A plaster of Paris model of the Temple of Hera II at Paestum, c.1820s, French, attributed to Jean-Pierre and François Fouquet, raised on a mahogany stand with Perspex cover, 12.4cm wide 28.9cm deep 9.1cm high Provenance: The Collection of Ben Weinreb (1912-1999), thence by descent to the present owner. Paestum, on the southwest coast of Italy, was an important ancient Greek city, and is noted today for its three temples, which remain in a remarkable state of preservation. Examples of the Doric order, they are the Temples of Athena and the First and Second Temples of Hera. The present example is a reduction of the Second Temple of Hera, which was also previously known as the Temple of Neptune or Poseidon, and was built c.460-450 BC. It is the only temple in the western Greek world with a double order of columns. A near-identical example can be found in the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum (MR27). It is understood that Soane visited Paestum as a student in 1779, and the Doric order in particular had a profound effect on his architecture, as can be seen in the Doric Vestibule of the Bank of England (1803-08). According to the records held by the Museum, Sir John Soane purchased twenty models by François Fouquet in 1834 from the architect Edward Cresy (1792-1858) who, from 1829-1835, worked in Paris. Soane paid Cresy the substantial sum of £100. It is likely that Cresy purchased the models directly from Fouquet et Fils.