Summer Wine

Antique Lava Cameo of a Bacchante as Brooch, Around 1870

€ 289.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Antique Lava Cameo of a Bacchante as Brooch, Around 1870

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

Especially in the second half of the 19th century, cameo jewellery was very popular in large parts of Europe and was made from different materials in different countries. The town of Idar in Hünsrück (today Idar-Oberstein) was specialized in cameos made of agate, in Normandy large shells were preferred and in Italy corals and exotic sea snails were imported to feed the great demand for cameos, because the local materials were quickly running out. This cameo uses a nowadays unusual material, which is native to southern Italy and was also used there in the 19th century for cutting cameos: It is carved from so-called "Vesuvian lava," or at least that is how cameos of this type are described in old 19th century trade catalogues. However, this is not really cooled lava from the fire-breathing mountain, but sedimentary limestone of different colours that could be mined in the area around Naples. However, as the majority of travellers to Italy in those years were equally attracted and fascinated by the sinking of Pompeii through the lava flows of Vesuvius, the trade name "Vesuvian Lava" was naturally conducive to the sale of cameos of this type. In terms of content, the cameo is a homage to classical antiquity. It shows a sculptural carving of a Bacchante or Maenad, a cult follower of the wine god Bacchus. She is identified by the vine leaves in her hair. The Bacchanalia, the ancient festivals in honor of Bacchus, were famous and infamous. At the beginning of the 2nd century BC, the cult celebrations developed into excessive revelries accompanied by dances and orgies - a fact that exerted a real fascination on the people of the 19th century with their strict corset of morals. In the medium of a cameo, however, the subject of the bacchante became a salon-worthy badge of enthusiasm for antiquity, and the green "lava" testified to an expensive journey to the cult sites of antiquity in Italy. The cameo is set in a twisted frame of gilded metal. Today, as a century and a half ago, it is an exciting object in which love of Italy, enthusiasm for antiquity and classical education are united.

Size & Details

Summer Wine

€ 289.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

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