Pair of large patinated bronze campana vases

A pair of large French neo-classical patinated bronze campana vases
 circa 1810-1825

Height: 48.5 cm. (19 in.)     Diameter of neck: 38 cm. (15 in.)       Width and depth of base: 20 cm. (7 ¾ in.)

 

Reduced scale versions following the two-handled form of the Medici Vase (Florence, Uffizi). One with a relief of a Bacchic Procession after the Borghese Vase (Paris, Louvre), the other with a relief of the Sacrifice of Iphigenia after the Medici Vase.

Comparative literature

Two French patinated bronze vases of the same size and both with the Borghese relief, circa 1673-1693 are at Versailles. These vases, left by Andre Le Nôtre to Louis XIV and bearing on the base the inventory numbers 230 and 231 are described in Les Bronzes de la Couronne, exh. cat. Paris, musée du Louvre, 12 April – 12 July 1999, pp. 147-148, nos. 230-231 (only vase 231 is illustrated).

In 1794 the catalogue of the Roman founder Francesco Righetti (1738-1819), who offered famous antique copies for sale in bronze reduction, included “Les deux Vases de Borghese & de Medicis hauts d’environ deux palmes et démi” priced amongst his most expensive items at 300 séquins romains.