Alexandre Brongniart

An important pair of Sèvres "fuseaux" vases, deuxième grandeur, in porcelain with a beau bleu ground and gold and platinum decorations in the shape of woven ribbons framing flowers surrounded by rosettes, palmettes and acanthus leaf arabesques and knurled motifs; the inside of the neck is in gold.
The base, neck and pedestal are adorned with gilt
bronze chased in the shape of a dolphin surmounted by a small palmette, and the waterleaf support and square base are also in gilt bronze.
The "fuseau" vase, inspired by the amphorae of antiquity and designed for the Manufacture of Sèvres in 1800 by the architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, the father of works director Alexandre Brongniart, was hugely successful. It was made in four sizes and was decorated with painted portraits, period figures or ornaments. The gilt bronze handles were altered at various different times in the course of the 19th century.
Our vases, made during the First Empire, entered the Manufacture of Sèvres shop to be sold on 22 March 1816 with the following description: 2 vases Fuseaux 2° [grandeur] fond beau blu riche decor en or et platine anses et coulot en bronze (Arch. MNS register Vv 1 folio 61, n. 40) (2 fuseau vases 2nd size beau bleu ground with rich decoration in gold and platinum, handles and support in bronze).