The bold, classically-inspired angularity of the mounts of these eye-catching vases reflect the goût grec, the earliest and most avant-garde phase of French neoclassicism. The fashionable, although short-lived, goût grec style developed in the 1750s in part as a reaction to the excesses of the Rococo, and was promoted by influential designers such as Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain, Charles de Wailly, and Jacques-François Blondel. The style was further fueled by the writings of Charles-Nicolas Cochin who, upon his return from Italy, published influential articles lamenting the overuse of rocaille decoration. The austere Greek style soon gained wide popularity. Writing in 1763, Baron de Grimm observed: '...tout est à Paris à la grecque,' an indication that the taste had spread well beyond the circle of a small group of patrons and collectors, see S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, p. 264.
The present vases’ distinctive square handles terminating in vegetal-cast mounts and the strongly architectural bases relate this lot to two late Louis XV vases and covers attributed to Duplessis sold Christie’s, London, 9 July 2015, lot 10 (£842,500) and lot 17 (£122,500). Other vases with comparable goût grec mounts include a set of three vases sold Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 15 March 1973, lot 31; a pair sold from the collection of Mr. Cortright Wetherill, Sotheby's New York, 31 October 1987, lot 18; a pair sold Sotheby's New York, 7 April 1979, lot 28; a garniture sold Sotheby's New York, 7 May 1983, lot 66; one sold from the collection of Mrs. Gaby Salomon, Sotheby's London, 17 April 1964, lot 16; and finally one sold Sotheby's London, 17 May 1968, lot 42.