A Pair of French Empire Silver Urns and Covers, Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot, Paris, 1809-19

of campana form, applied with butterfly-handled urns flanked by addorsed recumbant maidens with baskets of flowers, the handles formed as twin-tailed classical females with arches of reeds, the flat covers with wreath finials surrounded by an engraved band of running leaves, mounted on square plinths applied on one side with a partly-draped classical maiden led by Eros, the other side with Eros and a fully-dressed maiden holding a lyre, the sides with stylized classical foliage, the bodies engraved on one side with English arms - weight 149oz (4634g) - measurements height 15in. (38.2cm) - Lot Sold 50,000 USD

NOTE: The arms are those of Nicholas Vansittart of Foot's Cray Place, Kent, 5th son of Henry V, M.P., Governor of Bengal. He was born in 1766, M.P. for Hastings 1796-1802, for Old Sarum 1802-12, East Grinstead 1812, Harwich 1812-23, envoy to Denmark 1801, Joint Secretary of Treasury 1801-4 and 1806-76, P.C. 1805, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1812-23, created on his resignation for that post Baron Bexley of Bexley, co. Kent with a pension of 3000 pounds per year. In 1806 he married Catherine Isabella, 2nd daughter of Sir Gilbert Eliot Bart. He died without issue in 1851 when the peerage became extinct.

Sotheby's. Silver. 17 Oct 08. New York  - www.sothebys.com. Photo Courtesy Sotheby's