Crafted in 19th Century France, this jardinière has a long, oval-shaped silvered bronze body, which rests on four scrolling feet. The body takes the form of a bowl of classical acanthus leaves, with scrolling medallions mounted onto the centres of the long sides. Hanging before each medallion is a gilt bronze flower garland, which is held on either side by a gilt bronze, classical style putto. In each pair, the boy on the right blows into a conch shell, which he holds in his right hand, while the left-hand figure gazes down to the ground below. The fabric he wears dramatically flies back in the wind. Decorating the ends of the piece are two gilt bronze hippocampi — that is, ancient mythological creatures which have the upper body of a horse and lower body of fish. These sea-horses point outwards from the jardinière body, their mouths open and feet raised in a gallop. The mouth of the jardinière is scalloped, like a shell, and formed of two layers of silvered- and gilt bronze.