NETHERLANDISH, 17TH CENTURY | MEMENTO MORI RELIEF WITH A PUTTO BLOWING BUBBLES
Auction Closed
December 3, 02:41 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
NETHERLANDISH, 17TH CENTURY
MEMENTO MORI RELIEF WITH A PUTTO BLOWING BUBBLES
marble, in an ebonised wood frame
with a label to the reverse printed: 70-jarig bestaan Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst in Nederland 2 t/m 12 juni 1983 / Oude Kunst in de Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam
marble: 29cm., 11½in.
frame: 42cm., 16½in.
Christie's London, 15 December 1982, lot 323;
with Kunstzalen A. Vecht, Amsterdam, 2003;
with Otto Naumann, New York;
his sale, Sotheby's New York, 25 January 2007, lot 53
Amsterdam, Nieuwe Kerk, 1983
The image of the putto blowing bubbles symbolises the brevity of life in vanitas pictures of allegories of death. Often seen in paintings of the Baroque period, images may include an inscription: 'Homo bulla est' (Varro), or 'Man is a bubble.'