Large Pair of Early 19th Century French Grand Tour Bronze & Siena Marble Tazzas

These fine early 19th Century (c.1830) French tazzas retain an impressive patination and are of a well proportioned large scale. The casting of the bronze is extremely well detailed and there are multiple different forms of ornament utilised in the design. The stems are fluted with beaded collars, the bowls are thickly gadrooned and the rims are also gadrooned but in much lower relief. The handles, which attach to the undersides of the bowls rather than simply to the rim as on some lesser designs, are leaf-moulded and employ scroll work of great delicacy. Further signs of quality included the two part plinths and the fact that the lower plinth is also mounted with bronze, in this case a repeating leaf work mount that has been expertly applied. The quality of the marble used to mount these tazzas is also noteworthy. It is Siena marble of a vivid yellow colour but with particularly fine veining in black, brown and white throughout. Siena marble was a particular favourite of the grand tourists of this period and pieces of this quality would have found a ready market in any of the major European centres. The quality of the metalwork suggests a definite French origin for these pieces but whether they were designed for local sale or export is impossible to ascertain. In the famous collection of Regency period works of art at Hinton Ampner in Hampshire, the collector Ralph Dutton acquired a number of tazzas, principally from the London art trade in the mid-20th century. Amongst these pieces are two examples which are very close indeed to our pair in style and quality. It is notable, however, that the Siena marble is not as attractively figured as on our pair. A very attractive pair of tazzas that will enhance any interior.