Beschreibung:

A marble altar dedicated to Jupiter, Roman Imperial, circa 1st century A.D., surmounted by a marble vase recarved in the 18th century from a Roman column capital Augustan period, circa 27 B.C. - A.D. 14 the combination, restorations, and alterations by Giovanni Battista Piranesi Rome, 1770s restorations
Provenance: Charles Pelham, 1st Lord Yarborough (1749-1823); By descent to Marcus Herbert, 6th Earl of Yarborough (1893-1966), 17 Arlington Street, London (Christie~s, London, July 11th, 1929, no. 142; sold for 357 pounds to Germain) J. Y. McPeake, London, 1920~s Removed from a garden in Frognal, London. Formerly the property of J.Y.McPeake, who was one of William Randolph Hearst~s agents in England. McPeake, an Irishman, was originally recruited by Hearst to publish the English version of Good Housekeeping. First published in 1922 it was an immediate success and ultimately enabled Hearst to purchase St Donat~s castle in Wales in 1925. Hearst used McPeake to purchase a number of pieces for him including a marble Cupid and Psyche from the historic auction of the Hope Antiquities. It is probable that this marble altar and vase, purchased in July 1929, together with the Janus term were destined to be shipped to the United States, but never made it due to the Wall Street crash in October of the same year. PUBLISHED For the Vase/capital: Giovanni Battista Piranesi Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi, vol. I, Rome, 1778, pl. 46: |Vaso antico alto palmi 4 onc. 7 che si vede nel Museo dell~ autore| (John Wilton-Ely, Giovanni Battista Piranesi The Complete Etchings, vol. II, San Francisco, 1994, no. 931) Christie~s Season 1929, London, 1929, p. 346 (under the heading |A Selection of Notable Prices obtained for Objects of Art, etc.|) The ancient Roman altar dedicated to Jupiter is attested in an 1876 publication of the inscription (|Iovi sancto - Iovi sereno|) as having once been with Piranesi. The side scenes (including one preserved, with charioteer) were restored. Archäologischer Anzeiger, vol. 42, 1927, p. 276, fig. 7 Eugen von Mercklin, Antike Figuralkapitelle, Berlin, 1962, p. 258 (12) Taylor Coffman, Hearst as Collector: the First Fifty Years, Summerland CA, 2003, p. 73; G. Waywell, The Lever and Hope Sculptures, Berlin, 1986, cat. no. 29, p. 87.