The Travellers: Classical Rondels

A pair of rondels depicting classical busts.
Image: R. Louis Bofferding Decorative and Fine Art.

As a continuation of the on-going but non-sequential posts of exemplary objects being re-used in different settings, this edition features a pair of oil on canvas paintings depicting busts of Jupiter and Diana (or Zeus and Artemis in Greek mythology).  With a framed diameter of 41.5 inches, they were surely intended as overdoor decoration as they were painted di sotto in sù (as seen from below).  Currently offered for sale by R. Louis Bofferding Decorative and Fine Art, the paintings are described as mid-eighteenth century English, though perhaps by an Italian hand, a follower of Antonio Verrio.  (Verrio, brought to England by the Duke of Montagu, is best known for the frescoed walls of the grand staircase at Hampton Court for King William III).  It is not known if they were part of a larger set.

The painting of the bust of Diana
in the New York home of Gaser Tabakoglu.
Image via R. Louis Bofferding Decorative and Fine Art.

Gaser Tabakoglu, an associate of legendary decorator Renzo Mongiardino, bought the pair from equally-legendary antiques dealer Christopher Gibbs in the 1980s.  Tobakoglu displayed them in his home on Sloane Street in London and then in the master bedroom of his weekend retreat, Brick House, in upstate New York.


The painting of the bust of Zeus
in the Manhattan apartment of
the Carter Burdens by Mark Hampton.
Image via R. Louis Bofferding Decorative and Fine Art.

Bofferding had acquired them for his shop when they were spotted by the late interior designer Mark Hampton.  Hampton knew they would be perfect for a tall-ceilinged Drawing Room he had decorated in the apartment for Carter and Susan Burden, and the Burdens agreed.  Hampton added the frames according to Bofferding, the source of much of the factual information used here.


The Burden Drawing Room
as painted by Isabelle Rey.
Image via Carolyne Roehm.

The rondels do not appear in the published photos of the Burden apartment that appeared in HG magazine or in the Burden chapter of the book MARK HAMPTON: AN AMERICAN DECORATOR.  Undoubtedly a project of great significance to the designer, a view of the room also appears on the book's dust jacket.


The dust jacket for MARK HAMPTON:
AN AMERICAN DECORATOR
features a view of the Burden Drawing Room.
Image via The Devoted Classicist Library.

Who will be the next caretakers of these delightful decorative paintings?  Keep an eye out, Devoted Readers, and let's see if we can spot them again, soon.  For other posts in this series, just type in "Travellers" in the SEARCH THIS BLOG feature in the right-hand border of the regular web version of The Devoted Classicist.