Copy of the Roman glass Portland Vase (now in the British Museum) in slate blue-gray jasper with white jasper relief decoration, the two-handled vase in the shape of an amphora, one side shows on the left the image of a nude male emerging from an architectural structure and grasping the arm of a recumbent, draped female figure holding a sea serpent, above her is a flying Cupid holding his bow and arrows, to the right is a tree and a nude male figure resting his right leg on the stump, his chin in his right hand, which is resting on his knee; on the other side left is a draped male figure seated on a rocky structure next to a column, he looks over his shoulder to his left at a central figure, a draped, recumbent female, lying on the rocky base, looking slightly left and with her right arm reaching over her head, behind her and to the right is the figure of a draped seated male looking over his right shoulder at the central figure; underneath each handle is a bearded mask; the base with the image of a cloaked figure, head lowered, wearing a wrapped headdress, with right arm raised to face, in the background foliage. The white jasper used for the relief decoration has been given a blue tint prior to being pressed into the molds.

Portland Vase copy


About 1791