A pair of Louis XVI style ormolu-mounted green porphyry vases

Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, sold Sotheby's New York, 22 May 1993, lot 187.

Mounts with rubbing and traces of oxidation and surface dirt in areas. Small losses to ormolu decoration, one finial bent. Numerous old repaired cracks to porphyry, and some more recent restorations to next of one. With losses to porphyry on neck, particularly where the snake of one meets the neck. In otherwise good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The design for this pair derives from two pairs, the ormolu probably by Gouthière, from the collection of Richard Mique. Richard Mique (1728-1794), the architect of Marie Leszczynska, the Mesdames de France and Marie-Antoinette for whom he designed the Hameau at the Petit Trianon, was guillotined in 1794, his property confiscated by the authorities, the vases sent to Versailles and then to the Tuilleries. One pair, in green porphyry, incorporating snake handles, is in the Louvre (D. Alcouffe, et al., Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, p. 226). The other pair, also in porphyry and decorated with rams' masks in places of the snakes, is in the Mobilier National, Paris (M. de Raïssac, Quatre Vases en Porphyre de la Collection Richard Mique, Revue du Louvre 5-1990, pp. 386-390). 

The design  of the Mique vases would indicate a date of around 1780 for their fabrication. The pair of vases in serpentine marble bought by Louis XVI from the collection of the Duc d'Aumont in 1782 and now in the Louvre (D. Alcoufe et al., op. cit., p. 242) are mounted with rams' head mounts. A porphyry vase in the Wallace Collection (F. 355) and the pair of vases in petrified wood from Marie-Antoinette's apartments at Versailles, and now in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, are mounted with similar entwined serpents.