Antique Italian Cameo Hair Pin with Double Portrait of Cosimo I de Medici

RENAISSANCE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT CAMEO IN MODERN GOLD SETTING Italy (?), 16th-17th century White agate, modern gold setting Weight: 10.8 g.; circumference: 54.4 mm.; size: US 7, UK N ½ Substantial rounded D-section hoop, narrowing at the base supports an oblong collet set with a white agate cameo. The cameo features a female bust behind a male bust in profile facing to the viewer’s left. The man has a curly beard, wears a fillet in his closely cropped hair, and wears a draped toga; the woman is less well defined and wears a palla. Both portraits have flat features. The carving has a metallic quality to its lines which enhances the sheen of the stone. The cameo is in excellent condition; the mount is modern. The Renaissance welcomed a revival in the ancient art of gem carving and cameos achieved renewed popularity. Important patrons, like the Medici, employed artists and goldsmiths to make dozens of beautiful examples that harkened back to antiquity and displayed current fashions. Double portraits of a man and woman, as with this ring, are called marriage portraits. They take their form from cameos of Roman rulers, mythological lovers, and citizen couples. Literature This couple could be a sixteenth-century copy of an ancient gem or it could represent a Renaissnce couple in the guise of a Roman couple. The features do not point to any well-known couples. A double portrait cameo in the Royal Collection (RCIN 65861) provides a nice comparison to this ring and is from the same period. For an ancient example of the double portrait cameo see the Metropolitan Museum’s Germanicus and Agrippina (39.22.18) cameo. Another comparison, see the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (a 17th-century cameo with the double portrait of a couple in a three-layered agate, published in Babelon, 1897, n. 1019). For general information on Renaissance cameos...

RENSAISSANCE CAMEO RING Italy? 16th century in a 20th century setting Gold and sardonyx Weight 6.5 gr.; bezel 16.1 x 16.9 x 7.4 mm.; circumference 50.3 mm.; US size 5½; UK size L In this oblong cameo, the bust of a woman wearing a necklace but otherwise nude stands above a blue ground. While her breast faces forward, her head is rendered in a strict profile and her hands gesture to her right. The minimalist gold setting is modern and dates to the twentieth century. Cameos depicting nude female figures became popular in the court circles of sixteenth-century Italy, where newly-formed princely collections of ancient gems served as models for contemporary hardstone artists. Following ancient practice, the artist responsible for the current cameo has cut into two layers of the multicolor agate, creating a background of milky blue that contrasts with the white flesh of the woman above. The sharp profile of the woman’s face likewise recalls the art of the ancient Romans, who often used the profile view for portraits on coins, medals, and engraved gems...

Portrait Cameo of Emperor Vespasian in a Gold Brooch Agate, gold Italy?, 16th century Weight 10.2 gr.; Dimensions 48.7 × 39 mm. Description: Three-layered agate cameo (black-white-...

Swivel Ring with Portrait of Napoleon in a Crystal Locket France, c. 1815 Weight 1.7 gr.; bezel 12.6 x 10 mm.; circumference 58.21 mm.; US size 8 1/2; UK size Q 3/4 The bezel of this rare historic...

RENAISSANCE CAMEO RING Italy, cameo: second half of 16th century in a late 18th century ring Gold, agate , black enamel Weight 6.3 gr.; bezel 18.8 x 16.9 x 6.5 mm.; circumference 58.4 mm.; US size 8¾; UK size R Cameo of a nude female bust...

RELIQUARY CROSS PENDANT Balkans (probably Bulgaria), 18th-19th century Gilded silver, glass pastes Weight 40.7 grams; dimensions 74 × 15 × 10 mm Double-sided pendant made of gilded silver filigree in the shape of a Greek cross, with pendant loop. The front and side panels composed of intricate filigree scrolls, globules, and a central rosette. Interspersed are crimped collet settings with corded wire base and red, blue, and green glass-paste gem...

Gianni Versace gold Medusa hair pin with blue rhinestones.

The oval cameo shows a profile carving of Mars in an 18k gold mount and pin. This piece of jewellery was made in France around 1870-1880.

Hark back to the days of the Great Gatsby with this luxurious hair pin. Set with approximately 5 Carats of white colorless diamonds and a gem quality green em...

Charming oval moonstone carving of the face of a child with a fringe. The cameo is mounted in 14K gold and decorated with eight emeralds. The highly unusual pin has been executed aro...

Designer: custom design Material: 10k yellow gold Dimensions: pin measures 44.07mm long and 24.11mm wide Weight: 6.02 grams

Designer: custom design “made in England” Material: sterling silver Dimensions: pin measures 28.90mm by 41.44mm Weight: 9.60 grams