Lot 8
8
A GERMAN IVORY MEMENTO MORI, in the form of a semi-decomposed skull, one side with hollow eye socket and bone, the other partly covered by skin, a snake and a lizard eating the top of the head, still partly covered by hair, another snake nibbling the ear lobe, 18th Century

Details
A GERMAN IVORY MEMENTO MORI, in the form of a semi-decomposed skull, one side with hollow eye socket and bone, the other partly covered by skin, a snake and a lizard eating the top of the head, still partly covered by hair, another snake nibbling the ear lobe, 18th Century
2 5/8in. (6.7cm.) high
Literature
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
R. Berliner, Die Bildwerke in Elfenbein..., BNM, Augsburg, 1926, pl.82, no.148
C. Theuerkauff, Elfenbein, Sammlung Reiner Winkler, Munich, 1984

Lot Essay

This somewhat rarer depiction of a partly decomposed skull memento mori is similar to an example in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (Berliner, op.cit.), there described as probably South German, first half to mid 17th Century. A cruder, less detailed example is in the Winkler Collection (Theuerkauff, op.cit.).

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