Large oval dish with contours and inset edges. The moulded border is decorated with double fillets engraved on the marli with the coat of arms of Louis Nicolas LEMERCIER (1755-1849) and the coat of arms of the Baron de CROZE (18th century). Hallmarks of the Master-goldsmith: Edmé-Pierre BALZAC, received master in 1739. Hallmark of charge and discharge of Paris 1768-1774 and hallmark of jurande, letter G for 1770-1771. Repoinçonné, large census of Paris 1798-1809 Weight : 1 207 g. Length: 44.8 cm Width: 29.9 cm. Scratches from use and small restoration at the edge of the basin. Biography : Louis Nicolas LEMERCIER (1755-1849), born in 1755 in Saintes, was a French politician and magistrate. A deputy for the Third Estate in 1789, he supported the civil constitution of the clergy. After the Revolution, he held judicial office and became a deputy to the Council of Ancients in 1798. He played a key role in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire and joined the Conservative Senate in 1799, becoming its president in 1802. After the fall of Napoleon, he sided with the Bourbons and obtained a seat in the Chamber of Peers in 1814. He died in 1849 aged 93. The second coat of arms of the de CROZE family and the coat of arms of another unidentified family under a baronial crown. Below, a phylactery shows the family motto: "Floreat et Crescat". Supporting a lion leopard and a griffin. It is probable that the origin of the plate is linked to Jules Joseph de CROZE, Baron (1787-1869), husband of Virginie LEMERCIER (1793-1859), thus giving birth to the CROZE-LEMERCIER line.