AFTER FRANCOIS BRIOT (FRENCH, 16TH CENTURY): A FINE MID 19TH CENTURY FRENCH GILT BRONZE AND GILT ELECTROTYPE EWER AND BASIN ON STAND  in the Renaissance style, the gilt bronze ewer decorated in relief  with female allegorical figures representing the Cardinal Virtues amongst scrolling strapwork and mythical beasts, with a scrolling handle over a circular foot, raised on a circular dish forming part of a tripod stand, the dish centred by a roundel depicting a figure of Temperance inscribed 'TEMPERANTIA', flanked by two borders of allegorical maidens within strapwork, depicting AER (Air), AQUA (Water), TERRA (Earth), and IGNIS (Fire), the second border depicting the Seven Liberal Arts and their patron Minerva: GRAMMATIC (Grammar), DIALECTICA (Dialect), RHETORICA (Rhetoric), MUSICA (Music), ARITHMETIQUA (Arithmetic), GEOMETRIA (Geometry) and ASTROLOGIA (Astrology), the dish raised on a triform stand, terminating in feet wearing sandals, with a stretcher surmounted by a bird with outstretched wings,  109cm high overall A ewer, basin and stand of identical form but with silvered rather than gilt surface was sold at Christie's, London, 11 March 2015, lot 19, £6,875. The ewer and basin of both examples are direct copies of Francois Briot's famous pewter 'Temperantia' dish and ewer, an example of which is in the V&A, London (Inv. no. 2063-1855). The tripod stand is a mid 19th century design, incorporating fashionable features of the day including the bronze bird which reflects the enthusiasm for Animalier sculpture, the scrolling foliate mounts which are in the Neo-Grec style and the unusual, naturalistic feet which are of neo-classical form.