Gothic Ivories Project | Rosary bead, 2 faces (Side 1)

Rosary bead, 2 faces (Side 1)

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Side

Side 2

Side

Links

Subject
Secular. Memento mori.

Repository Institution
www.english-heritage.org.uk

To purchase an image
www.englishheritageimages.com

London, The Wernher Collection, Ranger's House (English Heritage)

88259077 (EE118)

Ivory

Height: 82mm
Width: 51mm
Depth: 47mm

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).

Image

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