Inkwell adorned with a bronze "Per Laborem" signed E. Picault

Louis XVI style desk inkwell with a rectangular red marble base adorned with chased and gilded bronze rosettes and garlands. The fluted inkwells are decorated with acanthus leaves and laurel wreaths. In the center stands a bronze sculpture with a brown patina representing the allegory of labor, signed Emile Picault and titled "Per Laborem" on the base, meaning "through labor".

Émile-Louis Picault (1833-1915) was a French sculptor famous for his bronzes with mythological or allegorical subjects, representing warriors or heroes praising patriotic virtues. He studied with the painter Henri Royer and exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon between 1863 and 1914.

Napoleon III Era

Circa: 1880

Condition report: In good overall condition.