LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Name: A PAIR OF NORTH EUROPEAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED GRAY GRANITE TWO-HANDLED VASES
Brand: LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Price: 11000.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised USD 13,860

Estimate

USD 15,000 - USD 25,000

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A PAIR OF NORTH EUROPEAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED GRAY GRANITE TWO-HANDLED VASES

LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Price Realised USD 13,860

Each of baluster form with fixed domed cover with pinecone finial, the body with entwined serpent handles and acanthus sheath, on waisted socle and shaped base
32 in. (81.5 cm.) high, 16 in. (40.5 cm.) wide, 11¹⁄₂ in. (29.2 cm.) deep (each)

Acquired from Ariane Dandois, Paris.

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

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Lot Essay

Snake handles derive from antique decorative vocabulary and can be found on antique Roman marble vases, such as a vase dated second half 2nd century A.D., now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (acc. num. 2007.31a, b). The revival for such snake handles occurred in Europe in the seventeenth century under the influence of Stefano della Bella (1610-64) who designed vases with snake handles in his Raccolta di Vasi Diversi, published circa 1646. Those depicted in the engravings had carved handles that were part of the vase body. Such snake handles appear as bronze mounts in France during the early neoclassical period of the 1760s. One of the first known examples is a porphyry vase with mounts cast and chased by the goldsmith Robert-Joseph Auguste (1723-1805), probably formerly in the collection of Blondel de Gagny, now in the Wallace Collection (F355). The snake motif proved to be very popular and its use continued well into the nineteenth century, often on Louis XVI revival works, such as the present lot.