- Waterloo Vase
The Waterloo Vase is a great
urn , 15ft (5m) high and weighing 20 tons, fashioned from a single piece ofCarrara marble . Since 1906, it has been used as agarden ornament in the garden ofBuckingham Palace ,London .The Emperor
Napoleon I ofFrance passing throughTuscany on his journey to theRussia n front was shown a single massive block of marble, he asked for it to be preserved. It is thought that Napoleon may have ordered it to be roughly hewn into the present urn shape, leaving the panels undecorated in readiness to commemorate his expected victories.Following the French defeat in the
Napoleonic Wars , the vase was presented unfinished to the Prince Regent in 1815 by Ferdinand, Grand Duke of Tuscany via the British ambassador, Lord Burghersh. The Prince Regent, soon to become George IV, had the vase completed by the sculptorRichard Westmacott with the intention that it be the focal point of the new Waterloo chamber atWindsor Castle , commemorating theBattle of Waterloo , one of numerous triumphal commissions for Westmacott after Waterloo.Inspired by Ancient Roman models, such as the
Borghese Vase and theMedici Vase , the Waterloo Vase was carved withbas-relief s of George III (long removed from public view) on his throne, Napoleon unhorsed, and various allegorical figures. Two winged busts of angels leap incongruously from the sides of the vase, resembling more thefigurehead s of an ancient ship than the handles of an elegant marble vase.No floor, however, could bear the weight of the vase, an estimated 20 tons, so it was presented to the National Gallery in 1836. The Gallery finally returned the
white elephant to the sovereign in 1906, and Edward VII had the vase placed outside in the garden at Buckingham Palace where it now remains standing some distance from the palace in a wooded area to the northwest of the main building, on an austere brick paved plinth.Note
Various sources give varying descriptions of the vase's weight. Twenty tons is the figure given by the reference book used for this article and in the link below.
External links
* [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speel/sculpt/westmaco.htm The "marble story" of the Waterloo Vase] (in a biography of Richard Westmacott)
* [http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery/object.asp?maker=HARTNELLN--&detail=scrapbook&object=104598&row=5&scrapbook=104598_003 Photograph] ofElizabeth Bowes-Lyon , posing next to the Vase in 1938References
*cite book |last= Harris |first= John |coauthors= de Bellaigue, Geoffrey & Miller, Oliver |title= Buckingham Palace and its treasures |year= 1968 |publisher= Viking Press |location= New York |oclc= 442864 |id= Library of Congress catalogue card no: 62-23206.
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