An 8/9k red gold neoclassical cameo brooch. - image-1
An 8/9k red gold neoclassical cameo brooch. - image-2
An 8/9k red gold neoclassical cameo brooch. - image-1An 8/9k red gold neoclassical cameo brooch. - image-2

Lot 292 Dα

An 8/9k red gold neoclassical cameo brooch.

Auction 1048 - overview Cologne
15.05.2015, 14:00 - Jewellery, Furniture, Objects of Vertu, Boxes, Portrait Miniatures
Estimate: 7.500 € - 8.000 €
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An 8/9k red gold neoclassical cameo brooch.

With a layered onyx neoclassical portrait of a lady with her hair in the style of the Syracuse Arethusa coins. The cameo signed beneath the bust "BERINI". H 3 cm. Weight 5.5 g.
Probably England, late 18th / early 19th century, the cameo Antonio Berini (Rome 1770 - Milan 1881).

Like his tutor Giovanni Pichler, Berini was one of the leading proponents of Roman neoclassical gem carving. He entered the services of Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais at the court of Milan in 1800, where alongside copies of classical intaglios, he also created numerous portraits of Napoleon's relatives and the high aristocracy. This cameo portrait bears individual features and could be a depiction of Marie-Caroline of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies.

Provenance

Private collection, England.

Literature

For this hairstyle, cf.: Berges, Klassizistische Gemmen und Kameen der Sammlung Maxville-Sommerville, Rahden 2011, no. 160.