Antique French Bronze Ewers with Bacchic Putti and Grape Vines

• Putto / Putti / Amorino / Amorini - A putto (plural: putti) or amerino (plural: amerini) is a cherub or cupid frequently appearing in both mythological and religious paintings and sculpture, especially of the Renaissance and Baroque periods and later used as a decorative element in the design of furniture, ceramics, statuary etc. They are usually depicted as chubby males, or of indeterminate gender, often with wings. Their depiction may represent an association with love, heaven, peace or prosperity.
• Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.
  
  The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.
  
  It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture.
• Manner of .... / Style of ..... - A cataloguing term where the item, in the opinion of the cataloguer is a work in the style of the artist, craftsman or designer, possibly of a later period.
• Oviform /ovoid - The outline loosely resembling the shape of an egg.
• Patination / Patina - In broad terms, patination refers to the exterior surface appearance of the timber, the effect of fading caused by exposure to sunlight and air over the course of a century or more, changing the piece to a soft, mellow colour.
  
  As patina is very difficult to replicate, it is one of the most important guides to determining the age of furniture.
  
  Patina is also the term applied to the bloom or film found on old bronzes due to oxidisation.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• cassolettes, ewers, tazza 47
• decorative ewers - ceramic, bronze and marble 24