Part of a set of 19th century silver housewives with coat of - Lot 84

Part of a set of 19th century silver housewives with coat of arms Important Louis XVI-style silver menagère. All decorations in relief. The stem chased with fillets, acanthus leaves and fleurons. The spatula chased with a medallion bordered by a garland of laurel leaves and fleurons, a shell and, on the reverse, engraved with the Gramont coat of arms under a Count's crown. By Puiforcat : Composed of : - Sixty forks. Weight: 6240 g. - Eighteen spoons. Weight: 1836 g. - 17 dessert forks and 18 dessert spoons. Weight : 2345 g. - One sauce ladle - One sprinkling spoon. Weight : 217 g les 2 By Odiot : - 60 large knives, the steel blades marked M(ais)on Odiot, the forged silver handles also by Odiot. Gross weight: 6050 g. - 18 dessert knives, steel blades marked M(ais)on Odiot, handles in silver also by Odiot. Gross weight: 972 g. - 18 entremets knives, silver blades marked Odiot, handles in filled silver also by Odiot. Gross weight: 1026 g. - 12 cake forks Weight: 347 g. - A large salad server. Weight: 84 g. - Suite of six cake servers, handles in filled silver. Gross weight: 770 g. No apparent goldsmith's hallmark: - 18 moka spoons with the same design, but engraved (without relief). Weight: 295 g. - One ladle. Weight : 246 g. Weight : 11610 g. Gross weight: 8818 g. This model, in the purest "à la grecque" style, was invented around 1775 by Nicolas-Martin Langlois, father of Jean-Étienne Langlois, two spoon-makers who particularly exemplified the "beau style Louis XVI". Provenance : Armand Agénor Auguste Antoine born September 29, 1879 in Paris and died August 2, 1962 in Mortefontaine (Oise), Comte de Gramont then 12th Duc de Gramont (1925). Armand Agénor Auguste Antoine de Gramont, born September 29, 1879 in Paris and died August 2, 1962 in Mortefontaine (Oise), belonged to one of France's oldest noble families. 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.