241 - Cutlery set case covered in green morocco leather

Cutlery set case covered in green morocco leather with a rice-grain texture, featuring gold-embossed palmette friezes along the edges, the lid features a steel handle, opens on hinges via a metal fitting system, and bears the “JBG” monogram centered within a coat-of-arms-style medallion; the interior is shaped and lined with red velvet, providing space for 12 pieces of cutlery. The key is missing; the leather shows some wear. First Empire period. H. 6 x W. 36 x D. 25 cm. Provenance Probably Jean-Baptiste Girard, born on February 21, 1775, in Aups in the Var department and died on June 27, 1815, in Paris, was a French military officer, general, and Baron of the Empire, who served during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon I said of Girard on Saint Helena: “He was one of the most intrepid soldiers in the French army: he clearly had that sacred fire.”