A PAIR OF PARIS GOLD-GROUND TWO-HANDLED VASES

CIRCA 1815

Details

A PAIR OF PARIS GOLD-GROUND TWO-HANDLED VASES
Circa 1815
Each oviform, the gilt neck and lower portion moulded with lotus, the acanthus scroll handles issuing from lotus terminals, painted in colors with mythological scenes, one with Orpheus seranading Eurydice beside a pond, the other with a Corinthian maiden tracing on the wall the profile of her lover's head, the reverse en grisaille with rural landscapes, reserved within polished gilt bands on the gold ground chased with meandering tassels, feathers and scrolls, on socle foot and square base moulded with stylized anthemion and lotus
21in. (55.3cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

The scene on the second vase is based on a painting of the same subject, 'The Origin of Painting', executed by the Scottish genre painter David Allan. The work was awarded the Gold Medal for painting at the Accademia di San Luca in 1773 and the image engraved by Cunego in 1776. The painting now hangs in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.

The scene depicts the story of a Corinthian maiden who unwittingly invented the art ofd design when she traced by candlelight the shadow of her lover's profile on the wall. A Paris cabinet plate of similar date but with decoration more closely based on Allan's original was sold at Christie's New York, 11 September 1997, lot 87.