17th century apothecary's ivory mortar and pestle - Germany

17th century apothecary's ivory mortar Apothecary's ivory mortar 9 Indo-Portuguese 17th century Cites certificate number IT/CE/2023/MI/01108 11 x 9,5 cm

Bronze mortar with garlands, flowers and putti - Tuscany , second half of 17th century. Measures: height 10 diameter : 13 cm Artisans and healers used mortars for grinding food...

Bronze salamander Italy, 17th century Patinated bronze 4 x 17 x 10 cm This finely cast bronze salamander exemplifies the 17th-century fascination with naturalistic forms and animal ...

Cerberus Black painted stone Italy, 17th century Measures: 80 x 69 x 36cm (one head missing) Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange, Through his wide threefold throat barks as a dog Over the multitude immers'd beneath. His eyes glare crimson, black his unctuous beard, His belly large, and claw'd the hands, with which He tears the spirits, flays them, and their limbs Piecemeal disparts (Dante, Inferno, Canto VI). Cerberus figure seated, in his role of ferocious guardian of the underworld; he shows a nervous musculature, an adherent skin which reveals the ribs, long and robust limbs; his heads are broad and the eyes set well apart. Painted in black to amplify his menacing look, the infernal guardian is depicted with his famous attributes, writhing his heads, growling and barking furiously. Cerberus, in Greek mythology, was the monstrous watchdog of the underworld – also known as the “hound of Hades” – preventing the dead from leaving, and making sure that those who entered never left. A child of Typhon and Echidna, he was part of a monstrous family, which included Orthus, the Lernaean Hydra, and the Chimaera as well. Only on three occasions Cerberus was tricked by visitors of Hades: Heracles did it with his strength, Orpheus with his music. In "The Inferno", Dante places Cerberus as the guardian of the third circle of Hell. With his three mouths, Dante saw Cerberus as a beast that was synonymous with the sin of Gluttony. Virgil gets past the monster by throwing mud in his three mouths, temporarily choking him. Very rare are the representations of Cerberus in ancient statuary...

Spanish - Moorish Gothic bronze mortar and pestle with ribs, most likely from Andalusia. Of conical shape, resting on a circular uneven base, the exterior decorated with a series of ...

Apothecary glass mortar, fitted with glass pestle. Italy early 18th century.

The cup shaped cast body decorated with incised ring-turned detail, rising from a waisted & stepped circular foot, together with its original pestle. Combined weight, 3.75 lbs.  

Flemish mortar. Bronze. XVII century. Features brand. Mortar with a circular base with a mouth that extends outward from the two upper stripes and a body with slight entasis and a ...