AN EMPIRE GILT-BRONZE MOUNTED MAHOGANY, AMARANTH AND AMBOYNA BURR LETTER CASKET, CIRCA 1810, AFTER THE MODEL BY MARTIN-GUILLAUME BIENNAIS |

opening with one drawer

'Deux coffres à papiers aussi en bois d'acajou et de racine avec ornements de cuivre doré d'or moulu' are mentioned in Joséphine's inventory in Malmaison made in 1814 (lot 501 of the boudoir). They are delivered to the Empress from Biennais. The mahogany one is actually kept in the Malmaison museum ; the other one was acquired in 1991 by Napoléon Fondation in Paris. Another casket was sold in Sotheby's Paris, on the 7 November 2013, lot 300.