Tombeau De l'Empereur Napoléon Inkwell - Bronze, Patinated And Gilded With Mercury - Charles X Period

Encrier bonapartiste
The Emperor's Tomb
Bronze patinated and gilded with mercury
Charles X period
Paris, circa 1830
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10.2 x 6 x 10 [W x D x H]
1375 g
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Very good overall condition
A small bump to one corner and a small dent to the base, under the tomb
While the sandpit is complete, the inkwell and a pen stand are missing
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Resting on four ormolu lion paws, the inkwell takes the form of an antique-style sarcophagus, with the lid adorned with a mascaron and the imperial N.
A heavy removable console in patinated bronze holds the writing instruments, including an ormolu sablière with openwork lid and an pen stand, also in gilt bronze. A second support and the ink cup are missing.
Under this console, which fits perfectly into the sarcophagus, a smallreveals a gilded bronze recumbent of the Emperor,lying in a patinated bronze coffin, also removable.casket. The Emperor, wearing his famous hat and the uniform of a Garde chasseur à cheval colonel, displays his decorations (grand cross plaque, officer's pendant cross and grand cordon de la Légion d'honneur); half-draped in his coat, he carries his sword on his left side.
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This beautiful, heavy object (it weighs 1375g!), can be datedbetween Napoleon's death in 1821 and the return of his ashes to Paris in1840. In fact, we know of inkwells that take the exact shapethe shape of Visconti's tomb, and thus post-date the monument'smonument, completed in 1861 - they generally date from the Second Empire. Second Empire. Ours rather evokes the idea of the Tomb, as it wasby the Bonapartists for more than twenty years, taking up aestheticby adopting the aesthetic canons of the Antiquity.
The high quality of the workmanship, gilding and patina are typical of the Restoration period.