A carved marble fountain pedestal possibly late 16th/early 17th century

of baluster form, carved in high relief with figures arranged about a central column carved with stiff leaves, their arms aloft supporting an acanthus-detailed plateau, raised on an associated neoclassical plinth carved with ram's-head masks and floral swags. 78cm wide, 153cm high; stone foot 30cm high, Urban Hanlon Broughton (1857-1929) and his wife Cara Leland Rogers (1873-1930), Baroness Fairhaven, Park House, Egham; their son Henry Broughton, 2nd Lord Fairhaven, at South Walsham Hall, Norfolk. Literature: Georges Duby and Jean-Luc Daval (eds.), 'Sculpture: From Antiquity to the Present Day', Taschen, Cologne, 2002. The conception of this fountain pedestal has its origins in antiquity, when the human figure was frequently assimilated into architectural and ornamental forms. Beyond the familiar tradition of the caryatid, Greek and Roman sculptors developed more complex compositions in which figures were disposed around a central support. The ancient hekataion, with multiple figures grouped around a pillar, provides one such precedent, while Roman Neo-Attic sculpture and marble candelabra further explored the conjunction of figure, foliage and architectural form. A particularly relevant antecedent is the Column of the Dancers of Delphi, dating to circa 330–320 BCE. Here, three figures are disposed around a central, plant-like stem above an acanthus-carved capital, the monument originally rising to support a monumental tripod. The underlying conception is closely comparable to that seen here: figures, vegetation and architectural support are treated not as separate elements, but as parts of a unified vertical composition. Such antique prototypes assumed renewed importance during the Renaissance, when the study of classical sculpture encouraged increasingly inventive combinations of figure and ornament. This was particularly apparent in the design of fountains, garden sculpture, candelabra and elaborate vessels, where antique forms provided a vocabulary that could be freely reinterpreted rather than simply copied. In later 16th-century Italy, comparable ideas occur particularly in the work and designs of Guglielmo della Porta, where figures are incorporated structurally into densely conceived classical compositions. In Florence, Giambologna and the sculptors associated with his workshop developed a similarly close relationship between sculpture, architecture and the garden. Pietro Francavilla, active in Florence from the 1570s, produced marble sculpture for architectural and garden settings, while Giovanni Battista Caccini worked within the classicising sculptural tradition associated with the Medici court and Florentine garden design. Together, these sculptors illustrate the artistic environment in which antique sculptural forms were being reconsidered for architectural and garden use. The present pedestal may be understood against this background. The figures are neither independent statues nor conventional caryatids, but are arranged radially around a central stem and absorbed into the surrounding foliate carving, their forms contributing to the structure of the column itself. This synthesis of figure, architecture and naturalistic ornament, rooted in antique precedent but treated with the greater freedom characteristic of later Renaissance design, places the pedestal convincingly within the artistic vocabulary of late 16th- and early 17th-century Italy. Condition Report, Condition Report, This lot does not have a condition report, if you would like further information, please click the 'Request A Condition Report’ button below. Request A Condition Report, Request A Condition Report

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