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Victorian shell cameo of Battus Mounted in Gold, Britain circa 1880

€ 429.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Unit price €429.00 / piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Victorian shell cameo of Battus Mounted in Gold, Britain circa 1880

Description

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

This late 19th century shell cameo shows a rather rarely depicted figure from Greek mythology. We see an older bearded man in profile. Only the shepherd's crook allows his identification. He is Battus (ancient Greek Βάτττος Báttos, from βαττολογεῖν battologeín, German 'Schwatzen', meaning 'the talker'), a shepherd from Messenia. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, we are told that Battus once witnessed Hermes stealing a herd of Apollo's cattle. Hermes then gave Battus a cow on condition that he did not reveal the theft. In disguise, Hermes visited Battus again and promised him a bull if he revealed where the stolen cattle were. Battus agreed and was turned into a stone as a punishment and warning to all valuers for breaking Hermes' word. (Illustration by Johann Wilhelm Bauer, 1685) The oval cameo is held by a simple gold setting. A pin on the back and a loop allow it to be worn both as a brooch and as a pendant. While the cameo was made in Italy, the setting was made in Great Britain according to the hallmark. This unusual piece came to us from an extensive collection of gems in Berlin.

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For centuries, owning cameos and cameos was the aspiration of almost all major collections of decorative arts and cabinets of curiosities, from the Green Vault in Dresden to the treasury of Rudolf II and large private collections such as that of Baron von Stosch in later times. The 18th and 19th centuries produced numerous large collections of impressions of ancient seal stones and cameos, which were able to represent the ancient pictorial language of glyptic art almost in its entirety, as they were also an expression of humanistic education. However, the art of cameo cutter has survived to this day in Italy, especially in the Bay of Naples, where it has been passed down from generation to generation. Today, the Scuola dei Cammei in Torre del Greco is the world's only large-scale training center for cameo cutters in Italy. Particularly important for the teaching of stone and shell carving north of the Alps have always been travelers to Italy, who brought home impressions and cut stones as well as engraved shells from their educational journeys to enjoy.

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Size & Details

Whistleblowers Watch out!

€ 429.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Unit price €429.00 / piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

We want you to be 100% satisfied! For that reason, we examine, describe and photograph all of our jewellery with the utmost care.

You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

Should you for some reason not be satisfied, please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can find a solution together. In any case, you can return any article within one month and we will refund the full purchase price.

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