AFTER THE MODELS BY ANTONIO CANOVA, LATE 19TH CENTURY

The present lions are copies of those guarding the entrance to Canova's Tomb of Pope Clement XIII in St Peter's Basilica, Rome, executed 1783-92. A similar pair of lions in green serpentine marble were exhibited at the International Exhibition in Dublin in 1865 and subsequently sold at Christie's, New York, 22 May 2002, lot 356 ($23,900).