A fine and rare pair of Louis XIV ormolu trays on stands circa 1715

each of elongated octagonal form with a raised border of guilloche arched and marked on four sides with profile medallions linked by laurel garlands, the recessed oval center cast with trellis enclosing quatrefoil and centering an oval relief allegorical of Air with Juno seated upon a cloud between Iris seated on a rainbow and the Wind flying away on one; the other allegorical of Earth with Cybilla and Ceres seated together in a chariot with a lion and a bear in front of them, a camel to the left surrounded by fruits, vegetables and horticultural tools; each raised on a flared circular socle cast with trellis enclosing quatrefoil and with a leaf tip rim.

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 1, 1997, lot 255

The oval medallions are after the series of tapestries depicting the Elements designed by Charles le Brun and executed in 1664 by the Manufacture Royale des Gobelins.  The tapestry depicting Earth is illustrated, M.M. Fenaille, La Manufacture des Gobelins, 1903, p. 55.

The profile medallions linked by swags are reminiscent of a design by Jean le Pautre, see Thomas Arthur Strange, French Interiors, Furniture, Decoration, 1950, p. 61.

A similar silver tray (gantière) in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, is illustrated, Les Grands Orfèvres de Louis XIII à Charles X, Paris, 1965, p. 95.  The border is decorated with similar classical profile medallions and an identical group depicting two putti playing with a scorpion.  The silver marks do not reveal the maker, but are datable circa 1723-1724.