Antique Brooch with Shell Cameo of an Angel Set in Gold, c. 1865

This high-quality brooch presents a particularly vividly carved shell cameo in a frame of high-carat gold. The wide frame bears rich ornamentation based on antique models: We see a sequence of chains and twisted cords that give the frame its beautiful play of light and shadow. The cameo shows an angel, a putto with wings. The carving leaves the level of the relief and looks more like a three-dimensional sculpture. The white of the depiction arches over the brown background and the angel's head is almost sculpturally free. It offers different, detailed views from the left and right and yet is delicate and beautiful in its childlike forms. This unique combination of antiquity and Christianity is typical of archaeological-style jewellery from Rome. Here, in the city of emperors and popes, one could hardly exist without the other. Obviously, this connection was still so alive in the 19th century that visitors to the city perceived it as typical of Rome and were therefore happy to purchase jewellery with these motifs. The Portrait of Fanny Waugh Hunt, the wife of the painter William Holman Hunt, created between 1866 and 1868, now in the Toledo Museum of Art in the USA, see here, shows how brooches like this one were worn at the time they were created and also helps to date this brooch.

Estimate:£1,605.42

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