Featured Help please...dating and origin

Hello Antique friends, (did I say that right?)
I would appreciate some thoughts on this Cameo that I have been told is called The Shepardess.
I can find no markings anywhere. It is gold but as to % I am not sure. I believe it is Conch shell. It did belong to my grandmother and I can confirm she owned it at least 90 years ago.
I look forward to hearing from the more experienced ones.
Bill

 

You know... I don't that that's a shepherdess. I don't even think that it's a woman. To identify the figure, one has to consider the attributes. There are grapes and flowers in the hair as well as a (pine cone) staff in the hand. That means it's most likely Dionysus (Greek name) or Bacchus (Roman name), god of wine.

Debora

 

Here's another cameo featuring Dionysus. (Note the staff.)

https://www.rubylane.com/item/753075-RL-00197/HUGE-Victorian-Shell-Cameo-Brooch-Dionysus

Debora

 

I think Deb is probably correct in ID'ing the character.

It's a very nice cameo.

 

It is. Lovely.

Debora

 

FAR better quality than most Ive seen.

 

Late 19th C, Naples (Ercolani) carved in a probably British frame.

 

Beautifully carved cameo!

I agree with Ownedbybear on the date based on the carving, the clasp and the hinge.

 

The quality of the carving is fabulous. I've a rather nice one in a base metal frame or low grade silver frame - the cameo was the importance.

 

Thank you everyone, I always wondered about the origin. One more question please, well maybe 2.....Are these still collectable? Where would it be best marketed?

 

Yes, they are in demand. Especially for quality items. You need to get the gold tested. Most likely 8k or 9k but could be as high as 14k. eBay is always a good market for these cameos.

 

Hello Packrat, I'm the new girl in town, just looking back over cameo-related posts. You got good advice at the time. This is a beautiful example of this subject. It can be difficult to make a firm distinction between the wine god Dionysus/Bacchus & his female followers, maenads/bacchantes, all that wine & late night carousing have given the guy a soft, androgenous look. I'm inclined to agree that this one looks masculine enough to be considered Dionysus himself.

His 'attributes' are as you see them here: grapes/grapevine; a staff with a pine cone head (although this looks suspiciously like an upturned acorn) or a fennel stalk, called a thyrsus (or thyrsos); a panther or, as in this case, a ram's skin draped over the torso. (You can see the head with its curling horn by his right shoulder, 2 forelegs with cloven hooves positioned anatomically incorrectly in front of that.)

It is cut in helmet shell, probably in Italy, either in the vicinity of Naples/Torre del Greco or in Rome. You can never be quite sure, as cameo cutting is a portable skill. Luigi Michelini started in Rome but was established in Paris by the time he cut this bacchante.



I am guessing this did very well for you if sold on eBay or similar.