Fine Dining

Vintage Shell Cameo of Hebe as Brooch & Pendant in Gold, Italy Around 1980

€ 690.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Unit price €690.00 / piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Vintage Shell Cameo of Hebe as Brooch & Pendant in Gold, Italy Around 1980

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 piece of jewellery, which can be worn both as a brooch and as a pendant, features a detailed shell cameo and dates from the 1980s and was made in Italy. The highly oval piece in a frame of gold shows a cameo of two-tone carnelian shell on the front. It depicts a scene from classical mythology: we see the youthful Hebe in animated interaction with Zeus, the father of the gods, in the form of an eagle, and Ganymede in the background. In plastic cut the cameo cutter has captured Hebe as the goddess of youth at her most important task in the heaven of the gods: She is the cupbearer of the Olympian gods and responsible for the preparation of food. Here she serves her father Zeus a bowl of the gods' ambrosia and a decanter of nectar. Hebe is dressed in a peblos and Zeus as a mighty eagle approaches in flight to take the offered food. The scene is situated on an architecture with sacrificial altar. Ganymede, who was to replace Hebe in this task in the course of the mythological tradition, is present as an assistant figure. The polished gold setting holds the cameo in a surrounding frame. A strikingly beautiful piece of jewellery and a reminiscence of classical antiquity in one!

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For centuries, possessing antique cameos was the claim of almost all great collections of decorative arts and chambers of curiosities, from the Green Vault in Dresden to the treasury of Rudolf II to large private collections such as that of Baron von Stosch in later times. The 18th and 19th centuries produced numerous large imprint collections of antique sealstones and cameos, which were able to represent the ancient imagery of ancient glyptic almost in its entirety, they were also an expression of a humanistic education. Often figures of the Olympian heaven of gods or mythological scenes were the subject of the representations. Of particular importance for the transmission of stone and shell carvings north of the Alps have always been travellers to Italy, who brought home impressions and carved stones as well as engraved shells from their educational journeys to enjoy the stories that the shells could tell. The art of cameo cutting 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 only large-scale training center for cameo cutters in Italy in the world, but unfortunately the mythological theme has been lost.

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Size & Details

Fine Dining

€ 690.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Unit price €690.00 / 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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Fine Dining

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