Ormolu Mounted Leather Ottomans, 1900s, Set of 2

This is a very handsome pair of ormolu mounted walnut window seats / stools, Circa 1900 in date. They each feature stunning ormolu mounts inset with 24 circular limoges porcelain plaques that have been handpainted with floral decoration, the porcelain mounts are all signed Limoges verso. The stools are each raised on four ormolu mounted tapering reeded legs that terminate in ormolu sabots. The stools have been reupholstered in a sumptuous Italian tan leather. Condition: In excellent condition having been cleaned, polished and reupholstered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 43 x Width 80 x Depth 40 Dimensions in inches: Height 1 foot, 5 inches x Width 2 foot, 7 inches x Depth 1 foot, 4 inches Limoges porcelain – designates hard-paste porcelain produced by factories near the city of Limoges, France beginning in the late 18th century, but does not refer to a particular manufacturer. Limoges had strong antecedents in the production of decorative objects. The city was the most famous European centre of vitreous enamel production in the 12th century. Limoges had also been the site of a minor industry producing plain faience earthenwares since the 1730s. The manufacturing of hard-paste porcelain at Limoges was established by Turgot in 1771 following the discovery of local supplies of kaolin and a material similar to petuntse in the economically distressed area at Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, near Limoges. The materials, which were quarried beginning in 1768, were used to produce hard-paste porcelain similar to Chinese porcelain. The manufactory at Limoges was placed under the patronage of the comte d’Artois, brother of Louis XVI, and was later purchased by the King in 1784, apparently with the idea of producing hard-paste bodies for decoration at Sèvres, although this never happened. After the French Revolution a number of private factories were established at Limoges, including Bernardaud and Haviland & Co. Even today, Limoges maintains the position it established in the 19th century as the premier manufacturing city of porcelain in France.