Mastery of Design: An Italian Shell Cameo Necklace, 1810-20

Necklace of Carved Shell Cameos
Italy, 1810-1820
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This necklace comprised of carved shell cameos was made in Italy between 1810 and 1820 and depicts subjects such as cupids, pairs of doves and the altar of love.

Sentimental jewelry was reached an apex in the 1820s and was used to declare affection and devotion for family and friends (living and dead), as well as romantic love for a spouse, and loyalty to a monarch or a cause.

The necklace originally was hung with a large pendant—now missing.

Unusual Artifacts: The Martin Nautilus Shell Cup, 1770

Cup
Jean Martin, 1770
Poland with Cameos made in Italy
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Portions of this elegant and monumental cup were made in Warsaw Poland while much of its adornment comes from pieces which were the handiwork of Italian craftsmen.  Made around 1770, this cup of a nautilus shell set in gold with onyx, chalcedony, agate, shell and glass cameos, nicely demonstrates the Neoclassical appreciation for engraved gems.

Many of the gems which grace this piece are Italian copies of then-famous carved stones and cameos.  The cup was made for the last king of Poland, Stanislaus Augustus. The central intaglio on the shell is an Italian copy in blue glass of Diomedes stealing the palladium.  The original version of this stone is called “The Felix Gem.”  It lives in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ebgland.

The base and cover of this important cup are decorated with mother-of-pearl. It is signed “J.MARTIN FAIT A VARSOVIELE 26 AOUT 1770.”

The commission of this cup marks one of the earliest times that the celebrated Jean Martin worked for King Stanislaus Augustus (1769-1791) as Court Jeweler in Warsaw.  Martin remained in this position between 1769 and 1791.  The cups creation is recorded in the royal accounts as having been ordered in 1770 and states that it was designed purely as a vehicle for displaying cameos as opposed to an object intended for practical use.  

Unusual Artifacts: The Martin Nautilus Shell Cup, 1770

Cup
Jean Martin, 1770
Poland with Cameos made in Italy
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Portions of this elegant and monumental cup were made in Warsaw Poland while much of its adornment comes from pieces which were the handiwork of Italian craftsmen.  Made around 1770, this cup of a nautilus shell set in gold with onyx, chalcedony, agate, shell and glass cameos, nicely demonstrates the Neoclassical appreciation for engraved gems.

Many of the gems which grace this piece are Italian copies of then-famous carved stones and cameos.  The cup was made for the last king of Poland, Stanislaus Augustus. The central intaglio on the shell is an Italian copy in blue glass of Diomedes stealing the palladium.  The original version of this stone is called “The Felix Gem.”  It lives in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ebgland.

The base and cover of this important cup are decorated with mother-of-pearl. It is signed “J.MARTIN FAIT A VARSOVIELE 26 AOUT 1770.”

The commission of this cup marks one of the earliest times that the celebrated Jean Martin worked for King Stanislaus Augustus (1769-1791) as Court Jeweler in Warsaw.  Martin remained in this position between 1769 and 1791.  The cups creation is recorded in the royal accounts as having been ordered in 1770 and states that it was designed purely as a vehicle for displaying cameos as opposed to an object intended for practical use.  

Mastery of Design: Pendant Jewel with Apollo and Daphne

Pendant Jewel with Apollo and Daphne
Mid-Sixteenth Century with Eighteenth
Century Additions
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II

Gold, émail en ronde bosse (enamel work), sard (carnelian), orange and white sardonyx, black and white onyx, table-cut diamonds, table-cut and cushion-cut rubies, cushion-cut Colombian emeralds, turquoise, saltwater pearl are combined in this magnificent pendant jewel.


The jewel—in its present condition—was first recorded in the Royal Collection in 1830, though it predates that by a century or two. Three pendants are suspended from a central jewel set in gold scrollwork. The pendant on the left is a sardonyx cameo of a female bust in three-quarter profile which is framed by fourteen emeralds set in a gold mount with two small pearls above. The central hanging pendant is a turquoise cameo representing a draped female bust, in profile,, in a gold mount, also with large pearl above. And, to the right, hangs an onyx cameo with the head of Bacchus en face, framed by fourteen rubies in a gold mount with two small pearls above.

The original jewel, created circa 1650, from which the three pendants hang, seems to have included a cameo with a painted portrait where the largest sard cameo is set today. Alterations were made to the piece, most likely at the request of King George IV who had very definite ideas about the way things should look.

