Antique Garden Furniture: Ornaments, Statues & Fountains

Stock: 16756

A fine and very large pair of grogged terracotta rinceaux panels. Originally installed on the facade of a palazzo in Florence, the panels are Renaissance in style, with a spiralling design of scrolling leaves, cornucopia and mythical beasts. The motif is centred by two tritonesses with entwined tails.
Designs such as these can be seen on many of the great Renaissance buildings, and indeed inside them. One particularly fine example was carved for Ascanio Sforza's tomb at Santa Maria del Popolo, in Rome and a cast of this can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum. This style of low relief carving was popularised after the discovery of the Ara Pacis in Rome in 1568. This great altar was erected in Rome between 14 and 9 B.C.

Italian, early 19th century.
(PLEASE NOTE, WE HAVE TWO PAIRS AVAILABLE SEE STOCK NO. 16791)

Grogged terracotta was the Italian answer to Coade, popularised in England in the 18th century and favoured for its weather resistant finish and ability to be modelled with great detail.

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	Length	Height	Depth
Each Panel	37" 94 cms	23 5⁄8" 60 cms	2 3⁄16" 5.5 cms

Stock: 16625

A large and impressive salt glaze faux bois garden chair. This large chair could also be used as a planter, the naturalistic branches hollowed out for planting, including a large area of the trunk. Would look fabulous planted with ferns, or even strawberries. This chair would be just as impressive used as an interior decoration.

Scottish, c. 1880.

Faux Bois garden ornamentation first emerged in France in the mid-19th century. A gardener named Joseph Monier first developed a technique using Portland cement (invented in England) and a metal armature, to make frost proof garden ornamentation, bridges and planters. This popular new art from spread to England, and large potteries used their frost proof salt glaze and stoneware to manufacture garden chairs and planters in this whimsical new style.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	35 3⁄16" 89.5 cms	42 7⁄8" 109 cms	30 1⁄4" 77 cms

Stock: 16746

A rare cast iron Handyside urn after the the Medici Vase. This beautiful urn was manufactured by the renowned Andrew Handyside & Co Foundry, and as illustrated in the catalogue. This Medici Vase, now on display at the Uffizi in Florence, is decorated with the iconic bas-relief design running around the bell shaped krater. It follows the Renaissance tradition of making copies of archaeological discoveries for grand tourists and other wealthy patrons. The industrial revolution allowed such copies to be made in greater numbers in cast iron.

English, c.1851.

Pedestal base 15786 not included in the price.

Notes: The Handyside Foundry exhibited this model at the Great Exhibition of 1851, as it was, and still remains, one of the most popular subjects from antiquity.


The Handyside Foundry: Having returned from his uncle's engineering business in Russia, the young engineer Andrew Handyside took over the Britannia iron works in Derby in 1848, a foundry that was known for the quality of its casting, owing to the fine sand that could be found in the region. He made a wide range of materials in cast iron, from garden ornaments, to iron buildings and bridges.

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	Diameter	Height
	23 13⁄16" 60.5 cms	31 1⁄8" 79 cms
Base 15786	17 11⁄16" 45 cms	23 3⁄16" 59 cms

Stock: 16628

A large 19th century obelisk in a buff terracotta, with its original plinth. The surface of the obelisk has developed a beautiful patina, and it would make the most perfect garden centrepiece.

English, mid-19th century.

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	Width	Height
	15" 38 cms	63 13⁄16" 162 cms

Stock: 12781

A near pair of antique cast iron plant holders or jardinières in the Roman Revival manner, with raised cast detail of olive branch, laurel wreath and ribbons on one, and raised cast wreath and ivy leaf on the other, each rests on four acanthus style feet.
English Victorian mid 19th century.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	29 1⁄2" 75 cms	13 3⁄8" 34 cms	14 3⁄16" 36 cms

Stock: 16266

A mid-19th century model of the Uffizi Boar, called 'Il Porcellino', by Austin & Seeley, the seated figure of the boar on an integral square plinth.

