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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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A fine pair of Louis XVI gilt bronze and white marble cassolettes shaped as tripod athéniennes, each with a domed cover surmounted by a berried and foliate finial, the cover opening to reveal a turned candle holder, the ovoid body mounted with a gilt band from which hang three sets of tassle-hung ribbon-tied gilt beads, on a stiff-leaf cup and shaped central shaft with ring connecting three monopodiae supports with cloven feet, each headed by a classical maiden head and supported on a circular plinth on a circular white marble base with gilt beaded border Paris, date circa 1780 Height 24.5 cm. each. Designs for similar cassolettes with reversible tops to form ‘candle vases’ was successfully exploited by Matthew Boulton and his partner John Fothergill of the Soho manufactory in Birmingham, England. Among similar designs was a pair with goat’s heads dating from 1768 which was still in production during the 1780’s. It is very likely that their designs were seen in Paris since Boulton and Fothergill sold a number of their products abroad, especially to the European and Russian aristocracy. |