Paris 1819-1838: maker???

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roturoa
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Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2022 12:57 pm

Paris 1819-1838: maker???

Post by roturoa »

any idea about the maker? Thank you
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JayT
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Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:45 pm

Re: Paris 1819-1838: maker???

Post by JayT »

Hello
Good news! Your object is older than you think. You show the silver standard and guarantee marks for 1809-1819.
See https://www.925-1000.com/Ffrench_marks.html

The maker is L.N. Alban, flatware maker, working in Paris at 6 rue St-Eloi, then 10 rue de la Tannerie after 1821. Alban registered in 1814. No end date is given, although he is mentioned in the Almanach Azur until 1821. Based on Alban’s working dates and the marks on your silver, you can date the object fairly precisely from 1814-1819.

See Arminjon vol. 1, no. 02472, p. 252.

Regards.
roturoa
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2022 12:57 pm

Re: Paris 1819-1838: maker???

Post by roturoa »

wow, 204 year old forks from Paris...
Thank you for your fast reply
JayT
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Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:45 pm

Re: Paris 1819-1838: maker???

Post by JayT »

You’re welcome.
blakstone
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Re: Paris 1819-1838: maker???

Post by blakstone »

Louis Nicolas Alban

Born: 6 Aug 1783, Paris, son of Francois & Marie Victoire Marnet
Married: 5 Jul 1814, Paris, Louise Adelaide Marie Desfontaines (1783-1847)
Died: 21 Nov 1862, Gentilly, Val-de-Marne

The history of Alban, his predecessor and successors is fairly muddled. His wife, Louise Adelaide Marie Desfontaines, was the widow of silversmith Pierre Rene Thomas Hellaine (1781-ca. 1809; see Arminjon I:2970). It seems likely that Alban assumed Hellaine’s business: Alban is listed at 10 quai Pelletier from 1825 to 1833 in the Paris Directory, and it probably no coindicence that a Nicolas Pierre Francois Hellaine registered a mark at that address on 15 Oct 1828 (see Arminjon I:2737). I have not been able to find any information at all on N.P.F. Hellaine, but I think it likely that he was Alban’s stepson.

N.P.F. Hellaine cancelled his mark on 1 Dec 1834, and five days later, on 6 Dec 1834, Alban regsitered an entirely different mark (“L. ALBAN” with a rayed star; Arminjon: I:2217), renewed on 6 Dec 1836 . These were at 10 & 12 rue du Perche, where Alban is listed in the Paris Directories 1837-1839 (though not, curiously in 1835). This mark was cancelled on 2 Sep 1840 and Arminjon notes that Alban had died and his widow, Elysa Rocquelin, registered a mark (RA with a rayed star) at that address on 2 Sep 1840 (Arminjon II:3588).

This is clearly incorrect; Alban was not dead, nor was he widowed. Rather, “Elysa” (also incorrect) was Adelaide Pierrette Hellaine, Alban’s stepdaughter, who had married, in 1825, silversmith Paul Barthelemy Rocquelin (see Arminjon I:2858), born 1809 and who registered his mark on 3 Nov 1824 at 7 rue des Orfevres. Strangely, Rocquelin is not listed in the Paris Directories of the time. But it does seem clear that he is the person who died around 1840 and whose widow registered the mark that year.

So given all this, my theory is that Alban married the widow Hellaine and assumed his business. Alban’s stepson joined the workshop in 1828, and his stepdaughter married silversmith P.B. Rocquelin in 1825. Stepson N.P.F. Hellaine either retired, changed professions or died in 1834, prompting Alban to register a new mark. His stepson-in-law P.B. Rocquelin died in 1840, at which point Alban himself retired, leaving the direction of the firm to his stepdaughter Adelaide Pierrette Hellaine Rocquelin, the “RA” in her mark standing for "Rocquelin-Alban” and reflecting the merger of the two firms.
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