Vase thumbnail 1
Vase thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Vase

1825-1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of a pair of vases which resemble small cassolettes, or perfume burners, although they could not have functioned as such because the piercing on the lid does not in fact pierce the lid completely. Instead, they can be transformed into a candlesticks thanks to a lid that becomes a sconce for a candle when reversed. The form of the vases is neoclassical, and their design strongly recalls decorative elements on late-eighteenth and nineteenth-century wall lights, although these vases do not appear to have been recycled from a larger object. They combine decoration and function, and may have formed part of the equipment for a desk. Their bright gilding and heavy construction suggest they were made in the nineteenth century, and they reflect the taste of the wealthy during this period for furnishings that recalled the sumptuous, gilded aesthetic of French eighteenth-century palace interiors.


Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Vase
  • Cover (Closure)
Materials and techniques
gilded bronze
Brief description
Vase and lid of gilded copper alloy, when reversed the lid becomes a candle sconce which slots into the vase. One of a pair.
Physical description
Gilded copper alloy vase decorated with festoons of laurel leaves, with a lid. The hollow lid of the vase has a bud-shaped finial and is pierced to make the vase resemble a cassolette or perfume burner, although the piercing does not extend to the underside of the lid. The lid can be reversed and inserted into the vase to form a candlestick.
Dimensions
  • Base to top of vase finial height: 17cm
  • Base to top of nozzle (when vase lid inverted to change vase into a candlestick) height: 15.2cm
  • Across square base width: 6.2cm
  • Front to back on square base depth: 6.2cm
Credit line
Bequeathed by John Jones
Object history
This is one of a pair of vases which can be transformed into candlesticks that were bequeathed to the Museum by the collector John Jones in 1882. The handbook to his collection (published posthumously) does not record where he displayed them, but it is possible they were placed on one of the many desks or tables in the rooms of his house.
Summary
This is one of a pair of vases which resemble small cassolettes, or perfume burners, although they could not have functioned as such because the piercing on the lid does not in fact pierce the lid completely. Instead, they can be transformed into a candlesticks thanks to a lid that becomes a sconce for a candle when reversed. The form of the vases is neoclassical, and their design strongly recalls decorative elements on late-eighteenth and nineteenth-century wall lights, although these vases do not appear to have been recycled from a larger object. They combine decoration and function, and may have formed part of the equipment for a desk. Their bright gilding and heavy construction suggest they were made in the nineteenth century, and they reflect the taste of the wealthy during this period for furnishings that recalled the sumptuous, gilded aesthetic of French eighteenth-century palace interiors.
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue of the Jones Collection, Part II: Ceramics, Ormolu, Goldsmiths' Work, Enamels, Sculpture, Tapestry, Books, and Prints. London: Printed under the authority of the Board of Education, 1924
  • Messrs Foster, Inventory of the Collection of Pictures, Miniatures, Decorative Furniture, Porcelain, Objects of Art, Books, &c. formed by the late John Jones, Esq. London: Dryden Press, 1882
  • Christie's Paris, Faste et virtuosité du bronze doré: une collection privée, Paris, 6 November 2015, sale 12568, lots 663 and 670.
Collection
Accession number
987-1882

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Record createdApril 17, 2000
Record URL
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