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This object is a water fountain (or acquaio). An elliptical basin on a baluster shaped pedestal is framed on each side by two pilasters carved with candelabra, foliage, birds and grotesques, terminating in two foliated capitals. Above is a moulding and a frieze, the latter carved with foliated ornament, in the centre of which is a ribbed shell containing an animal; thought by Pope-Hennessy to be a hind standing on a label, but subsequently identified as a beaver by Brenda Preyer. The frieze is surmounted by a projecting cornice.
The acquaio was a common feature of Florentine palaces in the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Although supplied with running water it is not a true fountain as the flow of water is not constant, being controlled by taps.
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