Lot Essay
The hexagonal altar-pedestals supported by Jupiter's eagle claws, are designed in the late 17th Century 'antique' manner promoted by Daniel Marot (d. 1753), 'architect' to King William III, and their Doric-columned arcades are festooned with flowers. Addorsed lizards surmounting the columns originally supported six-tiered pyramidal vases of obelisk form, emblematic of Eternity. Female personifications of the cardinal and three theological virtues are portrayed within the triumphal arches standing on cartouche-plinths with satyr's masks bearing garlands of fruit. Their Latin names are inscribed on frieze tablets, while Venus' scallop-shell badges enrich their moulded plinths.
A pair of vase-supporting pedestals of this pattern were commissioned by John Churchill, later 1st. Duke of Marlborough (d. 1722) and feature virtues accompanied by two panels displaying his arms ensigned with the Earl's coronet granted by King William in 1689 (Victoria and Albert Museum no. C.615-1925 and Cheltenham Art Gallery). They also bear the AK monogram of Adriaen Koeks (d. 1703) and were manufactured at his 'Greek A' Delft factory, whose patroness was Mary II (d. 1694). Payments for such 'Dutch China' for her celebrated gallery overlooking the Thames at Hampton Court Palace are noted in 1695 (British Museum MSS). Koeks, who managed the factory from 1687, manufactured a corresponding eight-tiered vase, which was acquired by William Cavendish, 1st. Duke of Devonshire (d. 1707), see Michael Archer, 'Pyramids and Pagodas for Flowers' Country Life, 22 January 1976, p. 169, fig. 9. A 1703 inventory of Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire, listed such pieces as 'Pyramid Delft Flower Pots' and noted that they stood before the chimney.
Cf. a pair of flower-vases with almost identical figures of the virtues painted on their pedestals, sale Christie's Amsterdam, 3 December 1991, lot 321
A pair of vase-supporting pedestals of this pattern were commissioned by John Churchill, later 1st. Duke of Marlborough (d. 1722) and feature virtues accompanied by two panels displaying his arms ensigned with the Earl's coronet granted by King William in 1689 (Victoria and Albert Museum no. C.615-1925 and Cheltenham Art Gallery). They also bear the AK monogram of Adriaen Koeks (d. 1703) and were manufactured at his 'Greek A' Delft factory, whose patroness was Mary II (d. 1694). Payments for such 'Dutch China' for her celebrated gallery overlooking the Thames at Hampton Court Palace are noted in 1695 (British Museum MSS). Koeks, who managed the factory from 1687, manufactured a corresponding eight-tiered vase, which was acquired by William Cavendish, 1st. Duke of Devonshire (d. 1707), see Michael Archer, 'Pyramids and Pagodas for Flowers' Country Life, 22 January 1976, p. 169, fig. 9. A 1703 inventory of Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire, listed such pieces as 'Pyramid Delft Flower Pots' and noted that they stood before the chimney.
Cf. a pair of flower-vases with almost identical figures of the virtues painted on their pedestals, sale Christie's Amsterdam, 3 December 1991, lot 321