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Pair of Scent Bottles with Views of Paris

France, Circa 1860

A pair of Napoleon III sea-green opaline glass scent bottles in an elaborate openwork gilt-bronze mount, adorned with two miniatures depicting views of Paris. France, circa 1860. Square in section with canted corners, each bottle is encased in a finely chased gilt-bronze lattice: acanthus scrolls, interlacing motifs, and beaded bands across the body, small florets set within a trellis pattern on the neck, and a garland of rosebuds encircling the rim. The stoppers, also in opaline glass, are surmounted by a pierced bronze coronet and a spinning-top finial. On the front, a circular medallion encloses a polychrome view. One depicts the Obelisk of the Place de la Concorde as seen from the Tuileries Garden, with the Arc de Triomphe on the horizon. The other depicts the Tuileries Palace itself—the residence of Napoleon III, burned during the Commune in 1871 and subsequently demolished—offering a charming testament to a vanished Paris. Exquisite Second Empire cabinet pieces and refined souvenirs of the capital, these vanity bottles will find their place on a dressing table, a console, or within a collection of opaline glass and Parisian memorabilia.

1 600 €

Circa: 1860
Origin: France
Dimensions: Each flacon
Height 4.9 in(12.5 cm)
Width 1.7 in(4.2 cm)
Depth 1.7 in(4.2 cm)
Technique / Materials: Sea-green opaline glass, gilt bronze, miniatures