Featured Cameo experts, What do I have here? Large Mythological Cameo

Long time no see! I haven't had a ton of time to post on here for a long time. However, I have found something that I am completely stumped on. I have never seen a cameo like this in person before. It is very large and very detailed. It is a mythological depiction of which I don't know. The frame is 14k to 15k gold. Unfortunately it is quite a bit damaged. The cameo appears to be okay and not damaged.... I believe this to be quite old possibly 1850s. Can anyone help? It measures to 2.85 inches across the longest part. It weighs a massive 60 grams!

 

The rape of someone. @Bronwen will know.

Debora

 

the abduction of Persnipity .....?

 

Yes. Depending on whether you're using Greek or Roman names, The Rape (abduction, think "raptor") of Persephone by Hades or the Rape of Proserpina by Pluto. The story is told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. P. is the daughter of Demeter/Ceres, goddess of crops, harvest, plant life generally. She is out picking flowers with her attendant maidens when she is grabbed by the god of the Underworld. Her mother searches high & low, turning the earth cold & barren by her inattention & grief. Finally, the nymph of a spring, Arethusa, is able to tell her what happened. She complains to her bother Zeus/Jupiter, who brokers a deal whereby P. spends half the year above ground with her mother, leading to spring & summer, and half the year reigning as queen with her husband, when vegetation dies off & the weather turns cold.

An extremely nice piece, she says drooling. It is cut in conch shell, so has more depth than helmet shell would allow. You have her distressed maidens on the right & a couple of cupids leading the way on the left, symbolizing passion is at play. As you note, the cameo looks in fine condition & the mount looks structurally sound. Is there any damage other than loss of enamel, which is, alas, common on such pieces?

All this drama was believed to have occurred on the island of Sicily. Some of the coinage of ancient Syracuse & other cities in the region features Persephone or Arethusa. Persephone was also known as Kore, variously 'maiden' or 'daughter.'

 

Thank you! Yes unfortunately there is a gold ribbon missing on the left side so more damage than just the enamel.... the cameo is securely in place and has no wiggle room. Is this a rare piece? I can only find two other examples both in museums and mine is bigger than those. When was this made? Pre 1850s?

 

Tassie impression 1508. Original by William Brown in 'white cornelian' (chalcedony? burnt cornelian?)

Couldn't find the info on the Brown brothers that used to come up in searches, but this is probably pretty much cribbed from it:

https://www.fellows.co.uk/blog/jewellery/2023/04/04/william-brown/

So the original is 18th - early 19th century; the Tassie impressions first came on the market in the later 18th and turned into quite a craze. Yours is a very faithful copy, so probably the cameist worked from a good impression, not from a copy of a copy of...

I'm hungry & so is my cat. Will think some more later.

 

Very interesting. Thanks

 

I'm still pondering the age question. 1850 could be about right, I think, although not much before that. I did some rambling around in my photo files to try to get a handle on when conch shell cameos began to appear, and also to get some sense when this style of mount was popular.

The jump ring that serves as a bail has been put through what was originally the attachment point for a guard chain. It looks to me like some attempt was made at prying the cameo out of the bezel. Is there a plate in front of the hinge that exerts upward pressure on the pin stem, so that when it is in the catch it stays there?

 

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Gorgeous cameo and setting.
The style of the engraved ribbons is Biedermeier, so ca 1840-1860. I would lean towards the end of the period.
14-15 carat could be the old UK fineness of 15 carat.

 

What a beauty!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks to you all. I'm in contact with a few museums and auction houses currently. They are interested and are trying to help identify the artist.

There are only two other examples of this scene online and both are on display in museums.

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O106508/the-rape-of-proserpine-cameo-unknown/
https://www.khm.at/en/artworks/the-rape-of-proserpina-74167

 

Until I followed your links I thought you meant there were only 2 of this specific version, the William Brown version. They are not going to be able to identify the artist. There is very little info on shell cutters, all the market & scholarly attention having been directed at engravers of hardstone. I have the only signed conch piece I have ever seen: St. George & the Dragon signed by Michelini.*

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24166/lot/369/



This one is by our good friend, Charles Schmoll:


The cutter of this piece made a fundamental error in giving Hades a trident, an attribute of Poseidon. Hades carries a bident, a 2-pronged fork:



This one includes the river nymph Cyane, who tried to stop the abduction. She was unable to speak, but saw to it that Persephone's girdle floated on top of the water, where Ceres found it & got her first clue to her daughter's whereabouts.



This is from a set of Liberotti impressions. It looks like the Brown version you have, except the horses are there, some other little details. I suspect this was from one of the Poniatowski gems.


I think this was made by the company that produced the stuff I refer to as Danbiere, for lack of the correct name. They would have copied it from somewhere.


*Thoughts on this later. Pressed for time just now.

 

Wow, you found so many more than I could! I was searching for the depiction name and I only found the two I linked. Those are amazing.

 

I see Masnago did the same thing on his gorgeous cameo in the KHM. It is clearly meant to be Hades, as he is headed toward a "hell mouth", an entrance to the Underworld. Doubt he ever copied anything from anyone.

 

Accumulated over the years, largely when Gloogle still returned results you might want instead of what AI wants.

 

The one in the V&A is odd. It almost looks as though Proserpina is going with Pluto willingly. It's not clear how they knew when & where it was made when the label was typed up. I think it is just as likely that the cameo is French.

The "female head" in the same display is clearly Athena/Minerva.

 

The piece I could find in my records that has a mount similar to this is a portrait cameo signed by an English artisan.

 

Many thanks again. Is a cameo of this size in general rare? I cant find many that are 60 grams and 2.85 inches in length... this is quite possibly one of my favorite finds ive ever had.

 

That's quite a slab. Imagine how large the shell must have been.