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Lot Essay
These 'Roman-baths' are inspired by antique sarcophagi such as that in the Vatican Museum (illustrated in R. Gnoli, Marmora Romana, Rome, 1988, pl.39). Such Roman objects reflect the taste for the antique promoted by architects such as Charles Heathcote Tatham (d. 1842), author of Etchings of Ancient Ornamental Architecture.., 1800 and Designs for Ornamental Plate of 1806.
A related bath was placed by the connoisseur antiquarian Thomas Hope (d. 1831) in his Duchess Street mansion museum, which was designed by the architect C. H. Tatham (d. 1842) as a 'Columbarium' for Sir William Hamilton's Greek vase collection purchased in 1801 at Christie's (D. Watkin, 'Thomas Hope's house in Duchess Street', Apollo, March 2004, pp. 31-39). It is illustrated in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, pl. XXIV.
These baths were presumably acquired for the Victorian Eaton Hall designed by Alfred Waterhouse, which was demolished in 1961.
A related bath was placed by the connoisseur antiquarian Thomas Hope (d. 1831) in his Duchess Street mansion museum, which was designed by the architect C. H. Tatham (d. 1842) as a 'Columbarium' for Sir William Hamilton's Greek vase collection purchased in 1801 at Christie's (D. Watkin, 'Thomas Hope's house in Duchess Street', Apollo, March 2004, pp. 31-39). It is illustrated in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, pl. XXIV.
These baths were presumably acquired for the Victorian Eaton Hall designed by Alfred Waterhouse, which was demolished in 1961.