A pair of gilt-bronze and Egyptian porphyry ewers attributed to Claude Galle, Empire, circa 1810

the ovoid bodies on turned gilt bronze feet and square plinths mounted with gilt bronze anthemions, acanthus leaves and olive branches, the spouts with an ivy frieze and winged putto handles

Sotheby's Paris, Mobilier, Sculptures et Objets d'Art, 16 April 2013, lot 284.

These attractive ewers are in very good condition, with very minor pitting to bronze and very minor chips to edges of base, both hardly noticeable.
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Comparative Literature:
H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol.I, p.364, fig.5.12.6.
W.F. Dorokhov, Pavlovsk: Le Palais et le Parc, Les Collections, Paris 1993, vol.I, p.121.
M.-F. Dupuy-Baylet, L’Heure, le Feu, la Lumière: les bronzes du Mobilier National 1800-1870, Dijon, 2010, no. 134, p.248-9.

These superbly cast ewers in terms of conception and spirit are closely related to a pair in patinated and gilt- bronze attributed to Galle, illustrated by Ottomeyer and Pröschel op. cit., p. 364, fig. 5.12.6, with an identical ovoid body raised on a socle and square base and the same distinctive fluted curved herm figure handles grasping the end of the spout, although these in the variant form of winged classical females rather than putti. 

The model proved immensely successful and numerous examples survive, including a pair in Pavlovsk Palace outside St Petersburg, illustrated by Dorokhov op. cit., p. 121 ,and another in the Mobilier National, see Dupuy-Baylet op. cit., no. 134, p. 248-9.  The present pair is distinguished however by the sumptuous use of Egyptian porphyry rather than bronze for the main body.

The tradition of mounting ancient Egyptian porphyry with precious metal and creating novel works of art has a long tradition in France. The most famous early work of this kind is the vase mounted in silver-gilt for Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis prior to 1147 (Paris, Louvre). The association with Imperial Rome made Egyptian porphyry a particular favourite of sovereigns throughout Europe, and ancient fragments were re-cut for important patrons in the form of vases and ewers, initially on a monumental scale in 17^th century Rome and Versailles, and later as more intimate mounted objects during the Louis XVI period, a tradition perpetuated by Galle and other Empire designers.

Claude Galle (1759-1815, maître in 1786) was one of most important Parisian bronziers of the late Louis XVI and Empire periods. He became a major supplier to the Garde-Meuble Impérial during Napoleon’s reign providing clock cases, chandeliers and wall lights to the palaces of Fontainebleau, Saint-Cloud, Compiègne and the Tuileries. His workshop in the Rue Vivienne, established in 1805, employed nearly 400 workers at its height and was the only serious rival in terms of quality of execution and design to that of the Pierre-Philippe Thomire, the principal bronzier to the Napoleonic court.