Side 1: Bust of woman; dog.
Carved inscription on her veil: 'HEELAS ME FAUTIL MORIR' ('Alas I must die').
Side 2: skull (Death); toads; salamander; worms; vermin.
Carved inscription: 'ECCE FINEM' ('Here is the end').
Williamson 2002 and Museum's opinion 2009: France or Netherlands, c. 1500.
Attribution
Unknown
Reverse
Carved in the round.
Traces of red wax on the underside. Underside flat and smooth with a blue and white label with inscription: 'Collection Wernher no. 118'.
Object Condition
Hole down the centre (plugged).
Provenance
Collection of Sir Julius Wernher (d. 1912), Bath House, London; on loan to English Heritage and displayed at Ranger's House since 2002.
Bibliography
P. Williamson, 'Medieval Ivory Carvings in the Wernher Collection', in Apollo (May 2002), pp. 17-22 (p. 20, fig. 12).
All images on this website are made available exclusively for scholarly and educational purposes and may not be used commercially.