TOILETRY SET ATTRIBUTED TO GENERAL MEYNADIER, First Empire. 30324

TOILETRY KIT ATTRIBUTED TO GENERAL MEYNADIER, First Empire. 30324

PARIS 18th century from 1784 to 1798-1804.
Mahogany box with brass fittings (corners, angles, lock) and brass handle. Lid decorated with a brass crest engraved with intertwined initials "L M" stamped. Complete lock with its steel key. Interior fully lined with scarlet morocco leather richly gilded by hand.
The kit contains toiletry, writing, and sewing items in steel and silver plate at 8th and lined:
- Bellows document holder inside the lid,
- Removable mirror,
- Silver-plated barber razor and chin guard at 1/8th, repurposed object made at the Pomponne factory by DAUMY,
- 2 folding steel and horn knives,
- 2 folding razors,
- 1 corkscrew,
- 1 pair of steel scissors,
- 2 needle cases, one shaped like a quiver in carved horn depicting the allegory of temperance, the other a pansy under glass,
- 1 pencil holder,
- 4 cut crystal bottles with stoppers,
- 4 lined boxes of two sizes,
- three toothbrushes, and various brushes,
- Steel bootjack.

France.
First Empire.
Good condition, lid plating with some cracks, brass rim strip of the lid detached at two places, one folding knife not of the model, mirror changed at a later date (modern).

NOTE:
Master silversmith: for the barber razor and chin guard: Jacques DAUMY, registered in 1783 and for the lining the association of François PELLERIN de CHANTERENNE and DAUMY (punch crossed out on October 2, 1804).
The barber razor and chin guard demonstrate the activity of the Pomponne factory opened in 1784 by TUGOT and DAUMY which produced plated metal objects. Continuing his activity after the closure of this factory, Jacques DAUMY partnered with François PELLERIN de CHANTERENNE as makers of "lined" items until October 2, 1804 (date on which the hallmark "P.D a purse" appearing on many pieces of this kit was crossed out). Therefore, the creation of this composite kit can be dated to the period 1798-1804.

