EMPIRE PERIOD INKWELL In ash burl and ebony veneer, with chased and gilt bronze ornamentation, rectangular in shape, the top decorated with three inkwells, the central one held by two winged putti, the front decorated with a bas-relief frieze of Apollo's mask and stylised foliage scrolls and opening with a side drawer, resting on claw feet. H. 20 cm (7 ¾ in.) l. 38.5 cm (15 ¼ in.) P. 20 cm (7 ¾ in.) Provenance: By family tradition, Michel Goudchaux (1797-1862) ; Sale in Royan on 14 June 2022, lot 68; Acquired by the current owner; Private collection, Paris. An Empire gilt-bronze mounted, ashwood and ebony inkstand * Information for buyers : If you are leaving the EU, you may need to obtain a CITES re-export certificate, which is the responsibility of the future buyer. * Information to buyers : For an exit from the EU, a CITES re-export certificate will be necessary, at the buyer's expense. The overall composition of this elegant inkwell is reminiscent of the designs by Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, Napoleon's architects and decorators, who provided some of the best-known motifs of the period. The famous silversmith Martin-Guillaume Biennais (1764-1843), a great supporter of Percier and Fontaine, is known to have designed a number of writing boxes for the Emperor and his family (cfr. P. Arrizoli-Clémentel, Burlington Magazine, March 1998, p.195-201). Our example can be compared with the inkwell from the Emperor Napoleon's desk (see fig. 1), now in the Musée National de Malmaison (inv. MM40.47.7227). A very similar inkwell, with a difference in the decoration of the frieze on the front, was sold at Artcurial Paris on 20 October 2023, lot 64. A second one in burl veneer and ebony, the putti replaced by two winged victories, sold at Hôtel Drouot, Paris, on 18 December 2015, lot 72. Michel Goudchaux (1797-1862) According to family tradition, our piece belonged to Michel Goudchaux (1797-1862), banker, paymaster to the armies and President of the Paris Jewish Consistory from 1827 to 1832. This inkwell is thought to have been a personal gift from his bank when he left to take up his post as Minister of Finance in 1848.