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Lot Essay
While the general form of these wine coolers is based on the Medici vase as engraved by G.B. Piranesi, the applied relief of the Triumph of Bacchus is clearly derived from a Roman sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum (see David Udy, Piranesi's "Vasi", The English Silversmith and his Patrons, Burlington Magazine, December 1978, pp. 828-829).
The sarcophagus was engraved by E. Q. Visconti and published in 1788 (Museo Pio-Clementino, 8 vols. Rome 1782-1802, vol. IV, pp. 194-195, plate 24). While we know that the Storr workshop contained a number of Piranesi engravings, it seems almost certain that the workshop (or the firm's retailers Rundell's) also owned copies of Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained, published in England in 1721 and Visconti's work cited above. All these publications were used as source material by designers for Rundell's and their working silversmiths such as William Pitts and Paul Storr (see A. Phillips and J. Sloane, Antiquity Revisited, English and French Silver-Gilt from the Collection of Audrey Love, London, 1997, pp. 44-46, no. 5 and pp. 52-57, no. 9).
In the case of the celebrated Triumph of Bacchus dishes by Paul Storr, we know that it was Thomas Stothard, who adapted a Montfaucon engraving of a Roman cameo as the subject of a working design for the silversmith (Phillips and Sloane, op. cit., no. 9). The version of the Triumph of Bacchus found on the present coolers taken from the Visconti engraving was made into working designs for the Storr workshop either by John Flaxman (Udy, op. cit., p. 829) or the head of Rundell's design team, William Theed (see C. Oman, A Problem of Artistic Responsibility, the Firm of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, Apollo, January 1966, p. 176-179, fig. 8). A working drawing for the coolers is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and is contained in a folio labelled "Designs for Plate by John Flaxman etc".
The model of these wine coolers was so successful that Rundell's commissioned Storr to make them a number of times - including six on detachable stands of 1809 and 1811 made for the 1st Earl Howe (sold Christie's London, 1 July 1953, lots 107 and 108, illustrated in N.M. Penzer, Paul Storr, London, 1954, pl. XXIX) and a set of four of 1809 made for the Marquess of Ormonde (Oman, op. cit., fig. 9 and now at the Brighton Pavilion).
The sarcophagus was engraved by E. Q. Visconti and published in 1788 (Museo Pio-Clementino, 8 vols. Rome 1782-1802, vol. IV, pp. 194-195, plate 24). While we know that the Storr workshop contained a number of Piranesi engravings, it seems almost certain that the workshop (or the firm's retailers Rundell's) also owned copies of Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained, published in England in 1721 and Visconti's work cited above. All these publications were used as source material by designers for Rundell's and their working silversmiths such as William Pitts and Paul Storr (see A. Phillips and J. Sloane, Antiquity Revisited, English and French Silver-Gilt from the Collection of Audrey Love, London, 1997, pp. 44-46, no. 5 and pp. 52-57, no. 9).
In the case of the celebrated Triumph of Bacchus dishes by Paul Storr, we know that it was Thomas Stothard, who adapted a Montfaucon engraving of a Roman cameo as the subject of a working design for the silversmith (Phillips and Sloane, op. cit., no. 9). The version of the Triumph of Bacchus found on the present coolers taken from the Visconti engraving was made into working designs for the Storr workshop either by John Flaxman (Udy, op. cit., p. 829) or the head of Rundell's design team, William Theed (see C. Oman, A Problem of Artistic Responsibility, the Firm of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, Apollo, January 1966, p. 176-179, fig. 8). A working drawing for the coolers is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and is contained in a folio labelled "Designs for Plate by John Flaxman etc".
The model of these wine coolers was so successful that Rundell's commissioned Storr to make them a number of times - including six on detachable stands of 1809 and 1811 made for the 1st Earl Howe (sold Christie's London, 1 July 1953, lots 107 and 108, illustrated in N.M. Penzer, Paul Storr, London, 1954, pl. XXIX) and a set of four of 1809 made for the Marquess of Ormonde (Oman, op. cit., fig. 9 and now at the Brighton Pavilion).