Antique Sèvres style porcelain and gilt bronze vase with marine subject

Antique Sèvres style porcelain and gilt bronze vase with marine subject
French, Mid-19th Century
Height 53cm, diameter 22cm
 
This beautiful vase was created in France, in the period when Napoleon III was Emperor (1852-1870). It is designed in the style of Sèvres Manufactory porcelain. Sèvres goods are often beautifully hand-painted with pastoral and mythological scenes, and marine subjects. These tended to be set within finely parcel gilt and jewelled frames, offset against turquoise ‘bleu celeste’ or navy 'bleu Sèvres' grounds. 
 
The porcelain vase is of classical amphora form, with a slender elongated neck, a large ovoid body with a slightly waisted base, and a splayed foot. The vase is topped by a porcelain crown, which is navy coloured and decorated with gilding, porcelain ‘jewels’ and a gilt bronze (ormolu) pinecone finial. The navy vase body features exquisite parcel gilt floral designs and gadrooning with jewelled ornament in its upper section, and parcel gilt foliate motifs and fluting with jewelled beads on its lower body and stem. Its middle is encircled by a beautiful continuous painting, which depicts a group of men fishing in a wooden boat on a river. The vase is placed on a short square gilt bronze (ormolu) plinth, which is set on four feet, cast as scrolled acanthus leaves.