This cast stone model of the Uffizi Boar takes its name from a 17th-century bronze fountain by sculptor Pietro Tacca, made for Cosimo II de' Medici and originally placed in the Loggia at the Mercato Nuovo in Florence. This civic space was also known as the Loggia del Porcellino, named after the boar as rubbing the statue's nose is said to bring great wealth. Made in the 1630s, it was modelled after an earlier marble version (Italian, 2nd-1st century BC) discovered in Rome in 1556 on the slopes of the Esquiline Hill, itself thought to be based on a lost Greek Hellenistic bronze version. After restoration, the marble statue was brought to Florence in 1568 as a gift from Pope Pius IV to Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, initially placed in the Pitti Palace. Both this marble and the 17th-century bronze versions are now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It remained an immensely popular subject for Grand Tourists, who collected their own versions. It is a testament to the commercial prowess of Austin and Seeley to produce such an iconic model for their wealthiest clients.

Notes:

A design for a model of the Uffizi Boar is illustrated in Austin and Seeley's catalogue the 'Specimen Book of Austin & Seeley's Artificial Stone Manufactory, London', 1844, p. 9. Austin & Seeley were known as suppliers of fine garden statuary to the largest country houses in England and similar stone examples can be found at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, Castle Howard in Yorkshire, and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Felix Austin entered into business making artificial stone in 1828, having purchased moulds from a firm that had gone out of business. He established his works in New Road, London, describing himself variously as an architect, statuary mason and sculptor as well as artificial stone maker. His material was not the same as the ceramic body used by Mrs. Coade, but made from Portland cement, broken stone, pounded marble and course sand (The Builder, 1868). However, like Mrs. Coade, he encouraged leading architects and designers to work for him. Around 1840 he entered into partnership with John Seeley; Seeley had trained at the Royal Academy Schools and also made an artificial stone, which he called 'artificial limestone'. In 1841 they published their first catalogue Collection of Ornaments at Austin & Seeley's Artificial Stone Works for Gardens, Parks and Pleasure Grounds, etc. from their address in New Road. The preface to this catalogue begins 'Austin's Artificial Stone is of a light tone, requires no painting or colouring, will not sustain injury from the severest winter, and, being impervious to wet, is particularly applicable to all kinds of water-works. Its superiority is now so thoroughly established, that the most eminent Architects and scientific Gentlemen have expressed, in the highest terms, their approbation of its durability, and close resemblance to real stone.'

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	Width	Height	Depth
	43 1⁄4" 110 cms	55 7⁄8" 142 cms	70 7⁄8" 180 cms

Stock: 16556

A rare pair of large cast iron Handyside urns after the the Medici Vase. These urns were manufactured by the renowned Andrew Handyside & Co Foundry, and as illustrated in the catalogue, are a near pair, with a different subject to the bas-relief friezes. The right is a faithful copy to the original Medici Vase, now on display at the Uffizi in Florence. Both are mounted on their original pedestals.

English, c.1851.

Notes: The Handyside Foundry exhibited this model at the Great Exhibition of 1851, as it was, and still remains, one of the most popular subjects from antiquity.

Having returned from his uncle's engineering business in Russia, the young engineer Andrew Handyside took over the Britannia iron works in Derby in 1848, a foundry that was known for the quality of its casting, owing to the fine sand that could be found in the region. He made a wide range of materials in cast iron, from garden ornaments, to iron buildings and bridges.

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	Width	Height	Depth
Urn & Base	23 5⁄8" 60 cms	54 1⁄4" 138 cms	23 5⁄8" 60 cms
Base	19 1⁄4" 49 cms	24" 61 cms

Stock: 6560

A large boldly carved stone head of a classical figure wearing a laurel wreath. Originally mounted on the parapet of a building in Glasgow, built in the Greek Revival style, now demolished.
Very much in the style of - or perhaps even designed by - the great Scottish architect Alexander 'Greek' Thomson.
Scottish,19th Century.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	15" 38 cms	17 11⁄16" 45 cms	15 3⁄8" 39 cms

Stock: 16530

A set of two black painted cast iron garden urns on stands, attributed to the Handyside Foundry. This set of campana urns with flared lobed rims, have lovely acanthine foliate embellishments to the body, over gadrooned socles. They are mounted with mask and loop handles. The plinths are simply decorated with bound laurel wreaths.

