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Lot Essay
This spectacular marble wine cistern of lustrous levanto rosso marble and embellished with sumptuous Regency gilt bronzes, formerly stood proudly in what was once one of the great treasure houses of England, Stowe House, seat of the Dukes of Buckingham.
The product of successive generations of the Viscounts Cobham and Earls Temple in the 18th century, the roll call of architects, garden designers and artists who worked on the house and its gardens encapsulated many of the most significant figures of 18th century England, including Sir John Vanbrugh, James Gibbs, William Kent, John Rysbrack, Robert Adam, ‘Capability' Brown and Sir John Soane.
Perhaps the most significant aggrandisements were undertaken by Richard Grenville, 2nd Earl Temple, who inherited Stowe from his mother, and under whose direction the celebrated south façade was created, a spectacular 460 feet frontage overlooking the famous classical gardens.
Lord Temple left Stowe to his nephew George Grenville, later 1st Marquess of Buckingham, who was himself an avid collector, embarking on a Grand Tour to Italy in 1774 when he made several purchases of ancient marbles from Gavin Hamilton and could also have acquired this remarkable marble cistern on his travels. He later commissioned the architect John Soane to create a Gothic library at Stowe 1805-1807 and Sloane may also have been involved in the creation of a striking Egyptian Hall in 1803. It may have been during this furnishing phase that the sumptuous Regency gilt bronzes were supplied for the cistern.
Although it is not known who was responsible for these impressive, classically inspired bronzes, their confidence and quality would suggest they must have been created by one of the pre-eminent bronziers of the day. One leading candidate could be Benjamin Vulliamy, who in 1787 supplied a clock to the Marquess of the celebrated ‘French’ type which he invented in 1785 featuring sculptural gilt-bronzes and who was also a leading supplier of gilt bronzes to the Prince Regent, later George IV. It would therefore be natural that he would turn to Vulliamy to embellish this splendid cistern with its powerful gilt-bronzes. A pair of Regency cut-glass ice pails with similar large-scale leaf-cast ormolu collars was sold in Dealing in Excellence: A Celebration of Hotspur and Jeremy; Christie's, London, 20 November 2008, lot 21.
It is also possible that the cistern was acquired by George Grenville’s son Richard (1776-1839), who was made 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos in 1822 and was himself from an early age a prolific collector, being among the ‘early and considerable purchasers’ at the Orléans sale of Italian and French paintings in 1798, and was also a buyer at the 1823 Beckford/Fonthill sale. In 1827, the 1st Duke was sent to the continent to curb his extravagant spending but managed in three years of exile to accumulate yet more pictures and artefacts in Italy which he bought back to Stowe.
The subsequent demise of Stowe as a result of the ruinous extravagance of Richard, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1797-1861) is well recorded, as he became bankrupt within eight years of his succession, with debts of over one million pounds, leading to the celebrated sale of the contents of Stowe in 1848 which took an astonishing forty days. The house remained in the family’s hands until eventually being sold in 1921, when a further series of sales of the contents and fixtures and fittings were held, including this cistern, when it was described as being of 'Cornish marble'. The cistern was pictured in the catalogue in the North Entrance Hall, or North Hall, a room which still retained its ceiling painted by William Kent, and also originally included two ancient Roman vases which were engraved by Piranesi (acquired on the 1st Marquess of Buckingham's Grand Tour), one of which is now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The product of successive generations of the Viscounts Cobham and Earls Temple in the 18th century, the roll call of architects, garden designers and artists who worked on the house and its gardens encapsulated many of the most significant figures of 18th century England, including Sir John Vanbrugh, James Gibbs, William Kent, John Rysbrack, Robert Adam, ‘Capability' Brown and Sir John Soane.
Perhaps the most significant aggrandisements were undertaken by Richard Grenville, 2nd Earl Temple, who inherited Stowe from his mother, and under whose direction the celebrated south façade was created, a spectacular 460 feet frontage overlooking the famous classical gardens.
Lord Temple left Stowe to his nephew George Grenville, later 1st Marquess of Buckingham, who was himself an avid collector, embarking on a Grand Tour to Italy in 1774 when he made several purchases of ancient marbles from Gavin Hamilton and could also have acquired this remarkable marble cistern on his travels. He later commissioned the architect John Soane to create a Gothic library at Stowe 1805-1807 and Sloane may also have been involved in the creation of a striking Egyptian Hall in 1803. It may have been during this furnishing phase that the sumptuous Regency gilt bronzes were supplied for the cistern.
Although it is not known who was responsible for these impressive, classically inspired bronzes, their confidence and quality would suggest they must have been created by one of the pre-eminent bronziers of the day. One leading candidate could be Benjamin Vulliamy, who in 1787 supplied a clock to the Marquess of the celebrated ‘French’ type which he invented in 1785 featuring sculptural gilt-bronzes and who was also a leading supplier of gilt bronzes to the Prince Regent, later George IV. It would therefore be natural that he would turn to Vulliamy to embellish this splendid cistern with its powerful gilt-bronzes. A pair of Regency cut-glass ice pails with similar large-scale leaf-cast ormolu collars was sold in Dealing in Excellence: A Celebration of Hotspur and Jeremy; Christie's, London, 20 November 2008, lot 21.
It is also possible that the cistern was acquired by George Grenville’s son Richard (1776-1839), who was made 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos in 1822 and was himself from an early age a prolific collector, being among the ‘early and considerable purchasers’ at the Orléans sale of Italian and French paintings in 1798, and was also a buyer at the 1823 Beckford/Fonthill sale. In 1827, the 1st Duke was sent to the continent to curb his extravagant spending but managed in three years of exile to accumulate yet more pictures and artefacts in Italy which he bought back to Stowe.
The subsequent demise of Stowe as a result of the ruinous extravagance of Richard, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1797-1861) is well recorded, as he became bankrupt within eight years of his succession, with debts of over one million pounds, leading to the celebrated sale of the contents of Stowe in 1848 which took an astonishing forty days. The house remained in the family’s hands until eventually being sold in 1921, when a further series of sales of the contents and fixtures and fittings were held, including this cistern, when it was described as being of 'Cornish marble'. The cistern was pictured in the catalogue in the North Entrance Hall, or North Hall, a room which still retained its ceiling painted by William Kent, and also originally included two ancient Roman vases which were engraved by Piranesi (acquired on the 1st Marquess of Buckingham's Grand Tour), one of which is now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.