19th Century French Neoclassical Onyx & Bronze Ormolu Mounted Tazza Grand Tour

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A late 19th to early 20th-century French neoclassical onyx and gilt bronze tazza, likely produced in the Empire revival period. … Read more A late 19th to early 20th-century French neoclassical onyx and gilt bronze tazza, likely produced in the Empire revival period. This finely crafted ornamental compote features a circular dish of delicately veined white onyx with soft apricot and amber striations, raised on a fluted and waisted ormolu socle, all set atop a stepped onyx base. The dish is flanked by a pair of exuberant scrolling handles cast in ormolu with acanthus flourishes terminating in foliate finials, evoking the Rococo influence often intertwined with Empire revival decorative vocabularies. A gilt bronze medallion depicting a classical female profile in low relief is inset at the center of the dish, adding a historicalist focal point in keeping with the Empire aesthetic’s veneration of antiquity.

The onyx bowl is carved with a pronounced rim and subtly domed well, its translucence and mottling enhancing the object’s decorative appeal. The base of the tazza bears traces of hand-finishing and polishing typical of small-scale Parisian foundry work from the Belle Époque. The use of cast bronze mounts and natural stone elements in this design aligns with contemporaneous French interior decorative trends, wherein classical forms were revived and adapted for use in bourgeois domestic settings.

Objects of this type, sometimes used as desk garniture or as part of a dresser set, were admired both for their utility and their ornamental value, and were often produced in pairs or as part of larger garniture ensembles. The inclusion of the portrait medallion suggests a commemorative or allegorical intent, potentially drawing upon Roman imperial iconography as filtered through 19th-century French artistic taste. See less