Love aids?

Fabulous cameo with the so-called "cupid trader" around 1830

€ 1,290.00 ^*

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Fabulous cameo with the so-called "cupid trader" around 1830

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

Cameos of the 18th and 19th centuries have always been among our favorite pieces. These small reliefs are works of art in their own right, they show the world of occidental culture in miniature. They reflect the educational aspirations of the upper classes of the age of classicism, and at the same time they reflect the enjoyment of art and the yearning for antiquity of those years like hardly any other genre. The present cameo of the 1830s is carved from shell and set in high-carat gold. It depicts a scene that was well known to every traveller visiting Italy in the 18th century. Goethe also reports on it in his Italian Journey. It is a depiction of the so-called "Cupid Trader", which also became famous under the title "The Sale of the Gods of Love". The imagery of Roman antiquity produced this little scene, which is as heartbreakingly funny as it is graceful, and tells the following story: Wealthy ladies of antiquity who had trouble finding the right man or simply wanted to fall in love, according to tradition, resorted to the help of little winged love helpers that could be purchased. In our scene we see a cupid dealer sitting on the left side holding a small cupid by the wings. She has taken the love-helper from a playpen to present him appropriately. Cupid has already stretched out his little arms to begin his quest to plunge his new owner into the throes of a new, previously unknown love. Another little angel of love is still sitting in his enclosure. A third helper snuggles up to the customer's knee, apparently to see how it feels. A counsellor stands helpfully by. With so much help, nothing can stand in the way of a new love! The model for the scene reproduced here in relief is an ancient wall painting found in 1759 in Stabia in the so-called Villa Arianna near Pompeii and Herculaneum during archaeological excavations. We are showing a contemporary, side-inverted reproduction from the 3rd volume of the "Antichità di Ercolano esposte" (Naples 1762), which probably served as a model for the piece of jewellery presented here. Within a few years, the scene became famous throughout Europe and countless variations were created in prints, as paintings and even in the medium of porcelain, in the Meissen manufactory and even as cameos brought home by travellers from Italy. The brooch made of high-karat gold with a touching motif is a beautiful piece of jewellery that not only takes us back to the imaginary world of antiquity - but also allows itself an amusing sideswipe at the eternal game of wooing and being wooed in our time - even if you have already found your great love!

Learn more

Shells with mythological motifs were created especially in the 19th century in Italy for travellers on a Grand Tour. This so-called cavalier tour, which was supposed to perfect the education of the travellers, led to the antique buildings, to the art collections of Rome and Naples and the early tourists brought small souvenirs from their journey across the Alps, which were supposed to tell of the experiences of the Italian journey.