Antique Gold Pendant & Brooch with Shell Cameo of Hera, c. 1880

Ideals of beauty have always been subject to the changing times. What was once considered the epitome of attractiveness can go completely out of fashion centuries later. In classicism, for example, a rosy complexion stood for hard outdoor work and therefore for poverty. Only a pale complexion, almost sallow, was considered distinguished and desirable. In the Baroque period, on the other hand, Peter Paul Rubens shaped the ideal of his era with his voluptuous female figures - an image that until recently would have had little place in the Western concept of beauty, which often aspired to extreme thinness. As the ideals of beauty change, so do the compliments. Nowadays, the term "cow" would hardly be considered flattering for a lady. In ancient times, however, the perception was different: One of the epithets of Hera, the venerable ruler of the Olympian heaven of the gods, was "the cow-eyed one" - and this was intended as an honorific. Because the large, gentle eyes of a cow were considered the epitome of beauty at the time. The pendant brooch presented here, dating from around 1880, features a finely crafted cameo made of two-tone shell. It depicts the "cow-eyed one" herself: Hera, recognizable by her diadem, the so-called stepháne (Greek στεφάνη), and with a veil in her hair, which identifies her as a married woman. She also wears a pearl necklace around her neck as proof of her rank. The cut of the cameo is elegant, detailed and ornate. An elaborate gold setting with leaf ornaments and pearl-decorated flowers frames the cameo, which was probably cut in Italy, to great effect.

Estimate:£749.42

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