Pair of Egyptian porphyry covered vases

A pair of late Louis XV gilt bronze-mounted
Egyptian porphyry urns and covers – circa 1765 

Height: 49 cm. (19 ¼ in.)     Width: 21 cm. (8 ¼ in.)      Width and depth of base: 13 cm. (5 ¼ in.)

Provenance

Galerie Kugel, Paris, 1995

Collection of Jayne Wrightsman, New York

Comparative literature

Porphyre: la pierre pourpre des Ptolémées aux Bonaparte, exh. cat. Paris, musée du Louvre, 17 November 2003 – 16 February 2004

D. Del Bufalo, Porphyry. Red Imperial Porphyry: Power and Religion, Turin, Allemandi, 2012, pp. 137-160 (Vases)

Louis XVI urns of this form in granite with the turned gadrooning running in the opposite direction include:

• A pair in grey granite sold Christie’s London, 12 December 1996, lot 174
• A pair in beige granite sold Christie’s London, 14 December 2000, lot 85 and later with Partridge, London, illustrated in their 2004 catalogue