987 AN IMPORTANT ROMAN MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS, the front panel centered by a portico with a triangular pediment carved with ribbons emanating from a wreath, with a partially open double door below carved with lions' masks and trophies, with bold leafy swags suspended from ribbon tied bows and pilasters at either end, the sides carved and incised with concentric circles and pierced at one end for drainage, the back simply hewn, probably Rome, 2nd century AD, 85" wide x 29" deep x 27" high.
Provenance: The collection of Sir John Vharles Robinson CB, FSA, Surveyor of Pictures to HM Queen Victoria and founder and First Superintendent of the Art Collection in South Kensington Museum (Victoria and Albert Museum).
Sold by Hy. Duke & Son of Dorchester as part of the Newton Manor Collection, Swanage, Dorset on September 1st-4th 1913, Lot 503 (illustrated in the catalogue) and acquired at that sale by the family of the vendor.
Various dates have been proposed for this magnificent sarcophagus. In a communication from the British Museum in 1956 a second century date was proposed, but more recently an early third century date has been suggested. The quality of the marble and the sculpted decoration indicate an Italian origin and the undecorated back suggests that the sarcophagus may have come from an independent mausoleum, where the tomb was placed against a wall.
Sir John Charles Robinson was born in Nottingham in December 1824. He was one of the young men that took up with great zeal the movement inaugurated by Prince Albert after the Great Exhibition, for establishing a general system of art education in England. When the South Kensington Museum was founded in 1852 he was appointed the first Superintendent of the Art Collections, a post which he held for 17 years. His obituary records that he spent many seasons travelling for the museum in Italy and Spain. With significant funds at his disposal he was able to acquire a vast number of works in marble, bronze and other materials, which quickly gave South Kensington a unique position among the museums of Europe. It seems likely that this sarcophagus was acquired on one of these tours for his private collection.
ÂŁ30,000-ÂŁ50,000
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