A Late Victorian Memento Mori Silver Trick Vesta Case by William Summers 1881
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Origin: English
Period: Late Victorian
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1881
Width: 2.5”
Height: 1.5”
The Victorian silver 'trick' vesta case by William Summers of London, in 1881, the whole of oval form, the top with applied domed skeleton memento mori plaque, on an engine turned ground with invisible hinged cover, opened by pressing on one long edge, to a serrated striker plate to one side, the whole surviving from the high Victorian period.
The vesta could not be in better condition, the marks are clear and there are no damages.
William Summers was a London silversmith, free by patrimony 1826 as goldsmith and jeweller first in partnership with Edward Rawlings in 1829. He then had six new marks 1840 and Livery in 1850. Grimwade describes Summers as a maker of good quality snuff boxes, wine labels and other small items. His four sons William, Edward, James Lea and Henry were all free by patrimony between 1858 and 1866.
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. Memento Mori pieces are designed to remind the viewer of their mortality and of the brevity and fragility of human life in the face of God and nature.
So called after the name of one of the early makers, which was taken from the goddess Vesta, a Roman deity of fire and the hearth, vesta cases came into use around the 1830s and were produced extensively largely between 1890 and 1920. During this period, almost everyone carried matches, so they could light stoves, lanterns and other devices.
In mint condition, a very collectable and scarce vesta.
