A pair of French Empire patinated bronze and ormolu ewers, circa 1810

Description

The ewers

These two elegant ewers have a griotte red marble base and are decorated with masks and seahorses in the patinated bronze middle.
The handles form into winged griffins resting on, but not attached to the spout.
The bronze work is finely ciseled and the fire gilding is in excellent condition.

The style

The winged griffins are in the same style as the mythical winged female figures
with which the well-known bronzier Claude Galle decorated handles of urns and vases. Examples of which can be found in:
H. Ottomeyer & P. Pörschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Münich, 1986, vol. I, FIGs. 5.12.6 and 5.12.9, pp. 364-365
A. de Gourcuff (ed.), Pavlovsk: The Palace and the Park, Paris, 1993, p. 121.