Lorenzo Bartolini

A masterpiece of technical excellence, this important Neo-Classical tazza by Lorenzo Bartolini is carved with the entwined snake handles intact from a single piece of statuary marble. Restorations.
Italy, circa 1810

Tazza Height: 35 cms (13.7 ins)
Tazza Width: 68 cms (26.7 ins)
Tazza Depth: 59 cms (23.2 ins)
Column Height: 105 cms (41.3 ins)
Column Width : 36 cms (14.2 ins)
Column Depth: 36 cms (14.2 ins)

Lorenzo Bartolini 1777-1850

Bartolini was born in Tuscany and studied in Florence and at the Officina Inghirami in Volterra. This workshop was established in 1791 and produced alabaster sculpture and objects in the neoclassical style. Bartolini moved to Paris in 1797, where he became a close friend of Ingres and the favoured sculptor of Napoléon, who sent him to Carrara in 1807 to direct the Academy of Sculpture. Later, he settled in Florence, where his Grand Tour patrons included Thomas Hope and the 6th Duke of Devonshire.

The tazza and column that Nicholas Wells is offering is a rare find indeed. Another marble tazza of this identical model stands in the Chatsworth House Sculpture Hall. Originally, there were two, as documented in the attached 19th-century photographs and in the Duke’s personal journal. This, we are confident, given the sheer complexity of its creation, is the smaller of the two. It was commissioned by William Cavendish, The 6th Duke of Devonshire on his Grand Tour.