BIOGRAPHY:
Louis Henri René MEINADIER General Meynadier
(Louis Henri René Meynadier)
(Louis Henri René MEINADIER)
Baron of the Empire (September 14, 1813), Count MEINADIER (December 23, 1815 - under Louis XVIII), Aide-de-Camp of General Vignolles (around March 14, 1806), General of the Empire (November 4, 1813), General (***) of Division (1825), Golden Eagle (1810), Name on Arc de Triomphe, West pillar (39th, - Meynadier)
Born on February 8, 1778 - SAINT ANDRÉ DE VALBORGNE 30. Died on June 28, 1847 - PARIS 75, at the age of 69. Buried on July 3, 1847.
Deputy of Lozère (1831-1847)
Meinadier (signed Meinadier in 1816), according to his Leonore file:
Legion of Honor:
Knight on March 14, 1806 (as Aide-de-Camp of General Vignolle)
Officer on October 31, 1809 (as Battalion Chief. Army of Italy)
Commander on May 17, 1813 (as Major Adjutant Chief of Staff of the Imperial Old Guard)
Grand Officer on April 10, 1814 (as Maréchal de Camp (=Brigadier General), Lieutenant of the Guards of the Body of the Ragusian Company)
Grand Cross on April 14, 1844 (as Lieutenant General, commanding the 19th Military Division)
On February 29, 1810 (as Lieutenant Colonel, Aide-de-Camp of General Vignolle) a letter from the Grand Chancellor of the L.H. states:
"…Mr. and Dear colleague… I have the honor to inform you that I have sent a Golden Eagle for you to Mr. General Count de Vignolle. I have delegated it, for this purpose, in accordance with the orders of His Imperial and Royal Majesty."
Deputy from 1831 to 1847, born in Saint-André (Gard) on February 8, 1778, died in Paris on June 29, 1847, entered service in 1791 as a volunteer in the 1st battalion of Gard, became a sergeant-major a year later, and, attached to the adjutants-general in the army of the Eastern Pyrenees, distinguished himself at Rivesaltes and Peyretorto where he was wounded.
Taken prisoner on October 4, 1794, he only returned to France the following year, then became captain in the 1st battalion of Lozère, and was appointed by General Brune as assistant to the adjutants of the armies of Italy and aide-de-camp of General Vignolles.
At the rupture of the peace of Amiens, he was part of the Grand Army; battalion chief after Austerlitz, colonel after Wagram, chief of staff of Mortier in 1812, chief of staff of the Imperial Guard during the Saxon campaign, he was promoted to general of brigade after Leipzig, where he fought heroically, and then joined the 6th Army Corps which suffered greatly during the campaign of 1814.
During the first Restoration, he was transferred, as lieutenant-commander, to the 4th company of the Bodyguards, and in May 1815, as chief of staff of the king's military household, accompanied Louis XVIII to Béthune, where he oversaw the disbandment of the remaining royal guard troops under his command.
Employed in the Army of the Alps under Suchet (1815), he commanded the rearguard during the retreat to Lyon, managed to hold back the allies, and even defeated the Austrians near Nantua.
Created Count on December 23, 1815, he participated in the Spanish War in 1823, as chief of staff of the 3rd Army Corps, under the command of Prince de Hohenlohe, which occupied the Basque provinces.
Appointed major-general of the occupying army, he remained in Spain until 1825, then became general of division, and was responsible for numerous inspections.
In 1827, he commanded the 9th military division in Montpellier, and in 1829, the 19th in Clermont. He was a Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.
After the revolution of 1830, Mr. Meynadier entered politics.
General Councillor of Gard in 1831, a position he held until his death, he was successively elected deputy of the 2nd constituency of Lozère (Florac) on September 6, 1831, replacing Mr. Pelet de la Lozère who opted for Toulouse, with 76 votes (106 voters, 148 registered), against 25 votes for Judge Monestier; on June 21, 1834, with 87 votes (123 voters, 151 registered), against 34 votes for Mr. André; on November 4, 1837, with 117 votes (119 voters, 166 registered); on March 2, 1839, with 113 votes (121 voters). This election being annulled, Mr. Meynadier ran again before his constituents who renewed his mandate on June 15 following, with 109 votes (130 voters); invalidated a second time, he was again reappointed on August 24 of the same year, with 107 votes (121 voters), then re-elected again on July 9, 1842, with 95 votes (153 voters, 183 registered), against 58 votes for Mr. Daudé. Mr. Meynadier remained part of the ministerial majority; he approved the disjunction law and the address of 1839, voted for the endowment of the Duke of Nemours, for the fortifications of Paris, for recruitment, against incompatibilities, against the addition of capacities, for the Pritchard indemnity, and rejected the measures demanded by the opposition.
He died in June 1847, and was replaced on August 7 of the same year by Mr. Daudé.
On January 25, 1814, at the Center of the Armies under the command of Marshal Marmont: General Meynadier, Chief of Staff.
It has been said that Marmont betrayed during the capitulation of Paris in 1814…
Here is how Marmont ragused during the defense of Belleville:
"Two enemy columns marched on Belleville; and they were already reaching the main street, when the Duke of Raguse had us told, Meynadier and I, to gather what was left of our fighters to try to repel the enemy. We hastily assembled 300 young men armed and dressed from the day before. The charge was sounded, the enemy was repelled, and communications restored with the barrier.
What a sight, a Marshal of France, two generals fighting with 300 young conscripts for the defense of the capital of the great empire, that is what could have been seen in the streets of Belleville on March 30, 1814."
(Pelleport, Military and Intimate Memories)
Marmont also logically narrated in his Memoirs the heroic defense of Belleville:
"As soon as I had descended a few steps into the main street of Belleville, I recognized the head of a Russian column that had just arrived there. There was no time to lose to act; any delay would have been fatal to us. I decided at that very moment to immediately rally a post of sixty men within reach. Its weakness could not be perceived by the enemy in such a narrow path. I led the charge, at the head of this handful of soldiers, with General Pelleport and General Meynadier. The first received a gunshot that pierced his chest, from which fortunately he did not die. As for me, my horse was wounded and my clothes riddled with bullets. The head of the enemy column turned back."