A carved walnut and bone skull - image-1

Lot 1627 Dα

A carved walnut and bone skull

Auction 1230 - overview Cologne
17.11.2023, 17:30 - Decorative Arts - Furniture
Estimate: 5.200 € - 5.500 €
Result: 6.930 € (incl. premium)
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A carved walnut and bone skull

With mobile jaw. H 13 cm.
Continental, 17th / 18th C.

The most famous carved skull of this kind is the Carrara marble skull sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 - 1680) in around 1655, which is now in the Dresden Sculpture Collection, SKD inv. no. ZV 3606. Bernini created the impressive work on behalf of the newly elected Pope Fabio Chigi (1599 - 1667). The skull is said to have stood on his desk until his death and reminded him daily of his inescapable fate, but at the same time it was also intended as a reminder to make the most of his life. The Saxon Elector Augustus the Strong acquired the piece from Chigi's descendants in 1728.

Literature

Cf. Philippovich, Elfenbein, Munich 2/1982, illus. 282 f., for the anatomical ivory skeleton by Nils Gyntelberg in the Nationalmuseet Copenhagen and the ivory skull in the Anatomisches Museum Basel.