LATE 18TH CENTURY

This distinctive mottled green and white breccia jasper was first discovered in 1780 in the Altai mountains. Imperial stone-cutting factories such as that at Peterhof, near St. Petersburg, specialized in the creation of finely wrought objects in precious hardstones. These were often embellished with Parisian ormolu mounts by bronziers such as Thomire and Gouthière. The distinctive scrolled vine handles of these vases relate to an ormolu-mounted red jasper tazza in the Wallace Collection, London, illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, Wallace Collection Catalogue, 1956, fig. 110. Other pieces with similar mounts are illustrated in H. Ottomeyer and P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, 1986, vol. I, p. 268, figs. 4.9.11, 4.9.12 and 4.9.13.