Antique Shell Cameo of a Dancing Bacchante Holding a Bunch of Grapes

This most extraordinary châtelaine is designed as a delicately modelled hand coming out of a cuff holding a rose and a rose bud. Suspended from the rose are two chains that hold wine leaves and grapes. Attached to the vine leaves and grapes are a number of pendants, three heart pendants and two small star pendants. The heart pendants consist of a heart shaped frame each, one frame shows a deer and a hunter in a forest, another a cat and apples surrounded by green Art Nouveau ornaments, and the third heart shows a swan standing on top of a basket filled with fruit and flowers. On the back of the châtelaine is a large hook with a seducing Art...

Highly elegant bracelet carved out of pink shell and mounted in 14 k gold. A bust in the antique manner of the goddess Flora sits in an oval frame decorated with scrolled leaves and ...

This sardonyx cameo of a bacchante, in Greek mythology a follower of Dyonisos, is monted in a gold brooch decorated with a guilloché enamelled frame...

Sardonyx cameo brooch and earrings with a profile bust of Maria Stuart. The attributes of Maria Stuart are consistent with renaissance fashion se...

This beautiful cameo brooch/ pendant depicts the Last Supper in great detail. A true cameo is a miniature sculpture in relief, carved from a single shell. Travelers touring Europe he...

Cushion Sapphire Natural non heated probably Kashmir. The horseshoe is set by Old-mine cut Diamond on silver and gold. Late 19th Century. Length: 5.60 centimeters. Total weight: 3.2...

This Victorian unmounted Carnelian shell cameo depicting the right-facing profile of the Princess is very well carved in exquisite detail. The surface is as crisp as the day it was crafted, impressive for a shell cameo from the late Victorian era. This would date back to around the 1860s-1890s. The carving on this cameo is excellent and well-detailed, with good relief. This was carved by an excellent carver, as were most Victorian cameos. This loose cameo...

The cameo at the center of this exceptional pendant is a stunning example of the art of gem engraving during the Renaissance. It likely dates to the early 17th century and features a sacrificial scene inspired by the Greco-Roman era. The central flaming altar is flanked by two figures preparing to sacrifice a ram, while a figure in a lion skin blowing horns stands in the left corner. The carver brilliantly uses the natural layers of the stone to achieve the illusion of shadow and musculature on the figures. A second, smaller cameo is set at the top of the pendant, while a myriad of multi-colored gems, pearls and enamel adorns the 18K gold setting. A large Baroque pearl suspended from an enamel dragon finishes the design, which embodies the opulence and theatricality of jewels from the Renaissance age. Cameos and intaglios were highly popular amongst wealthy connoisseurs in Renaissance Italy, and owning the finest pieces was the privilege of princes. Although they were often elaborately mounted for display alone, cameos were also frequently worn as pendants, surrounded by enameled and stone-set gold frames. Such pieces were particularly prized by the Medici and Lorraine families, many of which can now be seen at the National Archeological Museum in Florence. Very few Renaissance cameos...