With the collection stamp of J.B.C.Odiot at the bottom right which reads: ‘COLLECTION / J.B.C. / ODIOT’, and the pen annotation ‘No. C29/296’.

An original drawing design for a vase from Odiot’s workshop. The rim decorated with an applied band of lattice, with a grotesque mask underneath, supporting a chain. With a rosette ornamentation at the centre of the base.

This is probably a preliminary drawing as it shows two alternatives for the supports at the base of the vase – with a lion’s paw foot on one side; and a bracket foot which splays outwards on the other side.

Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot (1763–1850): descended from a family of goldsmiths and was one of the most successful and prolific gold and silversmiths of his day. He was also a designer. He succeeded in his father’s business in 1785. During the French Revolution he ceased trading, but he flourished during Napoleon’s reign and the Bourbon monarchy. When Napoleon’s chief silversmith, Henri Auguste went bankrupt in 1809, Odiot purchased many of Auguste’s designs and models. Odiot received many important and prestigious commissions abroad for important patrons, including Prince Camillo Borghese; Count Branicki of Russia; Catherine the Great of Russia; and Count Nikolai Demidoff.

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs has a collection of 176 original drawings from Odiot’s workshop, acquired in 2009, which are classified as important works of heritage by the Ministry of Culture’s Consultative Commission on National Treasures. They were displayed for the first time in 2017. Dating from the first quarter of the 19th century, these drawings are superbly executed in graphite and pen and enhanced with ink wash, watercolor and gouache.

The drawings from Odiot’s workshop illustrate the various stages of each piece’s creation, from the initial sketches to the final detailed drawings which were presented to and agreed by Odiot’s clients. The drawings were able to demonstrate and offer different versions of the same model, offering alternatives for applied ornamentation. The drawings from Odiot’s workshops are rarely signed by his colleagues, but included the work the draughtsmen Auguste Garneray (1785–1824); Henri Auguste (1759–1816); and Adrien-Louis-Marie Cavelier (1785–1867).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art have a number of drawings within their collection, with Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot’s Collection Stamp. The ‘Design for a Covered Bowl with Stand’ by Henri Auguste demonstrates a very similar use of the pen and wash, and a similar lion’s paw foot.