis inlays and presented to Empress Marie-Louise on 15 August 1810. This important commission was the joint work of the chaser-founder Thomire awarded a gold medal at the Exhibition of 1806 and the silversmith Odiot. The three plates devoted to it preserve its memory as the ensemble was largely melted down in 1832.The final two plates depict the celebrated cradle of the King of Rome in vermeil mother-of-pearl and burgau shell — the fruit of the same two craftsmen — which was presented by the City of Paris on 5 March 1811 before the arrival of the imperial child and is now preserved in Vienna.Thomire alone later produced a second example in elm burr and gilt bronze following the same design and faithfully reproducing certain elements such as the two bas-reliefs of the Seine and the Tiber. This second cradle is now at the Château de Fontainebleau.Provenance: from the library of Prince Demidoff San Donato stamp then from that of Prince Roland Bonaparte with his bookplate and label N. de l'imprimerie Ballard unknown