A fine pair of good size 19th century Grand Tour patinated bronze models of the ancient twin-handled krater, known as the Albani vase. Well-cast examples. Gadroon edge to the top; the body cast in high relief with masks of bearded gods; foliage and reeded twin-handled intertwined vines on fluted circular socles. Presented on later green marble plinths with in white marble block bases. The original vase was discovered in Rome in the mid 18th century during the excavation of a Villa sponsored by Cardinal Alessandro Albani, a great collector and patron of ancient art antiquities. The ancient marble vase was thought to have originally stood outside the Temple of Bacchus. French or Italian, circa 1860.Based in London, we are dealers in fine decorative antiques from the 18th and 19th centuries. We specialise in this era of enlightenment, neoclassicism and the Grand Tour, with its far reaching influence on style and taste in Britain, Continental Europe and beyond: elegance in the age ...