Collection Memento Mori Skulls

A.    A South German Carved and Polychromed Lime-wood ‘Memento Mori’ Skull with Curling     Snake Probably from an Altarpiece 
    Late 17th – Early 18th Century
Size: 18cm high, 14cm wide, 13.5cm deep - 7 ins high, 5½ ins wide, 5¼ ins deep / 30cm high - 11¾ ins high (with base)
SOLD

B.    A South German Carved ‘Memento Mori’ Pear-wood Skull with Prominent Teeth Probably from a Devotional Crucifix
    Late 17th – Early 18th Century
Size: 5cm high, 4.5cm wide, 5cm deep - 2 ins high, 1¾ ins wide, 2 ins deep
SOLD

C.    A German Carved and Polychromed Lime-wood Small ‘Memento Mori’ Skull
    18th Century
Size: 3.5cm high, 3.5cm wide, 4cm deep - 1¼ high, 1¼ ins wide, 1½ ins deep

D.    A German Carved Boxwood ‘Memento Mori’ Skull Probably from a Devotional Crucifix
    Late 17th Century
Size: 4cm high, 3cm wide, 4cm deep - 1½ ins high, 1 ins wide, 1½ ins deep
SOLD

E.    An Unusual South German Carved Boxwood Rosary Bead Depicting a Skull with a Deformed Nose
    17th Century
Size: 2.5cm high, 3cm wide, 3.5cm deep - 1 ins high, 1 ins wide, 1¼ ins deep

F.    A German ‘Memento Mori’ Carved Ivory Rosary Bead Depicting an Over-Large Skull 
    Mid 17th Century
Size: 3cm high, 3.5cm wide, 3.5cm deep - 1 ins high, 1¼ ins wide, 1¼ ins deep
SOLD

G.    An English Finely Carved Anatomical Model of a Human Skull a ‘Vanitas’
    18th Century
Size: 4.5cm high, 4cm wide, 3.5cm deep - 1¾ ins high, 1½ ins wide, 1¼ ins deep
SOLD

H.    A German Miniature Carved Ivory ‘Memento Mori’ Skull
    Late 17th – Early 18th Century
Size: 1.2cm high, 1.5cm wide, 2cm deep - ½ high, ½ ins wide, ¾ ins deep
SOLD 

I.    A Collection of Three ‘Memento Mori’ Skulls: A Spanish Small Carved Bone Janus Head Rosary Bead Depicting Christ and to the Reverse a Skull
A German Carved Ivory Miniature Rosary Bead in Form of a Skull
A German Carved Ivory ‘Memento Mori’ Skull
    18th Century
Sizes: 1.5cm high - ½ ins high (each)
SOLD 
 
Death, for most people before the 19th century, was a major preoccupation. Life expectancy was under 40 and the Catholic church taught that after dying the soul faced a terrifying and uncertain onward journey. Images of skulls were a reminder of your own mortality, a reminder to live a good and pious life, to pray for your soul in eternity. A ‘memento mori’ that death comes for us all. As the Latin inscription on Archbishop Chicele’s tomb states, ‘Now I am cast down: and turned into food for worms’.
 
Ex English Private collection

Collection Memento Mori Skulls

Main image

SOLD

Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image

ENQUIRIES

+44 (0)7768 236921
+44 (0)7836 684133

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image
Mini image

ENQUIRIES

+44 (0)7768 236921
+44 (0)7836 684133

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk