Z ANCIENT STATE ES ESTS LORD WESTERN THE SEAT OF THE RIGHT WITH PLATE*.. ' DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF ANCIENT STATUES, BUSTS, &c. AT FELIX HALL, THE SEAT OF THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD WESTERN, AT KELVEDON, IN THE COUNTY OF ESSEX; WITH PLATES OF SOME OF THE MOST STRIKING OBJECTS IN TIIE COLLECTION. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED (BY PERMISSION OF LORD WESTERN) BY CHALK, MEGGY, AND CHALK, CHELMSFORD. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/descriptivesketcOOunse INTRODUCTORY NOTE. Lord WESTERN having kindly given permission for the Public to vieio his Lordship's highly valuable Antiques, Spc. at Felix Hall, Messrs. Chalk and Co. have published the folloiving Descriptive Sketch, with a view to direct the attention of Visitors to the most interesting objects in the Collection. The Publishers beg to add, that they are indebted to his Lordship’s liberality for the beautiful Plates which illustrate the Sketch, as ivell as for a Copy of his detailed Catalogue, on which this description is founded. * DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF ANCIENT STATUES, BUSTS, &c. FELIX HALL, The seat of the Right Honorable Lord Western, is situated about a mile from Kelvedon, on the left of the road from London to Colchester, and 42 miles from the Metropolis. It is visible from the road a short distance from the town. The estate formerly belonged to the Abdy family, and, after having subsequently passed through various hands, it was pur¬ chased by Lord Western about the year 1795. The mansion is situated in a park, on a gentle eminence, commanding a very pleasing view. The principal front is 160 feet in length, and consists of a centre and two wings. A considerable part of the edifice was erected by Daniel Matthews, Esq., who resided in it many years. When it came into the possession of Lord Western, the front was of red brick, but his Lordship has recently made such improvements as have entirely changed the appearance of the building. His Lordship has added to the centre, a Portico modelled from Desgodetz’s Ancient Edifices of Rome.^ The drawings of the ancient Temples of Rome are given in that work with such accuracy of measurement and description as to enable the mason to work from them without further instruction or reference. This was proved in the erection of the Portico of Felix Hall by workmen of the immediate neighbourhood, who, with no other assistance, completed the work with extraordinary precision and success in every part. The Portico selected by his Lordship was that of the Temple of Fortnna Virilis. Desgodetz calls it Le Temple de la Fortune Virile. It is called in the English * “ Edifices Antiques de Rome dessines and mesures tres exactement, Par Antoine Desgodetz, arehitecte.”—Published at Paris, 1G82. 2 FELIX IIALL, KELVEDON. translation of Palladio the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, or Manly Fortune , now the church of St. Mary the Egyptian, near the Senatorian Bridge. It has six columns of the Grecian Ionic Order, and two corresponding pilasters. The proportions of the columns, intercolumniations, &c. have been most minutely followed, and the only variations are, that the columns are plain, and not lluted as in the original, and the frieze has on it no ornament. The floor of the Portico is raised about four feet from the ground, and is ascended by a handsome flight of steps. The rest of the building has been formed in the same order of architecture, and the lout ensemble has a very chaste and classical effect. His Lordship being an ardent admirer of works of art, has collected in his mansion a considerable number of highly valuable and interesting antiques, some of them of matchless beauty and rarity. THE HALL. Immediately on entering the Hall door the eye is attracted by two Cinerary Urns, (videPlale 1 .) of beautiful form and great antiquity. These depositories of the ashes of the dead stand on elegantly-formed pedestals. The first bust, on the right-hand side of the Hall, is that of the Emperor AUGUSTUS, in the prime of life, copied in marble from a celebrated full- length statue in the Florence Gallery. The next is the bust of Augustus, at the age of about 16, and is a copy from an original, of Parian marble, in the palace of the Vatican, at Rome. The third is also of Augustus at the age of about 12, and is an original antique, found a few years ago at Albano, in the Campagna di Roma. The likeness to each other of these three busts (making due allowance for the difference of the several ages) is a very striking and decisive proof of their close resemblance to the man who, himself a munificent patron of