Pair of neo-Moorish vases in chased and gilded bronze and brown onyx, in the shape of the Alhambra vase, which was in vogue in the second half of the 19th century, particularly under the influence of Théodore Deck. Circa 1870/80 Height:40 cm When Alexandre Delaborde published his Voyage pittoresque et historique de l'Espagne between 1806 and 1812, the depiction of two large Hispano-Moorish earthenware vases on display at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, made a lasting impression on many people. From the beginning of the 19th century, Moorish Spain and its ancient ceramics fascinated French artists. The development of expeditions and annexation by France led to a better understanding of the arts of the Middle East. Orientalism, fashionable in painting from the 1820s onwards, became a fertile source of inspiration for ceramists and manufacturers of decorative objects from the 1860s onwards. In 1858, the French ceramist Théodore Deck opened a workshop in Paris and specialised in this type of production. He rediscovered the turquoise blue of Iznik ceramics. At the Universal Exhibition in London in 1862, he achieved great success with his large Vase de l'Alhambra, a work that had fascinated European ceramists for many years. This vase by Théodore Deck, with a technical virtuosity worthy of the best Andalusian ceramists, is an edition dating from the late 1870s.