Description:A view of the interior of the conservatory at Warwick Castle, featuring a replica of the huge Warwick Vase (the Roman original is in the Burrell Collection).
Though initially built to house the vase in 1746 by a local mason, William Eborall, the conservatory has since been converted into a glasshouse for exotic plants.
The original vase was excavated around 1769 from the villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It was purchased a few years later by Charles Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick, from William Hamilton, who had been trying in vain to sell it to the British Museum.