ODIOT - Louis Philippe period (1838-1848) Silver asparagus tongs (hallmark: Minerve) with pierced decoration of garlands of flowers and foliage, the handle with neo-Renaissance decoration of cut leather in the style of the little finger and wolves' heads surrounding the arms of Count Alphonse Gérard de Rayneval (1813-1858). Master Goldsmith: "FL" different "cuillère". Stamped Odiot in full. Gross weight : 219 gr. Provenance : - Château de VILLEPREUX - LE GOUZ de SAINT SEINE family. A rare example of the Louis-Philippe style in silverware from 1838 to 1848. Note: Alphonse Gérard, comte de Rayneval (1813-1858) was a French diplomat and foreign minister. Before 1836, he was embassy attaché in Madrid. On 5 September 1836, he became chief of staff to the prime minister, Mathieu Molé, and in 1839, first secretary of the embassy in Rome, under the ambassador Count Septime de Latour-Maubourg. In April 1844 he became First Secretary to the Embassy and Chargé d'Affaires in Saint Petersburg, and on 29 June 1848 he became Minister Plenipotentiary of France to the Government of the Two Sicilies. On 26 March 1851 he became French ambassador to the Holy See, then on 18 August 1857 French ambassador to Saint Petersburg.