The Warwick Vase is an ancient Roman marble vase which was discovered at Hadrians Villa , Tivoli , Rome , Italy in 1771 by the Scottish antiquarian, Gavin Hamilton. The vase , believed to have been conceived as a ritual drinking vessel, was one of many fine sculptures with which the Emperor Hadrian adorned the gardens of his palatial villa. The vase found in fragments in the silts of Lake Tiburtina , was reconstructed by Piranesi for Sir William Hamilton, British envoy to the Court of Naples . From Hamilton’s collection it passed to his nephew George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick, from where it’s title derives . It is now on exhibition in the Burrell Collection near Glasgow .