ATTRIBUTED TO PAUL SORMANI (1817-1877) : A FINE LOUIS XVI STYLE GILT BRONZE MOUNTED MARBLE URN AFTER THE MODEL BY PIERRE GOUTHIERE in the form of a cassolette, the squat body with domed fixed cover and mounted with a pair of figures of mermaids holding garlands, raised on a spreading cylindrical socle with foliate and ribbon mount, over a re-entrant cut, square plinth base, later drilled for electricity, 34cm high (excluding later fitment) This ornate urn is a direct copy of an urn cassolette made by Pierre Gouthiere for the Duc d'Aumont in 1775. Gouthiere's urn grew in fame throughout the late 18th century after it was purchased by King Louis XVI in 1782, and by 1793 the piece was placed in the Louvre. During the first quarter of the 19th century it was in the Tuilleries Palace before being moved to the State Apartments in 1826. Paul Sormani is known to have produced a number of copies of this 18th century urn, and although unsigned, the quality of the gilt bronze mounts of the present example, with their fine chasing indicate that this urn was produced by a Parisian bronzier of the highest calibre. Sormani's exhibit at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867 was described in the catalogue as 'toute sa production révèle une qualité d'exécution de tout premier ordre' (all of his production reveals a quality of execution all of the first order'). Sormani exhibited at most of the International Exhibitions, including the London 1862 exhibition and the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1849, 1855, 1867, 1878, 1900.