English, mid 19th century.

Notes: The renowned American landscape gardener, writer and horticulturalist Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815 – July 28, 1852) speaks fondly of the garden urn stating,“There are few objects that may, with so much good effect, be introduced into the scenery of pleasure grounds, surrounding a tasteful villa, as the vase in its many varied forms.”

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	Width	Height	Depth
Urn & Base	17 1⁄4" 44 cms	44" 111.8 cms	17 1⁄4" 44 cms
Base	13 5⁄8" 34.5 cms	19 13⁄16" 50.3 cms

Stock: 16182

A pair of Victorian painted cast iron garden urns or planters, with scrolled rims over gadrooned bodies, raised on cast iron plinths.

Victorian, c.1890.

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	Diameter	Height
	21 1⁄4" 54 cms	31 1⁄2" 80 cms

Stock: 16401

A fine 19th century copy of the Sosibios vase by Handyside & Co in cast iron, with its original stepped plinth base. This was originally retailed by the Handyside foundry at £4 in 1880.

Notes:
This cast iron urn is modelled on a white marble urn from antiquity by Sosibios, a Greek sculptor working in Rome around 50 BC. An English version of the model was later in the 1874 catalogue of A. Handyside and Co. of Derby and London. A set of four painted cast-iron urns of this model sold at Christie's Wrotham Park, 4 June 1991 lot 120. .

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	Width	Height	Depth
	16 7⁄8" 43 cms	33 1⁄8" 84 cms
Overall		57 1⁄8" 145 cms

Stock: 15738

A Victorian Sundial with a gardrooned fireclay pedestal, possibly Garnick. An associated bronze sundial that is a perfect fit.
English or Scottish, c. 1880.

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		Height
		47 3⁄16" 120 cms

Stock: 4506

A weathered carved stone bust of Moliere, the 17th century French playwright (1622 - 1673) looking to dexter.
French, circa 1720.

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	width	height
	21" 53.3 cms	25" 63.5 cms

Stock: 15739

A pair of Victorian cast iron campana garden urns with gadrooned fluted bodies on square bases.

English, c.1880.

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	Diameter	Height	Base
	16 1⁄8" 41 cms	20 1⁄2" 52 cms	9 5⁄8" 24.5 cms

Stock: 15936

A pair of elegant nineteenth-century cast iron garden urns, each with a flared egg and dart rim over a gadrooned body mounted on a square base. Perfect as planters on plinths or perhaps a wall.

English c.1880.

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	Diameter	Height	Base
	22" 56 cms	15" 38 cms	10" 25.3 cms

Stock: 15818

A rare antique terracotta sundial attributed to the Compton Pottery of Guildford. The sundial comprises a putto holding the dial and this is mounted on a Tuscan column.
A Sundial of this type would have been used by garden designers such as Gertrude Jeckyll for her Arts and Crafts style gardens, and would look fabulous in a number of settings.

English, c. 1910.

Photo before restoration.

Notes: The Compton Pottery was a well-regarded pottery specialising in garden pots and ornamentation. They received commissions from well known figures, including Lutyens, and their work was stocked at Liberty and Co. It was founded by Mary Watts in 1900, and they operated until 1956.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	18 7⁄8" 48 cms	48" 122 cms	18 7⁄8" 48 cms

Stock: 13151

A pair of Victorian terracotta campana garden urns on Doulton plinths, the urns with scalloped and fluted sides and rims mounted on elegantly understated plinths.

English Circa 1870.

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	Width	Height
urns	17 11⁄16" 45 cms	21 1⁄4" 54 cms
bases	15" 38 cms	23 3⁄16" 59 cms

Stock: 9191

A pair Carrara marble plinths, carved in low relief, with lion masks, armorial shields and foliate motifs. Would work wonderfully as garden ornaments, or as plinths for urns or other statuary.
Italian, 19th century.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	7 13⁄16" 19.8 cms	35 3⁄8" 90 cms	7 1⁄8" 18 cms

Stock: 15831

A pair of Chinese Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) sancai-glazed ridge tiles modelled as horse and rider. Both tiles are glazed in rich green and amber, the horses in a rich amber and the riders wearing green robes.

