Pair of urns; France, Napoleon III, ¾ of XIX century.

Pair of urns; France, Napoleon III, ¾ of the nineteenth century.
Marble rouge griotte, and gilded.
Measurements: 31 x 13 x 13 cm (x2).
Carved in rouge griotte marble, appreciated for its intense reddish tone veined with darker and lighter shades, the pieces stand out for the chromatic richness and the quality of the polishing, which enhances the depth and natural shine of the stone. The slender and balanced form, with a rounded globular body, marked neck and molded base on a quadrangular plinth, responds to classically inspired models reinterpreted with the sumptuousness of the period.
The gilded bronze mountings provide a luxurious and sophisticated contrast. There are ornamental friezes of scrolls at the base and at the top of the lid, as well as upper finials in the form of stylized pineapples or floral buttons, common elements in the decorative aesthetics of the Second Empire. The gilding intensifies the dialogue between stone and metal, emphasizing the ornamental character of the whole.
During the reign of Napoleon III, France experienced a remarkable boom in the production of decorative arts, with a special predilection for objects inspired by styles of the past, Louis XVI, Empire, Renaissance, reinterpreted with greater material richness and technical virtuosity. These urns fully respond to this eclectic and ostentatious spirit, probably destined to decorate bourgeois or palatial interiors.