Lot Essay
The vases are modelled after the celebrated Antique marble 'Borghese' and 'Medici' originals believed to date from the first century A.D and named for the noble families they belonged to. The Medici vase was first recorded at the Villa Medici in Rome in the late 16th century while the Borghese vase was excavated in the 16th century and remained in the possession of Borghese family until 1807 when it was bought from Prince Camillo Borghese in by his brother-in-law Napoleon Bonaparte.
Considered the greatest vases from antiquity, although they were apparently never displayed together, they were subsequently paired by many grand tour artists and regularly copied as a pair from the middle of the seventeenth century, in a variety of media. When paired as here, it is customary for the copy of the Borghese vase to be given the krater form of the Medici vase although the original does not have handles.
Considered the greatest vases from antiquity, although they were apparently never displayed together, they were subsequently paired by many grand tour artists and regularly copied as a pair from the middle of the seventeenth century, in a variety of media. When paired as here, it is customary for the copy of the Borghese vase to be given the krater form of the Medici vase although the original does not have handles.