Marquess Urn (copy)
Cliveden Conservation Workshop
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
Unknown
Materials
Composite stone
Collection
Stowe, Buckinghamshire
NT 91977.1
Summary
The Marquess Urn. A replica of the original monument in composite stone.
Full description
The original stone monument was commissioned by the future first Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1776–1839) and dedicated to his father the first Marquess of Buckingham (1753–1813). This memento-mori was installed at the edge of the Elysian Fields in 1814 where it remained until it was relocated by Stowe School into Walpole Court in 1931. The front of the Urn has an inscription dedicated to the Marquess of Buckingham:‘GEORGIO M. DE BUCKINGHAM, Patri amato, Viro nobili, et clarissimo, Hanc Urnam, Moerens, venerans, et exempli memor, D.D.D. RICHARDUS M. DE BUCKINGHAM, A.S. 1814’ Or: To George Marquess of Buckingham, A beloved parent, An illustrious and able Statesman, This Urn is dedicated, by, Richard Marquess of Buckingham, Who, lamenting his loss, And venerating his memory, Endeavours to emulate his example, A.S. 1814. The placement of this Memento Mori at the edge of the Elysian Fields – the abode of the blessed dead - and in close proximity to the Temple of British Worthies was a direct link to the eighteenth century iconography used elsewhere at Stowe and by the intelligentsia of the period. As part of a programme to recreate lost iconography and reinstate significance and meaning back into the gardens at Stowe, modern casts have been taken from the original Urn and Plinth. Following archaeological investigations, this copy has been installed in the original location and the planted setting recreated.
Provenance
A copy of the original nineteenth century Marquess Urn. This copy includes the recreation of inscriptions and elements lost from the original Urn. Commissioned by the National Trust and installed in Stowe Gardens in March 2018
Marks and inscriptions
Centre of Urn 8 lines: ‘GEORGIO M. DE BUCKINGHAM, Patri amato, Viro nobili, et clarissimo, Hanc Urnam, Moerens, venerans, et exempli memor, D.D.D. RICHARDUS M. DE BUCKINGHAM, A.S. 1814’
Makers and roles
Cliveden Conservation Workshop, creator