An exceptional, early 19th century, Regency Neoclassical, Statuary marble chimneypiece

An early 19th century English Regency, neoclassical statuary marble fireplace, carved in Italy to the highest quality with crisply and deeply carved undercutting to the sculptural decoration. The central tablet depicts Ulysses at the table of Circe, after a drawing by John Flaxman RA now conserved at the Royal Academy. This was part of a series illustrating The Odyssey and the Illiad, commissioned by Georgiana Hare-Taylor with the purpose of being translated into engravings by the Italian publisher Piroli in 1793. Thanks to the printed series Flaxman's bas-reliefs were widely disseminated.