CIRCA 1850

Details

A PAIR OF LOUIS XIV STYLE PATINATED BRONZE URNS
Circa 1850
Each urn cast with seeded pomegranate band, centering a grotesque mask to one side and a female mask to the reverse issuing ribbon-tied fruit garlands flanked by scrolling handles cast with coiled serpents terminating in masks, on a foot with lion's masks raised on a circular base cast with egg-and-dart edge, and square plinth
43in. (109cm.) high, 27in. (68.5cm.) wide (2)

Provenance

The 6th Earl of Rosebery, sold Sotheby's house sale, Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire, 18 May 1977, lot 329

Literature

R. and R. Clark, Mentmore Catalogue, Edinburgh, vol. I, p. 4, cat. 5 and 6 (recorded in the Hall)

Lot Essay

These impressive bronze vases were almost certainly supplied to Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild as part of the furnishings of his celebrated country residence in Buckinghamshire, Mentmore Towers. This extraordinary building was designed by the architect Joseph Paxton in 1850, whose building of Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition in 1851, with which Baron Mayer was involved, was to cement his reputation. Mentmore, which was the first major building project undertaken by the Rothschilds in England, was designed by Paxton in a grandiloquent Elizabethan revival style, influenced by buildings such as Hardwick Hall and Woolaton Hall. It was filled with treasures typical of the goût Rothschild, ranging from a chimney piece reputedly from Rubens's house in Antwerp to giltwood throne chairs from the Palazzo Ducale in Venice and a magnificent collection of French eighteenth century works of art. These imposing vases, which were probably specifically commisioned for the house, were certainly appropriate for such grand surroundings.