C as in Cameo

Result EUR125,000

Published on 14 February 2020, by Marielle Brie de Lagerac

The cameo came down through the ages to become a star in the 19^th century. Princes, kings and emperors prized the small luxury objects made of fine stone or shell, which decorated garments and precious furniture.

Benedetto Pistrucci (1783-1855), Bacchante in profile, ca. 1810, cameo in high relief, chalcedony encircled in gold and back in gilded copper, in its case “Spink & Sons Ltd 5-7 King Street St James London”, label “Athena–8/Z… S. Paulo”, 8.5 x 6.5 x 1.5 cm, 103 g.
7 July 2019, Fontainebleau, Osenat auction house.
Result: €125,000

Carved out of fine stones, cameos have been considered luxury items since antiquity. The skill in making them consists in playing with the stones’ various coloured layers to reveal lively, nuanced raised patterns and portraits. Medieval craftsmen reused them in religious art, attaching superstition-tinged virtues to the materials. Those beliefs were obsolete by the time of the Renaissance, when enlightened connoisseurs admired them…

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