Antique Italian Cameo Sea Shell Torre Del Greco Italy Hand Carved 1850’s Silver

Description

Genuine Mid-Nineteenth Century Hand Carved Sea Shell Cameo.
DIMENSIONS
: 29mm in length; 22mm in width, 3mm in thickness. Weight is 2.36 grams.
ORIGIN:
Torre Del Greco, Italy. Approximately 1850-1860.
NOTE
: Mounted onto high quality contemporary sterling silver setting. Included is a silver electroplate chain. 14kt gold fill and solid gold settings available upon request. We also have available other chains as well, in gold and silver electroplate, solid sterling, and solid 14kt gold and 14kt gold fill, in lengths ranging from 16 to 30 inches. The default chain (absent contrary instructions) is silver electroplate, 24 inches. For a more authentic touch, we also have available high quality (solid not formed) handcrafted Greek black leather cords.
NOTE
: This same setting is also available in 14kt solid gold. If you would prefer a different setting style, odds are we have many different setting styles available which would fit this stone which could be substituted for no or very little additional cost. 14kt solid gold settings and 14kt gold fill (5% gold over 95% silver) are also available. Write us for pictures and prices.
NOTE
: If you would like only the cameo, and not the setting, we can dismount the cameo and offer you the cameo without the setting. Just let us know, and yes, we’ll discount the price by the cost of the setting.
DETAIL
: Absolutely gorgeous and historically significant are the best ways to describe this stunning cameo. For over 500 years a tiny town in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius has been famous for the production of cameos hand carved from sea shells. Although we have no idea who this elegant lady is, she must have been very proud to have her likeness carved into such a beautiful piece of jewelry. Genuine antique sea shell cameos from Torre Del Greco are very difficult to come by. We’re fortunate to have a small collection – but when they are gone, they are gone forever. We have mounted this gorgeous piece into a high quality sterling silver setting which complements the cameo without overpowering it. We include an attractive silver electroplated chain. If you prefer, this cameo could be remounted into your choice of 14kt solid gold, and of course we have chains available to match.
HISTORY
: Cameos have been a popular form of artistic jewelry for around 2,500 years. Although some sources put the origin of cameo carving in Hellenic Alexandria, Egypt in the late fourth century B.C., evidence suggests that the Greeks brought it with them. In any event, cameos were extremely popular in the Greco-Roman world. The origin of the word may be the Hebrew “Kamea”, for a charm or amulet; or Latin “Cammaeus” for an engraved gemstone. Cameos historically were produced from sea shells or semi-precious gemstones such as quartz agate. The most popular form of cameo in the Roman world was the intaglio cameo, where the image was carved out of the gemstone forming a recess. Typically the medium was transparent/translucent orange carnelian. There is a magnificent collection of such intaglio cameos in St. Petersburg, Russia, at The Hermitage. Early Green and Roman intaglios featured images of gods and goddesses, mythological themes, beautiful women, portraits of their owners, and biblical events.
The second style of cameo was historically produced from sea shells or translucent or opaque gemstones such as banded agate. Here the image was cut in relief – successive of layers of material cut away to produce an image. Relief cameos from semi-precious stones such as agate were more common in the ancient world. Those carved from sea shells came much later, Medieval or Renaissance in origin. When the Roman Empire collapsed in the fifth century, so did the art form of carving cameos, both relief and intaglio. The Renaissance revived the art form in the fifteenth century. A tiny town at the base of Mount Vesuvius (Torre Del Greco, Italy) became the center of cameo production from sea shells, and remains so today. A small town in Germany (Idar-Oberstein) became famous for the production of cameos from agate.
SHIPPING & RETURNS/REFUNDS
: Your purchase will ordinarily be shipped within 48 hours of payment. We package as well as anyone in the business, with lots of protective padding and containers. All of our shipments are fully insured against loss, and our shipping rates include the cost of this coverage (through stamps.com, Shipsaver.com, the USPS, UPS, or Fed-Ex). International tracking is provided free by the USPS for certain countries, other countries are at additional cost.
ADDITIONAL PURCHASES
do receive a
VERY LARGE
discount, typically about per item so as to reward you for the economies of combined shipping/insurance costs. We do offer U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, Registered Mail, and Express Mail for both international and domestic shipments, as well United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed-Ex). Please ask for a rate quotation. We will accept whatever payment method you are most comfortable with.
If upon receipt of the item you are disappointed for any reason whatever, I offer a no questions asked 30-day return policy. Send it back, I will give you a complete refund of the purchase price; 1) less our original shipping/insurance costs, 2) less non-refundable PayPal/eBay payment processing fees. Please note that PayPal does NOT refund fees. Even if you “accidentally” purchase something and then cancel the purchase before it is shipped, PayPal will not refund their fees. So all refunds for any reason, without exception, do not include PayPal/eBay payment processing fees (typically between 3% and 5%) and shipping/insurance costs (if any). If you’re unhappy with PayPal and eBay’s “no fee refund” policy, and we are EXTREMELY unhappy, please voice your displeasure by contacting PayPal and/or eBay. We have no ability to influence, modify or waive PayPal or eBay policies.
ABOUT US
: Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years. However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers. Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology. After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well. Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on Ebay (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world – but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe. I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe. In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology.
I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with. Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry. My wife also is an active participant in the “business” of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia. I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me. There is a fee for mailing under separate cover. Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail. If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail. But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly – even if I am absent. And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email. Please see our
"ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE."