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Not currently on display at the V&A

Vase

circa 1810-20 (made)
Artist/Maker
Raffaelli, Giacomo
Place of origin
Rome (made)

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.


Object details

Category
Mosaic
Object type
Vase
Materials and techniques
Carved and polished black Belgian marble and mosaic
Belgian Black Marble
Belgian Black Marble
Mosaic Glass
Carving
Polishing
Micromosaic
Brief description
Black Belgian marble vase, standing on a fluted foot, the bottom of the body with gadroons, the shoulders with rams head, the sides inset with micromosaic dancing figures incarnating the Allegories of the Hours, after Michelangelo Maestri (Rome, d. 1812)
Physical description
Black Belgian marble vase, standing on a fluted foot, the bottom of the body with gadroons, the shoulders with rams head and the sides inset with dancing figures representing the Horae in mosaic.
Dimensions
  • Height: 67.5cm
  • Width: 30.9cm
  • Depth: 23.5cm
  • Weight: 44160g
  • Width: 18.7cm
  • Depth: 18.9cm
Gallery label
Inspired by archaeological discoveries, wealthy Europeans of the 18th and early 19th centuries developed a fascination with ancient Roman motifs and designs. The dancing women on this vase echo figures from mosaics uncovered at sites across Italy. They represent the Horae, the Greco-Roman personifications of the hours of the day and night.
Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: Alberto di Castro, 1989
Subjects depicted
Mythology
Scrolls (Motifs)
Gadroons
Rams (Animals)
Griffins
Horae
Summary
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Bibliographic references
  • Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar and Steffi Röttgen with essays by Steffi Röttgen, Claudia Przyborowski; essays and new catalogue material translated by Alla Theodora Hall. The Art of Mosaics: Selections from the Gilbert Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1982, 224 p., ill. Cat. no. 30, pp. 118-9. ISBN 0875871097
  • Gabriel, Jeanette Hanisee with contributions by Anna Maria Massinelli and essays by Judy Rudoe and Massimo Alfieri. Micromosaics: The Gilbert Collection. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd. in association with The Gilbert Collection, 2000. 310 p., ill. Cat. no. 194, p. 258. ISBN 0856675113.
  • Massinelli, Anna-Maria, Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836), Maestro di stile e di mosaico, Firenze, 2018, fig. 104, p. 97. ISBN 978-88-7542-294-3
Other numbers
  • MM 265 - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.338 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.108-2008

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Record createdJune 19, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O156426/vase-raffaelli-giacomo/
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