Fine Pair of Mid 19th Century Bronze Grand Tour Copies of the Townley Vase - French c.1860

Fine Pair of Mid 19 th Century Bronze Grand Tour Copies of the Townley Vase, French c.1860 These vases, of krater form, reproduce one of the most famous of all ancient sculptures, the marble Townley vase, so called because it was sold to Charles Townley the famous collector whose antiquities form one of the cornerstones of the collection of the British Museum. Townley acquired the piece, in restored condition, from the painter and art dealer Gavin Hamilton in 1774. Hamilton had acquired it from the grounds of the ‘villa of Antonius Pius, situated near Albano, on the spot now called Monte Cagnolo’, quoting its title when published by C. M. Metz in 1789 in one of his books of vases The Townley vase was one of the highlights of the collection on view to visitors in Townley’s home museum in what was then called Park Street in London (now Queen Anne’s Gate, just behind St James’ Park tube station). Johann Zoffany painted a portrait of Townley surrounded by some of his collection in 1782 and the vase features prominently in that image. Many editions of the townley vase were made in alabaster, marble and bronze but the present pair of vases are of French origin and particularly well cast with a good colour and patination. They are perfect for incorporating the antiquarian taste in to a modern home. The Townley Vase is a large Roman marble vase dating from the 2nd century CE, discovered in 1773 by the Scottish antiquarian Gavin Hamilton when excavating the Villa of Antoninus Pius at Monte Cagnolo, between Genzano and Civita Lavinia, near the ancient Lanuvium, in Lazio, southeast of Rome. Its name comes from the important English collector Charles Townley, who purchased it from Hamilton in 1774 for £250. Townley’s collection, long on display in his London house in Park Street, was bought for the British Museum after his death in 1805.