Pair of copper baluster-shaped covered vases decorated with polychrome cloisonné enamels on a blue background, featuring branching birds, peonies and foliage, with chased and gilt bronze mounts (wear) such as pomegranates, dragons, clasps and a base with four richly caparisoned elephant heads (wear). Signed F. Barbedienne. China, Qing period for the cloisonné vases. Paris, circa 1865 for the mounts. Height Height : 77 cm Note : The 1867 Paris World's Fair, with its Japanese pavilion, brought chinoiserie, and more specifically Japonisme, back into fashion among French and international customers. The reuse and assembly of Oriental objects by French artists, which had already appeared in the 18th century, reached its apogee in the creations of Edouard Lièvre. Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892), a foundryman from 1838 onwards, quickly achieved success with reduced copies of sculptures held in public collections. From 1855 onwards, in partnership with Louis-Constant Sévin, he also began to create, in particular, cloisonné enamel pieces in the Chinese style. Following the sacking of the Palais d'Eté in 1860, the lid of a large cloisonné enamel censer was offered to Napoleon III. In 1863, Ferdinand Barbedienne was commissioned to transform it into an elaborate chandelier. This chandelier is now the centerpiece of the Château de Fontainebleau's Chinese Museum, opened in June 1863. The museum also displays a large Qianlong-period imperial temple set, also acquired by the Allied Forces in 1860, in which the candlesticks and Gu vases were transformed into candelabra, presumably by Barbedienne. This base, supported by caparisoned elephants, is found on several cloisonné enamels with mounts signed Barbedienne: - Pair of candelabra, Le Floc'h sale October 26, 2023, lot 101. - Pair of candelabra, Bonhams London, May 12, 2011, lot 436. - Jardinière, Bonhams London sale, June 17, 2009, lot 171.