Electroformed copper and cast copper alloy vase, plated with silver and mounted with gilded enamel plaques, made by Christofle et Cie, Paris, 1873-78, with enamelled plaques designed by Emile Reiber, ca. 1872, a model first shown as the Vienna Weltausstellung (World's Fair), 1873

Electroformed copper and cast copper alloy vase, patinated to look bronze and with decoration electroplated with silver, mounted with gilded enamel plaques depicting flowers in blue, yellow and green with additional panels showing abstract ornament in red, black and blue. The handles are gilded with pierced bamboo leaf decoration and the foot is supported by 4 elephants' heads, each cast in copper alloy and partly electroplated with leaves and abstract ornament. The vase has a screw-threaded rod that holds the lining, bowl and foot together.

Gift of the Al Thani Collection Foundation

This vase was made by one of the foremost art-metal manufacturers of the 19th century, the large Parisian company of Christofle & Company. The model for this vase was first shown on their stand at the Vienna Weltausstellung (World's Fair) in 1873 and again at the Exposition Universelle (Universal Exhibition) in Paris in 1878. The designs for the enamelled plaques, which were drawn by the head of the company's design studio, Emile Reiber and dated May 1872, survive in the Christofle archives.

The vase's design demonstrates a variety of international influences from Egyptian key patterns and imitation Indian silver inlays to Japanese inspired enamel designs ('Japonisme'). It was also made using a range of traditional and modern techniques that combine the mid-19th-century ideals of art, science and industry. The vase is electroformed in copper and then patinated to look bronze while the imitation inlays are electroplated onto the surface.

The first owner of the vase, George Janin, was one of the 19th-century's new art-buying public, a civil engineer who later emigrated to Canada and built the sewerage system in Montreal. Ownership of the vase has change hands only 4 times. It passed by descent through Janin's family until 1999 when it was bought by a private collector in Montreal. In 2018 it was presented to the V&A by the Al Thani Collection Foundation.

Only 3 copies of this vase are known. One of the vases was bought in 2018 by the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. The other is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Christofle & Cie was founded in 1845 by Charles Christofle (1805-1863), who became silversmith to Napoleon III. The company specialized in dining silver and grand exhibition pieces in a variety of styles from naturalism, 'Orientalism', Japonisme, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Christofle bought licences from the Birmingham manufacturer, Elkington & Co., to develop electroforming and electroplating in France in 1844. They produced a number of electroformed and enamelled vases and centerpieces that were shown at international exhibitions. This model was shown on Christofle's stand at the Vienna Weltausstellung (World's Fair), 1873 and again at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1878, when it was most likely bought by Janin.

The designer of the enamelled plaques, Emile Reiber, in association with the ceramicist Theodore Deck, founded the influential periodical L'Art Pour Tous, which specialised in the application of art to industry. In the early 1860s he joined Christofle's design studio and by the end of the decade he was in charge of it. Reiber's influence made Christolfe one of the earliest and most important suppliers of Japonisme metalwork.

Along with this vase, the V&A's collection of Christofle metalwork includes several enamelled tea and coffee pots and a sugar bowl as well as a commemorative plaque from the Paris Exhibition of 1867. These were enamelled by Antoine Tard. The collection also contains one vase of silver plated copper designed by Reiber for Christofle.

This vase was made by one of the foremost art-metal manufacturers of the 19th century, the large Parisian company of Christofle & Company. The model for this vase was first shown on their stand at the Vienna Weltausstellung (World's Fair) in 1873 and again at the Exposition Universelle (Universal Exhibition) in Paris in 1878. The designs for the enamelled plaques, which were drawn by the head of the company's design studio, Emile Reiber and dated May 1872, survive in the Christofle archives. Many international influences inspired the decoration of the vase, from Egyptian 'key' patterns to imitation Indian silver inlays. The enamel plaques, speak to a European interest in Japanese styles. Made using the new industrial technique of electroforming and bought by a civil engineer, George Janin, probably at the Paris Exhibition of 1878, the vase was the very model of modernity.

M.8-2019