Pair of large gilt-bronze ‘Rhyton’ Incense Vases with ram’s heads
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Pair of large gilt-bronze ‘Rhyton’ Incense Vases with ram’s heads
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Pair of large gilt-bronze ‘Rhyton’ Incense Vases with ram’s heads:
in the form of an antique rhyton drinking cup; the black-bronzed bases decorated with lyres and winged lions; the domed lids, pierced with anthemnion and surmounted with pinecone finials. After a design of Piranesi (1720-1788), illustrated in his ‘Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi, Sarcofagi’ published 1778.
| Height: | 17" | - | 43.0cm |
| Width: | 10" | - | 25.5cm |
| Projection: | 5½" | - | 14.0cm |
Glossary Words
Piranesi, Giovanni Battista
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of ancient Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons”. He used his imagination to interpret and elaborate on Classical Antiquity in an original and distinctive way. In 1776 he created his best known work as a 'restorer' of ancient sculpture, the Piranesi Vase, which used fragments from different periods to reconstuct a huge vase from Hadrians Villa at Tivoli. In 1777–78 he published ‘Avanzi degli Edifici di Pesto’ (Remains of the Edifices of Paestum) and ‘Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi, Sarcofagi’, 1778.
rhyton
Ceremonial drinking cup shaped like an animal head or horn.
anthemnion
See anthemion.
