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354
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AN IMPORTANT PAIR OF CUT-GLASS AND GILT-BRONZE VASES FROM TH…
See original version (French)
354
-
AN IMPORTANT PAIR OF CUT-GLASS AND GILT-BRONZE VASES FROM TH…
See original version (French)
Estimate €20,000 - €30,000
Voluntary lot
Description
AN IMPORTANT PAIR OF CUT-GLASS AND GILT-BRONZE VASES FROM THE IMPERIAL MANUFACTORY OF SAINT-PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1825
Pair of baluster-shaped diamond-cut glass vases with leaf friezes, mounted in gilt bronze and applied on each side with two superb handles finely chased with antique masks, ending in scrolls and resting on a ring-mounted neck, resting on a leaf-shaped base and on a square plinth decorated with a frieze of water leaves. Traces of glue.
Imperial Glass Manufactory, St Petersburg, circa 1820-1830.
No apparent mark.
H. 63 x W. 29 cm.
Literature
An identical vase is now in the collection of the State Historical Museum, reproduced in Arcadi Gaidamak "Russian Empire Style", Trefoil Press, Moscow Paris, 2000, p. 135.
History
These monumental vases are among the most accomplished expressions of the late Russian Empire style. Produced at the Imperial Glassworks in Saint Petersburg in the late 1820s, they bear witness to a time when Russian decorative arts, closely linked to court ceremonial, reached a rare formal power.
Their design is generally associated with the drawings of Ivan Alekseevitch Ivanov, an architect and artist who worked for the Imperial Manufactory from 1815. His work is characterised by a highly architectural sense of the object, in which the purity of neoclassical form is enriched by a freer ornamental vocabulary: arabesques, palmettes, foliage and geometric networks derived from crystal cutting. Here, the transparency of the cut glass meets the matt, chiselled lustre of the gilded bronze. The scrolled handles, leafy attachments and Bacchic masks introduce a sculptural dimension that transforms the vase into a veritable object of representation.
The archives of the Manufacture impériale indicate that works of this importance were reserved for exceptional uses. They could be presented to the imperial family at Christmas or Easter, included in charity sales and exhibitions sponsored by the Romanovs, or sent to major Russian and international exhibitions devoted to arts and crafts. Their execution, probably limited to one or two examples per model, underlines the almost unique character of these pieces.
With their balance of antique rigour, decorative invention and technical virtuosity, these vases embody a profoundly imperial conception of the decorative arts. They are more than just courtly luxury: they are part of a political and aesthetic language, in which precious materials, skilful design and monumentality serve to assert the prestige of Russia in the early XIXᵉ century.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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