Large Victorian Gold Brooch with Shell Cameo, c. 1850

This brooch depicts a classic motif from ancient mythology: four doves at a drinking trough. The Roman writer Pliny described the scene in his Natural History around the year 77 BC: "In Pergamon there is a famous mosaic with some drinking doves. Their heads shade the water, they sit on the edge of a vessel." The doves are the birds that pull the chariot of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, which is why the dove is still regarded as a symbol of love to this day. These so-called "Doves of Aphrodite" can be found today in numerous variations in various museums around the world, as this motif was already highly famous and popular in ancient times. The shell cameo on this brooch was inspired by a Roman mosaic based on the Greek model, the floor mosaic from Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, which was rediscovered in 1737. It can be seen today in the Capitoline Museums in Rome (Sala delle Colombe, inv. MC0402, see here). The cameo shows the birds in a detailed cut in shell. The setting is made of gold to match the high-quality cameo. Its magnificent design with elegant tendrils allows us to date the piece of jewellery to around 1850. The setting was probably created in Great Britain, while the shell cameo was carved on the Gulf of Naples. We discovered the cameo, which can also be worn as a pendant thanks to an eyelet that is actually intended for a safety chain, in London.

Estimate:£1,435.53

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