NAPLES, MID-19TH CENTURY

Details

A SOUTH ITALIAN LAVA INTAGLIO-INSET SERPENTINA MOSCHINATA MARBLE INKWELL
NAPLES, MID-19TH CENTURY
Of oblong shape, the segmented lid set with lava portrait relief cameos and centred by a knob-handle set with a further portrait medallion, the reverse of the lid with a painted scene with ruins and figures inscibed 'marmoria..', with gilt-metal and glass liners
4 in. (10 cm.) high; 8 in. (20 cm.) wide; 4½ in. (11.5 cm.) deep

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Lot Essay

Such Neapolitan inkstands provided popular Grand Tour souvenirs with cameos of classical, Renaissance and 'modern' poets, carved in variously-coloured lava of Mount Vesuvius. A closely-related inkstand was sold anonymously, 'Thomas Hope and the Neoclassical Vision', Christie's, London, 24 April 2008, lot 116, while two related sets of variously-sized inkstands were sold from 'Un Hôtel Particulier du Faubourg Saint-Germain: the Collection of the Marquis and Marquise de Ravenel', Christie's, London, 21-22 November 2007, lots 86 and 88 (8,125 and 7,500 Euro, respectively).

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