Exceptional Charles X Gilt-Bronze, Coral and Mother-of-Pearl Encrier


ca. 1825, decorated with a Chinese male figure holding a parasol perched on a pillow atop a pedestal mounted with winged figures and scrolls issuing quiver-form pen holders at the corners and cut glass ink pots at the sides, the pedestal rising as an island above a mother-of-pearl "pool" with coral dolphins swimming along the edges, their tails in the mouths of double-headed serpent handles, the whole resting on feet decorated as winged masques of Psyche.
h. 11", w. 11", d. 8-3/4"

Provenance: Collection of Speed Lamkin, Monroe, Louisiana; Estate of Victor and Marie Cascio, Monroe, Louisiana.

Notes: A gift to Mr. Lamkin from renowned designer Billy Baldwin in the 1980s.

Gilt-bronze elements exhibit fine, crisp detail throughout. Cut glass pots, possibly Baccarat, with no more than a nick here and there. Covers of pots lacking. Mother-of-pearl panels intact with a small, old crack near one coral dolphin body (approx. 3/8"). Two carved coral dolphins with a slight separation where their tail ends are attached; one of these with a small crack at the top of its head and a reseated "fin" behind it. Two bronze bands securing the dolphins replaced, one with thin wire. Any of the above issues negligible considering the overall quality of this piece.