Pair Of Patinated Bronze Centerpieces - Red Campan Griotte Marble Base - Period: XIXth

Magnificent pair of bronze centerpieces or pockets on a red Campan marble base. 
Sculpted glass cups with thistle motif.
Symbolic representation of the nude, drunkenness and dance in 19th century French art.

Period : 19th century
Dimensions : Height : 47,2cm 
Dimensions of the base : Height : 5,5cm - Diameter : 12cm
Diameter of the cup : 32,5cm

The shaft is decorated with Greek mythological characters, representing respectively a satyr playing the flute, an original work of Hugues Taraval (1729-1785) on one side and a baccante supporting an amphora on the other.
Both are wearing binnacles.

The satyr is an exuberant country creature who belongs to the thiase, the procession of Dionysus. He is often drunk, particularly on wine, and represents sexuality, celebration and procession.

The bacchante is originally one of Dionysus' nurses. Depending on the version of the myth, she is either a nymph or a human woman devoted to her god. 
In the procession of Dionysus, she also refers to celebration and sexuality. 
The satyrs are known to charm women, and more precisely the bacchantes, the two beings who always take part in Dionysian orgies.

Alternately an ancient dancer, an arched nymph or a fatal maenad, the bacchante never ceases to appear in the creations of 19th century artists. 

Fascinating and polymorphic figure of the bacchante, does she not represent the woman in the arts of the 19th century?

From Pradier to Rodin, from Berlioz to the Ballets Russes, the most diverse artists exploited this motif which makes of drunkenness the companion of Eros and Thanatos. 

The mythical priestess of the procession of Bacchus is regularly revisited until she is transformed into the sensual muse of modern times.