The present pair of vases are reductions of the celebrated classical vase, currently in the Louvre, Paris. The frieze depicts ecstatic bacchantes escorting a staggering Silenus. The original was discovered with the Medici vase and other marbles in the wreck of a ship which had been bound for Athens shortly after the time of Sulla. Since the 19th century it has been considered to be a neo-Attic sculpture from an Athenian work shop.
A similar pair of vases were sold in these rooms 26th April 1995, lot 406.