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拍品專文
This plate forms part of the unique group produced by the Miotti family at their glasshouse in Murano around 1741. The renowned scholar Robert Charleston's original research still forms the basis of knowledge of the subject and was published in his article, 'Souvenirs of the Grand Tour', Corning Museum Journal of Glass Studies, Vol. I, 1959.
It had once been thought that there was only one set of these much-celebrated plates; the set that had once belonged to Horace Walpole, which was disposed of by auction among 'The Valuable Contents of Strawberry Hill- 12th day's sale, Saturday 7th May 1842'. The set of twenty-four plates were split into lots 41-44, each lot described as 'SIX EXTREMELY RARE AND CURIOUS OLD VENETIAN GLASS DESSERT PLATES, the ground is white and the Landscape painting on each is in red, the Views in Venice and every plate has a different subject.'
Charleston created a list of the then known examples. He numbered each one, 1-33, noting the then current location, stating wherever possible whether the example had come from the Strawberry Hill sale, and thus working through a process of elimination, he established that there had in fact originally been three such sets. These had been commissioned by three prominent Englishmen travelling together on their Grand Tour in the 1740's: Horace Walpole, John Shute and the Earl of Lincoln.
By 1959, Charleston could only account for nine examples extant from the twenty-four from Strawberry Hill which had come onto the market in 1842. There were a further nine that had come from the Earl of Lincoln's collection, when the contents of his home at Clumber had been offered for auction in 1937, prior to the demolition of the building in 1938. There were a further sixteen still extant at The Vyne from John Shute's set, and these are still in situ to this day. We must presume that the other fifteen from Clumber are either lost or broken, and we must assume the same for the eight unaccounted for from The Vyne.
Charleston proposed that these three men had been proactive in the choice of Venetian views selected for the Miotti plates, and that their taste was influenced by Joseph Smith, the English consular agent in Venice. The series was composed of fourteen views engraved by Visentini after Canaletto, one original view by Visentini himself and the remaining nine views after engravings by Carlavaris. The fourteen original Canaletto paintings were purchased by Smith for King George III and are in the Royal Collection to this day, an indication of the pivotal importance of these various commissions.
The view depicted on the current lot would seem to correspond to the first entry on Charleston's list, which he names as Ex Ponto Rivoalti ('...from the Rialto Bridge..'). There is insufficient space for a full transcription of the text, which on the Visentini engraving is given as Ex Ponte Rivoalti ad Orientem, usque ad Aedes Foscarorum, cui respondet Ripa Vinaria. Charleston's list also notes that this view was copied from the Visentini engraving of the Canaletto view; that the original Canaletto is at Windsor; that there is no current example of this view extant at The Vyne, and that the example from Strawberry Hill is unaccounted for. However, under the column given to a possible Clumber origin, he cites plate number 32.
Whether the current lot is that example or not is rather difficult to establish, as the exact whereabouts of plate 32 is unknown to the writer. However, it would seem to be unlikely. Earlier in Charleston's text he explains that plates 29-33 were purchased from the Clumber sale by a single family. In 1998 and in 2002, numbers 31 and 33 came onto the market in London (see Phillips, 16th September 1998, lot 65 and Bonhams, 22th May 2002, lot 229). Both were in good condition; an indication that this family, or, more precisely, their ancestor, who made the purchase in 1937, knew the investment potential of what he was buying and chose examples in good condition. It would therefore seem more likely that the current example is either from Strawberry Hill or The Vyne; perhaps broken at some point in its history and discarded, then later rescued and repaired by someone with a sympathetic eye, it has now assumed a new importance.
It had once been thought that there was only one set of these much-celebrated plates; the set that had once belonged to Horace Walpole, which was disposed of by auction among 'The Valuable Contents of Strawberry Hill- 12th day's sale, Saturday 7th May 1842'. The set of twenty-four plates were split into lots 41-44, each lot described as 'SIX EXTREMELY RARE AND CURIOUS OLD VENETIAN GLASS DESSERT PLATES, the ground is white and the Landscape painting on each is in red, the Views in Venice and every plate has a different subject.'
Charleston created a list of the then known examples. He numbered each one, 1-33, noting the then current location, stating wherever possible whether the example had come from the Strawberry Hill sale, and thus working through a process of elimination, he established that there had in fact originally been three such sets. These had been commissioned by three prominent Englishmen travelling together on their Grand Tour in the 1740's: Horace Walpole, John Shute and the Earl of Lincoln.
By 1959, Charleston could only account for nine examples extant from the twenty-four from Strawberry Hill which had come onto the market in 1842. There were a further nine that had come from the Earl of Lincoln's collection, when the contents of his home at Clumber had been offered for auction in 1937, prior to the demolition of the building in 1938. There were a further sixteen still extant at The Vyne from John Shute's set, and these are still in situ to this day. We must presume that the other fifteen from Clumber are either lost or broken, and we must assume the same for the eight unaccounted for from The Vyne.
Charleston proposed that these three men had been proactive in the choice of Venetian views selected for the Miotti plates, and that their taste was influenced by Joseph Smith, the English consular agent in Venice. The series was composed of fourteen views engraved by Visentini after Canaletto, one original view by Visentini himself and the remaining nine views after engravings by Carlavaris. The fourteen original Canaletto paintings were purchased by Smith for King George III and are in the Royal Collection to this day, an indication of the pivotal importance of these various commissions.
The view depicted on the current lot would seem to correspond to the first entry on Charleston's list, which he names as Ex Ponto Rivoalti ('...from the Rialto Bridge..'). There is insufficient space for a full transcription of the text, which on the Visentini engraving is given as Ex Ponte Rivoalti ad Orientem, usque ad Aedes Foscarorum, cui respondet Ripa Vinaria. Charleston's list also notes that this view was copied from the Visentini engraving of the Canaletto view; that the original Canaletto is at Windsor; that there is no current example of this view extant at The Vyne, and that the example from Strawberry Hill is unaccounted for. However, under the column given to a possible Clumber origin, he cites plate number 32.
Whether the current lot is that example or not is rather difficult to establish, as the exact whereabouts of plate 32 is unknown to the writer. However, it would seem to be unlikely. Earlier in Charleston's text he explains that plates 29-33 were purchased from the Clumber sale by a single family. In 1998 and in 2002, numbers 31 and 33 came onto the market in London (see Phillips, 16th September 1998, lot 65 and Bonhams, 22th May 2002, lot 229). Both were in good condition; an indication that this family, or, more precisely, their ancestor, who made the purchase in 1937, knew the investment potential of what he was buying and chose examples in good condition. It would therefore seem more likely that the current example is either from Strawberry Hill or The Vyne; perhaps broken at some point in its history and discarded, then later rescued and repaired by someone with a sympathetic eye, it has now assumed a new importance.