Shakespeare, William. Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton. - photo 1
Shakespeare, William. Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton. - photo 2
Shakespeare, William. Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton. - photo 3
Shakespeare, William. Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton. - photo 4
Shakespeare, William. Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton. - photo 5
Shakespeare, William. Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton. - photo 6
Shakespeare, William. Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton. - photo 1

Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton.

Lot 45
15.10.2021 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 212 500
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 627535
Lot 45 | Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton.
Estimate value
$ 80 000 – 120 000
HAMILTON, William (1730-1803) – d'HANCARVILLE, Pierre François Hugues (1719-1805). Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. William Hamilton. Naples: 1766[-1776]

The beautiful Stroganov copy of the most sumptuous antiquarian publication of its time, bound in contemporary red morocco. Printed in Naples, written by the English, and fêted by the French—Brunet calls it an "ouvrage précieux, exécuté avec beaucoup de luxe,” while in Cohen-de Ricci’s judgement it is an “edition splendide et de grand luxe,”—this work represents the culmination of the 18th century European antiquarian impulse. It documents William Hamilton’s first ancient vase collection, and is profusely illustrated with fine hand-colored engravings which not only helped change the way art historians looked at the humble pot, but is also “of great importance in the development of neo-classical designs for pottery and porcelain; it influenced Wedgwood especially” (Blackmer).

William Hamilton came to Naples as an ambassador in 1754 and quickly set himself up as a new Pliny: blending serious duty with serious leisure and fascinated by absolutely everything around him. He "loved nature and art as one, and shared the universal interests of the antiquaries of the past" (Sloan). His vase collecting began soon after, with the brilliant but rather scurrilous Pierre François Hugues—styling himself as "d'Hancarville"—acting his agent. "The basis of [his first collection] was the purchase of the Greek vases belonging to the Porcarini family in in 1766," which Hamilton bought and enlarged, and then sold to the British Museum in 1772” (Blackmer). Before their shipment of England, all the objects were listed, drawn and described under the supervision of d'Hancarville. For some time, such vases were thought to be a product of the Etruscan civilization, but there was a growing understanding that the vases were really Greek—one which Hamilton himself was coming to even as his catalogue, entitled Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities, was being published.

One striking feature of the text, largely written by d'Hancarville, is "its apparent indifference to the principal subject" (Sloan). For d’Hancarville, an associate and also aspiring-rival of the famous German art historian Winckelmann, this book was his opportunity to make his own lasting contribution to the scholarship on ancient art. While his arguments are rather garbled, he seems to anticipate Ernst Gombrich's distinction between conceptualism and realism, arguing that art's primary purpose is, and has been since the stone age, to communicate through visual signs rather than simply copy nature in more and more accurate ways (ideas which d'Hancarville may have plagiarized from the Italian scholar Octavian Guasco). A reviewer later commented that what the book needed was "a smaller torrent of erudition."

Unfortunately, with the first two volumes issued, publication was then interrupted by d'Hancarville's expulsion from Naples for debt. Hamilton was forced to chase him down to Florence, where he found his collaborator in prison and his copper-plates in the hands of creditors. The last two volumes did not appear before 1776, with Hamilton's having arranged d'Hancarville's debtors into a syndicate to earn back their losses. While the collection was sold en bloc, by the end of the following decade, Hamilton, the consummate collector, was acquiring again. His friend, the artist Tischbein, wrote in his memoirs that Hamilton had come to him full of joy and "declared he could resist no longer and had started to buy vases all over again." Although Blackmer states that the edition was of 500 copies, it appears that only 100 copies of the two later volumes were issued, and this, together with the long gap in publication, accounts for the relatively high number of incomplete sets. An elegant work which exemplifies the learned and discriminating taste of its patron, the greatest collector of his age. Berlin Kat 890; Blackmer 845 (435 plates); Brunet I, 321; Cohen-de Ricci 474; Sloan, Vases and Volcanoes (1996).

Four volumes, folio (475 x 360mm). 2 hand-colored engraved title pages in each volume [French and English], 5 engraved dedication pages, 435 engraved plates, 183 of which are hand-colored and many of double-page or folding, engraved vignettes and elaborate historiated initials, some in color (a few areas of slight loss of pigment). Contemporary red morocco gilt, edges gilt, marbled doublures (some light wear and repairs at extremities). Provenance: Grigori Alexandrovitch Stroganov (1770-1857; bookplate) – Grigori Aleksandrovich Stroganov (1823-1878; bookplate shelf-mark '1030').
Artist:William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Applied technique:Pencil
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
01.10.2021 – 15.10.2021
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

Antiquities of Mexico
Antiquities of Mexico
$16 000
Verbiest's world map
Verbiest's world map
$12 000
A previously unknown invoice for furnishings
A previously unknown invoice for furnishings
$2 800
Iliad, in Latin
Iliad, in Latin
$1 500
New York City commissions a painting of Washington
New York City commissions a painting of Washington
$100
The East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
The East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
$1 000
Inscriptiones sacrosanctae vetustatis
Inscriptiones sacrosanctae vetustatis
$1 200
Huguan County, Lu’an Prefecture, Shanxi Province
Huguan County, Lu’an Prefecture, Shanxi Province
$1 600

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>