THREE PLATES FROM 'ETRUSCAN GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES' BY SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON
CIRCA 1770
£1,008
Auction: Lots 1 - 328 | 13 November 2024 at 10am
Description
hand-coloured engraved plates No. 32, No. 81 & No. 109 from ‘Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. W. Hamilton, His Britannick Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Court of Naples’ ('Antiquités Etrusques, Grecques Et Romaines. Tirées Du Cabinet De M. Hamilton Envoyé Extraordinaire De S. M. Britannique En Cour De Naples'), by Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), produced and edited by Pierre Francois Hugues, baron d' Hancarville (1719-1805), first published by François Morelli, Naples 1767, each in terracotta card mounts, framed and under glass (3)
Dimensions
the larger plate 22.5cm x 68.5cm, the two smaller 20cm x 53cm [plate margins only]
Footnote
Note: Sir William had become British Ambassador at Naples between 1764-1800, where he formed a huge collection of Etruscan and classical vases and antiquities, some of which he sold to the British Museum in 1772. Hamilton was one of the first Englishmen to collect and appreciate classical vases. Hamilton’s last collection of vases, part of which was lost at sea on the Colossus, was sold to Thomas Hope in 1801 (also later acquired by the British Museum). Part of the importance of these plates lies in their being the only record of the some of the vases that were lost in the disaster. Printed in an edition of 500 copies only, and costing Hamilton the princely sum of £6000 to publish, the large scale of the project almost broke him. Hamilton’s brother-in-law, the diplomat Lord Cathcart, showed proofs of these plates to Josiah Wedgwood, just at the time the celebrated potter was building his new and aptly named Etruria factory near Burslem. The designs of these plates were used as both inspiration and direct reference material for Wedgwood's designs, predominantly his Jasperware ranges.