Antique bubble glass paper weight, with vanitas Memento Mori, Italy 1850.

Italy circa 1850

Antique bubble glass paperweight or paper press. Decorated with a base depicting a vanitas Memento-mori, painted in oil, fixed to the back of the glass to create a three-dimensional figure that appeared to float within the crystal. All the symbols of vanitas are depicted: the perishable flower, the fragile glass, the time that passes with the hourglass, the book with the illusion of knowledge, the severe warning (Ego tu fui, tu ego eris = I was you, you be me) and the skull. Italy mid-19th century

1,5” – 3,5 CM H 2,75” – 7 CM L 2,75“ – 7 CM D

REF: M5933