Ref.13116
Pair of Louis XVI gilt bronze andirons

This beautiful pair of Louis XVI gilt bronze was made in the 20th century. They are adorned with ovoid shapes chiseled with laurel leaves on their upper and downer parts. The central bars are richly and finely decorated with motifs reminding of the Louis XVI style especially roses on the connection cube, resting on three tapered feet.

Ref.16044
Pair of Vietnamese-style carved stone elephant statues

Pair of stone elephants carved from a single block, each resting on a base decorated with foliage and a frieze of stylized petals. The pachyderms are depicted standing upright, legs straight, in a hieratic posture reminiscent of the elephants on the Khai Dinh funerary monument in Hue (Vietnam). The modeling is minimal and the volumes simplified to the extreme. The rounded volumes emphasize the animal's power. The head is also treated in an archaic and refined style that is quite characteristic of ancient Vietnamese or Indian productions: the folded ears are treated as volutes engraved in stone, the trunk is curved, the eyes are almond-shaped, and tusks (made of bronze?) certainly took their place on either side of the animal's mouth. Its frozen posture is reminiscent of the monumental statuary of Southeast Asia. Animals steeped in symbolism in Vietnamese culture (strength, wisdom, loyalty), these elephants may have been part of an ancient votive ensemble intended to mark a path of honor or the entrance to a mausoleum. The presence of a circular cavity at the top of the statues indicates that they probably held an additional decorative element (palanquin? vase?).