Lot Essay
The Grecian-black Derbyshire marble urns reflect the eclectic antique manner promoted by the Birmingham industrialist and vase-manufacturer Matthew Boulton (d.1809). This present pattern, with the addition of handles, evolved from Boulton's celebrated 1770s Bacchanalian marble vase, which in turn derived from the earlier vases of the Roman bronzeworker Giacomo Zoffoli (d.1785) and ultimately from the marble Gaeta antiquity invented by Athenian sculptor Salpion. (see N. Goodison, Ormolu, London, 2002, pp. 319-323). The pattern may have been introduced at the Derbyshire Black Marble Works, while under the management of John Mawe (d.1829), who manufactured Engraved Black Marble Ornaments, Chimney-Pieces etc. (see J.M. Tomlinson, Derbyshire Black Marble, 1996).