Jean-Pierre Bibron - Empire drageoir in sterling silver

Superb drageoir in sterling silver with a decoration of caryatids with Dionysian attributes. They are framed by two holds ending in lion heads. The whole supports a plinth adorned with a frieze of palmettes on which rests an ogee cover topped with a fretel in the form of a delicately chiseled plume.
The caryatids are based on a frieze of harps treated in pierced, framed by friezes of palmettes and pearls.
It rests on a square base decorated with a frieze and has a solid silver lining.

Marks
• Goldsmith Jean-Pierre-Nicolas BIBRON (registered in 1798).
• "Vieillard 1er titre Province".
• "Grosse Garantie Départements" (29).
• "Moyenne Garantie" of Paris 1809-1819.


The ornamental repertoire of this drageoir turns resolutely towards ancient Greece. Seeing the faces of these caryatids, their loose hair falling over their shoulders and their hair plaited in grapes and ivy, we must think of the statue of Dionysus kept in the Louvre Museum, Roman statue from the 2nd century after J.-C. sculpted after an ancient Hellenistic model (MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, marble, Italy, inv. MR 107 or Ma 87).


Jean-Pierre Nicolas BIBRON is a Parisian goldsmith from the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.
He registered his first mark on "18 Frimaire an V" (1798-1799).
He worked at 3, rue de Harlay until 1809, when he moved to 172 rue Saint-Jacques, then 32 rue Bourg-l'Abbé in 1818.


MUSEUMS, PUBLIC COLLECTIONS AND CLASSIFIED OBJECTS :

• MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS, PARIS, "Moutardier couvert" solid silver, Empire period (1804-1814), inv. 27422.
• MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS, PARIS, "Salière", solid silver, Paris 1798-1809, inv. 37487 A.
• MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS, PARIS, "Salière", solid silver, Paris 1798-1809, inv. 37487 B.
• CATHÉDRALE SAINT-GATIEN, TOURS, "Calice et patène" gilded silver, Paris 1798-1809.
• ÉGLISE SAINT-GEORGES, FRANKEN, "Calice" gilded silver", Paris, 1809.
• ÉGLISE PAROISSIALE NOTRE-DAME-DU-RONCIER, JOSSELIN, "Ciboire des malades", solid silver, Paris, 1798-1809 ; classified as Historical Monument on January 26, 1982.