Live Auction 5988Christie's Interiors - Style and Spirit
A VICTORIAN SILVER-MOUNTED EBONISED WOOD TABLE CLOCK EMBLEMATIC OF APULEIUS'S METAMORPHOSES
Lot 199

A VICTORIAN SILVER-MOUNTED EBONISED WOOD TABLE CLOCK EMBLEMATIC OF APULEIUS'S METAMORPHOSES

THE MOUNTS, MARK OF HENRY WILLAIM CURRY, LONDON, 1884

Closed28 September 2010

Price Realised

GBP 1,875

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A VICTORIAN SILVER-MOUNTED EBONISED WOOD TABLE CLOCK EMBLEMATIC OF APULEIUS'S METAMORPHOSES
THE MOUNTS, MARK OF HENRY WILLAIM CURRY, LONDON, 1884
Upright rectangular with cut corners, the corners applied with cast owls and faries between the central dial, the sides further applied with cut-out foliate panels, the domed top centred by a cut-out panel featuring a donkey's head amidst ribbon and foliage and flanked by similar panels each featuring an owl, the finial cast as an imp sitting upon a toadstool
10 7/8 in. (27.7 cm.) high

Specialist note

Lucius, the protagonist of Apuleius's Metamorphoses (or The Golden Ass), has a desire to perform magic but cannot succeed in any of his attempts at enchantment. After observing a powerful sorceress turn herself into an owl or bird, Lucius undertakes the same feat. Unfortunately he fails in this endeavor and turns himself into a donkey instead.