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Calendrier Magique

Designed and published in Paris in 1895, the Calendrier Magique was conceived by Austin De Croze and illustrated by the Italian lithographer Manuel Orazi. While the history of these two individuals remains somewhat obscure, even a casual glance at the contents and illustrations of their unusual work shows that De Croze and Orazi possessed a sophisticated familiarity with the Esoteric traditions of the fin de siècle era. Every page of the Calendrier Magique evokes the decadent, occult Paris of Gerard Encausse, Oswald Wirth, and Karl Huysmans. The Art Nouveau illustrations of Orazi are especially evocative. Simon Finch writes that the work “was highly praised by Caillet as ‘fort original et d'une rare exécution artistique’; he added that no contemporary artist - save Félicien Rops - had managed ‘so felicitously to combine sadism, satanism and the macabre’.      The Calendrier Magique - so the legend goes - was published in a limited print run of 777 copies, making it quite a rarity among collectors.

Quartz Ibex, 2.3cm high (7/8″)

Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca. 1390–1352 B.C., reign of Amenhotep III.  Found at Thebes, Upper Egypt.