DATE: Victorian, c.1850

A stunning early Victorian cameo brooch depicting a bacchanal of putti, not dissimilar to the the 1620 marble relief by Flemish sculptor François Duquesnoy. The putti are seen drinking, clashing cymbals, dancing, and appearing to slaughter the goat. The execution is excellent - carved into a section of conch shell - and it's set within an incredible 15 karat gold border featuring applied grape and vine motifs... all fitting in with the bacchanal theme.

Dionysus (known to the Romans as Bacchus) was the principle deity of one of the mystery cults, and made his way into Roman culture - along with many others - through Greek mythology Believed to have been born from the union of Zeus and Persephone, he represented a chthonic or underworld aspect of Zeus.

The cult believed in rebirth, as exemplified through the seasonal growth of nature, but also of revelation through ecstasy (aided by wine, music and ecstatic dance). It became popular and well-organised throughout the central and southern Italian peninsula, thought to have been brought over in around 200 BC, and eventually even threatened the Senate who, in 186 BC, attempted to control their size, organisation, and priesthoods, under threat of the death penalty. The Bacchanalia were Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia.

STONES 

Conch shell cameo

MEASUREMENTS 

5.1 x 4.3cm

WEIGHT 

14.3g

MARKS 

No marks present, tests as 15k gold

CONDITION 

Excellent