Antique gilded bronze and porcelain tripod, France, 19th century

Tripod vase holder in gilded bronze and Sèvres porcelain, modelled after Pierre Gouthière. Circular base in cobalt blue Sèvres porcelain, with gilded decorations on the top and a crown of myrtle leaves on the band; underneath, three gilded bronze feet with spiral motifs support the whole. The three goat feet in bronze rest on the surface with an inverted pine cone at the centre; the tripod is contained by a band decorated with Greek patterns at the lower part, with the uprights ending in faun heads characterised by long beards and ram's horns, connected by festoons of vine leaves and clusters of grapes. In the centre, descending from above in a spiral trajectory, is the figure of a serpent with a scaly body and wide-open mouth. On top, it features a second element in the shape of a pine cone, opposite the first, surmounted by a tuft of leaves arranged in a radial pattern and a vase holder plate, the latter adorned with a Greek pattern and ending with a pierced balustrade element with an upturned edge. These elements, originally separated by a missing Sèvres porcelain vase, have been stacked and fixed together at a later stage. The base bears the Sèvres manufacturing mark.