A pair of marble vases and covers on wooden pedestals
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1750 - 1780
Materials
Carved marble
Measurements
715 mm (Height); 520 mm (Diameter)
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 772411
Summary
A pair of white marble baluster shaped vases with detachable covers and associated wooden pedestals. The vase is decorated throughout, mainly with gadrooning, acanthus and stylised palmettes. Two masks of fauns project from sides towards bottom. The form and decoration of the vase and its pair are based on the Medici Vase, a bronze reproduction of which is at Osterley (NT 771969.2), but more loosely than the companion pair of vases (NT 772412.1.1 and NT 772012.2.1). The faun masks are reminiscent of the applied heads on the Borghese Vase, a bronze reproduction of which is also at Osterley (771969.1). The main fields occupied by scenes of young boys (putti) playing; on one side two putti tumble on the ground, others at left and right, one holding a wine flask; on the other a putto, holding rod with wine flasks attached, rides a wine barrel, which is pulled by another, whilst a third carries a sack on his back. Marble covers with egg and dart decoration around base and urn and finial handle. Three of the four faces of the square pedestals are decorated with applied carving consisting of a central motif of acanthus leaves, in front of which hangs swags of oak leaves with laurel pendants. The base has a bold moulding of ribbon and rosette round the top. The flat top has bead-and-reel, egg-and-dart and acanthus tip mouldings round the edge.
Provenance
Probably acquired as part of Robert Adam's remodeling of the Marble Hall in the 1760s. First recorded in the 1782 inventory of Osterley Park as in the Marble Hall where it has remained ever since. Purchased from George Child-Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey (1910-1998) by HM Government in 1949 for the Nation and vested in the Victoria and Albert Museum; transferred to the National Trust in 2002.
Credit line
National Trust Collections (Osterley Park, The Jersey Collection)
References
Tomlin, 1986: Maurice Tomlin. “The 1782 inventory of Osterley Park.” Furniture History 22 (1986): pp.107-134., p.122 'Four elegant Marble Vases with Basic Relieve figures on carved and painted Pedestals'.