Lot Essay
This splendid Exhibition vase, entitled The Sèvres Vase de Nimes, was designed in 1853 by Jules-Pierre-Michel Dieterle. The Sèvres archives show that the two first examples of this type, described as fond bleu lapis monture en bronze, entered their showrooms in August 1855, the year of the Exposition Universelle in Paris, at a price of 8,000 francs each. The records show that the first one sold in 1858 to Lord Ward, whilst the second was sold to the Mobilier de la couronne in July 1864.