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This Surtout de Table ("Table centerpiece") is stated to have been a present from Napoleon to his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais, possibly at the time of the latter’s wedding, a surtout de table by Thomire appears in the inventory of Eugène’s possessions he shipped to Munich after the fall of Napoleon. Thomire produced this large, complex work meant to dazzle with reflected light and candlelight while including classical references that would have been recognized by the important heads of state. The motifs including swans—popular with Eugène’s mother, Josephine—appear in Eugène’s house called the Hôtel Beauharnais, suggesting the surtout de table might have been intended for use there. It undoubtedly accompanied Eugène when Napoleon appointed him viceroy of Italy.
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