LATE 18TH CENTURY, ROME, POSSIBLY EXECUTED IN THE VALADIER WORKSHOPS

This pair of vases, which were probably originally fitted with candle branches to form candelabra, relates to the oeuvre of Giuseppe Valadier (1762-1839). In 1785 he took over the workshop from his more celebrated father, Luigi Valadier, who hailed from a dynasty of silversmith and bronze-founders in Rome, establishing a famous workshop on via del Babuino. Giuseppe enthusiastically ran the practice, supplying works of art to Pope Pius VI, Duke Luigi Braschi Onesti and Prince Camillo Borghese, but after 1810 architectural commissions took precedence and the business was finally taken over by Pietro Paolo Spagna in 1827. The neo-classical enrichments to this lot, such as the rams' heads, laurel pendants, bas-relief medallions, and finely chased mask mounts, which are all set in contrast against the rich colour of the marble, are leitmotifs pointing towards the cool classicism favoured by the Valadier workshop, particularly Giuseppe. For related illustrated designs see A. Gonzalez-Palacios, 'Valadier Father and Son - Some Further Notes and Discoveries', Furniture History, 2007, figs. 12-16, pp. 77-80.