Tiles of this kind were often used on public and private buildings to ward off evil spirits. The work of glazed tiles is known in China as Liuli Wa, literally `roof-tile of glass`, a term dating back to the Tang Dynasty. According to traditional Chinese beliefs, roofs are a platform of communication between the world of the living and the realm of the spirits.
Chinese, late 15th - early 16th century.

Sancai means three glazes, the basic colours of this glaze are green, cream and amber, but more colours were sometimes used. It was a lead glaze and the addition of metal oxides created the limited palate of green and amber and sometimes blue. In the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD), grave goods were often glazed in this manner and there was a resurgence in popularity for this glaze in the Ming period.

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		Height
		14 3⁄8" 36.5 cms

Stock: 15786

A moulded terracotta garden pedestal.

	Width	Height	Depth
Top	15" 38 cms	23 3⁄16" 59 cms	15" 38 cms
Bottom	17 11⁄16" 45 cms

Stock: 15724

A large and finely carved 19th century Italian marble lidded urn, decorated with trailing grape vines and and dramatic handles, modelled as grinning and horned satyrs. The body of the urn is carved with two cartouches, one depicting a nymph bathing in a pool whilst a satyr observes, hidden by bullrushes. The other depicts an a satyr and a goat in an amorous and playful embrace. After the antique.

Italian, c.1850.

Could be situated in a sheltered spot in a garden or courtyard, but equally suited to an interior setting.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	28" 71 cms	40" 101.5 cms	19 11⁄16" 50 cms

Stock: 15598

An 18th century bronze sundial, the dial plate inscribed Bywater Dawson & Co. Liverpool, on a substantial 19th century cast iron base, mounted on a millstone.
English, 18th century with 19th century base.

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	Width	Height	Depth
without stone base	12 5⁄8" 32 cms	53 1⁄8" 135 cms	12 5⁄8" 32 cms
with stone base	19 11⁄16" 50 cms	61" 155 cms

Stock: 15516

A set of four Victorian cast iron garden chairs, with spoon backs featuring crisply cast decoration above circular seats cast with a radiating circular pattern and resting on elaborate cabriole shaped legs. This is not an identical set, as is formed form 2 very similar pairs. Very much in the Coalbrookdale style, and would work well as a patio set as they are very heavy.

English, c.1880

Photographs before restoration.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	16 1⁄2" 42 cms	32 1⁄4" 82 cms	20 1⁄2" 52 cms

Stock: 12480

A rather fine Baroque style three tier garden fountain carved in patinated Doddington Sandstone. The three strongly carved ascending bowls each rest on ornate and sturdy baluster stems. As the water flows the air is filled with the soothing and gently tinkling sounds of a babbling brook. Shown with clover shaped basin SNo 12697 not included. French, mid 19th century

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	Width	Height	Depth
	39 3⁄8" 100 cms	83 1⁄2" 212 cms	39 3⁄8" 100 cms

Stock: 8638

A pair of large, early 20th century, terracotta garden urns in the Baroque manner with gadrooned bowls and plaited basket weave band collars around the necks.
English, circa 1930.

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	width	height
	16 1⁄8" 41 cms	15 11⁄16" 40 cms

Stock: 7814

A small Victorian, crudely carved mill stone grit garden figure of a seated, mop headed boy.
English, circa 1880.

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	width	height	depth
	14 13⁄16" 37.5 cms	18" 45.7 cms	15 11⁄16" 40 cms

Stock: 12733

A large, early 20th century composition stone garden bird bath. The deep, round bowl is raised on an octagonal pedestal.
English, circa 1920.

Image before restoration.

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	Width	Height
top	48" 122 cms	32 1⁄4" 82 cms
base	19 11⁄16" 50 cms

Stock: 15138

A suite of 20th century Coalbrookdale style garden seats consisting of a pair of chairs and a two seater bench. Entwined serpents and vines enhance the cast iron bench ends with hand rests terminating in hound dog heads. The back and seats are hardwood possibly mahogany. English, mid 20th century.

