Louis XV Period, Nevers Ceramic Brazier With A Marbled Design, In Excellent Condition!

Mid-18th-century Nevers plain-fire ceramic brazier

Trompe-l’œil decoration featuring blue-gray and green veins on a gray background, imitating—albeit clumsily!—marble

Condition:
Restorations along the edges of the lid and the base of the brazier
The brazier, however, is in a state of completeness I had never encountered before: it features
*its lid topped by a sturdy ceramic handle,
*its 4 wooden casters (replaced?) mounted on curved wrought-iron axles,
*its two turned wooden side handles hinged to supports—again made of wrought iron,
*its iron tongs used to remove ashes from the firebox,
*as well as its large, perforated iron tripod bucket located inside the brazier. This is truly the first time in my career that I have seen this component completing the Nevers earthenware brazier

The brazier’s cut corners are highlighted in relief by curved friezes that perfectly capture the aesthetic of the Louis XV era, while the bottom door of the brazier playfully echoes architectural vocabulary, with a molding highlighting it and topped by a keystone.
The brazier’s curved profile along its height also serves as an obvious nod to the aesthetic of furniture from the same era.

Once again, the contribution of the Nivernais potters lies here in their aesthetic form and function's creativity, and in a playful interpretation of 18th-cty aesthetics, rather than in the fine quality of their production. In any case, these everyday objects were a genuine success in their time, as evidenced by the number that have survived despite their obvious fragility and intensive, repeated use. (There are, in fact, several variations and sizes.)

Dimensions:
60 cm high
* 45 cm each side