The grand vases

Only the cities' coats of arms, carved on the bottom of the vases, differentiate the models in Bourges from those in Niort.

Louis‐Léon Cugnot was a sculptor and received the Grand Prix de Rome in sculpture in 1859.

Dealing with allegorical or mythical subjects, Louis‐Léon Cugnot received commissions for the Palais de Justice in Paris, the Louvre, the Paris Opera and the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, as well as the Trinité and Sorbonne churches.

For these vases, he used a technical palette, which can go from bas-relief to ronde-bosse. The application was made through a process of electroplating, carried out by the Christofle workshops.

The decision was made to exhibit these superb creations on the Place de la Brèche, Niort's main square and a former 18th century fairground.

The vases, which arrived by rail in August 1885, were presented to the public then placed in storage awaiting an appropriate display area.

The municipal architect Georges Lasseron was commissioned to design a monumental staircase connecting the square to the Brèche garden, where the vases were to be placed. The whole thing was completed in 1891.

The vases adorned this monumental staircase for more than a century, during which time the Place de Brèche became a huge parking lot.
In 2006, the city decided to do a full renovation. This was when the two pieces were brought down from their pedestals to be put in safekeeping.

Today, the square is designed to be a green oasis in the heart of Niort's metropolitan area.

Laurence Lamy, director of the city's municipal museums, shows where the two vases stood from 1891 to 2006.

Some details had disappeared due to erosion, while others were covered in black.
The restoration of these works has received financial support from public as well as private entities, facilitated by the Fondation du Patrimoine (French Heritage Foundation).

The delicate process of restoration was entrusted to Antoine Amarger, a skilled restorer of metal sculptures, in collaboration with the Coubertin Foundry, located in Saint-Rémy les Chevreuses, in les Yvelines.

The vases were ready to embark on their new journey in 2018.

The largest sculptural elements were separated from the rest of the vases to ensure greater safety during transportation.

Molds were made to create new parts to replace the most damaged elements.

On the second vase, the cherubs are blindfolded.

The female figure, represented as an agricultural worker in the middle of harvest season, is an allegory of summer.

The male figure, wrapped in a scarf and long coat and wearing ice skates, is an allegory of winter.

Young children frolicking on the ice with skates and sleds are depicted on the body of the vase.