Marble ornamental cinerary urn - Roman

Marble ornamental cinerary urn of exquisite quality and workmanship. The finely decorated body of the vessel is carved in delicate shallow relief; the shoulder with garlanded ox skulls (bucrania). The main body is carved in two registers separated by a beaded relief border. The upper areas with floral motifs, palmettes, and confronting cranes either side of fruit laden altars; the lower with radiating tongues. The two separately carved handles depict horned and bearded satyr heads. The strigilated lid is surmounted by floral decoration and a finial. The urn was illustrated in Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi by Giovanni Battista Piranesi on a plate dedicated to Sir Francis Dickins in 1778.