Northumberland, UK - LONDON, UK (Nov. 15) A Coadestone copy of a late Roman sarcophagus, believed to have been discovered by Peter Hone in 1989, has been sent in as a late entry to the selling exhibition 'Coade Comfort' at the gallery of Hilary Chelminski in King's Road, Chelsea. It is 28ins long, with the main panel of a relief of a Roman sacrifice scene showing a cow or heifer decorated with woollen tresses being led to sacrifice by toga-clad men, one of whom is carrying the sacrificial pole-axe.
"I knew about this piece but never dreamed of being offered it for the exhibition. It was consigned by a collector. An engraving of the original marble appears in a 1797 book on the collection at Stowe by J. Seeley, then owned by George, Duke of Buckingham," said Hilary Chelminski. On the top, in Mrs Coade's words there was a naked figure laying on a serpent and an inscription saying it was made in the time of Trajan. Mrs Coade said of it, "It is impossible to give an adequate description of the exquisite workmanship of this piece of ancient sculpture." The figure which lay on the top is now missing and was presumably moulded and fired separately.
A previous Duke of Buckingham, together with the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke had started the fad for collecting Roman statuary in the early seventeenth century by employing dealers in Italy to buy on their behalf originals and copies of recently dug up Roman sculpture. Charles I began buying in 1625. His collection was sold off when he was beheaded, in 1649, although Oliver Cromwell withdrew some sculptures from the sale on account of their rarity and antiquity and he personally bought a copy of the Antinous.
The original marble sarcophagus, of which Eleanor Coade had moulds made, is believed to have been found near the Villa d'Este at Tivoli, about twenty miles from Rome, beside the ruins of Hadrian's villa, where a treasure trove of marble and bronze was discovered including Antinous, the Furietti centaurs and the Warwick Vase. The villa had been known since the early fifteenth century, but it was not until 1550 that Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, governor of Tivoli, started excavations in earnest to provide materials for decorating his new villa. Subsequently Cardinal Albani, a reputed lovable rogue, continued the pillage, along with Furietti and including Gavin Hamilton who in 1771 discovered what became the Warwick Vase. The marble sarcophagus was sold by Buckingham to a Mr. Norton in 1848 and has not been heard of since.
The Coadestone sarcophagus was on show in 1798 in the Coade Gallery near Westminster Bridge, on the site now occupied by County Hall. On the end panel is the inscription:
which means (translated by a non-Latin scholar . . . alternatives welcomed - ed):
Dedicated to the gods of the underworld, Antonia PACVVIO made sacrifice, and Erennio her little son, most devout Emperor Trajan Caesar Augustus Germanicus' steward consecrated this.
Could the sarcophagus been that of Erennio, possibly the son of Trajan Decio?
Stamped: COADE LAMBETH The back panel bears the inscription: Moulded from the Ancient Marble In possession of the Marquis of Buckingham At Stowe. Length: 28Ó (71 cms). Depth: 16Ó (41 cms) Price: £32,000
The cow would have been washed and adorned with ribbons and strips of white or scarlet wool, the horns gilded. Roman sacrifices required a female animal for a female deity, apart from Jupiter. They should show no sign of panic, a bad omen which polluted the sacrifice. The poleaxe would have stunned the animal rendering it instantly unconscious, it would then have been cut open and bled to death, the entrails would have been inspected by a priest and provided they were satisfactory the sacrifice was deemed complete, the animal would then be roasted and eaten at the subsequent feast. Cow or heifer sacrifices were made to Jupiter, Juno, Salus, Victoria, Penates, Lar or Genius Loci and Tellus. Roman sarcophagi and altars were synonymous, liturgically every altar was a tomb. Altars used annually (and the remains within them) were reburied after use.
