19th Century Spanish Bronze Apothecary Mortar and Pestle with Dog Head Handles

This small bronze mortar and pestle are from 19th century France. The outside of the mortar has been adorned with mascarons and geometric patterns that rise from chased sides. The pe...

Hand-worked circa 1800, this French vase is adorned with a chariot and cartouche scene. Some of the elements were hammered from the front side, in a metalworking technique known as chasing, while other motifs were worked from the verso side, which is known as repousse. It is not uncommon for the two methods to be used in tandem, and the work of this particular artisan is top notch. The 5 ¾ diameter opening is flanked by two flared out handles that terminate on the widest part of the main body. A flowing foliate margent (repousse) adorns the top of the body, beneath the lightly textured thick neck (chased). The leaf theme continues beneath a thin ring of roundels that frames the upper body, with a sprawling foliage display that wraps around the lower body, interrupted by a pair of cartouches. One scene depicts a man in a toga with a laurel wreath crown...

Mortar with hand. Bronze. XVII century. Mortar with a circular base, cylindrical body and slightly outwardly flared mouth, decorated with a series of smooth horizontal moldings arranged both in the lower and upper areas and with simple vertical elements (which still maintain slight balustraded shapes) derived from of the ribs that these specimens used to have in the medieval Spanish...

Bronze Apothecary mortar, fitted with mortar pestle. Italy early 18th century.