MAURICE MAYER, FRANCE, CIRCA 1860

Maurice Mayer (1801-1864) was a celebrated nineteenth century silver-smith and jeweller. The Mayer house was founded in Paris in 1839, and his maker’s mark registered in 1846 (Allan, 2003, p.41). In 1853, he received the prestigious appointment of Fournisseur de l’Empereur, to the Emperor Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III, r.1852-1870). At the time Mayer was working in Paris, Orientalism was an established element of fashionable French taste. The art of the Ottoman world, perceived as luxurious and sensual, had a particularly powerful impact. A samovar is usually associated with Russia and the Middle East. The work in silver and parcel guilt is evocative of, but does not copy, Middle-Eastern foliate motifs. The eagle and crown insignia of Napoleon III appears in a prominent position.