An important part of a silver menagère of the double filets - Lot 83

An important part of a silver menagère of the double filets model, the spatula decorated with scrolls, staples and shells. The reverse side of the spatula is engraved in most cases with the Gramont - Greffulhe coat of arms under a duke's crown, while the entremets cutlery and some pieces are engraved only with the duke's crown. (Slight variations for some models). Goldsmith: mainly by the Puiforcat firm. It is composed as follows: - 22 large forks. Weight: 2200 g. - 8 large spoons. Weight: 755 g. - 21 dessert forks. Weight: 1092 g. - 26 dessert spoons. Weight : 1350 g. - 38 large knives, steel blades marked M(ais)on Odiot, handles in silver plated, some handles by Puiforcat. Gross weight: 3080 g. - 14 dessert knives, silver blades, some by Boin Taburet, handles in filled silver. Gross weight: 682 g. - 14 dessert knives, steel blades mostly marked M(ais)on Odiot, some handles by Puiforcat. Gross weight: 600 g. - 4 fish knives, the blades in silver, the handles in filled silver. Gross weight: 248 g. - 4 fish forks, silver forks, forged silver handles. Gross weight: 262 g. - 3 dessert spoons and one mocha spoon. Weight: 124 g. - a fish service cutlery by AUCOC, handles in filled silver. Gross weight: 298 g. - A grape chisel. Gross weight: 66 g. Weight: 5521 g. Gross weight: 5236 g. Provenance : Armand Agénor Auguste Antoine born September 29, 1879 in Paris and died August 2, 1962 in Mortefontaine (Oise), duc de Guiche then 12th duc de Gramont (1925). and Hélène Josèphe Marie Charlotte Greffulhe, known as Élaine Greffulhe, born March 19, 1882 in Paris (VIIIth arrondissement), died February 11, 1958 in Paris (XVIth arrondissement). Armand Agénor Auguste Antoine de Gramont, born September 29, 1879 in Paris and died August 2, 1962 in Mortefontaine (Oise), belongs to one of the oldest families of the French nobility. Son of Antoine Alfred Agénor, 11ᵉ Duc de Gramont (1851-1925) and his wife Élisabeth de La Rochefoucauld, he inherited a line whose history is closely linked to the military, diplomatic and curial offices of the Ancien Régime and then the XIXᵉ century. Initially Comte de Gramont, he became 12ᵉ Duc de Gramont in 1925 on the death of his father, thus assuming the head of a house whose symbolic influence remained important in the French aristocracy of the XXᵉ century, although its political role was now limited. His marriage to Élaine Greffulhe (1882-1958), daughter of Henri Greffulhe and the famous Countess Élisabeth de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay, linked him to another major social and cultural circle of the Belle Époque. This union produced several children, including Antoine de Gramont (1907-1995), who succeeded him as 13ᵉ duc. A cultured man who was attentive to the preservation of his family's heritage, Armand de Gramont belonged to a generation of nobles who, while remaining attached to their titles and lands, were more involved in intellectual and social life than in political or military affairs. His longevity saw him through contrasting periods - from the Third Republic to the Fifth Republic - during which the old-fashioned nobility had to redefine its place in French society. He died on August 2, 1962 at his home in Mortefontaine, where the Gramont family had long-standing ties. His death marks the end of a representative figure of the French aristocracy of the first XXᵉ century, who remained faithful to an ideal of lineage continuity while adapting to the social and cultural transformations of his time. Hélène Josèphe Marie Charlotte Greffulhe, known as Élaine Greffulhe, born March 19, 1882 in Paris (8th arrondissement), died February 11, 1958 in Paris (16th arrondissement). She is better known by her customary first name Élaine. Heiress to a name intimately linked to the social, cultural and financial history of France in the XIXᵉ and XXᵉ centuries, Élaine Greffulhe embodies a female figure representative of the European elite, at the crossroads of worldly and artistic dynamics. Élaine Greffulhe illustrates, beyond her individuality, the permanence of a feminine model specific to the French aristocracy: that of a woman guarantor of a family heritage, actress in worldly sociability and vector of symbolic capital. Her name, linked to the illustrious House of Greffulhe, contributes to the historiography of the great aristocratic families, crossing the social, cultural and memorial dimensions of contemporary European history. Her marriage to Armand de Gramont, Duc de Guiche, was celebrated on