
These dinner forks are part of a vast service made for Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister Pauline on the occasion of her marriage to the Roman nobleman Camillo Borghese, Sixth Prince of Sulmona.
In the years after the French Revolution, architects and designers adopted the visual language of ancient Greece and Rome to express the new imperial order. Napoleon, hoping to promote Paris’s luxury trades, commissioned several silver dinner services as gifts to be sent abroad.

Set of Berry Spoons (10), from a Service Made for Pauline Bonaparte and Prince Camillo Borghese
Martin-Guillaume Biennais (French, 1764–1843) Pierre-Benoît Lorillon (French, 1757–1816) Paris

Set of Dinner Knives (10)
Martin-Guillaume Biennais French, 1764-1843 Pierre-Benoît Lorillon French, 1757-1816 Paris, France