Pair of alabaster vases decorated with moray eels... Lot 36

Pair of alabaster vases decorated with moray eels in relief Italy (Rome?), first half of the 18th century Carved and molded alabaster Accident to one, base dislocated H. 67 cm, Diam. 31,5 cm These vases with high gadrooned necks are topped by lids with naturalist decoration in high relief. Around the flower buds, moray eels snake in the middle of a corolla of acanthus leaves. The body is left smooth to appreciate the fine veins of the alabaster. Such vases were used to decorate the great Italian palaces, especially in Rome, in the 18th century (fig. 1 and 2). In the Palazzo Corsini, there is still a pair sculpted in relief, combining, as here, flower buds, acanthus and ornamental friezes (fig. 3).