Dish With Arms Of Count John d'Oultremont, Sterling Silver Around 1880, De Mérode

Sumptuous serving platter in solid silver with French guarantee hallmarks (head of Mercury) and the goldsmith's "P frères" hallmark. The model is quite classic, "au filet", and dates back to the Louis XIV period. It dates from the second half of the nineteenth century and is engraved with the coat of arms of Count Charles-Jean dit John d'Outremont and his wife Renée de Merode. A fairly important historical figure, John de d'Oultremont joined the service of His Majesty Leopold II as a young officer and then made a brilliant career that would lead him to the post of Grand Marshal of the Court. A great complicity and almost paternal feelings seem to have united for decades the King and this devoted servant. It was not uncommon to see the monarch cross rue Brederode to join his friend's mansion to discuss Belgian or Congolese affairs in peace. It was at the expense of Leopold II that this mansion had been completely refurnished on the occasion of the marriage of John d'Oultremont with the beautiful Renée de Merode. John d'Oultremont was to be one of the five founding members of the Royal Foundation, which still sits today in its former mansion. His devotion to his sovereign earned him one day to be the victim of a fortunately failed attack by a not very fysionomist anarchist who mistook him for King Leopold II. During the 1914-1918 war, John was taken hostage by the German occupiers and returned sick from his exile. He died in 1917.