AN ITALIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED GERMAN SERPENTINE MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS

AN ITALIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED SERPENTINE MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS

EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Details

AN ITALIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED SERPENTINE MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS
EARLY 19TH CENTURY
The domed top mounted with ribbon-tied entwined serpents devouring their tails, with ring-tamed lioness-mask to the sides, on paw feet and a rectangular plinth, one lioness mask replaced
11½ in. (28.5 cm.) wide; 6¼ in. (16 cm.) high; 5 in. (14 cm.) deep

Provenance

Almost certainly acquired by John, 2nd Marquess of Bute (1793-1848), either for Cardiff Castle or Luton Park.
Sold 'Works of Art from the Bute Collection', Christie's London, 3 July 1996, lot 2.
Pelham Galleries, London.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

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Lot Essay

This plinth-supported 'Roman-bath', inspired by antique sarcophagi such as that in the Vatican Museum (illustrated in R. Gnoli, Marmora Romana, Rome, 1988, pl.39), is embellished with golden conjoined ribbon-tied serpents emblematic of Eternity. Such Roman objects reflect the taste for the antique promoted by architects such as Charles Heathcote Tatham (d. 1842), author of Etchings of Ancient Ornamental Architecture.., 1800 and Designs for Ornamental Plate of 1806.

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