Maria Pia of Savoy, Queen of Portugal: A French Silver-gilt Large Two-handled Tray, Odiot, Paris, circa 1890

of shaped oval form, the molded border applied with sprays of leaves, conforming handles centered by shells, the surface flat-chased and engraved with shellwork and foliate branches centered by rocaille cartouche enclosing script monogram MP under a crown.

Maria Pia of Savoy, Queen of Portugal (1847-1911)
Sotheby's Geneva, May 17, 1985, lot 110

good condition
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The engraved monogram is that of Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, daughter of Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Italy, by his first cousin Adelaide of Austria.  On 6 October 1862 she married Luis I, King of Portugal and the Algraves.  As Queen she was known for her charity but also her extravagance; when the Portguese Parliament queried her expenses, she supposedly stated, "if you want a Queen, you have to pay for her."  Her last years were darkened by the assassination of her son King Carlos I and her grandson in 1908, then the deposition of her grandson Manuel II in the 1910 Revolution.  She died in exile in her native Italy in 1911.

Other pieces by Odiot engraved with Maria Pia's monogram include a suite of three tureens and a liqueur service in the Ajuda Palace[1] and a pair of seven-light candelabra and pair of wine coolers recently on the art market.[2]

[1] Lisbon, 1992: Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Royal Treasures, nos. 394-397
[2] Sotheby's London, September 29, 1999, lots 75-76