Finely carved marble vase in the shape of an amphora. The principal frieze on the vessel's body is sculpted in shallow relief with frontal figures, repeated, of Eros and Psyche, both winged and emerging, respectively, from acanthus leaves and a lotus flower, while holding aloft floral tendrils in each hand. Above, a narrow band of intertwining floral tendrils that rise from a base of acanthus leaves. The sloping shoulder is ribbed, with a pendant palmette at the base of each missing handle. A small, circular opening with a rill around it at the top of the neck. Ribs of neck, left arm of one of the Psyche figures and a tendril slightly worn. The foot has been restored in the 18th cent. Very close parallels can be found in a group of eight marble vases (four amphoras and four cauldrons) which have been found in the santuary of Diana Nemorensis (Lake Nemi), all with votive inscription CHIO on the shoulder.
PROVENANCE
Formerly priv. coll. Pierre Crozat (1661-1740), Paris, French financier and art collector; probably brought back from Italy ca. 1714-1715. Inherited by his nephew Louis-François Crozat (1691-1750), Paris, French general officer and Marquis du Châtel, Brittany. Thereafter, priv. coll. Comte de Caylus (1692-1765), Paris; probably acquired in 15.12.1750 from the unknown and named auction "Cabinet de feu Mr. Crozat", Paris, lot 37. Published: Comte de Caylus, Recueil d’Antiquités, 1752 (Vol. 1, p. 268, cat. no. IV, pl. XCVIII). Probably with Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1794), Paris. Published: F. Basan, Catalogue raisonné des différens objets de curiosités dans les sciences et arts, qui composaient le Cabinet de feu Mr. Mariette, 1775, p. 12, no. 63 (without illus.). Thereafter French private coll., from a château, since the 1920s. With Galerie Alain Chenel, Paris, prior to 2011. Thereafter priv. coll. David N. Silich (1944- 2018), Switzerland; acquired in 2013 from Jean-David Cahn AG, Basel.
NOTE
Two of the mentioned marble vases from the santuary of Diana at Lake Nemi are kept in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek Copenhagen (inv. nos. 1518 and 1519), the others in the Penn Museum (Inv. MS3446; MS3447A; MS3449; MS3448; MS3451; published online).