Silver fork and spoon decorated with garlands of grapes
and faces of lions, with
'DC' engraved inside a shield
c. 1808
Pierre-Benoit Lorillon
With French silver marks
for 1797-1809 and mark of a PBL inside a lozenge for the maker Pierre-Benoit Lorillon.
Not a great deal is known of Lorillon who started to work in Paris around the year
1808. We do know that he helped Biennais, Napoleon’s silversmith, to fulfill a number
of his most important commissions and that he made a couverts du nécessaire de voyage,
for the personal use of Queen Hortense in exactly the same pattern as the one shown
here. Queen Hortense's set comprised of a fork, two spoons, and three knives and
were in vermeil. (Silver gilt) A picture of her set is shown above (3). It is now
held in the Musee Malmaison.
