serpent

  • ⊕ Click main image below to view enlargements and captions.
    Pair of Obelisks with Serpent Decoration
    Pair of Obelisks with Serpent Decoration
    Pair of Obelisks with Serpent Decoration
    Pair of Obelisks with Serpent Decoration

    Decorative Arts, Grand Tour, Obelisk Pair, Neoclassical, Marble, Antique

    This item is sold. It has been placed here in our online archives as a service for researchers and collectors.

    To find similar items in stock, browse or search our currently available items from our menu.

    • See our guidelines for the use of images.
    • Contact the gallery with purchasing and ordering inquiries, or to offer items for sale.

    $1,500

    Serpent Obelisk Pair
    Italy: c. 1900
    Marble with bronze mounts
    13 inches high x 3 inches wide
    $1,500

    Pair of classical miniature obelisks, each of typical form tapering with pointed top, supported by four gilt metal heads of mythological serpents or birds on a rectangular platform, resting on a rectangular molded base. Overall each obelisk is in four joined sections of alternating yellow and rose-colored variegated hardstone, probably marble. They make excellent Grand Tour decoration suitable for table or shelf display.

    Support for the theory that the four heads supporting the obelisk are serpents, rather than birds, relates to the ancient Serpent Column of Istanbul. As quoted from the University of Chicago’s Essays on the History and Culture of Rome, “serpents … were considered a talisman against snakes, the apotropaic power of the image being thought to turn the fearsome quality of the creature back upon itself.”

    Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light wear and handling.

    References:

    Grout, James. “The Serpentine Column.” Encyclopaedia Romana, University of Chicago. penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/
    circusmaximus/serpentine.html (24 May 2024).

    Additional information

    Century

    c. 1900