C19th Italian 'Grand Tour' Souvenir Carved Serpentine Marble Ink-stand Set with Carved Lava Cameo Profiles.

C19th Italian 'Grand Tour' souvenir carved serpentine marble ink-stand set with carved lava cameo profiles.

A southern Italian, Neapolitan, two-piece carved 'Prato verde' or Serpentina Moschinata , marble inkstand with gadrooned or ribbed base and sectioned lid set with oval carved coloured lava cameos of classical and Renaissance Italian philosophers ,poets and luminaries framed in brass mounts. The central raised knop handle also inset with a lava cameo profile apparently of Bacchus, God of wine .

The base section with apertures and brass ferrules for inkwells and quills , some deficient .

The different lava rock cameos having obtained their individual colours from the oxidisation and crystallised nature of the various cooled minerals from the volcanic action and eruption and lava flow. These particular examples having been gleaned from the site of Mount Vesuvius in the Bay of Naples.

This type of inkstand was produced in the Naples area during the mid to late C19th as souvenirs for wealthy tourists visiting the historic sites and sights of the European 'Grand Tour'.

In original condition, with some minor cracks and repairs .

(For a similar example see Christies London Sale 7889/Lot 272 09/12/2010

£3375)

H 4"

W 5"

D 5"

Italy , Naples c.1870

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