the arts, could justly claim the merit of having “received a capital of brick and left it one of marble.” The next in position is an original antique bust, which is by most persons considered to be that of Plato ; but some connoisseurs judge it to represent the Indian Bacchus. This difference of opinion arises from the circumstance of there being generally a resemblance between the bust of the Athenian Philosopher and that of the Bacchus mentioned by Diodorus as the conqueror of India. I Fl. Sin. Plate.II. Vi <- X ^ / c£ X | . ^ V \ N \ 1 r n \\ X rp*. -NS! o §v ^*4 £ N* .s. g \! f=H X V K < | X w f=3 ■N; V N — \ £ V «f N - § r£; V F=* r . ps?a p=*j <> i — r ^ p™i P—, 5- t=a % V < n} V Si X \j ^ >8 ’ ^ 1 : /• / /v. / />? ff WbtfnJrsr l-liLIX HALL, KELVEDON. 3 Near the preceding, stands a very ancient and fine heroic head of the Goddess Roma. In the helmet are set a number of green spherulw or beads, found as now seen, with the exception of a few, which had fallen out, but have been restored. The head is placed on a Sarcophagus (vide Plate 2) of very remote date, and which is highly ornamented by sculpture, though much defaced. The Sarcophagus is dedicated to the wife and mother of the husband, named Publius Novius Callippus. The inscription is as follows:— D. M. AELIAE. ITALICAE FECIT P. NOVIVS. CALLIP. PVS. COIVGI DE SE BM. Which may be read thus—with the elisions supplied*— Dus Manibus. JElias Italics Fecit. Publius Novius Callippus Conjugi De Se Bene Merits. (On the lower part of the front of this Sarcophagus is the word MATRI.) And translated—“ Sacred to the dead," [But this is a paraphrase rather than a translation of Bits Manibus, which will not admit of any thing like a literal version in English : the rest is more easily understood.] “ Publius Novius Callipus erected [Mis] to JBlia Italica his wife who well deserved it of him—and to his mother .” On the sides are Storks, the emblems of parental and filial affection. The antique on the right of the preceding, is taken to be a bust of Lycurgus. In the Capitol at Rome, there is a bust exactly similar to this, said to be of Lycurgus, a plaster cast from which also stands in his Lordship’s hall, and whether it represents the Spartan Lawgiver or not, the cast clearly shows that the bust in the Capitol and that in his Lordship’s possession are of the same person. Beyond this is an antique bust, said to be that of Germanicus, but this is mere conjecture. It has evidently been much exposed to the open air. •1 FELIX HALL, KELVEDON. A little further on is a pleasing antique bust of MlNERV r A, next to which is a beautiful antique head of Ariadne. The attention of the observer is next drawn to an antique Sarcophagus richly ornamented by a multiplicity of sculptured figures of great spirit and singularly high relief. This beautiful receptacle for the remains of the deceased of former days has been very little injured, either by accident or by the great Edax rerum —Time, and has not been in any part restored. The sculpture represents the descent of Diana, on Mount Latmos, from the skies, to visit the shepherd Endymion, of whom she was enamoured. The love-stricken goddess is represented stepping from her car (which is drawn by two spirited horses) surrounded by attendant nymphs and Cupids. The youth Endymion lies sleeping on the earth, while a nymph is pouring into his ear the juice of poppy, to prolong his slumber. At one end of the sarcophagus is seen Apollo or Phoebus, the brother of Diana, as the rising sun, in his chariot, drawn by the four Phaetontis equi and preceded by Lucifer, the morning star, who hovers in the air in the form of a winged boy, bearing a torch. At the opposite end, Diana, warned of the approach of day, by the advance of Apollo, is re-ascending in her car to the Court of Jove. This sarcophagus was found in the year 1825, at Ostia, on the territories of the Bishop, about 14 miles from Rome; and Lord Western had great difficulty to obtain possession of it. The Commissioners of Fine Arts (to whose inspection every valuable specimen of ancient art is, on its discovery, submitted before permission is given for its being taken out of Rome,) strenuously objected to the removal of the sarcophagus, and a contest respecting it was carried on for some time; but at last, through the interest of the Bishop of Ostia, the discoverers (the brothers, Cartoni, who are indefatigable in their researches, and who deal extensively in such works of art,) obtained authority to sell it, and it was purchased by its present Noble possessor, a few days before he left Rome, in 1826. It was found in a family vault, which accounts for its perfect preservation. It bears on it the following inscription:— ANINIA HILARA. CL. ARRIAE MARI INCONPARABILE FECIT VIXIT ANN. L MEN X. awut, v//r / {>/v<\> c/', '///>v//'r //r/erz/a./' //w/zw s/a/M // /////vs /r/////s Plate TY FELIX IIALL, KELVEDON. 