A rare and important Capodimonte vase and cover, circa 1750
Superbly painted by Giuseppe Caselli with a Bacchanalian scene, depicting a faun with cymbals dancing around a statue with a bust of Bacchus, three putti decorating its pedestal with grapevines, another putto grasping a goat by its horns, the reverse of the vase with a large floral spray including tulips and carnations, tied together with a blue ribbon, applied with two elaborately-moulded grotesque masks, each issuing from the terminal of a large shell forming the handle, the sides of the handles encrusted with fruiting vines, the stems in gold, the foot, neck and cover with formal gilt scrollwork, the cover with a grape and shell-shaped finial, 37cm high (very minor chips to some of the encrusted leaves, one handle cleanly re-stuck) (2)
Sold for
£65,753
inc. premium
Footnotes
- The scene is based on engravings by Fessard published in 1734 after Watteau's 'Les Enfants de Bacchus'.
Two closely similar vases and covers, now in the Museo Civico d'Arte Antica in Turin (published by Mottola Molfino 1977, nos. 138-139) probably formed a garniture with the present lot. Two smaller vases without covers decorated with similar scenes and the same gilt borders are in the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, De Ciccio Collection (published by Mottola Molfino 1977, no. 137, and Caròla-Perrotti 1986, p. 105, no. 51, col. pl. XVII). The decoration of all the vases is attributed to Giovanni Caselli.
Category: Decorative Arts / European Ceramics
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