Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Martin Guillaume Biennais, c. 1817

This is not just any service. These objects belong to a huge coffee and tea service that originally comprised more than a thousand pieces. The Russian tsar Nicholas I bought it from the French silversmith Biennais in 1817. The pieces are double gilded, so they look like they are made of solid gold. The geometric shapes and type of rims are typical of the early Empire style.

  • Artwork typesuikerdoos
  • Object numberBK-17027-B
  • Dimensionsheight 32.6 cm x diameter 21.1 cm x weight 3494 g, height 25.5 cm x width 19.8 cm, width 21.1 cm, height 7.6 cm x width 17 cm
  • Physical characteristicsverguld zilver, ebbenhout

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more by Martin Guillaume Biennais

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Martin Guillaume Biennais, c. 1817

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Martin Guillaume Biennais, c. 1817

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Martin Guillaume Biennais, c. 1817

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Martin Guillaume Biennais, c. 1817

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Martin Guillaume Biennais, c. 1817

Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

Grootkruis van de Orde van de Reunie van I.J.A. Gogel

Martin Guillaume Biennais, c. 1811

Grootkruis van de Orde van de Reunie van I.J.A. Gogel

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Tea tray, cake stands, jam dish, sugar bowls, coffee pot and milk jug

  • Object type

  • Object number

    BK-17027-B

  • Description

    Empire suikerdoos van verguld zilver. De doos is kelkvormig met een flauw gewelfd deksel. Op het voetstuk staat een krans van lepelhouders waartussen 3 gevleugelde sfinxen die de balustervormige stam steunen. Met gekroond keizerlijk monogram.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • mark
    • alloy mark
    • duty mark
    • inscription: ‘Biennais Orfévre à Paris’
    • monogram
    • maker's mark

Creation

  • Creation

    • silversmith: Martin Guillaume Biennais, Paris
    • designer: Charles Percier, Paris

  • Dating

    c. 1817

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    verguld zilver, ebbenhout

  • Dimensions

    • height 32.6 cm x diameter 21.1 cm x weight 3494 g
    • height 25.5 cm x width 19.8 cm
    • width 21.1 cm
    • height 7.6 cm x width 17 cm

This work is about

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    See the provenance for BK-17024-A.

  • Remarks

    Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

Documentation

  • Serge Grandjean, 'A dinner service by Biennais at the Rijksmuseum' The Connoisseur 142 (1958), 84-87.

Persistent URL

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