A PAIR OF FRENCH PARCEL-GILT, PATINATED BRONZE AND CLOISONNE ENAMEL VASES

A watercolor design for the 'owl' vase is dated April 1874 by the artist Emile Reiber, who provided a variation of enamel designs for this particular model vase, including depictions of a frog and wren. According to notations in the Christofle Archive, it is almost certain that the present pair of vases was exhibited at the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1874. A pair of vases fronted by the aforementioned wren and frog, accompanied by Reiber's watercolor design, are illustrated H. Blairman & Sons, Ltd., Furniture and Works of Art, London, 2000. A pair of vases of nearly identical shape cast in bas relief and with ring handles were exhibited by Christofle at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle, one of which is illustrated in L. Gonse, Exposition Universelle de 1878: Les Beaux-Arts et les Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1879, p. 312.