A Diverse Selection
The Bryce collection contains several classical artefacts originally intended to feature in a mansion that was never realised owing to the family’s decline in fortune during First World War.
Among the many sculptural treasures acquired was a spectacular marble sarcophagus; a long marble frieze with a Vitruvian scroll motif and foliate embellishment on one face and the remains of a Kufic inscription on the other and a Venetian marble wall plaque, depicting a winged lion and Latin inscription reading ‘Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus’ (Peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist).
Some of the statuary was incorporated into the garden alongside the ornamental architecture. Other items were utilised as fireplaces and roundels within the gardener’s cottage which served as the Bryce’s residence from the 1920s.
Top shaft of cross with eagle holding a book. Marble, c. 10th – 12th century.
High relief carving of St Mark as a winged lion. Marble.
Section of roundel with male bearded head. High relief travertine, c. 16th century.
Heraldic eagle. C. 16th – 17th century.
This sculpture in the fountain at the Italian Garden is a copy of Gianbologna’s ‘Winged Mercury’. OPW.
Kufic inscription section, Vitruvian scroll. Marble, c. 8th – 12th century.
Lion.
