Pair Of Patinated Bronze Vases, Based On The Model From The Château De Versailles – 19th Century.

An interesting pair of bronze vases with a nuanced brown patina, resting on double-stepped bases in Aleppo breccia marble. These elegant reductions are based on the model executed for the parterres of the Château de Versailles by Laurent Magnier (1618–1700) and Jean-Baptiste Tuby (1629–1700), after a design by Claude Ballin (1615–1678), goldsmith to Louis XIV. The originals, cast between 1665 and 1666 by François Picard and Denis Prévost, still adorn the parapets separating the Parterre du Nord from the Parterre du Midi at Versailles. Each vase features rich ornamentation, emblematic of the Versailles taste of the Grand Siècle: the handles are formed by a boar's head surmounted by a two-headed bust of Janus, the Roman god of time and beginnings; The body is decorated with a frieze of oak leaves and acorns, a symbol of strength and longevity; the base is decorated with foliage and fruit in relief, while a Greek fret frieze highlights the waist of the vase; the neck is bordered with a pearl molding and a water leaf motif. The vases rest on a fluted pedestal, placed on bases of Aleppo breccia marble whose warm polychromy, mixing ochres, beiges and browns, admirably highlights the brown patina of the bronze. These 19th-century reductions demonstrate remarkable expertise: precise casting, nervous chiseling and a deep patina of a quality worthy of the great 19th-century bronze makers such as Barbedienne, Durenne, Beurdeley or Barbezat et Cie, mentioned in the archives as publishers of similar Versailles models. They are part of the historicist vogue of the Second Empire, a period when the masterpieces of the Grand Siècle were reissued for aristocratic interiors and pleasure gardens. Dimensions: Total height: 45.5 cm