Pair of ram's head vases
 Statuary white carrara marble
 Nineteenth
 Around 1880
 H. 119 - D. 86 cm

 The stylization of the ram's head has always been tempered according to the decorative conventions of statuary. Already, under the Persian Achaemenid era, the ram was used as an ornament to signify the social status and the religious legitimacy of the owner, as in rhytons, terracotta or metal vases measuring about 25 centimeters in height which is presented under the horn-shaped, with a handle, comprising a bottom opening through which the liquid flows and the end of which ends in an animal or human head.
 The pair of ram's-headed vases in question are no exception to this decorative tradition eminently representative of the aesthetics of the 18th century: the molded pedestal rests on a small base, a torus decorating the upper part of the latter above. from which rises the upper part of the vase. The latter has large vertical gadroons harmoniously
 carved. The flared collar is decorated on both sides with two ram's heads, style
 of Bacchic inspiration quite innovative and very fashionable in the 18th century. Other
 symbolic, all the more significant as we find similar examples
 in the parks of royal and princely palaces, the one placing the ram under the seal
 renewal: thus, the heraldic symbolism of the ram is close to
 its symbolism in astrology, in connection with the spring equinox, therefore rebirth but also warlike and pugnacious power.
 Similar vases are visible in the parks of Reuil-Malmaison and the Tuileries as well as at the Château de Versailles.
 Good condition, old trace of restoration at the neck of one of the vases, some erosions at the neck of the second vase: estimate of restoration on request.