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Lot Essay
THE PROVENANCE
These urns were originally at Glemham Hall, Suffolk, the house that was acquired by Dudley North in 1708-1709. Glemham, famous for its magnificent late 17th century furniture, was illustrated at the turn of the 20th century in English Homes by H. Avray Tipping showing much of the furniture collection. Glemham was sold in 1923, however, some of the contents were moved to Waldershare Park, Dover. The original house at Waldershare was built for a wealthy merchant from Sandwich, Sir Robert Furnese, Bt., reputedly to designs by Inigo Jones. It then passed by inheritance to Sir Robert's daughter, Katherine, wife of the 1st Earl of Guilford and has been the home of the Norths, Earls of Guilford, ever since. Among the more illustrious members of this family, ennobled in 1554, is the 2nd Earl who as Lord North was Prime Minister during the American War of Independence.
Related lead urns are illustrated in L. Weaver, English Leadwork Its Art & History, London, 1909, p. 202, fig. 331 and 332 (urns at Wrest Park). Four lead statues, previously at Glemham Hall when it was owned by the Earls of Guilford, are illustrated by Weaver (figs. 242 (Prince Eugène), 243 (The 1st Duke of Marlborough), 313 (Winter), 314 (Pan)).
The krater-shaped and bacchic lion-headed urns or vases are designed in the Louis Quatorze 'Roman' fashion popularised by William III's architect Daniel Marot and his Nouveaux Livre de Vases et de Pots de Jardins, circa 1700. Their bas-relief tablets, inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses or Loves of the Gods, recall the histories of the hunting deity Diana and the festive wine deity Bacchus. One vase depicts Jupiter's love Callisto discovered by Diana and the other depicts Silenus accompanied by fauns at the feast of Bacchus. One of Marot's orange-tree vases featured the same gadrooned pattern of alternating flutes and acanthus. Related vases were executed by the Rome-trained sculptor Caius Gabriel Cibber (d. 1700), who was appointed William III's 'sculptor in ordinary' in 1693, and by John Nost the Elder of Mechelen (d. 1710) (John P. S. Davis, Antique Garden Ornament, Woodbridge, 1991, pls.1:8 and 1:9 and I. Roscoe, 'Statues and meanings for English garden statues', Apollo, March 1995, pp. 38-42, fig. 7). The present urns almost certainly formed part of the early 18th century garden embellishments at Glemham Hall. The statues, mentioned earlier of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugène of Savoy, came from the neighbouring Campsey Ash. These figures appear in a 1722 list of statues available from the sculptor Andrew Carpenter (Andries Carpentière) (d. 1737), and he may also have supplied the present vases to Dudley North (b. 1684). Glemham's lead rain-water heads bearing the date 1722, indicate that work was being carried out at the house at that period (H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, Period IV, vol. I, London, 1920, pp. 405-416).
These urns were originally at Glemham Hall, Suffolk, the house that was acquired by Dudley North in 1708-1709. Glemham, famous for its magnificent late 17th century furniture, was illustrated at the turn of the 20th century in English Homes by H. Avray Tipping showing much of the furniture collection. Glemham was sold in 1923, however, some of the contents were moved to Waldershare Park, Dover. The original house at Waldershare was built for a wealthy merchant from Sandwich, Sir Robert Furnese, Bt., reputedly to designs by Inigo Jones. It then passed by inheritance to Sir Robert's daughter, Katherine, wife of the 1st Earl of Guilford and has been the home of the Norths, Earls of Guilford, ever since. Among the more illustrious members of this family, ennobled in 1554, is the 2nd Earl who as Lord North was Prime Minister during the American War of Independence.
Related lead urns are illustrated in L. Weaver, English Leadwork Its Art & History, London, 1909, p. 202, fig. 331 and 332 (urns at Wrest Park). Four lead statues, previously at Glemham Hall when it was owned by the Earls of Guilford, are illustrated by Weaver (figs. 242 (Prince Eugène), 243 (The 1st Duke of Marlborough), 313 (Winter), 314 (Pan)).
The krater-shaped and bacchic lion-headed urns or vases are designed in the Louis Quatorze 'Roman' fashion popularised by William III's architect Daniel Marot and his Nouveaux Livre de Vases et de Pots de Jardins, circa 1700. Their bas-relief tablets, inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses or Loves of the Gods, recall the histories of the hunting deity Diana and the festive wine deity Bacchus. One vase depicts Jupiter's love Callisto discovered by Diana and the other depicts Silenus accompanied by fauns at the feast of Bacchus. One of Marot's orange-tree vases featured the same gadrooned pattern of alternating flutes and acanthus. Related vases were executed by the Rome-trained sculptor Caius Gabriel Cibber (d. 1700), who was appointed William III's 'sculptor in ordinary' in 1693, and by John Nost the Elder of Mechelen (d. 1710) (John P. S. Davis, Antique Garden Ornament, Woodbridge, 1991, pls.1:8 and 1:9 and I. Roscoe, 'Statues and meanings for English garden statues', Apollo, March 1995, pp. 38-42, fig. 7). The present urns almost certainly formed part of the early 18th century garden embellishments at Glemham Hall. The statues, mentioned earlier of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugène of Savoy, came from the neighbouring Campsey Ash. These figures appear in a 1722 list of statues available from the sculptor Andrew Carpenter (Andries Carpentière) (d. 1737), and he may also have supplied the present vases to Dudley North (b. 1684). Glemham's lead rain-water heads bearing the date 1722, indicate that work was being carried out at the house at that period (H. Avray Tipping, English Homes, Period IV, vol. I, London, 1920, pp. 405-416).