Pair of French Louis XVI cassolettes, ca. 1795

A pair of small French cassolettes from the late Louis XVI period. The marble vase-shaped bodies are upheld by a frame with three legs in the shape of young bacchanals that each terminate in a single goat’s leg at the bottom, and are connected by a ring halfway. The bacchanals’ busts are interconnected by an openwork rim upon which also rests the lid; a draped pearl chain with tassels is suspended from the rim. The invertible lid is crowned with a knob in the shape of grapes and leaves, and can be used as a candleholder when inverted.

Provenance:
Biennale des Antiquaires Paris, 1996, at Piero Betti, Milan
Private collection, Amsterdam