An important and previously unrecorded jewel in the Renaissance taste attributed to Fortunato Pio Castellani. Rome. C 1870

A pair of deeply incised emerald portrait cameos depicting Silenus and the young Bacchus/Dionysus. Mounted in gold settings heightened with black enamel and separated by a baton-shaped element decorated with pearl terminals.

The open back of the jewel reveals that the stones are joined mechanically to the setting with gold filigree tabs. These, together with the hinge and safety clasp of the jewel, are wholly characteristic of the Castellani workshops.

The brooch belongs to a series of similar jewels by Castellani that appear to owe their origins to German Renaissance tradition, none of which appear to be signed. For a discussion of this and photographs of comparable jewels see Castellani and Giuliano – Revivalist Jewellers of the Nineteenth Century by Geoffrey C Munn. (1984) Page 119 and plates 181- 183.

A suite of cameo jewellery from this series is illustrated in Geoffrey Munn's book, the same suite features in the 2004 Castellani and Italian Archaeological Jewelry by Susan Soros and Stephanie Webber, and another features in the Villa Giulia Collection, Rome, home of the Castellani collection.

There is a necklace of similar design, also with emerald cameos, in the Cooper Hewitt collection, New York

It is worth noting that emerald cameos are rare, they are difficult to carve because of the nature of the stone, having numerous “jardin” inclusions. To have a pair of cameos of this size and strong colour is extremely rare. It is highly likely they were carved by Antonio Odelli, specifically for Castellani

Approximately 6cm x 3.5cm

SOLD