Late 18th/early 19th century Italian marble model of the Warwick Vase UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £6,033
This Italian marble model of the Warwick Vase – an ancient Roman marble vase excavated from Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli around 1771 – is at Woolley and Wallis on January 20 with an estimate of £4,000-£6,000. It was previously owned by Earl-Bishop Frederick Hervey, (1730-1803), Bishop of Cloyne, Country Cork Ireland and later the Bishop of Derry, until his death. The vase was housed at the estate he built, the historic Downhill House in Northern Ireland, and remained there until 1950 when the house was sold. It was then given as a gift to prominent Belfast solicitor and connoisseur Peter Rankin (1943-2015), who amassed a large carefully curated private collection and became a leading figure in the preservation and promotion of architectural and cultural heritage in Northern Ireland and beyond. He was a founder member of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society.