Antique French Faux-Bronze Jardinière, Belle Époque, Late 19th to Early 20th Century

A small cast-metal jardinière in the Belle Époque taste, finished in a matte green paint made to imitate the verdigris patina of costly bronze. The drain hole is what earns it the name jardinière, a vessel made to hold a plant directly, rather than a cache-pot that simply conceals an ordinary flowerpot.

The ornament is deliberate French decorative vocabulary. The deep convex ribbing around the body is gadrooning, called godrons, a motif borrowed from antique silver and revived heavily in 19th century French metalwork. The handles and the four feet are scrolled in the rococo manner, and the low oval boat shape is a navette, a form favored for table jardinières that ran down the center of a dining table holding cut flowers or a trailing plant. The body is cast iron or spelter, the zinc alloy the French called régule.

The green paint with charming losses and rust showing through on inside is honest age and use.

Dimensions: 10.5 inches across, 6.5 inch mouth, 4.25 inches tall, with a drain hole.

Styling: plant it with trailing ivy or a small fern, fill it with cut garden flowers, or set it empty on a console where the faux-bronze finish reads as a sculptural object.