Well-head from the Palazzo Saladini-Moresci Verona

Carved in orange-red Verona marble, the well-head is octagonal and stands on its original octagonal base. Beneath the cornice are three decorative bands which Pope-Hennesy suggests recall the work of the Buon studio: an upper band of rope-work, a middle band of flowers and foliage in deep relief and a lower band of foliate fireze. The eight faces of the body of the well-head show:

A shield of arms (per fesse and on a fesse three wheels surmounted by a helmet and foliage with a leopard in half length holding up a label) the arms of the Concoreggio family.

A naked boy holding a label above his head, with a seated dog to his right.

A plain (defaced) shield surmounted by foliage, held up by two naked boys.

A naked boy surrounded by floriated scroll-work.

A plain (defaced) shield among foliage supported by two naked boys.

Adam and Eve, with Eve picking an apple while watched by the serpent.

A plain (defaced) shield surmounted by a helmet and foliage with a seated lepard or lion cub holding a label.

A two handled vase, from which issues two stems with leaves and flowers.

The base is original and is now in five separate parts.

Given by J.H. Fitzhenry, Esq

Given to the museum by Mr. J.H. Fitzhenry (Purchased for £800 from Raoul Heilbonner a German art dealer in Paris) Stated to have come from the Palazzo Saladini-Moreschi at Verona. The palace can not now be identified, though a family of this name is recorded in Verona. The well-head bears the arms of the Concoreggio family which Pope-Hennesy notes as of Milanese origin and states that the defaced shields on the well-head probably bore the arms of a Veronese family related to the Concoreggio by marriage.

Excavations in Sicily and Pompeii have unearthed cylindrical well-heads of terracotta, decorated on their exterior surface as altars which are thought to have derived from the screen-walls or parapets of religious monuments in the Greek and Roman world. Magnificent sculpted marble well-heads were later sought out by wealthy Romans of the late Republic and early Empire. Athens seems to have been the source of these, as testified by Cicero’s request to Atticus (ad Att., I.x) to send him two figured well-heads ( putealia sigillata) from there. The type is represented in numerous examples taken from the luxurious villas of the Roman Campagna and the Bay of Naples and now to be found in the museums of Rome and Naples (where they have traditionally been employed as statue bases). They have circular bases reminiscent of Ionic columns. Leaf patterns and cyma reversa were the mouldings most often applied. It is possible that the Veronese were acquainted with the remains of these classical precedents or that they developed the well-head form in tandem with Venice with whom it had close links.

Although surrounded by water, the supply of fresh water was historically a problem for Venetians. The need to store and supply drinking water in the city gave rise to a vast number of wells, possibly exceeding six thousand. These water sources needed protection at the surface to avoid pollution of the supply. Initially the remains of capitals, columns, funerary urns and other archaeological finds served the purpose of well-heads; cisterns were protected by effectively extending the well shaft up-ward and away from the ground, while still allowing access to the water beneath.
The various forms which emerged during the development of purpose made Venetian well-heads owe a great deal to the archaeological and particularly the architectural origins of the phenomenon. The earliest surviving purpose made Venetian well-heads date from the seventh century and take the form of a hollow cube. Cylindrical well-heads followed, developing in the late seventh to early eighth centuries and from 1200 onwards cube well-heads with rounded corners appeared. The first known example of a well-head with eight faces and an octagonal cornice is thought to date from 1344 and this form was frequently adopted from the mid-fourteenth century onwards. Well-heads with a cylindrical shaft surmounted by a square or octagonal cornice proliferated in the fifteenth century and may reflect the influence of the capitals in the Doge's palace.

Apart from Venice, Verona possesses more well-heads than any other city in the Veneto, not only because, from the early middle-ages it was the principle regional centre, but also because of its proximity to the quarries of the much sought after red Verona marble. This material, though it did not lend itself to sculpture and carving, was nevertheless much in demand for well-heads, as can be seen in the many examples in Venice itself. The octagonal shape became a characteristic feature of Veronese well-heads in the fifteenth century.

The export of Venetian works of art to the United kingdom became a financial operation of considerable proportions during the nineteenth century. Enthusiasm for Venetian well-heads in particular assumed the proportions of a fashion, a combination of the inherent attractiveness of these well-heads, their presence in considerable numbers, their relative portability, the ease with which they could be converted to ornamental use and the historic circumstances of Venice in the nineteenth century led to the export of hundreds of well-heads across the world. The fashion was fed not only by well-heads from Venice but from other centres in the Veneto and not only by medieval and renaissance well-heads but also by nineteenth century imitations. The well-heads were used as garden ornaments and frequently as huge and magnificent plant-pots for lemon and orange trees.

A.9-1909