A pair of Directoire carved fruitwood vases, circa 1800, in the manner of Aubert Parent

Unusually for French decoration of the late eighteenth century, these vases eschew materials like porcelain, gilt bronze or exotic imported woods like mahogany, placing a central focus on carving in the medium of native European fruitwood. For their skilled carving, this type of vases is often associated with Aubert Parent, known for his exquisitely intricate panels in minutely carved wood. A pair of vases highly similar in form and decoration to the present pair, with the same pleated neck, twisted-ribbon collar and intertwining vine-and-snake carving but with different treatment of the leaves to the base, was offered at Replica Shoes ’s New York, 8^th May 2009, lot 169 then attributed to Parent. Examples of vases and urns with similar carving style and attributed to Parent have also been offered in these Rooms in Chatsworth: The Attic Sale, 5^th October 2010, lot 439, again in these Rooms at Arts of Europe, 3^rd December 2013 and also at Lempertz, 20^th May 2016, lot 1068.