Adiniana Jones and The Lost Secret Of The Cameos (Antique Action Adventure)
Who thinks antique jewellery is boring couldn't be more wrong! It can be a thrill to uncover the lost history behind a piece. Sometimes it takes us days of studying to understand what it is we have in our hands. Of course, the longer one does this, the quicker it goes. But still, we can be surprised when a piece reveals its history.
Take, for example, the necklace with cameos we show here. A French antique necklace with no less than 12 high-quality engraved cameos. All the scenes refer to ancient Greek and Roman mythology. It was not uncommon for jewellers in the 19th century (nor is it for jewellers in our days) to make mountings for already carved cameos. Normally, these cameos came from Italy, where the craftsmen had a rich source of inspiration in the old sculptures, reliefs, paintings, and mosaics.
When visiting Rome during the mid-nineteenth century, one of the must-have Grand Tour souvenirs for international sightseers were cameos with mythological scenes. This fashion was ignited by Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, who were avid collectors of cameos. Their love for cameos was trendsetting for the fashionists of that era.
Surprisingly enough, most of the original works used as sources of inspiration by the cameo engravers are not Italian. The creator of the original works, reliefs, and statues can be traced back to Denmark. To be more precise, the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844). But what is the link between Denmark and Italy, one might wonder. Well, Thorvaldsen spent much of his career in Rome, and his bas-reliefs in a classical style were widely replicated, among others, by the Italian cameo carving atelier Saulini.
Tomasso Saulini (1793-1864) was a pupil of Thorvaldsen, and he copied many of Thorvaldsen’s bas-reliefs and sculptures in his cameo works. Luigi Saulini, Tomasso's son and partner, also used Thorvaldsen’s work. So, it is probable that the cameos were purchased in Italy, either by a French tourist or a jeweller, to be mounted by a French jeweller, as the Saulinis did not do goldsmithing. The reason we believe it must have been a French tourist or jeweller purchasing these cameos is that the necklace carries a French hallmark that was in use since 1838.
Works of Saulini can be found in many important cameo collections around the world, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. When you visit the describing page of this necklace, you'll see that we were able to trace back almost all of the original works used as inspiration for this necklace.