Late C19th French Ormolu Bronze Copy of the Classical Ancient Greek "Gaeta" Vase , After the Antique .

Late C19th French ormolu bronze copy of the Classical Ancient Greek "Gaeta" vase , after the antique . Well-cast ormolu vase of elegant form with all-round classical relief decoration ,bacchus masks to sides, 'egg and dart' rim with gadrooned body and reeded foot. Frieze depicts a Bacchalian procession with the Greek god Hermes /Mercury handing the infant Dionysus or Bacchus to The Nymphs of Nysa for his upbringing and education. Raised on an ebonised turned wooden base. Good bright patina, the gilded ormolu bronze of the highest quality.

The marble original created in the 1st Century B.C by the Greek Athenian sculptor Salpion.Now in the Museo Nazionale ,Naples,Italy, having been removed from the Cathedral in Gaeta ,Lazio, Central Italy where it served as a baptismal font until 1805.

Sketched by Charles Heathcote Tatham in 1795 , a stylised version conceived as a pastille-burner was produced by the celebrated Birmingham firm of Messrs Boulton and Fothergill at the Soho Manufactory , Soho, Birmingham , in response to the demand for the fashionable "after the antique" neo-classical style. The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery hold an example by Matthew Boulton in their collection (no. 2000m13). A further version (with addition of handles)was produced by Giovanni Zoffoli in Rome and appeared in his sale catalogue of 1795 , an example of which is now in the University of Edinburgh having been bequeathed to them by Sir James Erskine of Torrie in 1824 ,who acquired the vase in Rome in 1800.

H 13" (inc. base)

Dia. 7" .

Probably France or Italy c .1870

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