Crater. Grand Tour. Italy, XIX century.

Crater. Grand Tour. Italy, XIX century.
Copy of the Warwick vase.
Patinated bronze.
Signed. Founder's mark: Auguste Delafontaine.
Measurements: 22 x 34 x 23 cm.

This crater, made at the time and in the context of the Grand Tour, follows the models of the ancient Roman Warwick vase. It is decorated with Bacchic masks worked in relief, vine leaves and gallons. Its handles have an organic, sinewy form that evokes twined ropes or vine shoots.

The Warwick vase is an ancient Roman marble vase discovered by the Scottish antiquarian Gavin Hamilton in 1771 in the Villa Adriana in Rome. The vase was one of the many sculptures with which the Emperor Hadrian adorned the gardens of his palatial villa. The vase found in fragments was reconstructed by Piranesi for Sir William Hamilton, British envoy to the Court of Naples. From Hamilton's collection it passed to his nephew George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick, from which it derives its title.

The term "Grand Tour", which first appeared in Richard Lassels' "Le Voyage d'Italie", was used to define the long journey through Europe, especially Italy, that young British aristocrats used to undertake from the 17th century onwards, but especially throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The aim of the trip was for the young men to get to know the art and culture of France and Italy mainly, to admire classical art at first hand, to learn or improve their language skills, and to establish contacts and relationships with the cultural and political elites of these countries. Often, travelers were looking for pieces with which to start their own art collections, objects to take back to their places of residence as souvenirs. For this reason, workshops specialized in replicating Roman pieces, both in bronze and marble, sprang up, some of which acquired a great reputation.