Bonhams
Lot 869
A pair of George IV silver wine coolersJohn Edward Terrey, London 1827 Each of campana form, with detachable liner and collar, with tongue and dart flared rim, with a leaf and berry band above an applied narrow bead band, below cast with Bacchic frieze of chariots and drunken Silenus and neo classical figures over a stippled ground, the lower body with applied fruiting vine band with integral upright vine branch handles, fluted pedestal above a band of fruiting vine to the circular foot, height 33.5cm, length over handles 23.5cm, weight 288oz. (2)Footnotes:ProvenanceProperty from the Estate of Jasper Moore, Birmingham, Michigan;Sale, Bonhams, New York, Fine American & European Furniture, Decorative Arts & Silver, 25 September 2013, Lot 1088.A reverence for the Greco-Roman taste coincided with the Age of Enlightenment, when artists and intellectuals attempted to reform society's aesthetics and beliefs using reason, scientific fact and history. Through this movement, individuals of means gained exposure to Europe's cultural legacy of Classical antiquity. Architects, artisans and designers of that era naturally applied these design influences to their contemporary visions.Silversmiths like Terrey extrapolated on the ideas of Giovanni Piranesi, John Flaxman, William Theed and others to create their own unique pieces. Similar sets of coolers were produced by Paul Storr, Benjamin Smith II, Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. The design has been attributed to William Theed (1764-1817), a painter and sculptor, he was also head of the design department at Rundell's until his death in 1817.An appropriate subject to use as relief decoration on this pair of wine coolers, which themselves are styled in the antique campana form, derived directly from the celebrated Medici Vase, a 1st-century AD, neo-Attic marble, now in the Louvre, Paris, an illustration of which was published by the Venetian engraver G.B. Piranesi (1720-1778). The Triumph of Bacchus frieze is derived from a late 2nd-century Roman sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum, engravings of which were published by E. Q. Visconti in Museo Pio-Clementio, between 1782 and 1802 (see D. Udy, 'Piranesi's 'Vasi,' the English Silversmith and his Patrons,' Burlington Magazine, December 1978, pp. 828-29).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com