A ROMAN MARBLE CINERARY URN INSCRIBED FOR LUCIUS CALVINUS PUBIANUS SABINUS, CIRCA LATE 1ST CENTURY A.D., ENGRAVED AND RESTORED BY GIANBATTISTA PIRANESI (1720-1778) | A Roman Marble Cinerary Urn inscribed for Lucius Calvinus Pubianus Sabinus

carved in front in high relief with a festoon of leaves, fruit, and flowers hanging from two ram's heads and surmounted by an eagle with outspread wings, two birds picking at the fruit from below, the framed panel engraved with five lines of modern Latin inscription reading D(is) M(anibus)/L(ucio) Calvino Pu-/biano Sabino/L(ucius) Tucius Coc(ceius)/Nat(o) benemer(enti) ("To the Spirits of the Departed. Lucius Tucius Cocceius (made this) for Lucius Calvinus Pubianus Sabinus, his well-deserving son"), each side with a palmette in low relief, the gabled lid (probably from a funerary altar) with echeloned leaf-shaped tiles and arched front carved in high relief with the nude bust of a young boy, his writing implements to his left, his faithful dog resting its paw on his right shoulder, the urn resting on an ornate stepped Carrara marble base.

probably Vicomte Jacques Amable Gilbert de Saint Pardoux (1752-1810), Château de Pennautier, France, acquired in Rome on his Grand Tour in 1779
M. de Pennautier, by descent, by 1883
by descent to the present owner

"Exposition des Arts décoratifs au palais de l'Industrie," Paris, 1883

PUBLISHED
Gianbattista Piranesi, Vasi, candelabra, cippi, sarcophagi, tripodi, lvcerne ed ornamenti antichi, Rome, vol. 2, 1778, pl. 82, dedicated "al Signor Cavalier Arthur Boyer amatore delle belle arti" (http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/buchseite/475379)
Robert Mowat, Bulletin de la Société des antiquaires de France, 1883, p. 201
Bulletin épigraphique de la Gaule, vol. 3, 1883, p. 153 (said to belong to M. de Pennautier and labeled as having being discovered in Pompeii in 1780)
Revue de philologie, de littérature et d'histoire anciennes, 1884, p. 206
Répertoire des travaux historiques contenant l'analyse des publications faites en France et à l'étranger sur l'histoire, les monuments et la langue de la France pendant l'année, vol. 3, 1886, p. 727
Eugen Bormann, Wilhelm Henzen, Christian Hülsen, eds., Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, vol. VI, part. V: Inscriptiones falsas urbi Romae attributas comprehendens, Berlin, 1885, no. 3508 (p. 243) and addenda et corrigenda (p. 255, ad. loc.)
Elizabeth Angelicoussis, The Holkham Collection of Classical Sculpture (Monumenta artis Romanae, vol. 30), Mainz, 2001, p. 156, no. 54, note 2
Friederike Sinn, "Römische Marmorurnen für den Sammlergeschmack: Fallbeispiele von Ergänzungen un Fälschungen", in Kathrin Barbara Zimmer, ed., Rezeption, Zeitgeist, Fälschung - Umgang mit Antiken, actes du colloque international de Tübingen du 31 Janvier au Février 2014, Rahden/Westf., 2015, p. 207

18th Century base: in good condition; two very minor fresh chips on top edge of lower element on proper left side. Urn proper: tips of lower corners restored in painted plaster. FRONT SIDE: two small areas of painted plaster fill along lower edge in front; restored in marble: lower part and forehead of ram's head to left of inscription panel, front of snout of ram's head to right of inscription panel, both upper corners of urn, upper left part of inscription panel, together with portion of cornice. LEFT SIDE (from viewer's point of view): on cornice, small patch of marble restoration and two chips, one with fill; stress cracks radiating below across palmette. RIGHT SIDE (from viewer's point of view): small chip with remain of area of fill on cornice. Lid: originally a funerary altar lid cut down to fit onto present urn; entire molding and beading around perimeter is 18th-Century; chips and abrasions to front corners, top edge of arched niche, and nose tip of boy; on top of lid, both middle parts of rotuli expertly restored in marble; back of lid repaired from three pieces with minor losses along breaklines and some looseness between the various parts, which appear to be pinned together.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

For another Roman marble cinerary urn engraved by Piranesi and sold in these rooms, see Sotheby's, New York, June 3rd, 2015, no. 56 (Piranesi, op. cit., 1778, vol. I, pl. 89). For a view of Mount Vesuvius erupting painted by Pierre-Jacques Volaire in 1779 for the Vicomte de Saint Pardoux and acquired by the latter while on his Grand Tour see Sotheby's, Paris, June 22nd, 2010, no. 51.