5 Which may be read thus—with the elisions supplied Aninia Hilara Claudio Arrive Marito Incomparabili Fecit. Vixit Annos quinquaginta. Menses Decem. And may be translated — “ Aninia Hilara erected [//as] to her excellent husband Claudius Arria, aged fifty years and ten months:’’ The N and E in inconparabile, and the omission of the N in COJUGI in the former inscription, are probably mistakes of a careless workman and in no way affect the genuineness of either; such errors are of perpetual occurrence in the works of anticpiity. [The form of the Sarcophagus, and details of the Sculpture, are delineated in Plates 3 and 4.*] Beyond the Sarcophagus is a plaster cast from a celebrated bust of the monstrum execrabile Nero, in the Florence Gallery. The features are strongly indicative of the brutal character of one whose name is used as expressing every thing that is wicked in human nature. Near the bust of him who sang to his lyre while the Rome which he had fired was burning, stands the head of one, the traits of whose counte¬ nance display mental qualities of a very different nature. It is a cast from a fine original of the virtuous Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the Florence Gallery. On the same side of the Hall, are several curious fragments of architectural ornaments, capitals, pilasters, &c. in statuary marble. On the opposite side, over the door leading into the Print Room, the first object is a*striking antique head of Medusa, whose snaky ringlets “ In her aegis Pallas joys to bear.” * At the bottom of one of the Plates it is stated in French, that the Sarcophagus may be seen at the residence of M. M. Cartoni; it is therefore proper to observe that the Plate was executed before the purchase of the antique had been made by Lord Western. G FELIX HALL, KELVEDON. The next is a plaster bust of the tyrant Caligula, who like Nero, is celebrated only for his crimes. The cast is taken from a finely executed original in the Florence Gallery. The features are strikingly marked, and bear some resemblance to those of Augustus, to whom he was akin by birth, though not by character. Near to Caligula is a beautiful antique bust of a YOUNG Faun. In the centre of the same side of the Hall, stands a portion of an antique statue of Bacchus, comprising a remarkably fine head and part of the arms and trunk. From the remaining fragment of the right arm, it is evident that the statue, when entire, was in the same attitude as that of the young Apollo, a plaster cast from which is placed on the staircase. This bust stands upon an antique bracket handsomely sculptured. Near the latter, is a strongly characteristic head of the jolly demi-god Silenus —“ Bacchi nutritius etpredagogus.” The next is an antique head of a YOUTH, whose countenance is full of animation and expression. The name is unknown, but the dress indicates that he belonged to a distinguished family. Near the preceding is a marble bust of the bold and ambitious Sylla. The features are finely expressive of the mind of the “ Fortunate Dictator .” There is some resemblance between this bust and that of Buonaparte, which stands near it. The bust of Sylla is a copy from a celebrated original of great beauty in the Royal Museum of Naples. The lloor of the Hall, in which these works of art apppear is of black and white marble tesselated. In the centre of it is laid down a striking piece of antique MOSAIC in a perfect state, representing a Medusa’s head. The drawing is very free and spirited, and the colouring managed with a force and effect, which persons not accustomed to see such laborious and ingenious pieces of art, would suppose could not be produced by any arrange¬ ment of an infinite number of small pieces of coloured marble. Mythology describes Minerva as one of the three Gorgons, and daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was celebrated for her personal charms, and the beauty of her locks. Neptune fell in love with her, and they profaned the temple of Minerva, which so provoked the Goddess of Wisdom that she changed the FELIX HALL, KELVEDON. IT 0 hair of the fair offender into serpents, and gave to her eyes the power of turning into stone any one she looked upon. The countenance of Medusa is sometimes represented, as in this piece of Mosiac, harsh and uncomely ; at others handsome, as in the representation over the door near the staircase. About 7 or 8 years ago, the remains of a Villa were discovered on the ancient ViaAppia, about 4 miles from Rome. TheVilla comprised several