{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O130519"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O130519/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BL8172/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BL8172/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BL8172","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CT2908","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KN4058","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018LC3851","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O130519/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O130519","accessionNumber":"14:1 to 10-1891","objectType":"Wall fountain","titles":[{"title":"Wall fountain","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"The fountain is decorated with classical motifs, with appropriate references to water in the appearance of dolphins on the cistern and the basin in the form of a shell. The mouths of the three putti heads originally held taps and contain the remains of metal pipes. The fountain was bought in Florence from the painter, dealer, restorer and collector, Stefano Bardini (1836-1922), and when acquired it was said that the fountain was Venetian and had been in a church. The limestone from which it is made comes from the Istrian peninsular, now part of Croatia but then part of the Venetian empire, and was commonly used in that area.","physicalDescription":"The top of the cistern is carved with floral decoration, with a dolphin on either side. It is surmounted by a flattened lid carved to appear shell-like. The base of the cistern has three putti heads linked by garlands, on which two eagles stand with their wings outstretched. The mouths of the putti are open, and show the remains of metal pipes. Beneath the cistern is a baluster column carved with acanthus leaves, which rests on a protruding shell-like basin. Beneath the basin is a column decorated with tassels and garlands set on a spreading base. This is sitting on a flat plinth.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Istrian stone","id":"x36755"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved istrian stone","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2007BL8172","2009CT2908","2017KN4058","2018LC3851"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"50A (VA)","id":"THES49781"},"free":"","case":"EXP","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}],[{"text":"component","id":""}],[{"text":"fountain","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Venice","id":"x29237"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1500","earliest":"1495-01-01","latest":"1504-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"217.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"not including plinth","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"171.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"87.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"78.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"basin","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"61","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"basin","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This wall fountain was acquired from the Italian painter, restorer, dealer and collector, Stefano Bardini (1836-1922). It was described at the time to have come from Venice, and to have been in a church.\r\n\r\nIstria, now part of Croatia, was at the time this piece was made part of the Venetian empire. Limestone was regularly exported to Venice for sculpture, and this supports the assertion that the fountain came from Venice originally.\r\n\r\nThe faces of the putti have been worn away by the water issuing through the pipes in their mouths, indicating it was extensively used. \r\n\r\nThe classical motifs represented on the fountain are connected with water and reflect the function of the fountain - the dolphins and the shell pattern most clearly seen in the basin. The basin has no outlet, indicating that the flow of water was controlled by the user so that the basin did not overflow.\n\nHistorical significance: On the acquisition of 67-1882, a Venetian cistern for a lavello, Robinson noted that these ‘washing fountains’, fed from a cistern in the wall, served the daily bathing needs of the inmates, as well as many other purposes in palaces, convents and other domestic interiors: “they were often highly ornate structures, containing basins projecting from a niche in the wall, carried on brackets or supported on a shaft or pedestal”.\r\n\r\nIf this fountain was said to come from a church, it could be that it was placed so that the priest could wash his hands before consecrating the host.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Wall-fountain, carved Istrian stone, probably made in Venice, ca. 1500","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pope-Hennessy, John <u>Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum</u> Vol. II, 1964. No. 559 p524."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"u>List of Objects in the Art Division South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1891. Arranged according to the dates of acquisition, with appendix and indices.</u> London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1892. pp. 6"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"dolphin","id":"x30140"},{"text":"eagle","id":"x30166"},{"text":"putti","id":"AAT250465"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"The fountain is decorated with classical motifs, with appropriate references to water in the appearance of dolphins on the cistern and the basin in the form of a shell. The mouths of the three putti heads originally held taps and contain the remains of metal pipes. The fountain was bought in Florence from the painter, dealer, restorer and collector, Stefano Bardini (1836-1922), whose palace and its contents were eventually acquired by the Italian State (now the Museo Bardini). When acquired the fountain was desribed as Venetian and said to have been taken from a church. The limestone from which it is made comes from the Istrian peninsular in modern Croatia, then part of the Venetian empire, and was commonly used in that area. The stone would have been imported across the Adriatic Sea.","date":{"text":"1999","earliest":"1999-01-01","latest":"1999-12-31"}},{"text":"The fountain was stated at the time of purchase to have come from Venice and this is supported by the use of Istrian stone. Its style suggests a date around 1500.","date":{"text":"1974","earliest":"1974-01-01","latest":"1974-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["14:1-1891","14:2-1891","14:3-1891","14:4-1891","14:5-1891","14:6-1891","14:7-1891","14:8-1891","14:9-1891","14:10-1891"],"accessionNumberNum":"14","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1891,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","component [1]","component [2]","component [3]","component [4]","component [5]","component [6]","component [7]","component [8]","component [9]","component [10]"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2006-12-27","availableToBook":false}}