NAPLES, MID-19TH CENTURY

Details

A SOUTH ITALIAN LAVA INTAGLIO-INSET SERPENTINA MOSCHINATA MARBLE INKWELL
NAPLES, MID-19TH CENTURY
The segmented lid set with lava portrait relief cameos of poets and centred by a knob handle set with a further portrait medallion, the circular gadrooned base inset with gilt-brass mounted glass liners, the lid with repaired breaks
3 in. (7.5 cm.) high; 4½ in. (11.5 cm.) diameter

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Comparable Neapolitan desk-garniture inkstands provided popular Grand Tour souvenirs with cameos of classical, Renaissance and 'modern' poets, carved in variously-coloured lava of Mount Vesuvius. A closely-related inkstand was sold anonymously, 'Thomas Hope and the Neoclassical Vision', Christie's, London, 24 April 2008, lot 116, while two related sets of variously-sized inkstands were sold from 'Un Hôtel Particulier du Faubourg Saint-Germain: the Collection of the Marquis and Marquise de Ravenel', Christie's, London, 21-22 November 2007, lots 86 and 88 (£8,125 and £7,500 with premium, respectively).

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