A pair of Italian carved alabaster campana vases and covers, Roman probably late 17th century

each with a knop finila, above a leaf carved cover with a satyr  mask  at each side, the underside carved with a band of leave, on a square base; restorations; variation in colour of socle of one

Comparative Literature:
Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios, Arredi e Ornamenti alla Corte di Roma,  1560-1795, Milan, 2004, p. 112 for an albaster vase conceived in a similar vein with a very similarly carved cover and overhanging rim.

Also see Gonzalez-Palacios, op. cit., p. 113 for a related pair of vases  with a very similar carved mask on the side (Private Collection).   In the late 17th century in France, there was a large scale production of ornamental vases in white statuary marble and they featured grotesque masks and naturalistic motifs.  There is also a pair of vases by the French sculptor Jacques Grimault (before 1673) which are also carved with satyr masks. The influence of prints and drawings may well have contributed to the taste for these type of vases in other countries such as Italy.   It was rare in Rome to produce vases of this type although they were sometimes made in Florence, such as by the artist Baldasasarre Franceschini called Volterrano (1611-1689) who designed similar types of vases. Another Tuscan artist Stefano Della Bella (1610-1664) executed drawings for ornamental vases engraved by the French publisher Langlois in around 1646 which soon spread throughout France Italy and the rest of Europe.

It is also worth comparing a pair of vases with similarly carved masks, sold as lot 314, in these Rooms, on 12th June 2002 and for  an extensive footnote by Prof. Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios.