PAIR OF EMPIRE PERIOD INCENSE BURNERS In chased and gilded bronze, in the form of an Athenian, the lid with openwork decoration of stylised foliage surmounted by a pinecone motif, the uprights surmounted by winged caryatids and framing an oil reservoir in the centre, the base surrounded by a frieze in relief decorated with garlands of flowers, foliage and dragonflies. H. 21 cm (8 ¼ in.) D. 8.5 cm (3 ½ in.) A pair of Empire gilt-bronze incense burners With its winged monopod caryatids, our incense burner takes its inspiration from a drawing on plate 58 in book III of the Recueil de décorations intérieures by Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (cf. Fig. 1). Indeed, a "Petite Table de travail, renfermant une Cassolette, exécutée pour Me. M[oreau]. à Paris", wife of General Jean Victor Marie Moreau (1763 - 1813), is shown with three uprights decorated with winged caryatids with bare breasts, similar to those on our pair of incense burners. This model bears witness to the influence of the work of Percier and Fontaine on early 19th century craftsmanship. A virtually identical pair of incense burners, with patinated bronze lids, sold at Sotheby's New York on 23 May 2003, lot 240. Athenian-style incense-burners were very popular during the Empire, as demonstrated by other variants designed by renowned bronze-smiths, such as the pair attributed to Ravrio sold at Christie's Paris on 28 November 2017, lot 643.