Extremely Rare 17th/18th Century Memento Mori ‘TABAC’ (French) Table Snuff or Tobacco jar modeled on a Human Skull. Carved from a single piece of Burr Walnut. Fabulous colour and patination overall and in superb condition. 20cm’s tall
Circa 1680-1700
Memento mori literally means "Remember you must die". The early Puritan settlers were particularly aware of death and fearful of what it might mean, so a Puritan tombstone will often display a memento mori intended for the living. These death's-heads or skulls may strike us as ghoulish, but they helped keep the living on the straight and narrow for fear of eternal punishment. In earlier centuries, an educated European might place an actual skull on his desk to keep the idea of death always present in his mind.
Extremely Rare 17th/18th Century Memento Mori ‘TABAC’ (French) Table Snuff or Tobacco jar modeled on a Human Skull. Carved from a single piece of Burr Walnut. Fabulous colour and patination overall and in superb condition. 20cm’s tall
Circa 1680-1700
Memento mori literally means "Remember you must die". The early Puritan settlers were particularly aware of death and fearful of what it might mean, so a Puritan tombstone will often display a memento mori intended for the living. These death's-heads or skulls may strike us as ghoulish, but they helped keep the living on the straight and narrow for fear of eternal punishment. In earlier centuries, an educated European might place an actual skull on his desk to keep the idea of death always present in his mind.
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