Doe and Hope

Description

The large and beautifully carved ovoid Brèche violette de Seravezza marble campaign vase, in two parts, having a moulded rim above two girdles, the waisted socle on a square base, surviving from the second quarter of nineteenth century Italy.

The condition of the vase is mainly good throughout with no major losses. The only fault to report is that there is one repair to the rim of the top section at the lip with a two-inch segment having been repaired now showing a hairline crack. The rest of the vase shows no faults with a nice patination to the surface of the stone, remaining un-cleaned or un-tampered with. There are very small nibbles of loss to some areas and some small scuff marks.

“Breccia di Seravezza or Breche violette, in which jagged fragments of white and pink and pale green are set within a matrix of deep violet, was especially priced in both Italy and France in later centuries, particularly for the tops of console tables and commodes, as also for the socles and pedestals of sculpture” ~ p.95, The Materials of Sculpture, Nicholas Penny.

The size of this example is rather unusually large and it would suit standing alone, on a prominent sideboard, pedestal, large console, or perhaps most suitably, within a niche.

With the tang of the Grand Tour in the air, this is a top-drawer quality piece of imposing and impressive proportions that simply demands to be displayed solitary.