A pair of Louis XVI Sèvres gilt-bronze mounted green-ground vases (vase 'à monter'), the porcelain circa 1785, the mounts late 18th century, in the manner of Pierre-Philippe Thomire

An English Private Collection.

The gilt-bronze handles, modelled as arched eagle or griffin heads issuing scrolls and acanthus leaves, were modelled in the taste of Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) who along with his master, Pierre Gouthière, was one of the most celebrated bronziers during the reign of Louis XVI in the last quarter of the 18^th century. Among the closest comparable examples attributed to Thomire is a pair of dark blue-ground vases with fine mounts bearing two-headed eagles and vine-leaf scrolls above an acanthus-leaf flounce on each side, now in the Royal Collections (inv. no. RCIN 36107). The Royal Collection pair was acquired by George V through his intermediary, Dominique Daguerre, and would have originally been fitted with chains or strings of beads in the eagle’s beaks, a feature which has survived on the present example.

Also of note are the objects attributed to Thomire with simple yet fine scrolls resting on the neck, similar in design to those of the present lot; for example, the Sèvres tazza in the Royal Collections (inv. no. RCIN 3581) and a pair of vases in the Sèvres Museum (inv. no. MNC25493 1-2). Interestingly, the Sèvres archive refers to Thomire by name as the author of vases with such spirally-twisted ribbons in a drawing dated 20 April 1784, inscribed ‘Vase Casollette pour Etre Monté par M. Tomier’ (sic Thomire). Finally, Thomire’s combination of eagle heads and delicate scrolls is embodied in a Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted carved lapis lazuli tazza with single-headed eagles, offered at Christie’s, London, 2 December 2014, lot 86.

The basic urn-shaped form of the vase appears in three drawings for a vase 'à monter' (the first of 1782 and the second two dating to 1785, both preserved in the Sèvres archive), each inscribed 'pour M. Daguerre' and specifically designed to be mounted with ormolu. For a reproduction of two of the drawings see Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, vol. I, p. 469, where the model is discussed in detail. It is probable these mounts and even the porcelain vase form were commissioned and probably also designed, by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre and introduced in 1782. The holes for the attachment on the stem and foot were either pierced before glazing or after the vases had been fired in the kiln. Given that the mounts were probably made to the order of the Director of Sèvres, then it seems likely that they were supplied by the factory’s accredited bronze manufacturer, Pierre-Philippe Thomire, who succeeded Jean-Claude Duplessis in 1783.

The arabesque border decoration on these vases may have been inspired by engravings after Raphael's Loggia in the Vatican, Rome. It is reserved against a rare dark-green ground which was probably introduced in the late 1770s or early 1780s when new ground colours were being developed for use on hard-paste porcelain. Various names appearing in the Sèvres records have been associated with this colour, including 'merde d’oie’ and ‘fond Boue de Paris’. However, David Peters has identified the most likely candidate as 'verd [vert] anglais'. For a 1784 cup and saucer with this ground colour and arabesque borders reserved with chinoiserie panels see, Dr Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth and Rebecca Shaw, Presence, Vincennes and Sèvres Porcelain from a Private Collection, London, 2021, pp. 136-137.