FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY

Details

A FRENCH APPLE WOOD SNUFF RASP
FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY
Of gourd shape, relief carved with a scene inscribed 'PIRAME ET THISBEE' and the reverse with an illustration from Aesop's Fables inscribed 'TON BEAV CHANT ME RAVIST'
6½ in. (16.5 cm.) long

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Zurich, 7 June 2000, lot 99.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

Pyramus and Thisbe are two mythologically lovers whose ill-fated destiny was described by Ovid in his Metamorphoses and retold by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet and a Midsummer's Night Dream.
The reverse is an illustration of one of Aesop's Fables (number 124 in the Perry Index), known as 'The Fox & the Crow', the text translates as 'Your beautiful song delights me' and is an allegory against listening to flattery.

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