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Lot Essay
The vases are modelled after the celebrated Antique marble 'Borghese' and 'Medici' originals believed to date from the first century A.D and named for the noble families to whom they belonged.
The Medici Vase reappeared in the inventory of the Villa Medici in Rome in 1598 and was transferred to the Uffizi in Florence in 1780.
The marble Borghese Vase was discovered in Carlo Muti's garden in Rome circa 1566 and moved to the Villa Borghese by 1645 until it was purchased by Napoleon in 1808. The vase was moved to the Louvre in 1811 where it remains today.
Although they were apparently never displayed together they were considered the greatest vases from antiquity and were subsequently paired by many grand tour artists and regularly copied as a pair from the middle of the seventeenth century, in a variety of media.
Another pair of Borghese and Medici marble vases, of identical size and similar date to the present lot, were sold at Christie's, New York, 17 October 2003, lot 124 ($113,525).
The Medici Vase reappeared in the inventory of the Villa Medici in Rome in 1598 and was transferred to the Uffizi in Florence in 1780.
The marble Borghese Vase was discovered in Carlo Muti's garden in Rome circa 1566 and moved to the Villa Borghese by 1645 until it was purchased by Napoleon in 1808. The vase was moved to the Louvre in 1811 where it remains today.
Although they were apparently never displayed together they were considered the greatest vases from antiquity and were subsequently paired by many grand tour artists and regularly copied as a pair from the middle of the seventeenth century, in a variety of media.
Another pair of Borghese and Medici marble vases, of identical size and similar date to the present lot, were sold at Christie's, New York, 17 October 2003, lot 124 ($113,525).