Georgian Terpsichore Sulphide Cameo Pendant

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Georgian Terpsichore Sulphide Cameo Pendant

$700.00

Description

DATE: Georgian, c.1830

An incredible Georgian pendant featuring a carved sulphide cameo which (I think) depicts Terpsichore, one of the nine Greek Muses. The level of detail is astounding, and the sulphide has the most beautiful pale grey sheen to it. It's set within a rose cut sapphire and pearl border, and the piece dates from the 1830s.

Terpishore is the ancient Greek goddess of dance and chorus, usually depicted with a lyre (or occasionally a plectrum) and in this case she's stood next to a small marble column.

Sulphides, aka cameo incrustations, were pioneered by Apsley Pellatt in 1819, when he took out a patent for the process of encasing a medallion in glass. The comprise a figurine or medallion, usually white or pale grey, encased in clear glass - often appearing in decanters, jugs, bottles and tumblers etc, and, occasionally, in pieces of jewellery like this one. Pellatt originally called the process "Crystallo-Ceramie" and wrote a number of books on the subject throughout the first half of the 19th century. The name sulphide comes from the manufacturing process, which involved adding sulphur to clay or glass paste before it was placed inside a molten bubble of glass and the air sucked out.

STONES

Sapphire, Pearl, Glass

MEASUREMENTS

1.6 x 1.3cm

WEIGHT

1.1g

MARKS

Stamped 9ct

CONDITION

Good, the back seems to have been reinforced with a gold bar at some stage (early) in its life