Tureen

Inscription: Engraved inside cover: [1] Biennais Orfre de Sa Mté l'Empereur et Roi à Paris; engraved underneath stand: [2] Biennais, Orfèvre de S Mte l'Empereur et Roi: à Paris; scratched underneath stand: [3] 1489 24 (possibly an inventory number); scratched to underside of liner: [4] 1489 24b (possibly an inventory number)

Marking: [1] B, 2 pellets, a monkey above, in a vertical lozenge (maker's mark)
[2] Head of Apollo with 1, in an oval (unofficial quality mark for first standard silver, 1794–97)
[3] Cock with 1, in horizontal octagon (Paris mark for first standard silver, 1809–19)
[4] Head of Minerva, in a circle (Paris medium excise mark for silver, 1809–19)
[5] Fasces with ax blade at center left (Paris restricted warranty mark for silver, 1809–19)

Location of marks:
[1], [2] underneath bowl of tureen, on inner side of applied ornament at base of bowl, inside cover, under rim of foot, on each handle, on under side of liner, on bottom of stand, under rim of stand
[3], [4] on side of bowl, rim of foot, wall of liner, inside cover, underneath center of stand
[5] on relief ornament at base of bowl, on leaf ornament at base of finial, on pedestal on which finial figure sits

Princes Borghese (ca. 1803?–1892; sale, Palazzo Borghese, Rome, March 28– April 9, 1892, no. 847); Don Antonio Licata, Prince of Baucina (from 1892; sold to Canessa) ; Ercole Canessa , Naples, Italy (after 1892–before 1924) ; Edith Rockefeller McCormick (by 1924–34; sale, American Art Association-Anderson Galleries, New York, January 2–6, 1934, no. 701; sold to Helft for $1100); [ Les Fils de Léon Helft , 1934; sold to MMA ]

Art Institute of Chicago. "Silver-gilt Table Service, presented by Napoleon I to his sister, Pauline Borghese," July 1, 1924–October 1, 1924.

Minneapolis. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "French, English and American Silver," June 9, 1956–July 15, 1956.

London. Royal Academy of Arts. "The Age of Neo-classicism," September 9–November 19, 1972.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Gold," April 14–September 9, 1973.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Arts Under Napoleon," April 6–July 30, 1978.

New York. Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture. "Charles Percier: Revolutions in Architecture and Design," November 18, 2016–February 12, 2017.