Further images
Fragments from a single sarcophagus, showing a marine procession (thiasos) of Nereids, Erotes, sea creatures, and the upper part of a naked male torso and head. Undulating waves decorate the bottom sections of the relief whilst the projecting border is unadorned. The individual fragments include an Eros astride a dolphin brandishing a whip or aswitch, another playing the lyre, and a flying eros tugging atthe reigns of a hippocampus whilst another paws at its forequarters. Other fragments include a female hand proffering a scallop shell, a male head with luxurious curly hair and beard, and elegant female figures, identified as Nereids (daughters of the marine deities Nereus and Doris), shed of the thick drapery that rests nearby, one of which has a mantle draped over the lower part of her body as she stretches out upon the back of a hippocampus (fish-tailed horse), and another is shown from the back whilst she dips her feet in the sea whilst riding an ichthyocentaurus (fish-tailed centaur). This sarcophagus likely comes from mainland Italy, and probably from Rome, where it was purchased.
The thiasos was the most popular theme for sarcophagi of the period, with over 400 known examples. This sepulchral context was evocative of a happy and content afterlife.
Provenance
Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (1697-1759), Holkham Hall, Norfolk; acquired Rome, Italy, 11th September 1716, thence by descent until 2024At one time restored by Brettingham the elder, who is recorded as having been paid for this service on 31st December 1748
Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester is recorded to have purchased these fragments, together with a portrait of Marcus Aurelius, in Rome on 11th September 1716 for 65 crowns. Coke's Grand Tour was one of the longest recorded, lasting 6 years from 1712-1718, during which he kept meticulous accounts. On his return he built Holkham Hall, one of the greatest and most splendid private houses in Britain, employing William Kent in its design, where these sarcophagus fragments remained until 2024.
Exhibitions
Norwich Castle Museum, UK, 'Norfolk and the Grand Tour', 5th October-24th November 1985, p.38Literature
Compare Michael Padgett, Roman Sculpture in the Art Museum Princeton University (Princeton, 2001), pp.157-160, no.44Publications
Holkham Archives F/TC 4 (Account book of Thomas Coke's expenses on his Grand Tour, 1712-1718), p.167Holkham Archives F/TC 5 (Account book of Thomas Coke's expenses on his Grand Tour, 1716-1718), p.253
M. Brettingham, The Plans, Elevations and Sections, of Holkham in Norfolk, the Seat of the late Earl of Leicester (London, 1773), p.20;
C.C. Vermeule, 'Notes on a New Edition of Michaelis: Ancient Marbles in Great Britain', AJA, vol.59, April 1955, p.136
A. Moore, Norfolk and the Grand Tour (exhibition cat.), Castle Museum, Norwich, 1985, p.38
E. Angelicoussis, The Holkham Collection of Classical Sculptures (Mainz, 2001), no.52
Forschungsarchiv für antike Plastik 979/13; 2665/12-22
Arachne ID 1067632
