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Lot Essay
Gabriel Henriot, curator in the Forney bibliothèque, Paris, discusses these vases in his publication on objets d'art in Paris private collections as: 'De beaux vases, en marbre, sont revêtus de bronzes finement ciselés et peuvent dignement couronner les commodes, les encoignures et les bureaux de l'époque.'
During the second half of the 18th Century, Russian imperial stone-cutting factories such those at Peterhof, Ekaterinburg and Kolyvan were producing exceptional pieces destined for the Imperial palaces or as diplomatic gifts. The factory of Kolyvan, founded in 1786, produced ormolu-mounted urns and vases which have bronzes closely related to those on the present examples. The chasing of the upswept acanthus leaves and the ram-masks are strikingly similar to those on a pair of large ormolu-mounted porphyry vases from Kolyvan, dated 1789 and now in the Picture Gallery at Pavlovsk (Pavlovsk, The Collections, Paris, 1993, p.205, ill.11). Interestingly, the Pavlovsk vases were considered previously thought to be Louis XVI rather than Russian until the specific designs were found in albums in the Hermitage Museum.
During the second half of the 18th Century, Russian imperial stone-cutting factories such those at Peterhof, Ekaterinburg and Kolyvan were producing exceptional pieces destined for the Imperial palaces or as diplomatic gifts. The factory of Kolyvan, founded in 1786, produced ormolu-mounted urns and vases which have bronzes closely related to those on the present examples. The chasing of the upswept acanthus leaves and the ram-masks are strikingly similar to those on a pair of large ormolu-mounted porphyry vases from Kolyvan, dated 1789 and now in the Picture Gallery at Pavlovsk (Pavlovsk, The Collections, Paris, 1993, p.205, ill.11). Interestingly, the Pavlovsk vases were considered previously thought to be Louis XVI rather than Russian until the specific designs were found in albums in the Hermitage Museum.