The Warwick Vase

The beautiful park of Warwick Castle contains the Conservatory built to receive the famous Warwick Vase, the largest marble vase known. It was found at the bottom of a lake at Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli, by Sir William Hamilton, then Ambassador at the court of Naples; by him it was presented to the father of the Earl of Warwick, conveyed to England, and placed in its present position.

This celebrated antique vase is of white marble, designed and executed in the purest Grecian taste, one of the finest specimens of ancient sculpture extant. In form it is circular, and capable of holding one hundred and thirty-six gallons. Two large handles, formed of interwoven vine-branches, tendrils, leaves and clustering grapes, spread around the upper margin. The middle portion of the vase is enfolded by the skin of a panther, with the head and claws beautifully finished; above are the heads of satyrs, bound with wreathes of ivy, with the vine-clad spear of Bacchus and the crooked staff of the Augurs. The huge bowl rests upon a pedestal of vine-leaves that climb high up, its sides; and it stands upon a large square marble base on which, in Latin, an inscription describes the finding of the vase and its presentation.