PAIR OF FINE ORMOLU AND MARBLE MOUNTED BRULE PARFUMS, ALMOST CERTAINLY BY PAUL-CHARLES SORMANI

PAIR OF FINE ORMOLU AND MARBLE MOUNTED BRULE PARFUMS, ALMOST CERTAINLY BY PAUL-CHARLES SORMANI, in Neoclassical style, third quarter 19th century, each with a shallow domed dove-grey marble cover with berried finial, above an openwork collar cast with anthemia in oval reserves, the dished dove-grey marble bodies with cavetto shoulders, each mounted with three seated term maidens holding trumpets to their lips and rising from scrolled acanthus leaves; on reeded stems rising from the backs of sejant gryphons, on triform bases, atop triform marmo breccia Siena bases, each with three bun feet, 48.5cm high, 22cm wide Note: This pair of perfume burners are based upon a model in Sevres porcelain and gilt bronze attributed to Pierre-Phillipe Thomire and now in the Louvre (inv. OA 5505). The model of the horn players is similar to that of the flute players on Madame du Barry's porphyry vase, which is also in the Louvre. Paul Sormani (1817-1877) was one of the most important Parisian cabinet makers of the second half of the 19th century. He commenced business at 7 Cimetière Saint-Nicolas and in 1847 moved to 114 rue du Temple. By 1867 when he opened at 10 rue Charlot, he was at the pinacle of his sucess. A contemporary source describes his work in glowing terms, 'toute sa production révèle une qualité d'exécution de tout premier ordre' Sormani first showed his work at the 1849 Paris exhibition where he was awarded a bronze medal and again at the International Exhibition in 1855, when he obtained a first class medal. He travelled to London in 1862, where he gained another award and at the Paris exhibtion of 1867 special mention was made of his petits meubles de fantaisie. This fine pair of brûle parfums are a good example of the range of smaller objects and bibelots he produced. the business was taken over by his widow after his death in 1877 For similar examples see Christie's London, 24th February 2005, 19th Century Furniture, Sculpture, Works of Art and Ceramics, lot 33 Also Sotheby's London, M & N Uzal, 19th Century Excellence, 28th October 2009, lot 48 Also Sotheby's New York, Collections: European Decorative Arts, 13th-14th April 2016, lot 586