Pair of urns; France, 19th century

Pair of urns; France, 19th century
Gilded bronze
Shows signs of wear
Height: 56 cm.

Pair of gilded bronze urns or vases, French-made, produced in the late 19th century in the Napoleon III style. They feature an ovoid body with a flared mouth and acanthus leaf decoration on the neck; on either side of the neck’s base are female masks wearing classical headdresses, serving as handles or finials. The body is decorated with garlands of flowers and fruit, along with floral bouquets, and rests on a shaft and a base with a mixtilinear profile, topped by four claw-shaped feet.

The Napoleon III style is characterized precisely by its historicist and eclectic nature, combining in a single piece decorative elements from different periods of French art, which gave rise to the well-known expression “tout-les-Louis.” Thus, in pieces such as this one, the profusion of floral garlands and the classicist taste characteristic of the Louis XVI period coexist with volumes and certain ornamental elements reminiscent of the Louis XV period, and even, in the female masks flanking the neck, the persistence of the decorative motif known as the “espagnolette,” which emerged during the Regency (the transition between the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV) and depicts female busts wearing a Spanish-style headdress or mantilla—a motif that was widely revived in 19th-century French cabinetmaking and bronze work.