A PAIR OF ENGLISH EBONISED PLASTER FIGURES OF VESTAL VIRGINS HOLDING LAMPS

The pair of veil-draped and lamp-bearing Roman vestal statues, japanned in trompe l'oeil stone, correspond to the pattern of 'Vestal with Lamp' supplied in 1800 by Mount Street 'Petrification Manufacturer' Francis Hardenberg (d.1832) for Burghley House, Lincolnshire and first noted in its 1815 Guidebook (see Country House Lighting: Temple Newsam House Exhibition, 1992, no.118). An identical pair of cream-painted figures was sold from Fasque, the Scottish Seat of the Gladstone Family, Christie's London, 7 May 2008, lot 20 (£ 27,500 inc. premium for a set of four).