ITALIAN, 18TH CENTURY AFTER THE ANTIQUE | LIONS OF NECTANEBO

According to 1836 inventory, acquired by Robert Clements, 1st Earl of Leitrim (1732-1804) in Rome

Inventory, 26th September 1807, '2 bronze lions' in the Dining Room;

Inventory, 10th February 1812, 'Two Bronze Lions' in the Dining Room;

Inventory, April 1830, 'Two Bronze Lions' in the Dining Room;

Inventory, 27th June 1836 (revised February 1855), 'Two bronze lyons – upon ebony and brass stands – brought from Rome by Robert Earl of Leitrim' in the Dining Room;

John Cornforth, 'Killadoon, Co Kildare - II', Country Life, 22 January 2004, p. 55;

The Knight of Glin and James Peill, The Irish Country House, China, 2010, 146.

These charming bronze lions are executed after Egyptian originals, now in the Vatican Museums (inv. nos. 22676 and 22677). The granite lions date to the reign of Nectanebo II, 360-343 B.C. Rediscovered during the fifteenth century, they were placed in front of the Pantheon until 1839, after which they were substituted by copies and moved to the Egyptian Museum. The present bronzes were probably acquired by Robert Clements, 1st Earl of Leitrim, during his Grand Tour in 1753/1754.