Lot 480 - Auction 66 - Part II

A precious late hellenistic greek garnet cameo. Female face.
Price realized:
16.000,00 GBP
Bids:
2

Bids

Lot status:
Auction closed

Description

A precious late hellenistic greek garnet cameo. Female face.
28 x 33 x 14 mm
The face of the young woman, presumably referable to a Venus, is inspired by the greek models of the classical age and is characterized by a linear nose, slightly elongated eyes with a marked eyelid, a small fleshy mouth, a round chin and full cheeks. The hair is divided by a central line, is distributed in two parts and is finely engraved with thin strands pulled backwards. The face has "idealized" features, a staid expression, almost severe but serene, typically greek. The back of this cameo is entirely excavated, to give more brightness, color and lightness to the artifact. The excavation of the back affects all the central surface except for the edges. The garnet is dark red-purple in color and lights up with vivid and bright tones if backlit. An ancient restoration, very refined and presumably executed around the end of the nineteenth century, affects the right side of the hair. The cameo is engraved and polished with skill, and could originally have been mounted in a gold pendant, in a metal casket or to constitute the face of an idol in precious metal. Slight wear marks. Extremely rare and of great artistic beauty, apparently devoid of parallels. Alessandrina Workshop. The art of sculpting and engraving small busts or cameos in semi-precious hard stone (especially garnet, chalcedony and rock crystal), was introduced in the late Hellenistic period by the ptolemaic artists and continued by the Romans in imperial times. For comparisons: J. Spier, p. 78 n. 56; O. Neverov, Ancient cameos in the Hermitage collection, n. 11 and 472. The piece is published in: D. Del Bufalo, Precious Portrait. Tiny Sculptures Masterpieces of Imperial Rome, the Renaissance Taste and the Antique, Allemandi 2019, n. 179. This lot is listed in an invoice from parisian gallery Mythes et Légendes by Michel Cohen in 1986, mentionning that the piece was formerly in Arthur Sambon (1867-1947) collection.
2nd- 1st century BC.
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