Collection Set

Country: Italy

Manufactory: Capodimonte

Date of establishment: 1980s

Porcelain Story

Every time I am in Naples, I want to visit Pompeii, the city buried under a thick layer of hot ash from Vesuvius. And every time, for some reason, I never get around to it. A few years ago, after spending a whole day in Naples with the children, we could not get to Pompeii. And when we came here from Rome for just one day, we rushed to see the Royal Palace, and the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola, and the cathedral of St. John, and the gallery of Umberto I, and, of course, the world famous Naples Museum of Capodimonte, which along with the largest collection of Titian paintings and a unique collection of Italian porcelain Capodimonte. In short, even that time we managed to see almost everything we wanted, but we didn't get to Pompeii.

I remembered it with regret today, because on that day, 13 April 1895, exactly 125 years ago, an event happened in Pompeii that made the world think again about this unique place, whose tragedy was described in detail in the "Letters" of Pliny the Younger. Back then, in just one day, a powerful eruption of Vesuvius destroyed three cities at once: Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia. And as it was found out during further excavations, under a many-meter thick layer of ash whole streets, houses of noble Romans with full furnishings, and remains of people and animals, who had not managed to save themselves, were almost untouched.

So there you have it. At excavation of Pompey on April 13, 1895 a skeleton of the person with someone's light hand nicknamed then "antique miserly knight" was found. The fact that this skeleton was found lying among a mountain of real treasures. What wasn't there! There were rings and bracelets of marvellous work, elegant gold chains, a huge silver table set of 108 items - goblets, bowls, plates, spoons... Over a thousand gold coins looked as if they had been minted a minute earlier.

As is often the case (and, by the way, not only here), quick swindlers managed to quickly sell the unique find to French Rothschilds. A high-profile scandal broke out. But the Italian authorities were never able to get the treasure back. It wasn't long before the treasure was on display in the Louvre in Paris...