Photo before restoration.

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	Width	Height	Depth
Larger	56 1⁄4" 143 cms	28 1⁄4" 72 cms	23 5⁄8" 60 cms
Smaller	25 5⁄8" 65 cms	28 1⁄4" 72 cms

Stock: 15245

A very large 20th century bronze fountain. Water spouts from the mouths of four grotesque masques, mounted at the top on a large gadrooned urn, and tumbles down into a wide bowl. From there it falls out of the mouths of twelve lion mask heads and down into a basin.The great bowl is held aloft by four elegant classical female figures with the names MERANIE, LALOIRE, LASAONE & VERONIC carved into the base of each figure. Two of these names may be referring to the French rivers the Saone and the Loire.
French, 20th century. .

Shown with clover shaped basin SNo 12697 not included.

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	Diameter	Height
	60 3⁄16" 153 cms	84 1⁄4" 214 cms

Stock: 14778

An Arts and Crafts stone bird bath or garden ornament. The wide bowl rests on carved effigies of three angels pointing to heaven supported by a stone socle plinth. Around the foot of the plinth are the Gratias Tibi Domine (Thanks be to God) and the initials G K & D.
English, 19th century.

Photos before restoration.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	31 1⁄2" 80 cms	49 5⁄8" 126 cms	31 1⁄2" 80 cms

Stock: 14081

A large Victorian carved Portland Stone antique lion fountain head.
English mid 19th century.

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	width	height	depth
	31 1⁄8" 79 cms	22 13⁄16" 58 cms	16 1⁄2" 42 cms

Stock: 7347

A small Baroque style replica lead water fountain with two tiered scalloped basins surmounted by four playful putti on a tri-dolphin base. English, late 20th century.

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	width	height	depth
External	20 1⁄2" 52 cms	33 1⁄2" 85 cms	15 11⁄16" 40 cms

Stock: 13277

A large Edwardian terracotta garden urn attributed to the Garnick Fireclay Company, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The body with ribbon-tied oak leaf bands on lobed undersides above a waisted socle and square section base, the base stamped with the name Garnick. Probably once one of a pair.
Scottish, early 20th century.

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	Width	Height	Depth
	26 3⁄8" 67 cms	30 1⁄4" 77 cms

Stock: 14868

A monumental Regency stoneware urn, in the manner of the antique. This magnificent urn recalls the form of an Ancient Greek krater - a large vessel for mixing wine. The entire urn is dedicated to the God of Wine Bacchus (Dionysus), with a band of fruiting vines to the neck, underneath which is high-relief frieze depicting a Bacchic procession or thiasus, with revellers carrying cups of wine, bunches of grapes and the other trappings of a hedonistic feast. The serpents fashioned into handles are characteristic of Bacchic iconography and they are often associated with Bacchus, as Maenads - female followers of the God - wore snakes in their hair.

This urn is unlike any other we have come across, but echoes the popularity of themes from classical antiquity, made even more popular by the phenomenon of the Grand Tour. The great engraver and antiquarian Giovanni Battista Piranesi even produced an engraved volume solely dedicated to the designs of urns in the antique style. He then manufactured urns in his Italian workshops. In England, the famous manufacturer Eleanor Coade and designers such as Thomas Hope also produced urns in the antique manner for an eager public.

The urn is made from a weather impervious stoneware, similar to the famous Coade stone. Restoration to the handles has been carried out.


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	Width	Height	Depth
	29 7⁄8" 76 cms	57 7⁄8" 147 cms	32 11⁄16" 83 cms
Base	18 1⁄2" 47 cms

Stock: 7604

A pair of large restored terracotta lions modelled in the Baroque manner, seated on bases which are stamped, ‘Fabrique de Lapujade, Ouvriers Associes, Ses de Negrier, Toulouse.’ With restorations. French, 19th century.

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	width	height	depth
	18 1⁄2" 47 cms	33" 83.8 cms	20" 50.8 cms