Rare Set Of Six Horngacher Armorial Knives, Nicolas-martin Langlois And Chapy, Paris 1768-69

Rare set of six Louis XV period armorial dessert knives
Horngacher coat of arms
Silver handles by Nicolas-Martin Langlois (received master in 1757, active until 1789)
Steel blades by Chapy, cutler "À la Faucille"
Paris, 1768-1769
Length: between 20.7 and 21.2 cm
Gross weight 353g
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Very good general condition. Scratches and micro-shocks from use. Beautiful patina.
The blades are original. The steel is stained. The edge remains sharp and the tips are not damaged.
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The Goldsmith
Nicolas-Martin Langlois, apprentice to Claude and then Jacques Ballin, at the Louvre galleries, was admitted as a master goldsmith on September 3, 1757. Initially a resident at the Louvre galleries, he moved to rue des Fossés St-Germain l’Auxerrois where he was registered from 1774 to 1783; he then lived on rue Simon-le-Franc, from 1787 to 1789.
On April 16, 1778, he advertised in the Affiches de Paris […] a collection of models of silver knives of the most recent taste. They can be given whatever weight you want and the ordinary models will cost only six louis a dozen, all mounted with their blades and of good strength. They can be weighed before being mounted. [Nocq III, p.30-31]
A renowned goldsmith, he worked as a subcontractor for Roettiers or Germain on prestigious orders from the Duke of Cadaval or the King of Portugal, as well as on pieces from the Orloff service. He himself worked for a large foreign clientele, as evidenced by the very beautiful pieces of his hand hallmarked for export [Louvre III, pp.122-125].
The date of his death is unknown, but he is no longer mentioned after 1789.

The cutler
The six original blades bear the name of the cutler Chapy and his mark, a crowned sickle. Chapy is mentioned in the Almanach général des marchands for the year 1772 as one of the main Parisian cutler manufacturers, living on rue de la Coutellerie, “À la Faucille” [d’Allemagne II, p.296]. -----
Hallmarks
Only the discharge hallmark, the last to be struck on the finished object, is perfectly legible on the six knives. The other hallmarks, almost entirely erased on five pieces, are partially legible on one handle.
Hallmark of the master goldsmith: - Small hallmark of Nicolas-Martin Langlois (Crown, two grains, NML, three bezants) [Dennis II p.79 n°206], partially erased. Regulatory hallmarks in use in Paris from October 1, 1768 to November 18, 1774: - Trace of the charge hallmark for gold and small silver works (a fleur de bassinet) [BP n°466] - Hallmark of the common house in use from July 13, 1768 to July 12, 1769 (Crowned letter E) [BP n°479] - Discharge hallmark for gold and small silver works (A helmeted head in profile) [BP n°468] ----- The coat of arms Partially sable and gold, a stork crowned with gold, one in the other, holding in its beak a serpent twisted in silver. Crest: a stork rising half gold and sable, with wings spread sable, holding in its beak a serpent twisted in silver. The Horngacher family, originally from Augsburg, was ennobled by Emperor Maximilian II on June 17, 1568. Received into the bourgeoisie of Geneva in 1668, the family owned the lordship of Dardagny until the 19th century [Deonna pp.13-15].

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Références
d’Allemagne II: Henry René d’Allemagne, Les accessoires du costume et du mobilier depuis le treizième jusqu’au milieu du dixneuvième siècle, tome II, chez Schemit, Paris 1928 [consultable en ligne]
BP: Michèle Bimbenet-Privat et Gabriel de Fontaines, La datation de l'orfèvrerie parisienne sous l'Ancien Régime, Paris-Musées 1995
Dennis II: Faith Dennis, Three Centuries of French Domestic Silver, volume II, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1960
Deonna: Henry Deonna, Lettres de noblesse et d'armoiries de familles genevoises, Archives héraldiques suisses, vol. 31, 1917 [consultable en ligne]
Louvre III: Michèle Bimbenet-Privat, Florian Doux et Catherine Gougeon, Orfèvrerie de la Renaissance et des Temps Modernes, XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, La collection du Musée du Louvre, vol. 3, éditions Faton, Paris 2022
Nocq III: Henry Nocq, Le poinçon de Paris, tome III, Léonce Laget, Paris 1968