Antique, 19th century , teak with a Memento Mori composition.
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Antique, 19th century , teak with a Memento Mori composition. Inside the teak are 3 philosophy books ( 1778 - Traité de Morale pour L’Espece Humaine , Volume 1-4-6 ) and a reproduction of a human skull.
England 1870s
Size teak: 35 cm long x 27 cm H x 23 cm W
Size skull: 13 cm L x 8 cm H x 7 cm W
Size book: 17 cm L x 10 cm W x 3 cm H each
The themes of memento mori could be traced all the way back to Socrates, who once described philosophy as being “about nothing else but dying and being dead.” But legend has it that memento mori as a phrase was first used as a way of keeping Roman emperors’ egos in check. After a military victory, when generals would parade through cities celebrating their triumph, it was decided that an enslaved person would be designated to sit and whisper a phrase like “memento mori” in his ear throughout the procession.
The saying became more and more popular and was quickly adopted by the Stoics: among them Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus, who encouraged his students to think of the phrase each time they embraced a loved one as a way of cultivating detachment. Marcus Aurelius developed the concept of memento mori in his Meditations: “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”