A 15th century Istrian marble wellhead – £110,000 at Summers Place Auctions.
It shares much in common with a wellhead which still stands in the courtyard of the of Ca’ d’Oro palazzo in Venice.
As it is known to have been commissioned by Marino Contarino and made by Bartolomeo Bon in Venice in 1427-28, the dozen similar surviving examples are often ‘attributed to the Bon family workshops’.
Most are carved with two or more allegorical figures emblematic of Fortitude, Justice, Prudence and Charity inspired by the 14th century capitals of the Palazzo Ducale.
By family repute this example (with later wrought iron overthrow and sandstone plinth) was previously in the grounds of Horton Hall, Northamptonshire, which was demolished in 1936. Once the seat of the Earls of Halifax, it is likely that the wellhead was among the many objects brought back from the Grand Tour by George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax in the mid 18th century when both the house and the garden were remodelled.
