Edouard Lièvre (d. 1886) remains one of the most influential and prolific industrial designers of the second half of the 19th century, ultimately becoming synonymous with the 'Japonisme' movement in France beginning in the 1860s. With a broad repertoire that included ‘sinojaponais’ and neo-Renaissance style furniture and ceramics, the artist trained initially as an illustrator under Thomas Couture but became fully immersed in decorative art and design by 1870. An illustration for the small two handled vase in the present lot first appeared in Works in the Collection of England (1873) which documented Japanese bronze works in the collection of John Henderson (d. 1878) (Edouard Lievre et son influence dure les Arts Decoratifs du dernier quart du XIXe siecle, exhibition catalogue, Steinitz, Paris, pp. 158-160). Lievre's illustrations of Henderson's collection interestingly coincide with his earliest collaborations the pre-eminent silversmith Christofle for whom he produced a ‘vase persan’ in 1874 and subsequent works.