After a Design by Charles Heathcote Tatham, English, Circa 1810

Mahogany, ebonized wood, brass

Of sarcophagus form, with reeded pilasters headed by rosettes, central lion’s mask handle with brass ring, a carved and bronzed horus mount above, with removable brass liner and on bronzed paw feet

Height: 22 in.; Width: 28 in.; Depth: 20 in.

The design source for this wine cooler is rooted in antiquity, specifically the ancient Roman porphyry bath cistern found in the Capella Corsini located in the Church of San Giovanni di Laterno, Rome. Known as the “Tomb of Agrippa”, the sarcophagus was in fact a cistern or basin originally from the baths of the large building complex constructed in Rome for statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (circa 63 B.C.-12 B.C.). 

The English architect Charles Heathcote Tatham (1772-1842) published a drawing of this cistern, referred by him as a “bathing vase”, in 1799,  in his Etchings… of Ancient Ornamental Architecture Drawn from the Originals in Rome and other parts of Italy, during the years 1794, 1795 and 1796” (fig. 1).

C.H. Tatham likely first met the celebrated Regency designer, collector and tastemaker Thomas Hope (1769-1831) in Rome in the mid 1790s. He became Hope’s executant architect for the remodelling of the Clerk House mansion on Duchess St., London, that Hope purchased in 1799, evidenced by a group of drawings signed “C.H. Tatham archt. June 1799” discovered in 2003 for the new gallery and library for the Duchess St house. Hope was a subscriber to the first edition of Tatham’s Etchings, and the simple outlines of the drawings, devoid of shadow, were contemporaneous with Flaxman and Percier and served as the model for those in Hope’s enormously influential Household Furniture of 1807. As shown in the numerous Egyptian motifs included in the furnishings described in his Household Furniture, Hope was a principal exponent of the Egyptian style in England during this period. The presence of the Egyptian horus on this wine cooler indicates Hope’s influence, and makes it unique among the few similar examples we have traced. 

Provenance:

Francois Hayem, Paris

Pelham Galleries, London, from whom acquired by Ingrao Inc., 2004

Private Collection, New York

Acquired from the above, 202

Condition: 

Overall very good, the mahogany has a warm, even color acquired over time, there are no replacements or significant repairs.