A pair of French parcel-gilt and bronze amphora

CAST FROM MODELS BY FERDINAND LEVILLAIN, BY F. BARBEDIENNE, PARIS, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Details

A pair of French parcel-gilt and bronze amphora
Cast from models by Ferdinand Levillain, by F. Barbedienne, Paris, late 19th Century
Each with a fluted collar, above a neck cast with satyr masks, above a tapering amphora shaped vase, flanked by a pair of handles, the body cast in high relief with figures and foliage, signed F. LEVILLAIN and M^on F. BARBEDIENNE Paris, on three scrolled monopodiae, one without upper pierced collar
60in. (152cm.) high (2)

Provenance

Sotheby's, London, 3 November 1989, lot 468.

Lot Essay

These large tripod-supported Grecian vases, with altar-decorated bas-reliefs and inscribed with prayers to a godess, were designed as oil lamps by the celebrated bronze founder Ferdinand Barbedienne (d. 1892), the Parisian sculpteur-ornemaniste whose work was exhibited at a number of International Exhibitions such as those held in Paris in 1855 and 1867 and in London in 1871. They are illustrated in J. Bourne, Lighting, London 1991, no 679).
Ferdinand Levillain (d. 1905) won a silver medal at the Exposition UniversellE in 1889, an example of his gilt-bronze vase, with reliefs illustrating the story of Diogenes, is in the Museum of Modern Art, Paris.

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