Set of Berry Spoons (10)
1789–1820
Silver gilt
SEE IT IN PERSON
Not currently on view
In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026
Discussion
FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG
These berry spoons are part of a vast service made for Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister Pauline on the occasion of her marriage to the Roman nobleman Camillo Borghese, Sixth Prince of Sulmona. In the years after the French Revolution, architects and designers adopted the visual language of ancient Greece and Rome to express the new imperial order. Napoleon, hoping to promote Paris’s luxury trades, commissioned several silver dinner services as gifts to be sent abroad.
Be the first to share your thoughts.
Sign in to join the discussion.
More by Martin-Guillaume Biennais
More like this
Samuel Kirk & Son (Baltimore, Md.) — Salt Spoon
William Hollingshead — Ladle
Benjamin Halsted — Spoon
Augustus F. Otto — Ladle
Simeon Soumaine — Spoon
William Looker — Ladle
London, England — Apostle Spoon: The Master
Jacob Boelen, I — Spoon
Jonathan Clarke — Spoon
London, England — Apostle Spoon: St. Matthias
Artist unknown — Spoon
London, England — Apostle Spoon: St. John the Divine