Pair of Continental biscuit porcelain ‘rhyton’ vases, probably German 19th century

A wonderfully theatrical pair of Grand Tour–style rhyton vases in crisp white bisque porcelain, each modelled as a classical drinking horn issuing from a finely detailed wild boar’s head and supported on foliate-scroll ‘wheels’. The integral rectangular plinths are relief-moulded with reclining putti amongst swags of fruit and flowers, flanked by torches and serpent-wreathed wreaths.

Unmarked apart from a blue crowned script cipher and mould number 1648 to the underside, a still-unidentified Continental factory, generally thought to be German and dating to the later 19th century, with comparable single examples recorded in the trade.

Superb decorative presence as mantel garniture or flanking a console in a library or dining room – a playful neoclassical nod to the ancient rhyta and ‘horn of plenty’.

Origin: Continental Europe, probably Germany

Date: c. 1875–1900

Material: Biscuit porcelain

Height: c. 30 cm