Plaster cast from the Borghese vase
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1810 - 1825
Materials
Painted stone
Measurements
700 x 1280 x 50 mm
Order this imageCollection
Knole, Kent
NT 128669
Summary
The scene depicted in plaster comes from part of the decoration on a famous first century Greek marble urn, later called the Borghese Vase. It represents the Thiasus, an ecstatic procession that accompanied the Greco-Roman god Bacchus.
Full description
The Borghese Vase was discovered in Rome in 1566 under the former gardens of the famous Roman historian and politician Sallust (86 – 35 BC AD). It was purchased by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, who had it displayed in his Roman home, the Villa Borghese. in 1811 Napoleon bought it from Camillo Borghese, the Cardinal’s brother-in-law, and had it exhibited in the Louvre. The Borghese vase remains one of the most admired and influential marble vases of antiquity and has been copied many times. For example, there is a bronze version at Osterley House, and it was copied by the ceramicist Wedgwood in his bronze-like basalt ware. Mrs. Coade's earthenware pottery company also cast copies, one of which dates from 1771 and is the centrepiece of the Temple of Flora in Stourhead. The casting at Knole is only a partial copy of the urn and differs from the other copies in the handling of the folding design and the spacing of the figures, suggesting that the caster developed the design himself rather than taking it directly from another source. The shape of the framing resembles that of architectural pieces intended as part of a decorative scheme for interiors, as designed by the architects of the Adam brothers in the 18th century.
Provenance
Possibly acquired by Charles 1 Earl Whitworth (1752-1825)
Credit line
National Trust Collections (Knole, The Sackville Collection)