Henri Picard (French, fl. 1831-1864), a silvered bronze vase

decorated with a relief depicting the Centauromachy between the Lapiths and the Centaurs at the wedding feast of Pirithous, marked 'H Picard' (to the base); and '77' (to the underside of the detachable bronze lining), plated bronze
20 x 11.5 x 15cm

Provenance:
Bonhams, The Summer Athenaeum Sale, Bury St Edmunds, 13th-14th June 2007,
Birling Ashes, Kent

Henri Picard was a prestigious 19^th Century fondeur and doreur, who worked in Paris between the years of 1831 and 1864. Picard was celebrated for casting and gilding decorative objects to a very high quality of production.

Picard worked for the firm Defreville, in addition to collaborating with contemporary designers such as Charles Perrault and Grault. While the craftsman was commissioned by many important patrons, Picard’s most notable achievement was to supply the Emperor Napoleon III with decorative objects, several of which are still in the State Apartment of the Musée du Louvre in Paris.