18th Century Oak and Iron Mounted Memento Mori Doorstop Carved as a Human Skull

View Similar Items

19th Century Memento Mori Carved Skull & Cross Bones

Hand Carved Wood Memento Mori Skull Cane Walking Stick Handle

Memento Mori, Wooden Skull from Innsbruck, Austria

A 17th/18th century English apothecary’s oak and wrought iron mounted crusher

1817 Sgraffitoed Latin Memento Mori Pewter and Lead Glass Skull Tanker

18th Century Spanish Colonial Carved Wood and Iron Stirrups

18th Century Swedish Carved Mangle Board

18th Century Carved And Painted Wooden Crucifix From France

18th-19th Century Italian Wood Carved Angel

18th Century Carved Venetian Polychromed Gondola Figurerhead

18th Century, Spanish Conquistador Carved Wood Figure

Boston Terrier Heavy Cast Iron Doorstop

About the Item

The unique oak Momentum Mori door stop, being carved in the round as a slightly larger than life-sized human skull mounted with an iron ring handle to the top and with a beautiful Primitive iron-strap repair, the whole with a superb patination and outstanding colour surviving from early Georgian period England. The items nature means it has been well used and loved and it could still be used for purpose today as it once was though now it surely merits becoming a piece of sculpture. There are some visible splits over the whole item, mostly small and old, and a repair to the largest split to the side of the left eye socket. This is an old and honest Primitive repair with an iron strap added to stop any further splitting. Other than the repair mentioned the piece is in beautiful original order and retains a large amount of charm and character. The style of the carving, the patina on the oak and the nature of the iron repairs and fittings all point to an eighteenth century piece. The carving is relatively Primitive, it has deep nasal cavities and eye sockets, the teeth elongated, with each feature being extenuated. The iron fitting to the top shows the original nails holding it in place, the ring with a wonderful patination and the strap repair to one side is also eighteenth century. This piece of carving is essentially designed to remind the viewer of their mortality and of the brevity and fragility of human life in the face of God and nature. Symbolic of the transience of all human existence, the image of the skull has been used by philosophers and theologians, artists and sculptors, writers and poets for centuries to provoke meditative thought on the indiscriminate nature of death. Although mankind had thought of various ways to keep doorways open prior to Victorian times, the way in which we now expect a door stop to look and function today was down to a 19th century African American inventor named Osbourn Dorsey who came up with the design on December 10, 1878. This is a wonderfully early and hugely interesting piece that one can imagine had to stop a mighty oak door from swinging shut in a dusty grand Georgian manor house. Unique and unusual; this is quite simply bloody terrific.

Dimensions:
Height: 9 in (22.86 cm)Width: 7 in (17.78 cm)Depth: 10 in (25.4 cm)
Style:
George II (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Iron,Oak,Carved
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
Mid-17th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1700-1750
Condition:
Minor structural damages. Please see description for full condition report and photographs for visual reference.
Seller Location:
Bedford, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 15501stDibs: LU194436206873

Antique 19th Century Italian Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Pine

19th Century Memento Mori Carved Skull & Cross Bones

$2,745

Hand Carved Wood Memento Mori Skull Cane Walking Stick Handle

Located in Studio City, CA

A fantastic and wonderfully hand carved piece. This smiling, mischievous skull is carved in very fine detail. Would be the crown jewel of any walking stick collection once attached t...

Category

20th Century Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Wood

Hand Carved Wood Memento Mori Skull Cane Walking Stick Handle

$495

Memento Mori, Wooden Skull from Innsbruck, Austria

Located in Schellebelle, BE

Unique sculptured wooden Skull from Innsbruck, Austria, from around the 1920 ties, extremely fine sculptured piece of Artisanal work, looks like a real skull...

Category

Vintage 1920s Austrian Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Fruitwood

Memento Mori, Wooden Skull from Innsbruck, Austria

$2,215

A 17th/18th century English apothecary’s oak and wrought iron mounted crusher

Located in Central England, GB

A 17th/18th century apothecary’s oak and wrought iron mounted crusher This very rare and beautifully made early oak and wrought iron or apothecary’s chemists open ended crusher simi...

Category

Antique Early 18th Century English Other Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Oak

A 17th/18th century English apothecary’s oak and wrought iron mounted crusher

$715 / set

1817 Sgraffitoed Latin Memento Mori Pewter and Lead Glass Skull Tanker

Located in Lowestoft, GB

An interested continental pewter and lead glass tanker, dated 1817 with the initials "I B" incised in the lid. The tanker is heavily Sgraffitoed with a Latin Verso, cartouches and...

Category

Antique Early 19th Century European Sculptures and Carvings

Materials

Pewter

1817 Sgraffitoed Latin Memento Mori Pewter and Lead Glass Skull Tanker

$5,498

18th Century Spanish Colonial Carved Wood and Iron Stirrups

Located in Stamford, CT

Pair of late 18th early 19th century South American carved wooden stirrups. Known as estribos, each are carved from a solid block of wood. Decorated with wonderful carvings of horse heads and grape vines, these are truly charming pieces. With wrought iron stirrup rings and the original leather straps. Rich chocolate patina that only comes from age and use. Worn by Chilean huasos, highly skilled horsemen akin to America's cowboys. Prized by collectors of horse memorabilia...

Category