Antique 1830s Georgian Period Plaster Cameo, Hermaphroditus and Salmacis Greek Mythology Art, Small White Intaglio Cameo with Oval Shape

$88USD

Antique 1830s Georgian Period Plaster Cameo, Hermaphroditus and Salmacis Greek Mythology in Neoclassical Art Style, Small White Plaster Intaglio Cameo with oval Shape, Victorian Period Collectibles for Home Decor

This genuine 1800s plaster Cameo is devoted to Hermaphroditus and Salmacis (Salmacis and Love), made circa 1830s, UK. In Greek mythology, Salmacis (Ancient Greek: Σαλμακίς) was an atypical naiad who rejected the ways of the virginal Greek goddess Artemis in favor of vanity and idleness. Her attempted rape of Hermaphroditus places her as the only nymph rapist in the Greek mythological canon (though see also Dercetis). Measures as shown 1 inch or 25mm approximate. 

Original genuine plaster intaglios made by John Tyrrell, with his trademark cat crest and signature on the gilt paper wrapped edge. Beazley archive number T232 and part of the Poniatowski collection. Prince Stanislas Poniatowski (1754-1833) was a Polish aristocrat and an avid collector of antiquities, famous for his extraordinary collection of 2500 intaglios inspired by Greek and Roman mythology. Poniatowski encouraged the belief that the intaglios were genuinely ancient when in fact they were privately commissioned and had been carved by a group of contemporary engravers in Rome (most are now believed to of been carved by the famous gem carver Pichler) who signed them with either known or invented signatures. 

In 1830 the "Catalogue des Pierres Gravees Antiques de SA le Prince Stanislas Poniatowski" was published, a catalogue listing all the gems together with detailed descriptions. After Poniatowski’s death in 1833 the collection in its entirety was sold at Christie’s in 1839. It was only after the sale that great controversy surrounded the genuine provenance of the intaglios and they were later recognized to be modern reproductions.

Fortunately a collector, John Tyrrell, acquired approximately 1,700 intaglios in the belief that they were genuine as an investment. He had numerous sets of plaster casts made from them, which he published in the ‘Explanatory Catalogue of the Proof Impressions of the Antique Gems possessed by the Late Prince Poniatowski’ in 1841. It is only now that the gems are appreciated in their own right as very fine examples of neoclassical gem-engraving.