Beschreibung:

After the Antique: A Marble SarcophagusItalian^ 18th century 50cm.; 20ins high by 208cm.; 82ins long by 56cm.; 22ins deepThe central panel inscribed with five lines of Latin inscription: D(is) M(anibus)/ C(aio) Tutilio Rufino/ (....) venatori/ T(itus) Claudius Secundus/ amico b(ene) m(erenti) p(osuit) (|To the shades of the deceased. For Gaius Tutilius Rufinus the hunter. Titus Claudius Secundus built this for his well-deserving friend|).Provenance: William Ponsonby^ 2nd Earl of Bessborough (1704-93)^ Parkstead House^ Roehampton^ Middlesex by descent to his son Frederick Ponsonby^ 3rd Earl of Bessborough (1758-1844). House Sale of Ashby Folville Manor^ Leicestershire by Heathcote Ball and Co Thursday^ 15 March 1984^ lot 117 and thence by descent.Published: Henry Blundell^ An account of the statues^ busts^ bass-relieves^ cinerary urns^ and other ancient marbles and paintings at Ince. Collected by H.B.^ Liverpool^ 1803^ p. 184^ no. DXXXIX (|It appears by an inscription on the body of the Sarcophagus^ which yet remains at Roehampton^ that this Sarcophagus contained the remains of some great man^ noted for hunting|) Henry Blundell^ Engravings and etchings of sepulchral monuments^ cinerary urns^ gems^ bronzes^ prints^ Greek inscriptions^ fragments^ &c.^ in the collection of Henry Blundell^ Esq. at Ince^ vol. II^ 1839^ cat. 539^ pl. 126 (|At Roeheampton is said to remain^ the sarcophagus from which it was taken^ with an inscription below: [transcription follows]|) Adolf Michaelis^ Ancient Marbles in Great Britain^ Cambridge^ 1882^ p. 402 W. Henzen and G. De Rossi^ Inscriptiones urbis Romae latinae^ vol. VI^ 5: Inscriptiones falsas urbi Romae attributas comprehendens^ Berlin^ 1885^ no. 3516 Elizabeth Angelicoussis^ |Sarcophagi from Ince Blundell^| Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Römische Abteilung^ vol. 111^ 2004^ p. 276 Note: The present lot once supported an ancient lid carved in front with a hunting scene flanked by two theatre masks. See engraving. The lid was offered as lot 7 in the 1801 auction of the Bessborough Collection^ where it was purchased by Henry Blundell for his collection at Ince. It is now in the Merseyside County Museum in Liverpool (B. Ashmole^ A catalogue of the ancient marbles at Ince Blundel Hall^ New York^ 1929^ p. 111^ no. 307^ pl. 48; B. Andreae^ Sarkophage mit Darstellungen aus dem Menschenleben. Die römischen Jagdsarkophage [Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs^ vol. I^ 2]^ Berlin^ 1980^ no. 37). The sarcophagus itself was not included in the sale and remained at Roehampton and was subsequently moved to Ashby Folville Manor^ Leicestershire where it was included in a contents sale by Heathcote Ball & Co. on 15th March 1984 lot 117 where it was erroneously catalogued with a Stowe provenance. An original catalogue of this sale is included with the lot.The sarcophagus was probably carved to order in the 18th Century^ as a means to support and enhance what seems to have been generally recognized at the time as an unusually finely decorated lid (see Blundell^ op. cit^ 1803: |the best piece of sculpture known to exist on that kind of monument. At the sale it was much recommended by the virtuosi^ and had many competitors for it|).The funerary inscription is also an 18th Century creation. It refers to the deceased as a hunter (venator)^ thus establishing a connection between the modern sarcophagus and the ancient lid. The function of the inscription^ just like that of the sarcophagus on which it was engraved^ was |to enhance the marble [lid]~s antiquarian and monetary value| (Angelicoussis^ op. cit.^ 2004).