BY CHRISTOFLE & CIE, PARIS, DESIGNED BY EMILE AUGUSTE REIBER (1826-1893), CIRCA 1878-1880

As early as 1842 the French firm Christofle & Cie began perfecting a mixed metal technique known as galvanoplastie, a type of silver electroplate, which enabled a cast to be taken directly for the artist's model thus preserving the fine detail, but which was also used to create a multi-coloured effect that directly coincided with the growing fascination with Japanese arts, inlcuding metalwork. The preeminent designer of these French mixed-metal works was the artist Emile Auguste Reiber (1826-1893), who collaborated with Christofle to execute his fanciful ‘Japanese’ designs and whose works are now held in such prestigious collections the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, where an example of this exact model is held (inv. OAO1017). The model came in two sizes, the other of rectangular form, and was a part of a larger garniture which also comprised a pair of vases, candelabra, or lamps that was exhibited at the 1878 Exposition Universelle, Pairs. Another jardinière of this model and size sold at Christie's, Paris, 17 December 2009, lot 5 (121,000 euros).