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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bronwen, post: 13211162, member: 5833&quot;]She is lovely.&nbsp; The cutter did rounded surfaces beautifully.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Pomona was a nymph who loved &amp; tended orchards.&nbsp; She was wooed by Vertumnus, who does not seem to have much of a mythological existence apart from this story, which is told by Ovid. Vertumnus approaches the object of his desire in various guises that would give a man an excuse for being near her crops, such as a harvest worker, finally getting closer to her by appearing as an old woman.&nbsp; The woman praises Vertumnus &amp; tells Pomona a tale of the marmoreal fate of a queen who is contemptuously dismissive of an ardent suitor.&nbsp; The story does not actually move the nymph, but when he drops the disguise &amp; reveals himself in the altogether, well...</p><p><br /></p><p>I think it is unlikely that the maker of this cameo even knew of Pomona, but calling her that makes for a convenient way to refer to her.&nbsp; If she were crowned with flowers we would refer to her as Flora; give her grain and she becomes Ceres/Demeter; grapes, a bacchante.</p><p><br /></p><p>Beyond being fruit, her botanical adornment is ambiguous.&nbsp; Pears?&nbsp; Those look like the leaves of a pear tree at the top.&nbsp; But all those pears seem like a heavy load.&nbsp; Figs?&nbsp; The leaf at her shoulder is more consistent with that.&nbsp; Cameists had to be business men as well as artisans.&nbsp; It wouldn&#039;t take long to figure out that pretty sells. And this piece is certainly very pretty.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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