ATTRIBUTED TO BENEDETTO BOSCHETTI, CIRCA 1820

This tazza is attributed to the celebrated Roman marble mason and bronze-founder Benedetto Boschetti (d. 1870). His workshop produced a range of objects, from mosaics to bronzes and tabletops, which fed the growing demand for classically-inspired works of art created by the influx of travellers to Rome on the Grand Tour. He was mentioned in various contemporary Grand Tour guide books such as the 1847 publication by the scholar Gaetano Moroni which refers to mosaic plates representing the Triumph of Love, currently in the Gilbert Collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (G. Moroni, Dizionario storico di erudizone ecclesiastica, Vol. XLVII, Venice, 1847, p. 80). A closely related rosso antico tazza was sold 'Steinitz', Christie's New York, 21 June 2012, lot 533 ($52,500 with premium).