A Neo-Attic Marble Volute Krater, Late Hellenistic, circa mid 1st Century B.C., with restorations by Nicolò Menghini, 1630s

of broad rounded form with elaborate volute handles each with central rosettes, the body finely carved in three registers with a band of guilloche between egg-and-dart molding radiating up from the reserved underside and down from the neck, beading and egg-and-dart on the rim. 

Cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597-1679), Palazzo Barberini alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, 1630s
Edouard des Courières (1896-1987), Limoges and Tangiers, late 1930s/early1940s
with Jean-Loup Despras, Galerie Orient-Occident, early 1980s
gift from Edouard des Courières to the present owner, his nephew, in the early 1980s

Nicolò Menghini, "Inventario delle statue et altre robbe che si ritruovano oggi nel Antigaglia Del Emm.o Sig. Cardinale Francesco Barbberino," Mss, Rome, 1632-1640, no. 215 (Lavin, op. cit., 1975, p. 137)
Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Ville e Palazzi di Roma, 1756, fol. 125 (ed. Joselita Raspi Serra, Rome, 2000, pp. 214 and 424)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Vasi, candelabri, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi, vol. I, Rome, 1778 (John Wilton-Ely, Giovanni Batista Piranesi: The Complete Etchings, vol. II, San Francisco, 1994, no. 924)
Friedrich Matz and Franz von Dühn, Antike Bildwerke in Rom mit Ausschluss der grösseren Sammlungen, vol. III, Leipzig, 1882, no. 3666, pp. 105-106
Georg Lippold, Paul Arndt, and Walther Amelung, Photographische Einzelaufnahmen antiker Sculpturen, Serie X, Munich, 1925, col. 67, no. 2935, illus. (photograph from the late 1890s)
"Les belles demeures de Tangers," Revue touristique du Maroc et de Tanger, no. 38, July 1957, illus.
Marylin Aronberg Lavin, Seventeenth Century Barberini Documents and Inventories of Art, New York, 1975, p. 137 (III.Menghini.32-40, no. 215), and p. 709 (index)
Museo Nazionale Romano. Le sculture, Rome, vol. I, part 1,1979, p. 236
Christie's, London, October 25th, 2006, p. 124 (reproducing photograph from the Revue touristique du Maroc et de Tanger)

Half of vase, including handle, restored by Nicolo Menghini, top of ancient handle, chipped on both sides, one of the losses restored, horizontal rope on ancient handle may be ancient, bottom of egg-and-dart chipped, beading on top of rim and shoulder area below worn, small chips and scratches overall, surface slightly worn; rope handle repaired on restored handle, most of surface on restored part covered in shellac or paint to match ancient surface color, restored part of body appears to be repaired from at least two fragments.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present vase, which combines the body of a dinos with handles normally associated with volute kraters, appears to be a unique example of this form in marble. For a marble volute krater of related form but squatter proportions  see L. Curtius, "Orest und Iphigenie in Tauris," Römische Mitteilungen, vol. 49, 1934,p. 276, fig. 14 (Vatican Museums, Galleria dei Candelabri, no. 20). The handles on the present vase are closely related to those of the mid 1st Century B.C. krater signed by Sosibios of Athens in the Louvre, inv. No. Ma 442 (D. Grassinger, Römische Marmorkratere, Mainz am Rhein, 1991, no. 25, figs. 16-17).

The 1640 inventory of Cardinal Francesco Barberini's sculpture collection, written by his "staff sculptor" Nicolò Menghini, records "un vaso alto palmi 2 con duoi manichi dove che a detti manichi vi sono certe testine di Cignio e il detto vaso ha une fascia a uso di catena che lo cingie in mezo tutto sbatellato soto e sopra fatto ristaurate da me Nicolo Mengini." On Nicolò Menghini (1610-1665) see O. Ferrari and S. Papaldo, Le sculture del Seicento a Roma, Rome, 1999, pp. 190, 395, 542, and 546, and J. Montagu, Roman Baroque Sculpture, New Haven, 1989, p. 178, fig. 246.

In a 1756 manuscript work describing the sculpture collections of Roman villas and palazzi Johann Winckelmann mentions "un vaso di una forma particolare e con particolare manici" in the Galleria Barberini.

The candelabrum base shown supporting the vase both in the Piranesi etching of 1778 and in the 1890s photograph from the Photographische Einzelaufnahmen is now in the Antikenmuseum, Basel (R. Kaenel, Veröffentlichungen des Antikenmuseums Basel, Band 4/3, Antike Kunstwerke aus der Sammlung Ludwig, Band III, Skulpturen, pp. 509ff.).

A pair of copies of the present vase flanked the door of the sculpture gallery of Thomas Hope in his house at Duchess Street, London (Th. Hope, Household Furniture, London, 1807, pl. 1 [repr. in G.B. Waywell, The Lever and Hope Sculptures, Berlin, 1986, p. 44, fig. 2, and D. Watkin and Ph. Hewat-Jaboor, eds., Thomas Hope: Regency Designer, 2008, fig. 7-19]). The pair was sold at least twice at auction, the first time as part of the Hope heirlooms (Christie's, London, July 23rd, 1917, nos. 248 and 249), and the second time as the property of Annie, Viscountess Cowdray (Sotheby's, London, July 27th, 1933, no. 126, pl. V). A Regency marble copy of the present vase, together with the lid and candelabrum base as shown on the Piranesi engraving, was sold at Christie's, New York, October 17th, 2003, no. 251.

For a biography of French collector Edouard des Courières see Christie's, London, October 25th, 2006, p. 125.