Pair of Empire period porcelain vases by Dihl et Guérhard

The vases are of campana (or campagna) form, with upward-turned bell-shaped bodies which stand on splayed feet, set on square bases. Each vase is mounted with two small handles which take the form of classical masks.

The vases are gilt and decorated with colourful and intricate paintings. Their lower bodies are encircled by red and white painted bands which frame gilt flower wreaths. The vases’ bodies feature white, pink and gold paintings of lyres, which are topped by doves and flanked by griffins and swans. These paintings are set against green grounds, within oval blue-banded borders. Stylised white and gold foliage bands, against green backgrounds, decorate the mouths of the vases.

‘Dihl’ is painted onto the undersides of the vases. Dihl et Guérhard was a famous hard-paste porcelain factory which was founded in Paris in the late 18^th Century. Dihl et Guérhard porcelain pieces are today found in major decorative art collections, including the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. These vases were created in c.1810, when Napoleon Bonaparte was Emperor of France.