As it is today, the central frame is suspended by two chains from the ruby-set clasp. It is set with an enamel figure of reclining Cupid, the figures of Cupid and Apollo, a dragon and a harpy. The reverse features full-length figures of Apollo and Daphne. The overall theme here is that of unrequited love. That’s a theme that never goes out of style, even when the piece was altered for changing tastes.

Masterpiece of the Week: King George IV’s Bejeweled Tankard, 1823

Tankard
Silver gilt, cameos, gemstones
Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, 1823
The Royal Collection

This silver-gilt tankard with a pinecone finial is a kaleidoscope of Silver-gilt, agate, onyx, sardonyx, jasper, amethyst, Siberian amethyst, chrysoprase, emeralds, ruby, Russian aquamarine, Russian green beryl, sapphires from Sri Lanka, pink sapphire, and turquoises. The tankard features exceptional rocaille work. Rocaille—one of the hallmarks of Rococo styling—relies heavily on patterns of shells, stones and other natural motifs. The Royal Jewelers at Rundell, Bridge and Rundell crafted this tankard in 1823 with an abundance of antique cameos of mythological subject matter, intaglio, and colorful gemstones. Most of the cameos date to the Sixteenth Century


Cameo-studded tankards were quite the fashion of the time. King George III had acquired one of his own. So, it was only fitting that King George IV should have one, too. It’s unclear whether Rundell, Bride and Rundell created this tankard especially for King George IV, but it certainly tickled his fancy and he quickly added it to the Royal Collection.

Mastery of Design: An Italian Shell Cameo Necklace, 1810-20

Necklace of Carved Shell Cameos
Italy, 1810-1820
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This necklace comprised of carved shell cameos was made in Italy between 1810 and 1820 and depicts subjects such as cupids, pairs of doves and the altar of love.

Sentimental jewelry was reached an apex in the 1820s and was used to declare affection and devotion for family and friends (living and dead), as well as romantic love for a spouse, and loyalty to a monarch or a cause.

The necklace originally was hung with a large pendant—now missing.

Unusual Artifacts: The Martin Nautilus Shell Cup, 1770

Cup
Jean Martin, 1770
Poland with Cameos made in Italy
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Portions of this elegant and monumental cup were made in Warsaw Poland while much of its adornment comes from pieces which were the handiwork of Italian craftsmen.  Made around 1770, this cup of a nautilus shell set in gold with onyx, chalcedony, agate, shell and glass cameos, nicely demonstrates the Neoclassical appreciation for engraved gems.

Many of the gems which grace this piece are Italian copies of then-famous carved stones and cameos.  The cup was made for the last king of Poland, Stanislaus Augustus. The central intaglio on the shell is an Italian copy in blue glass of Diomedes stealing the palladium.  The original version of this stone is called “The Felix Gem.”  It lives in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Ebgland.

The base and cover of this important cup are decorated with mother-of-pearl.  It is signed “J.MARTIN FAIT A VARSOVIELE 26 AOUT 1770.”

The commission of this cup marks one of the earliest times that the celebrated Jean Martin worked for King Stanislaus Augustus (1769-1791) as Court Jeweler in Warsaw.  Martin remained in this position between 1769 and 1791.  The cups creation is recorded in the royal accounts as having been ordered in 1770 and states that it was designed purely as a vehicle for displaying cameos as opposed to an object intended for practical use. 

Mastery of Design: Queen Mary's Ruby and Thirteen Cameo Tea Brooch, Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Mary rescued more jewelry from being broken apart than Sting has rescued Rain Forest trees. This brooch of gold, Burmese rubies and thirteen onyx cameos was part of an impressive parure dating back to the Sixteenth Century. Queen Mary was known to wear the brooch for teas and less formal occasions when diamonds would not have been appropriate. The current arrangement of the cameos dated to the early Nineteenth Century when the piece was reconstructed with additional rubies and a mounted hook for a detachable pendant drop. Her Majesty admired the brooch and accompanying suite which had been part of another collection, acquiring it in 1932.

The cameos depict a rather odd assortment of subjects:

1. Two female figures, in long dresses.
2. Seated male nude, possibly Dionysus, approached by a satyr blowing a horn.
3, Male nude running towards a bonfire.
4. Male nude, making a sacrifice at an altar.
5, Orpheus, nude, with a small animal.
6. Female musician with her right breast exposed.
7. The Adoration of the Magi
8. Male musician, wearing a tunic.
9. Cupid, walking to the right, reading from a scroll.
10. Cupid, walking to the left, carrying a vessel.
11. Cupid, facing left, teasing a bird.
12. Cupid, walking to the left, again.
13. Kneeling male nude, offering an object to a seated male wearing a tunic, possibly a slave serving his master.