Antique chalcedony agate cameo in gold mounting with half seed pearls

Antique jewelry object group: brooch

Condition: excellent condition
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Country of origin: Netherlands

Style: Victorian - Victorian decorative arts refers to the style of decorative arts during the Victorian era. The Victorian era is known for its eclectic revival and interpretation of historic styles and the introduction of cross-cultural influences from the middle east and Asia in furniture, fittings, and Interior decoration. Victorian design is widely viewed as having indulged in a regrettable excess of ornament. The Arts and Crafts movement, the aesthetic movement, Anglo-Japanese style, and Art Nouveau style have their beginnings in the late Victorian era.
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Period: ca. 1880
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Source of inspiration: Mythology

Theme: Bacchus

Material: 14K red gold
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Technique: Cameo is a method of carving, or an item of jewellery or vessel made in this manner. It features a raised (positive) relief image. There are three main materials for Cameo carving; Shells or Agate (called a Hardstone cameo), and glass. Cameos can be produced by setting a carved relief, such as a portrait, onto a background of a contrasting colour. This is called an assembled cameo. Alternately, a cameo can be carved directly out of a material with integral layers or banding, such as (banded) agate or layered glass, where different layers have different colours. Sometimes dyes are used to enhance these colours. Cameos are often worn as jewellery. Stone cameos of great artistry were made in Greece dating back as far as the 6th century BC. They were very popular in Ancient Rome, and one of the most famous stone cameos from this period is the Gemma Claudia made for the Emperor Claudius. The technique has since enjoyed periodic revivals, notably in the early Renaissance, and again in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

Extra information: Bacchus - This represents a faun wearing a vine leaf crown on his head. A ram's leg appears on his shoulder, which could refer to the Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. On the other hand looking at the grape decoration in the hair one could also deduce that the person depicted is Bacchus. (He is described as being womanly or "man-womanish")
Bacchus to the Greek and Dionysus or Dionysos to the Romans, the god of wine, represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. He is the patron deity of agriculture and the theatre. He was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing one from one's normal self, by madness, ecstasy, or wine. His divine mission was to mingle the music of the aulos and to bring an end to care and worry. There is also an aspect of Dionysus on his relationship to the "cult of the souls", and the scholar Xavier Riu writes that Dionysus presided over communication between the living and the dead.
Bacchus was the son of Jupiter (Zeus) and Semele. Juno (Hera), to gratify her resentment against Semele, contrived a plan for her destruction. Jove took the infant Bacchus and gave him in charge to the Nysacan nymphs and for their care were rewarded by Jupiter. When Bacchus grew up he discovered the culture of the vine and the mode of extracting its precious juice. Juno struck him with madness but he was cured by the goddess Rhea who taught him how to show the people the cultivation of the vine.
The name Bacchus came into use in ancient Greece during the 5th century BC. It refers to the cries with which he was worshipped at the Bacchanalia, frenetic celebrations in his honor. He is viewed as the promoter of civilization, a lawgiver, and lover of peace - as well as the patron deity of agriculture and the theater.
For more information on Bacchus see Wikipedia (opens in new window) Bacchus - Bacchus or Dionysus or Dionysos is the ancient Greek god of wine, wine cups, wineskin, grapes, theater, and fertility. The god who inspires ritual madness, joyful worship, and ecstasy, carnivals, celebration and a major figure of Greek mythology. He is included as one of the twelve Olympians in some lists. Dionysus is typical of the god of the epiphany, "the god that comes". He was also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by the Romans and the frenzy he induces, bakkheia. In addition to winemaking, he is the patron deity of agriculture and the theater. Hailed as an Asiatic foreigner, he was thought to have had strong ties to the East and to Ethiopia in the South. He was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing one from one's normal self, by madness, ecstasy or wine.The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the aulos and to bring an end to care and worry. Scholars have discussed Dionysus' relationship to the "cult of the souls" and his ability to preside over communication between the living and the dead.

The bull, the serpent, the ivy and the wine are the signs of the characteristic Dionysian atmosphere, and Dionysus is strongly associated with satyrs, centaurs, and sileni. He is often shown riding a leopard, wearing a leopard skin, or in a chariot drawn by panthers, and may also be recognized by the thyrsus he carries. Besides the grapevine and its wild barren alter-ego, the toxic ivy plant, both sacred to him, the fig was also his symbol. The pinecone that tipped his thyrsus linked him to Cybele, and the pomegranate linked him to Demeter. (from: Wikipedia)

Precious stones: One chalcedony cameo and 24 half seed pearls
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Birthstones: Pearl is the birthstone (or month stone) for June.
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Hallmarks: The Dutch control mark representing an oak leaf and that was in use between 1852 and 1906.
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Dimensions: 3,36 cm (1,32 inch) x 2,52 cm (0,99 inch)

Weight: 10,80 gram (6,94 dwt)

Reference Nº: 15178-0120

Copyright photography: Adin, fine antique jewelry

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