HELMET" SAUCE BOAT FROM THE SECOND EMPIRE MESS OF THE CENT-GARDES In white porcelain. Embellished under the spout with an eagle on a thunderbolt and marked "Cent-Gardes" in blue. Lion head handle. A.B.E. (the saucer is missing, chips on the foot) Commentary: The Cent-gardes was an elite cavalry squadron attached exclusively to the person of Emperor Napoleon III and the guarding of the imperial palaces. The mark of the Mess was the uncrowned blue eagle, as opposed to that of the squadron's officers' mess, with its golden crown. Provenance : Former Napoleonic collection of the Prince's Palace of Monaco (3rd sale, lot 338) A " Cent-gardes " mess porcelain sauciere, from the Second Empire Period