Beautiful French Silver Swan ‘Drageoir’ By A Mignerot~Sold~

A Beautiful Antique French Silver and Crystal‘Drageoir’ by ‘Maitre Orfèvre’ Ambroise MIGNEROT

In France we call them ‘Drageoir’ or ‘Confiturier’, but the only official name is a ‘Confiturier’ (Hence a Jam container), and we can confirm that originally they were only thought of, and used, as Ceremonial Sugar Bowls.

The body of this gorgeous Drageoir is Baluster shaped with four Figural ‘Tableaux’ representing Two Swans feasting on Half opened Pomegrenates.
The Swans have outstretched wings and rest on a pedestal decorated with finely carved palm fronds and two rosettes.
The details of the wings are absolutely exquisite!
The upper register of the ‘Drageoir’ is beautifully lined with a geometric fringe while the upper border shows a silver acanthus leaves border.

The pedestal is square, resting on four round pearls of silver and decorated with stylized palmettos, with the lowest register shows delicately carved leaves.
The round central part of the pedestal is decorated by an acanthus leaves wreath.
The ‘Frétel’ (or finial) shaped as a berry and rests on a wreath of finely etched fruits.
The two handles are decorated with lionesses’ heads, also typical of the motifs used by Mignerot.

The bowl insert is white crystal, original, and in perfect shape, no breakage or marks.
The piece is absolutely lovely!

A wonderful detail for the collectors: The piece is marked with what is known as a ‘Head of Greek Women’ with the letter P on the left hand side…
This is a hallmark that was used during the Revolution between 1793 and 1794 in Paris, which would mean that Ambroise Mignerot would have designed the piece earlier and then re introduced it in 1809.

The Hallmark is ‘2ieme Coq’ -1st title (950/1000) – 1809 -1819 Paris

The Makers Mark is that of Ambroise MIGNEROT.
Ambroise MIGNEROT’s Makers Mark shows an A and an M with a ‘nacelle’ topping the letters and a dot underneath them. His mark was created in 1800 and canceled (biffe) in 1818. His offices were first located 2 rue Jean Robert, then 62 Rue du Temple. Ambroise MIGNEROT took under his wing a young Denis Garreau that would later inherit his offices.

H: 7.87"D: 4.33"Reference number: D-136