A pair of 18th or 19th century bronze urns designed by Claude Ballin

A pair of 18th or 19th century bronze urns designed by Claude Ballin , for Louis XIV at the Palace of Versailles, each vase with satyr masks either side of an icicle rim, acanthus leaf moulded bands and on circular fluted bases with a band of ribbon tied reeds and a shaped square plinth, each 56cm diameter x 71cm high to the rim The urns in the Palace of Versailles were made after the designs of Ballin by Francois Anguier or Michael Anguier and Nicholas Legendre and by the founder Amroise Duval in and around the third quarter of the 17th century. The urns in this lot follow the design of the urns at Versailles very closely. A similar pair of urns can be seen in Lanhydrock, Cornwall where they arrived via the Marquess of Hertford who had bought them over from his property in France, the Château de Bagatelle. The first urn with some minor holes, delicately cast overall and with good patina, with minor marks, dents and scratches due to use outside. The second urn with damage where the base meets the bowl of the top and with old repair, losses and restoration.