Product Description

In 1845 a young man from Dublin who had been, under his own admission, "indulging in intemperance the week before" walked into the British Museum and headed for Room Ten where the Portland Vase sat on a pedestal under a thick, glass case. He waited until the attendant, who was responsible for two rooms, had strolled next door, then he picked up a handy lump of basalt - a fragment of a monument from the ancient city of Persepolis - and hurled it at the glass case. The vase that had survived nearly 2000 years was smashed into 200 pieces. Painstakingly reconstructed and now back on display as one of the British Museum's most treasured objects, the Portland Vase enjoys a fascinating story. It has passed through the hands of a remarkable cast of characters - rich and poor, titled and plebeian, famous and obscure. Among its owners were Flaminio Vacca (the tomb robber, cum budding achaeologist), the Princess of Palestrina (the notorious gambling addict), Sir William Hamilton (the famous cuckold), Josiah Wedgwood (genius of ceramics) and Horace Walpole (wit and dilettante). The Duchess of Portland dropped it but it didn't break. Robin Brooks recreates the lengthy travels and the powerful influence of this unique piece of art, which has long been an inspiration for artists, poets and historians, together with engaging portraits of the eccentric individuals through whose hands it has passed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #611993 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Sunday Telegraph
'Rich in anecdotes and characters..Brooks balances his potted biographies and history adroitly and entertainingly'

West End Extra
'a mysterious and beautiful object has found a skilfull and enchanting biographer'

East Anglia Times
'about the characters though whose hands the vase has passed, rich and poor, titled or common, famous or unknown: usually eccentric'

Customer Reviews

Entertaining, funny and touching
This is a real little gem of a book. It tells the story of an ancient Roman vase, one of the treasures of the British Museum. Brooks brings this unusual subject to life in a witty and elegant odyssey through the vase's intriguing history. It seems to have been a magnet for screwballs through the ages. I don't know who was my favourite character: the Pope with a taste for the occult; the English aristocrat who was so reclusive he decided to live in a tunnel under his ancestral home; or the collector who made his wife dress up as one the figures on the vase and pose for his friends. (The wife, by the way, was none other than Lady Hamilton, notorious mistress of Lord Nelson.) Brooks keeps us turning the pages as the vase passes from one eccentric to the next: each chapter ends on a cliffhanger. And, as we read on, we gradually peel away layer after layer of the myths and mysteries that have shrouded the vase throughout its history, and learn more about its true origins. Satisfying and ultimately touching. A perfect gift for people who enjoyed books like 'Longitude' or 'Fermat's Last Theorem', or for anyone who collects quirky facts. A real treat.