Plinth for Marquess Urn (copy)
Cliveden Conservation Workshop
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
Unknown
Materials
Composite stone
Collection
Stowe, Buckinghamshire
NT 91977.2
Summary
Plinth for Marquess Urn. A replica of the original plinth 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 Plinth has inscriptions on three sides: Upon the front of the pedestal a quotation from ‘De Legibus’ by Marcus Tullius Cicero (106- 43 BC). The left side of the pedestal is inscribed with an extract from the 1815 poem ‘Human Life’ by Samuel Rogers (1763-1855). The right side of the pedestal is inscribed with an extract from ‘The Life of Agricola’ by Publius Cornelius Tacitus (c.55 – after 115). 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 Plinth for the Marquess Urn. This copy includes the recreation of inscriptions lost from the original Plinth. Commissioned by the National Trust and installed in Stowe Gardens in March 2018.
Marks and inscriptions
Centre of the pedestal 13 lines of text from De Legibus’ by Marcus Tullius Cicero (106- 43 BC): 'Haec est mea, et fratris mei, Germana patria; Hic enim orti stirpe antiquissima: Hic Sacra, hic gens, Hic majorum multa vestigia, Quid plura? Hanc vides villam, Ut nunc quidem est, Lautius aedificatum Patris nostri studio, Qui, Cum esset infirma valetudine, Hic fere aetatem egit. Left side of pedestal 7 lines of text from the 1815 poem ‘Human Life’ by Samuel Rogers (1763-1855).: 'When by a good man's grave I muse alone, Methinks an Angel sits upon the stone; Like those of old, on that thrice-hallowed night, Who sat and watched in raiment heavenly-bright; And, with a voice inspiring joy not fear, Says, pointing upward, that he is not here, That he is risen!' Right side of pedestal 12 lines of text from 'The Life of Agricola’ by Publius Cornelius Tacitus (c.55 – after 115): 'Quicquid ex Agricola amavimus, Quicquid mirati sumus, Manet, Mansurumque est in artimis homiuum, in aeternitate temporum, Faina rerum. Nam multos veterum, velut inglorios et igno biles, Oblivio ruet, Agricola Posteritati narratus et traditu, Superstes erit.'
Makers and roles
Cliveden Conservation Workshop, creator