Ancient Victorian Memento Mori SILVER SKULL Snake Skeleton Pendant Necklace Rare For Sale

Discover a piece of history with this authentic Victorian Silver Skull Memento Mori skeleton pendant necklace. Crafted in the late 19th century, this original artifact showcases exceptional craftsmanship, reflecting the era's fascination with mortality and the afterlife. The pendant features an intricate intaglio design, symbolizing the wearer's connection to mortality and their personal victories. This unbranded necklace is a testament to the enduring style of the Victorian era, with its classic silver color and skeleton motif that has been admired for generations. An exceptional find for collectors and history enthusiasts alike, this piece is a remarkable representation of European artistry from a bygone age.

EXPERTISE OF THE MATERIALS : SOLID SILVER (900 / 920)

WEARABLE : HISTORICAL MASTERPIECE

MEASUREMENTS :

> 4.40grams

Condition : Extremely Fine

> Memento mori (Latinfor "remember (that you have) to die") is an artistic or symbolictrope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death. The concept has itsroots in the philosophers of classical antiquity and Christianity, and appearedin funerary art and architecture from the medieval period onwards. The mostcommon motif is a skull, often accompanied by bones. Often this alone is enoughto evoke the trope, but other motifs include a coffin, hourglass, or wiltingflowers to signify the impermanence of life. Often these function within a workwhose main subject is something else, such as a portrait, but the vanitas is anartistic genre where the theme of death is the main subject. The Danse Macabreand death personified with a scythe as the Grim Reaper are even more directevocations of the trope. In classical antiquity : The philosopher Democritustrained himself by going into solitude and frequenting tombs. Plato's Phaedo,where the death of Socrates is recounted, introduces the idea that the properpractice of philosophy is "about nothing else but dying and beingdead".The Stoics of classical antiquity were particularly prominent in theiruse of this discipline, and Seneca's letters are full of injunctions tomeditate on death. The Stoic Epictetus told his students that when kissingtheir child, brother, or friend, they should remind themselves that they aremortal, curbing their pleasure, as do "those who stand behind men in theirtriumphs and remind them that they are mortal". The Stoic Marcus Aureliusinvited the reader (himself) to "consider how ephemeral and mean allmortal things are" in his Meditations. In some accounts of the Romantriumph, a companion or public slave would stand behind or near the triumphantgeneral during the procession and remind him from time to time of his ownmortality or prompt him to "look behind". A version of this warningis often rendered into English as "Remember, Caesar, thou artmortal", for example in Fahrenheit 451. Timepieces have been used toillustrate that the time of the living on Earth grows shorter with each passingminute. Public clocks would be decorated with mottos such as ultima forsan ("perhapsthe last" [hour]) or vulnerant omnes, ultima necat ("they all wound,and the last kills"). Clocks have carried the motto tempus fugit,"time flees". Old striking clocks often sported automata who wouldappear and strike the hour; some of the celebrated automaton clocks fromAugsburg, Germany, had Death striking the hour. Private people carried smallerreminders of their own mortality. Mary, Queen of Scots owned a large watchcarved in the form of a silver skull, embellished with the lines of Horace,"Pale death knocks with the same tempo upon the huts of the poor and thetowers of Kings." In the late 16th and through the 17th century, mementomori jewelry was popular. Items included mourning rings, pendants, lockets, andbrooches. These pieces depicted tiny motifs of skulls, bones, and coffins, inaddition to messages and names of the departed, picked out in precious metalsand enamel. During the same period there emerged the artistic genre known asvanitas, Latin for "emptiness" or "vanity". Especiallypopular in Holland and then spreading to other European nations, vanitaspaintings typically represented assemblages of numerous symbolic objects suchas human skulls, guttering candles, wilting flowers, soap bubbles, butterflies,and hourglasses. In combination, vanitas assemblies conveyed the impermanenceof human endeavours and of the decay that is inevitable with the passage oftime. See also the themes associated with the image of the skull. The 2007screenprint by the street-artist Banksy "Grin Reaper" features theGrim Reaper with acid-house smiley face sitting on a clock demonstrating deathawaiting us all.

> Numismatic Note : On thedetailed pictures, the buyer can see the condition of this item, goodcondition, strong !!! Choice about extremely fine detail with a gorgeous patina!!! A stunning and exceptional example of this humongous artifact !!!

> Dearbuyers, please keep in mind that we are dealing with ancient and antique items.You should not expect ancient and antique items to be as brand new ones. Theyalways have some degree of wearing. Please, take care to examine the photos andread descriptions. Thank you.

> Thephotos are part of the description in this Listing !!! Dear Customers, you willreceive exactly the same item which you see on the pictures, not similar orother. The photos are absolutely clear and the potential buyer can trulyidentify the item, which purchased. For even greater convenience and to get afull notion of the item, there is also a VIDEO in the listing - PLEASE SEE theVIDEO in the LISTING. Upon purchase my item, you will receive exactly the sameitem which you saw on the Listing !!! The pictures in listing are CLEAR withopportunities ZOOM for expansion so that you can perfectly identify all thedetails of item !

> PROVENANCE : All items are acquired in the periodbetween 1991 and 1998 from legitimate sources such as established galleries,International for ancient arts fairs,old British and European collections. TheAuthenticity of our items is guaranteed and protected by our 100% buyersatisfaction guarantee !!!

> RETURNS :IF YOU HAVE ANY REASON TO DOUBT A ITEM THAT YOU HAVE PURCHASED, YOU MAY RETURNIT WITHIN 14 DAYS !!!