apartments, and in the centre of the iloor of one of them, which ad joined the Balnearium or Bathing Room, this piece of Mosaic was found. At the time the Head was purchased, in 1825, none of the Mosaic floors of the other rooms had been taken up. It is a curious circumstance that those floors, which it is evident were originally laid on the level of the surrounding earth, are 12 or 14 feet below the present surface. How such an accumulation or height¬ ening of the soil can have been created since the erection of the Villa (even supposing that to have been 2,000 years ago) is only matter of conjecture. It may be supposed that the falling of vast buildings and their subsequent mouldering into dust, may have caused the accumulation ; such has been the case in numberless instances in Rome ; and perhaps the ancient city may have extended as far from the site of modern Rome, as the distance at which this Villa is situated. In the centre of the Hall are Two Marble Columns worthy ol notice. They are of the Grecian Ionic Order, and the shaft of each column is an entire piece of white statuary Carrara marble. They were erected under the direction of Mr. Hopper, the architect. ANTE-ROOM TO THE DINING PARLOUR. On the right-hand of the Hall is an ante-room leading to the dining parlour. In this ante-room is a most exquisitely chiselled statue of a Young Bacchus, executed by Berlolini, of Florence, from the celebrated original of Giacopo Sansovino in the Gallery of that city. Sansovino was contemporary with Michael Angelo, and like that great man was architect, sculptor, and painter. The copy by Bertolini is highly finished, and is of singularly fine Carrara marble, being free from even the slightest spot or blemish. The statue is placed on a white marble pedestal. On one side of the Bacchus is a bust of the Canova Venus, and on the other side that of Melpomene. The latter is a copy from the fine original Statue of the Tragic Muse in the Vatican. 8 FELIX IIALL, KELVEDON. At the opposite end of the ante-room are the head of PARIS, by Canova, and an antique bust of a Person unknown. Near these is an ingenious model of the ruins of the Temple of Psestum. The model is constructed of cork and is a very accurate repre¬ sentation of those celebrated ruins. On the panels of this room appear various pieces of Bas relief, including copies of parts of the Frieze ol the Parthenon at Athens, admirably executed by Mr. Henning, a Scotch artist of talent. THE DINING PARLOUR. The Dining Parlour is a spacious room, having a rich and highly finished wrought ceiling, cornice, &c. of the Corinthian Order, and a magnificent Chimney Piece of statuary marble, said to be of Italian workmanship, and to have cost a very large sum of money. This chimney- piece was in the room previous to Lord Western purchasing the house and estate. Over the chimney-piece, is a marble bust of the Apollo Belvidere— “ The Lord of the unerring bow. The God of Life and Poesy and Light.” This bust was purchased by his Lordship at Rome, in the year 1826. At the farther end of the room, on a white marble pedestal, is a very fine copy, in Carrara marble, by Bertolini, of the Medicis Venus, of which splendid production of art Byron thus enthusiastically sings :— “ Within the pale We stand, and in that form and face behold What mind can make when nature’s self would fail; And to the fond idolators of old Envy the innate flesh which such a soul could mould : We gaze and turn away, and know not where. Dazzled and drunk with beauty, till the heart Reels with its fulness ; there—for ever there— Chain’d to the chariot of triumphant art, We stand as captives and would not depart.” ! , Plate .\: - §33F£§Ft ' WMsS pet •i3rf A AtlAl /ut t/ej {a//iJ tbjfeln //.^. /-tyu /r t y-ryu >uts, ///v/ > / urm4 isnmy/tf ft> f ' i>y/*/ /tr/ mi t/ir//e v 4«- J ■ -■-■- ._: ":;: | ^ ■<■ < fi mmmmm (p^rr' ■“ ,->=■ s-* ' ANTIQUE WHITE MARBLE TAZZA, y /t 4 i >/*j f^&y&isn <-■fteai‘■'rf&me'US’^-fVet^At'- dp(jnpbtnna- iusoa '/ww ^LFtiftln.y^^A^^tnrv hfi/ 0 ^they/yU ?ifti 4FL8 3 /*{tk / ikFu A J bu HM futaAer. 1’latt* \ il / L jL _ /'.■/.*,y.i . // y.tcked Sc Pub ^ hhitaAer. TE MARBLE CANDELABRA, Oa//ay// / v/u/t //*/ / { 7 Feefr <• /875 < C^farcfi JPl. FELIX HALL, KELVEDON. 