Pair of 19th Century Italian Grand Tour Tazzas on Sienna Marble Bases

A pair of early 19th century Italian Grand Tour bronze and sienna marble tazzas. A very nice and large pair of an unusual model having no side handles or side fixture decoration. Finely cast and with high quality detailing. Ca. 1820-30.

Beginning in the late sixteenth century, it became fashionable for young aristocrats to visit Paris, Venice, Florence, and above all Rome, as the culmination of their classical education. Thus was born the idea of the Grand Tour, a practice that introduced Englishmen, Germans, Scandinavians, and also Americans to the art and culture of France and Italy for the next 300 years. Travel was arduous and costly throughout the period, possible only for a privileged class—the same that produced gentleman scientists, authors, antiquaries, and patrons of the arts.