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Fine Agate Cameo of Fides in Gold as a Brooch, Circa 1880

€ 890.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Fine Agate Cameo of Fides in Gold as a Brooch, 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!

Cut into a two-tone agate, we see the bust of a young woman. The finely engraved relief of the stone shows the graceful lady in profile to the left with her hair pinned up and adorned with ivy tendrils. The sitter is Fides, the personification of loving loyalty. In the understanding of the time, fidelity bound two people together as firmly as ivy climbs a wall and does not let go. This symbolic language was widespread throughout Europe. A fine example in the medium of painting is Philip Hermogenes Calderon's painting Broken Vows from 1856, now in the Tate Britain in London. Here, the painter depicted a faithful lover in front of a wall overgrown with ivy. The agate cameo is most likely a work from Idar-Oberstein in Germany, the European center of the time for finely cut cameos made of hardstone. In Great Britain, the stone cut was then given a simple setting of warm, shiny gold, making it wearable as a brooch. The stone cut and setting were probably created around 1880. The piece of jewellery is in very good condition and came to us from the north of England.

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For centuries, almost all major collections aspired to own antique cameos and cameos: We find spectacular pieces in the Green Vault in Dresden, in the treasury of Rudolf II and in large private collections such as that of Baron Stosch in later times. The 18th and 19th centuries produced numerous large collections of impressions of antique seal stones and cameos, which represent the ancient pictorial language of glyptic art almost in its entirety. They were thus not least an expression of humanistic education. Particularly important for the dissemination of stone and shell carvings north of the Alps were travelers to Italy, who brought home impressions and carved stones as well as engraved shells from their educational journeys in order to enjoy the stories that the shells could tell. 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 professional training center for cameo cutters, although unfortunately the mythological theme has almost completely disappeared as a subject.

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Size & Details

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€ 890.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

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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.

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