13 seize her property, but a follower of Sir Robert, named Hodges, gave her timely notice of the plot, and she was thereby enabled to secrete her jewels, “ which, had she wanted,” says Herbert, “ I do not think her fortunes left her would have made up fifty pounds, a small revenue for so deserving a lady, and most useful in those uncharitable regions against woman¬ kind, who, though much esteemed by the Persians, yet seem rather in those parts created for slavery and fancy, than to enjoy liberty or praises, prizes not a little sought for and desired by those female weak ones.” This branch of the Sherley family has been intimately allied to the Western family, by repeated marriages, which accounts for these remarkable paintings being in the possession of his Lordship. The Earl of Egremont also has portraits of Sir Robert and Lady Teresia Sherley. Over the chimney piece, is a spirited painting by Copley, of Lord Western and his Brother, Independent of the likenesses, that eminent artist considered this one of his best works. The object which generally first attracts the attention of persons enter¬ ing this room, is one in every respect deserving of admiration. It is a Tazza or Vase of beauty and dimensions equal to that in the dining room already noticed. (Vide Plate 6.J It is a tripod, on which are sculptured the heads of panthers or leopards, executed with great spirit. The cup has round the exterior a band or frieze, on which appear in has relief, griffins, ilowers, and ornamental forms, precisely similar to those on the entablature of the Temple of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina, in the Forum, at Rome. This Vase was purchased by Lord Western of the dealer who sold him that which is placed in the Dining Room; and the history of the way in which it came into his Lordship’s possession is the same. At one end of the room is a Candelabrum of marble antique. (Vide Plate 7.) It is nearly seven feet in height, richly sculptured, and beautifully proportioned. It had been much injured by time, but the restoration of it has been so ingeniously performed that there appears no trace of the restorer’s hand. This elegant Candelabrum was purchased by Lord Western at Rome, in 1825. The other Candelabrum is a cast from that which we have just noticed. A very striking object in this room is an original bust of Annia 14 FELIX HALL, KELVEDON. Faustina, the dissolute but beloved wife of Marcus Aurelius. It was purchased by Lord Western, in the year 1826, on the recommendation of Mr. Gibson, an eminent English artist, then residing at Rome, who considered it the finest bust upon sale that he knew of at that time. There is much to admire in this head, not only as regards its high finish, and state of preserva¬ tion, but for the dignity of character which it displays. The features do not impress the spectator with the idea of the vices which shadowed the brighter qualities of Faustina’s mind ; but that the head is a correct likeness of that extraordinary woman, is proved by the fact that it strongly resembles the several busts of her in the Vatican, each of which resembles the others ; but that in Lord Western’s possession displays the most pleasing character. The drapery of this beautiful piece of sculpture is of agate, which being semitransparent and of the amber tint, has a very singular and brilliant effect. Such an addition is certainly not in the most correct taste ; but at the period when Faustina was a living object of mingled admiration and censure, the practice of varying the materials on which the sculptor worked in the execution of a bust or statue, was not uncommon. On each side of the table on which the bust of Faustina stands, is a beautiful Greek, or, as it is often incorrectly called, an Etruscan, Vase. (Vide Plate 8.) They are placed on pedestals of unusually large size and very elegant form. They were purchased by Lord Western at Naples, in the year 1825. By the accidents of time they were broken, but the several parts have been so skilfully put together, that the places of fracture are quite imperceptible. These vases are of very great antiquity. They are formed of burnt earth. Millingen, in the Introduction to his work of “Peintures antiques et inedU&s de Vases Grecs ,” states, upon the concurring testimony of many ancient authors, that vases made of burnt earth were in use among the Greeks until the time of Alexander. The “Macedonian Madman’s” conquests introduced into Greece the luxury of Asia, with its riches; and the humble manufacture of earthen vases was then altogether abandoned for the use of the precious as well as of the inferior metals. The vases at Felix Hall may therefore be considered as the workmanship of the time of Alexander, who died in the year 323, A. C., and consequently they are upwards of 2000 years old. The preservation of articles formed ol material so comparatively fragile for a period far exceeding the duration of those manufactured of metal, is attributable to the custom of burying them in the stone vaults and tombs of the dead, which was seldom the case with gold or silver vases, they being of too much value to be so disposed of. F.lc/itd ?’ Puf/ished /