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Lot 41

AN ITALIAN CARVED WISTERIA VINE MEMENTO MORI CANE
Rome, dated 1691

8 December 2025, 15:00 EST
New York

US$3,000 - US$5,000

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AN ITALIAN CARVED WISTERIA VINE MEMENTO MORI CANE

Rome, dated 1691
Depicting cascading skulls and bones carved from a single thick piece of naturally twisted and angled wisteria vine, inscribed QUELLO CHE VOI O SIETE NOI O ERAVAMO QUELLO O CHE O NOI SIAMO VOI SARETE O A•D• ROMA 1691.
height 33 3/4in (85.7cm); width 7in (17.7cm)


Footnotes

The text translates to What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you will be. The date of 1691 indicates that the subject is likely alluding to the death of Pope Alexander VIII, infamous for indulging in nepotism to benefit his family.

Visual symbols of death are referred to as momento mori. United by common symbols such as skulls, skeletons, hourglasses, extinguished candles, and flowers, these serve to remind the viewer of their impending mortality and the fleetingness of life; as well as the hope that this reminder will encourage a virtuous life.

Provenance
Il Segno del Tempo, Milan;
Collection of Eddi Van Auken, California, purchased from the above November/December 2017.

Literature
Van Auken, Eddi. Masterpieces: The Eddi Van Auken Collection of Antiques Walking Sticks and Canes. Silvia Editrice, Milan, 2025, pages 150-151, number 112. (illustrated)

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