Object Description
Pair of French Neoclassical style lapis and gilt bronze vases
French, late 19th Century
Height 46cm, diameter 19cm
Each vase in this pair, crafted from gilt bronze mounted lapis lazuli (the lapis being a later veneer), is baluster shaped in a manner characteristic of the grand and elegant Empire style. Supported by a square gilt bronze base, each vase stands on a curvilinear gilt bronze stem; furthermore, each vase is surmounted by a domed gilt bronze cover that culminates in a gilt bronze finial. Most strikingly, the vases are mounted with twin swan-neck handles, the swans’ heads holding beautifully rendered gilt bronze foliate garlands that drape across the front of the vases’ bodies.