French or German Master, 19th Century, Carved Ivory Table Calendar with Allegory of Bakeriey’s Trade

Height 42,5 cm, width 21,5 cm, depth 10 cm

This wonderful ivory carved table calendar was made to commemorate an 10 year anniversary, as clearly indicated by the dates engraved in the curls of the cartouche “1886/1896”. In the central disc there are the numbers in Arabic (from 1 to 31) and the days of the week written in German (from Monday to Sunday). The months of the year are written on the upper disk. On top, a beautiful female figure (Psyche?) with butterfly wings symbolizes Fortune. In fact, the butterfly means on the one hand, brevity of life, and on the other the hope of resurrection and immortality of the soul. To underline the allegorical meaning of this figure, the artist has depicted flowers; a symbol of beauty that fades quickly and of the transience of everything earthly, and a winged sphere symbolizing the instability of Fortune. All around, there are playful cherubs holding ears of wheat in their hands. This would indicate that the manufact is an allegory of Bakeriey’s Trade, as also shown by the work tools inside the cartouche. Next to it is represented the Caduceus of Hermes, adopted as a symbol of the Virtue necessary to achieve success (together with Fortune), but above all, as a symbol of Commerce. All are auspicious symbols.