The Doves of Aphrodite

Romantic Brooch With Shell Cameo in Silver Setting, Around 1860


€ 269.00 *
Content 1 piece
Unit price €269.00 / piece
Incl. VAT, Shipping
Romantic Brooch With Shell Cameo in Silver Setting, Around 1860
Romantic Brooch With Shell Cameo in Silver Setting, Around 1860
Description
This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!
This brooch from around 1860 shows a classic motif from the world of antiquity in its shell cameo: four doves sitting at a drinking trough. The Roman writer Pliny already described this famous scene in his Natural History around the year 77 BC: "In Pergamon there is a famous mosaic with some drinking doves. Their heads shading the water, they sit on the rim of a vessel". These so-called "doves of Aphrodite" can be found today in numerous variations and materials in various museums around the world, because even in ancient times this motif was highly famous and popular. A floor mosaic from Hadrian's villa in Tivoli with this very motif, for example, is exhibited today in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The doves are the birds that pull the chariot of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, which is why the dove is still considered a symbol of love today. The version here is finely carved in light shell with great detail. A simple setting with spiral framing holds the cameo, which was probably made in Italy. The brooch came to us together with a whole collection of antique cameos here in Berlin.
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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 should perfect the education of the travellers here, led to the antique buildings, into the art collections of Rome and Naples and the early tourists brought small souvenirs from their journey over the Alps, which should tell of the experiences of the Italian journey.
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Size & Details
Romantic Brooch With Shell Cameo in Silver Setting, Around 1860
The Doves of Aphrodite
€ 269.00 *
Content 1 piece
Unit price €269.00 / piece
Incl. VAT, Shipping
Our Promise
Our Promise
Our Promise

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You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

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