White marble fountain or 'Barchile', Genoa, mid-16th century

Upper rim with four satyr heads, lower part decorated with dolphin motifs separated by shells and a shield with the coat of arms of Genoa. In Genoa, fountains have always been called 'Barchili', a term derived from the Genoese language 'Barchin', perhaps due to the basin's shape resembling a boat containing the fountain itself. In any case, the fountains adorning the squares of central Genoa were truly few, so much so that even in 1871 there were only seven 'Barchin' known in Genoa, both ancient and modern. Fountains, both public and private like ours, have not had an easy life, often assembled and reassembled in search of an optimal arrangement; the original location of this one, currently in our catalog, is unknown, but it certainly made a fine display of itself in the garden of an important villa of the Genoese patriciate. Diameter cm. 150, height cm. 120; basin thickness cm. 26, base cm. 70x70 h. cm. 95 Every object in our Gallery is sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by an Expert of the Court and the CCIAA of Genoa.