Pair of ormolu and Sèvres style porcelain vases

This beautiful pair of petit vases is crafted from Sèvres style porcelain mounted with finely cast and gilt bronze, or ormolu.

Each vase features an unusually shaped porcelain body, the surface of which is coloured the distinctive Sèvres bleu celeste, or sky blue. Each vase is adorned with a gilt-framed and jewelled cartouche to the front, finely painted with a Rococo style genre scene. The reverse of each features a scrolled foliate motif encompassed by a tooled gilt cartouche. Each vase is topped with a gadrooned and parcel gilt porcelain lid, which in turn is surmounted by an ormolu finial.

The vases are supported by ornately shaped ormolu bases, from each of which rises an ormolu socle that in turn supports the springing of twin geometrical handles, each handle finished with acanthus leaf detailing and topped with a further finial.

The pair is a highly unusual—and utterly charming—example of the Rococo Revival in late 19^th Century French decorative art.