AN ATTIC RED-FIGURE NOLAN AMPHORA, ATTRIBUTED TO THE SABOUROFF PAINTER

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THE GREEK VASE IN 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY ENGLAND Greek 'urns' not only provided images that enhanced the poetry of Homer and Hesiod, but played their role in convincing Georgian connoisseurs of the superiority of Grecian versus Roman Arts. As well as recalling images of festivities in antiquity, the vases also served in the nation's promotion of the Arts, appearing in many influential publications of the time. Sir William Hamilton, George III's ambassador at the Court of Naples, published his collection in 1766-67, as Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities, by Pierre-François Hugues d'Hancarville. From 1772, a selection of Hamilton's vases were exhibited at the British Museum and such galleries inspired the arrangement of the vase rooms of the connoisseur Thomas Hope at his Duchess Street mansion/museum. These vase rooms were featured in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807). A number of Hope's and Hamilton's vases also appeared in A Collection of Antique Vases etc. from Various Museums & Collections, issued in 1814 by Henry Moses, who recorded that, "The study of the unrivalled works of the ancients is essential to the establishment of good taste and correct judgement, and has laid the foundation of those excellences which have given celebrity to all the distinguished artists of modern times". Moses noted that, "Few remains of antiquity have excited more interest than vases ... By attentively studying the stories they record, the scholar has been enabled to throw much light upon the mythology, the history, the manners and customs of the ancients ..." In addition, he drew attention to the "scarce and valuable work" on the subject provided by Mr James Christie in the publication Disquisitions upon the painted Greek vases, and their probable connection with the shows of the Eleusinian and other mysteries. Christie took pride in being a member of the Society of Dilettanti that had been founded to promote the study of classical antiquity. His Disquisitions, originally intended for private circulation amongst the 'learned', was first published in 1806 and again in 1825, adding to the fever for collecting, following the excavation of some of the finest Athenian vases in the Etruscan cemetery of Vulci in the late 1820s. THE CAPESTHORNE GREEK VASES The Capesthorne Hall collection of vases was formed in the 19th Century, following the discovery of the vast necropolis at Vulci, in Italy, in 1828-9. Three of these vases (lots 147, 149-150) have been traced back to the 1838 Bassegio sale at Sotheby's in London where the items were said to be "principally found at Vulci". They have hence been linked to the estates of Lucien Bonaparte (brother of Napoleon, made prince of Canino by Pope Pius VII) which included this necropolis. The Capesthorne vases were all photographed and extensively written up in typed note form by Professor J. M. T. Charlton in 1956. These notes are amongst the private papers of the family which includes correspondence between Lenette Bromley-Davenport and many leading academics including Professor Sir John Beazley, Dietrich von Bothmer, P. E. Corbett and Professor A. D. Trendall.

AN ATTIC RED-FIGURE NOLAN AMPHORA, ATTRIBUTED TO THE SABOUROFF PAINTER

CIRCA MID 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC RED-FIGURE NOLAN AMPHORA, ATTRIBUTED TO THE SABOUROFF PAINTER
CIRCA MID 5TH CENTURY B.C.
Side A: Apollo stands with lyre, head turned to his right with long hair tresses falling over shoulders, the seven stringed barbiton (lyre) tied with red fillet
Side B: Woman stands holding out phiale to pour a libation, her hair bound in a sakkos
Both sides with meander groundlines
12 1/8 in. (30.8 cm.) high

Provenance

Edward Davies Davenport (1778-1847) of Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire, and his younger brother the Rev. Walter Davenport Bromley (1787-1862) of Wootton Hall, Staffordshire, and thence by descent.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Sale room notice

Please note that the vase painter's preparatory guiding sketches are visible on both figures.

Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
Guide to Capesthorne Hall, Including a Description of the Special Exhibition "Treasures from Italy", 1956-1958.
J. M. T. Charlton, 'The Bromley-Davenport Vases', Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. LXXVIII, 1958, p. 21, pl. XIa/b.
C. Vermeule and D. von Bothmer, 'Notes on a New Edition of Michaelis: Ancient Marbles in Great Britain', Part 3:1, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 63, No. 2, April 1959, p. 148, no. 16.
J. D. Beazley, Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, 2nd edition, Vol. II, Oxford, 1963, p. 842, no. 126, attributed by P. E. Corbett.

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