A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ENAMEL, HARDSTONE AND PASTE-MOUNTED ORMOLU OBELISKS

ATTRIBUTED TO FRANCOIS VION, CIRCA 1785

Details

A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ENAMEL, HARDSTONE AND PASTE-MOUNTED ORMOLU OBELISKS
ATTRIBUTED TO FRANCOIS VION, CIRCA 1785
Each surmounted by an agate urn, the obelisk centred by the initial 'J' surrounded by a ribbon-tied medallion encrusted with clear and turquoise-coloured paste stones wrapped with foliate and fruiting trails, above a ribbon-tied enamel plaque depicting a still-life, above a stepped plinth, centred by a trophy emblematic of love and hung with a swagged lion's pelt, on lion's paw feet
17 in. (43.2 cm.) high; 8 5/8 in. (22 cm.) wide; 4 ½ in. (11.5 cm.) deep

Provenance

Acquired by the present owner from Marcel Bissey, Paris.

Lot Essay

This pair of obelisks, with their distinctive form, decorative embellishment with paste 'brilliants', and bases on lion's paws joined by pelts, relates to the work of the celebrated dessinateur and bronzier François Vion (maître in 1764). Decorated with love hearts and the torches of Hymen and displaying the monogram 'J', these obelisks were likely commissioned by an important patron to celebrate a marriage, perhaps as part of a larger clock garniture intended for display on a mantelpiece.
François Vion specialised in producing clock cases and decorative bronzes for an elite clientele, including the celebrated 'Three Graces' clock for the comtesse Du Barry currently preserved in the Louvre (OA 5433), a clock delivered to the prince de Conde at the Palais Bourbon, and one currently preserved at Pavlovsk.
The bases of these obelisks relate to that of a clock depicted in a pen and ink design for a 'pièce de bureau' attributed to François Vion, now in the Bibliothèque Doucet (ref: VI E, 15 Rés). This form of base can also be found on a number of other clocks, including an obelisk clock inset with verre églomisé panels, attributed to Vion, which was formerly in the collections of the royal family of Savoy in Turin, and sold from the collection of Hubert Guerrand-Hermes, Sotheby's, Paris, 13 December 2023, lot 35 (€190,500). Another obelisk clock signed by Vion, surmounted by a Royal crown and probably the one recorded in the 1787 inventory of Louis XVI's clocks at Versailles features the same lion's paw feet supporting the ormolu obelisk as those on the bases of the present lot, corresponding also to the Vion design.
Other clocks attributed to Vion and relating directly to this same design include a clock sold at Christie's, Paris, 16 December 2008, lot 250 and a further example sold Christie's, London, 6 July 2006, lot 206. A clock and candlestick garniture with similar paste decoration, by Vion, the dial of the clock supported by a pacing horse, was formerly in the collection of Barons Nathaniel and Alphonse de Rothschild, Vienna and was subsequently sold by Mrs. A.E. Goldberg, Christie's, London, 22 June 1989, lots 19-20. Further examples of jewelled objects include a further clock formerly owned by Alfred de Rothschild at Halton Place in Buckinghamshire, subsequently in the Coke Collection at Jenkyn Place (sold Christie's London, 17 October 1996, lot 151); a Louis XVI paste, enamel and silver-mounted ormolu urn, with the cypher of Marie-Antoinette to the front, sold Christie's, London, 2 May 2013, lot 5 (£30,000); a Louis XVI easel-mirror (illustrated in D. Alcouffe et al., La Folie d'Artois, Paris, 1988, p. 191); a clock garniture from the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur collection (sold at Christie's New York, 14 October 1994, lot 255); and a pair of late 18th century mirrors attributed to a Viennese workshop (ibid, p. 196).