A pair of Louis XVI blued-bronze urns

A pair of Louis XVI gilt bronze-mounted blued-bronze urns
circa 1780-1785 

Height:  45 cm. (17 ¾ in.)    Width of handles: 43 cm. (17 in.)
Width and depth of base: 17.7 cm. (7 in.)

Provenance:

Collection of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, sold Sotheby’s New York, 19 November 1993, lot 18

Sold Sotheby’s New York, 25 April 1998, lot 213

Comparative literature :

Several variants exist:

In gilt and patinated bronze:
An identical pair without doubt originally blued, sold Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 11-12 December 1982, lot 235
Sold Christie’s Monaco, 5 December 1992, lot 96.

Entirely in gilt bronze, with a different frieze applied to the body of the vase :
A single vase sold Sotheby’s Paris, 14 June 2006, lot 185.

Entirely in gilt bronze, with a different frieze applied to the body of the vase and without the ram’s heads :
A pair sold Ader Picard Tajan, Drouot Montaigne, Paris, 22 November 1987, lot 218.

In porphyry and gilt bronze:
A pair formerly in the collection of the Duchesse de Richelieu, Château de la Ferté-Bernard, sold Sotheby’s New York, 13-15 October 1983, lot 328.

In grey granite and gilt bronze :
A pair sold Ader Picard Tajan, Monaco, 17 March 1988, lot 11.

Unlike many of the other pairs cited above, this pair is unique in retaining its original blue ground which was created by applying layers of blue-tinted varnish to a bronze foundation that has first been silvered.