PROBABLY ITALIAN, CIRCA 1800

The expressive lion mounts on this vase recall the à l'antique work of Giuseppe Valadier (1762-1839), the celebrated Roman bronzier and silversmith. Similiarly dynamic lion masks can be found on a circular silver soup tureen, illustrated in Artemis, exh. cat., Valadier: Three Generations of Roman Goldsmiths, London, 1991, p. 140, no. 74b.