A NAPOLEON III ORMOLU AND CHAMPLEVE ENAMEL JARDINIERE

This unusually large champlevé enamel jardinière is characteristic of a small number of neo-grec designs created by Louis-Constant Sévin (d. 1888) for the Barbedienne foundry in the 1860s. The Barbedienne foundry followed Elkington and Christofle in perfecting the technique by which the cloisons (recesses) were cast into the body of the object, then filled with enamel, thus allowing a much more even surface to be crafted. Compare a ‘Byzantine’ vase by Barbedienne shown at 1862 International Exhibition in London, of which an example is in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris (OAO 1296 2). See also Lot 176.