After the antique. An Italian alabaster Grand Tour model of the Medici vase

After the antique. An Italian alabaster Grand Tour model of the Medici vase, the detachable rim with an egg and dart moulded edge, above a body carved with classical figures, with a pair of handles with satyr masks, on a fluted spreading foot and a square plinth, late 18th / early 19th century, 48cm high, 39.5cm diameter.

Provenance: Formerly part of an aristocratic collection at a large country house.

The Medici Vase is a monumental bell-shaped krater sculpted in Athens in the second half of the 1st century AD. It re-appeared in the inventory of the Villa Medici, Rome in 1598 and was transferred to the Uffizi Gallery in the 18th century. It features in many prints during the 17th century for example works by Stefano della Bella.