Antique Gold Earrings with Shell Cameos, Italy & Great Britain, c. 1885

In the last decades of the last century, society was still completely caught up in the strict rules of Victorian society. However, the subconscious, which operated powerfully in the background regardless of all etiquette, soon became the focus of interest - in the early days of psychoanalysis as well as in art. Symbolist artists such as Stuck and Böcklin thematized the secret desires of man through subtly erotic motifs such as fauns, mermaids and nymphs, whose untamed natures and lack of shame seemed to them to be more in harmony with themselves and nature. This pair of earrings also features this motif. The large pendants each feature a diamond-shaped cameo made of shell. A lightly clad young lady stands out against the dark background. The jugs of water they carry in their arms identify them as nymphs. The cameos were most probably cut in the Bay of Naples. Numerous skilled craftsmen created high-quality depictions of mythological motifs in particular, which arrived in the luggage of travelers in their respective home countries and were only captured there. Our cameos once arrived in England, where they were fitted with simple 15-carat gold settings and made wearable as earrings. This typically British gold alloy 625/000 was introduced in 1854 and was used until 1932. The long earrings from around 1885 are beautifully preserved. They came to us from Munich.

Estimation:1.980€

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