Exceptional early 20th century French gilt bronze and marble double inkwell featuring a central bust of lovers in the Neoclassical or Empire style. The romantic gilt bronze sculpture depicts a man and woman styled in classic Greek robes, embracing in a tender kiss with a garland of flowers uniting them. Based after the work by Jean-Antoine HOUDON (1741–1828) titled Le Baiser Donné ("The Kiss Given"). Flanked by two inkwells with hinged lids, richly decorated in fluted vertical panels, beaded borders, topped by artichoke finials. Opening to reveal blown clear glass inserts, each bearing their old paper labels indicating they were made in Czechoslovakia. Surmounted to a polished Nero Portoro marble base with long concaved grooved well serving as a pen rest, and for other writing or desk accessories such as a letter opener or wax seal. The piece rests on four beautifully casted feet in the form of lion paws integrated with stylized acanthus leaves, each marked to the underside with numbers 1022. Measures 13" x 8 1/8" x 7" height. Weighs 15lbs alone. In overall good condition with general wear commensurate with age and use. There is a nick to the side edge of the marble base, it is mostly hidden by the veining but can be felt, the marble is in good condition otherwise.
Houdon was born in 1747 in Versailles, died in Paris in 1828. He ranks among the most famous French sculptors of the 18th century and particularly of the Neoclassical period. Prized for the realistic rendering of his works and his extraordinary talent, it was at the Royal Academy that the young prodigy won the First Prize in Sculpture, the Prix de Rome, in 1761. He was known for his lifelike portrait busts of philosophers and statesmen like Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. He traveled to Mount Vernon in 1785 to sculpt a life mask and statue of George Washington for the Virginia State Capitol. Some of his noted sculptures of Louise Brongniart, the daughter of the architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, and the sister of Alexandre, the future director of the manufacture of Sèvres.