Inkstand made of green serpentine stone with two ink pots, a sander and pen holders in brass and glass. The lid is decorated with seven cameos in lava stone of different colours carved with representations of famous Renaissance artists such as Raphael (beige cameo, with beret), Leonardo da Vinci (red cameo), Antonio da Correggio?, Michelangelo (opposite Raphael?) and Tintoretto (opposite da Vinci). Some hairlines to the cameos and restoration to marble.
This inkwell is a fine example of a Grand Tour souvenir from the first half of the nineteenth century. Naples was an important stop on the Grand Tour, visited for its proximity to the impressive Mount Vesuvius. The use of lava stone (actually several local soft stone types, not all of volcanic origin) made this 'Souvenir de Naples' therefore even more attractive.
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