ITALIAN, LATE 18TH OR EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Designed by the banker Jean-Henri Eberts (1726-1803) after that of similar form in Joseph-Marie Vien's painting of 1762, La vertueuse athenienne and introduced in an advertisement in the Parisian newspaper the Avant-Coureur for 27 September, 1773, the athenienne symbolizes the marriage of archaeological forms and fancy during the late 18th century when the neoclassic style was all the rage in fashionable intimate interiors. The uses of the athenienne were eight: as an ornament and focal point in the middle of a room; as a table under a pier mirror, or in a corner, or as a pedestal to support a candelabrum or a piece of sculpture; as a perfume burner; as a heater for making coffee, tea, or chocolate; as a goldfish bowl; as a planter to grow bulbs in winter; as a bowl for cut flowers; and as a device for keeping bouillon or other drinks warm. The athinienne was first retailed from the shop near the porte Saint-Martin of the painter, gilder, varnisher, and author of the famous treatise on gilding, Jean-Felix Watin (b. 1728).