French Empire Dore Bronze Centerpiece with Griffins, Att. Thomire A Paris

Description

French Empire Dore Bronze Centerpiece with Griffins, Attributed to Thomire A Paris, Circa 1820 The centerpiece is formed as an oval openwork basket raised on a sculptural Griffin support and a rectangular plinth base. The basket displays a flared rim with pierced vertical slats and a gadrooned lower body cast with radiating flutes. At each end, the rim rises into a pierced anthemion crest, flanked by scrolled handles cast with acanthus leaves and volute terminals. The underside is supported by a central baluster stem issuing from a fluted collar. Below, two confronted griffins serve as the principal supports. Each griffin is modeled seated with forepaws extended, feathered wings rising along the sides, and a curved tail wrapped beneath the body. The heads are sharply defined with hooked beaks and alert eyes. Between the scrolling uprights above them hangs a naturalistic garland composed of roses, fruit, and foliage in high relief. The whole rests on a plain rectangular block set upon a molded base with gadrooned frieze and scrolled feet cast with leaf ornament. The surface is finished in matte and burnished dore bronze, with crisp chasing throughout the feathers, leaves, and flutes. This French Empire dore bronze centerpiece is attributed to Thomire a Paris and dates to circa 1820. Pierre Philippe Thomire was one of the leading bronziers working in Paris during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, active under the Consulate and Empire. He supplied gilt bronze mounts and ornamental objects for royal and imperial commissions and maintained a large workshop known for architectural mounts and table garnitures. The present model corresponds in form and ornamental vocabulary to documented Empire designs associated with his atelier. The Thomire workshop specialized in finely cast and chased gilt bronzes produced through mercury gilding and detailed hand finishing. Griffins, anthemion crests, and suspended floral swags are recurrent motifs in Empire decorative arts, often combined with architectural supports and classical profiles. The careful articulation of the griffins’ wings, the pierced basket, and the layered garland reflects workshop production standards associated with high grade Parisian bronze manufacture of the period.

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