Sir William Hamilton
XLII. Ram's Head Urn
1766-67

Name: XLII. Ram's Head Urn
Brand: Sir William Hamilton
Price: 1650 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

...Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities.... Hamilton, Sir William. 1730 – 1803. Collection of Etruscan Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. W. Hamilton. 4 vols. Naples, 1766-7. D’Hancarvills, sculpt. Aquatint Engravings in Black and Terra Cotta Inks. Finishing in Original Hand-Color. In 1764, Sir William Hamilton arrived in Naples to take up his new appointment as British Envoy Extraordinary to the Bourbon Court of King Ferdinand IV. At the time of his arrival, Italy was still a largely untapped field of archaeological discovery and there was ample opportunity for the private individual to amass a collection or 'cabinet' of classical antiquities at relatively little expense. The sites of the buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, although now under Royal control, were still being only haphazardly excavated and were openly vandalized. Hamilton himself complained of the fact, but also seems to have taken advantage of it. Hamilton's first collection was in fact acquired by the British Museum in 1772 where it formed the foundation of the now great collection of Greek and Roman antiquities. This was the first major collection of Greek vases (or, as they were then known, Etruscan) to reach England's shores. "To Hamilton belongs the merit of being the first to appreciate with warmth the severe beauty of their shapes, colouring and drawing, the mingled simplicity and feeling of the designs figured upon them; and it was he who recognized the value of these unpretentious vessels for forming and ennobling modern art-taste". (Adolph Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, Cambridge 1882, p. 110) Hamilton found a worthy ally in Josiah Wedgwood who was setting up a new factory appropriately called "Etruria". Opened in June of 1769, Wedgwood was to use Hamilton's models again and again in his pottery with many designs taken directly from the engravings. Etruscan antiquities continued to be used as source-books for artists throughout the rest of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This is evidenced in furniture in the style of Thomas Hope's Regency Greek revival period as well as the high Victorian Greek revival of Frederic Lord Leighton who drew upon the engravings for props in a number of his classical paintings. Hamilton died in 1803, the tranquillity of his life shattered by a hasty retreat from Italy under the threat of Napoleon's invasion, and the devastating public scandal of his wife Emma's open flaunting of her relationship with Lord Nelson. However, an enduring epitaph of Hamilton's grace and intelligence, is Joshua Reynold's studio portrait of 1777, now in the National Portrait Gallery. It shows Hamilton seated on a terrace with a view of Vesuvius in the background, while at his feet, and on the table beside him, are placed an assortment of vases. Open on his lap, the Envoy Extraordinary holds a volume of his Etruscan Antiquities.

Creator:

Sir William Hamilton (1751 - 1801, English)

Creation Year:

1766-67

Dimensions:

Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 23.5 in (59.69 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)

Medium:

Engraving

Movement & Style:

Academic

Period:

18th Century and Earlier