Shawl box by Martin-Guillaume Biennais

An extremely rare and exceptional shawl box in burr wood and mahogany with ebony stringing, richly decorated with finely chased and gilt bronze mounts.

Although unsigned, it corresponds in every respect—apart from the decoration—to the box offered by Napoleon I to Marie Louise of Austria on the occasion of their marriage. It shares the same dimensions and the same gilt bronze mounts, including the superb lateral handles.

It comes directly from the lineage of one of Biennais’s daughters.

Empire period.