Travel ewer in solid silver by L.-J. Milleraud-Bouty, Paris, 18th century

Small baluster-shaped ewer in finely chiseled solid silver.

Goldsmith, Louis-Joseph MILLERAUD-BOUTY, Master in 1779.

Small ewer probably from a larger "necessaire" travel case.

Two very similar models within the large travelling case of Queen MARIE-ANTOINETTE, as well as within that ordered by the Queen in 1791 for her sister MARIE-CHRISTINE but intended to be carried with the luggage of the royal family, during the flight which ended in Varennes.


MILLERAUD-BOUTY

Louis-Joseph BOUTY, dit MILLERAUD-BOUTY, was born in 1733. He was received master in Paris on January 23, 1779, bonded by the goldsmith Nicolas CHEVALLIER. On January 30, 1779, he had his hallmark inscribed: "a crowned fleur-de-lis, two grains, LJMB, a star".
We find traces of his work until 1810.


MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

• METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, NEW YORK – "Sugar bowl with cover" – silver, Paris, 1785-1787.
• PETIT PALAIS, MUSÉE DES BEAUX-ARTS DE LA VILLE DE PARIS, PARIS – "Plateau" – silver, Paris, 1781-1782.
• PETIT PALAIS, MUSÉE DES BEAUX-ARTS DE LA VILLE DE PARIS, PARIS – Sucrier et son couvercle – silver, Paris, 1785-1786.
• ÉGLISE, CANDÉ – "Plateau à burettes" – silver, Paris, 1787, classified as Historic Monument on 25 January 1977.


In 1791 King Louis XVI and MARIE-ANTOINETTE had been forced to leave Versailles (October 1789) and were since under house arrest in the Tuileries in Paris. Because of threats to their lives, the royal family must escape.
Queen MARIE ANTOINETTE wishes to take with her her necessaire, to which she is very attached and which she does not want to deprive herself at any cost. She ordered a second identical one in April 1791, through her first attendant, Madame CAMPAN, on the pretext of making it a gift to her sister the Archduchess MARIE-CHRISTINE, Governor of the Netherlands. Delayed delivery, the queen sent her kit to Brussels, a shipment which will be discussed many times in her correspondence with the diplomat MERCY-ARGENTEAU.
This requirement will result in a denunciation from his maid, Madame de ROCHEREUIL, according to which he was planning preparations for the Tuileries to flee: "we thought she would not guess the reason for sending the necessaire of the Queen in Brussels, but […] the announcement of a present made by Her Majesty to her sister was only a pretext ”.

• MUSÉE INTERNATIONAL DE LA PARFUMERIE, GRASSE, "Aiguière", in PALMA Jean-Philippe, cabinetmaker ; CHARPENAT Jean-Pierre, goldsmith ; HÉNIN & Cie, goldsmith ; TAFFOIREAU H., goldsmith ; Manufacture d'Outrequin de Montarcy – "Coffret, nécessaire" – Paris, 1791-early 20th century.
This travel toiletries was for a time loaned to the CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES and displayed in the bathroom of the apartments of MARIE-ANTOINETTE.
• MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, "Aiguière", in JOUBERT François, goldsmith ; CHARPENAT Jean-Pierre, goldsmith ; LETHIEN, knifemaker ; PALMA Jean-Philippe, cabinetmaker – Marie-Antoinette's travel kit – Paris, 1787-1788.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• MADAME CAMPAN, "Mémoires de Madame Campan, première femme de chambre de Marie-Antoinette", 1988.
• MARIE-ANTOINETTE ; SETH Catriona, edition presented by, "Lettres inédites", Albin Michel, 2019.