CIRCA 1780

Details

A GEORGE III BLUE-JOHN AND ALABASTER OVAL SOLID URN
CIRCA 1780
The gadrooned body with a band of Vitruvian scroll on a waisted socle and rectangular plinth bordered with black and white marble, finial and slate base replaced
15 in. (38 cm.) high; 10 in. (26 cm.) wide

Provenance

Almost certainly acquired by James Henry Leigh (d.1823) for Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire in the 1780s.
Thence by descent with the Lords Leigh, Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire; sold Christie's house sale, 15-16 October 1981, lot 28.
Acquired from Christopher Gibbs, 9 December 1981.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This Blue John 'mantelpiece garniture' urn reflects the later 18th century Pompeian Etruscan fashion for room decoration with Grecian urns and Roman vases instead of Chinese porcelain. Evoking sacrifices at love's altar in antiquity, the ovoid plinth-supported urn of Derbyshire amethystine fluorspar is of festive wine-krater form, gadrooned by 'Pan' reeds and wreathed by a lily-white ribbon that is sculpted in bas-relief with wave-scrolls in Vitruvian manner. Its 'altar' pedestal, of appropriately wave-figured purple spar, stands on a Grecian Etruscan black base and is likewise enriched with white 'marble' mouldings. Manufactures from the Blue John mines in Treak Cliff, near Castleton, were increasingly popularized by the George III 'Roman' fashion for Columbaria vase-chambers introduced during the 1760s. It is likely to have formed part of the furnishings of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire introduced by Thomas Leigh, 5th Baron Leigh (d. 1786). A closely related oval shaped urn with Vitruvian scroll ribbon is illustrated Alexandra Sitwell, Derbyshire Blue John, 1990, fig. 9.

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