A FRENCH 'JAPONISME' GILT AND PATINATED-BRONZE AND ONYX JARDINIERE

The present vase epitomises the French 'Japonisme' style fashionable during the second half of the 19th century. The iridescently-patinated peacocks are intended to resemble Japanese metalworks known as mokume. Similar designs incorporating this technique and coupled with Algerian onyx are repeated throughout Cornu's oeuvre, particularly a number of onyx guéridons of either peacock or crane-form, such as one sold at Christie's, London, 14 November 2019, lot 542 (£75,000), and related vases, such as one sold Christie's, London, 24 May 2018, lot 609 (£60,000). See the following lot.