Second Empire Pair of harnesses with fantastic animals in gilded bronze, surmounted by an orientalist vase, adorned with three dragon heads holding rings on a central shaft resting on three lion claw feet. Height: 117 cm. (the two trays are different) Provenance: private collection, Loches. France, Second Empire. A pair of ormolu stands decorated with fabulous beasts and topped with oriental-style pierced vases. This impressive pair of stands reflects the Second Empire's taste for eclecticism and historicism. They feature fleur-de-lys and dragons similar to the gargoyles of Gothic cathedrals. The openwork scrolls, placed like rings on the shafts, and the foot, resembling the claws of lions or griffins, are reminiscent of the Grand Siècle style. Finally, the iconography of the trays evokes the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century taste for the Orient in the broadest sense, amplified by the conquest of Algeria. This type of sellette is reminiscent of the work of foundrymen such as Ferdinand Barbedienne and Alphonse Giroux, who worked with Parisian department stores such as the Escalier de Cristal.