LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

The present pair of vases copy a single example carved in porphyry, formerly in the collection of the Duc de Tallard. At the sale of Tallard's collection in 1756, the vase was purchased for 5,001 livres by the marquis de Marigny, brother of Madame de Pompadour. Following the death of his sister, Marigny lost his position as directeur général des Bâtiments, together with the sumptuously decorated hôtel that came with it, and the vase, together with other contents, were purchased from him by the Crown. Later displayed in the Salon du Premier Consul at the Tuileries, where it remained through to the end of the Second Empire, the vase is now in the collection of the Louvre.