A Large Curious South German Carved Ivory Memento Mori of a Human Skull. Late 17th – early 18th Century. Photo courtesy Finch & Co

with Lower Jaw displaying lost teeth and crooked grin.  Size: 7cm high, 5cm wide, 9cm deep – 2¾ ins high, 2 ins wide, 3½ ins deep - SOLD

See: Finch & Co catalogue no. 13, item nos. 105, and 106 for other smaller examples 

Literature: Known as the ‘Deaths Head’ carved ivories of the human skull were popular in Baroque Germany as contemplative reminders of the transience of earthly life. However, there was also a rising scientific interest in human anatomy, so a carefully carved ivory model of a skull became a ‘must have’ for a collectors Kunstkammer. 

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