Goddess Ceres, Antique 1830s Georgian Plaster Cameo, Small Oval Cameo with Neoclassic Woman Profile Portrait, Grand Tour of Europe Souvenirs

$96USD

Goddess Ceres Portrait, Antique 1830s Georgian Period Plaster Cameo, Small Oval Cameo with Neoclassic Woman Profile Portrait, Vintage Grand Tour of Europe Souvenirs, Victorian Antiques and Collectibles for Home Decor

Very old and excellent crafted Cameo devoted to the figure of Goddess Ceres, made circa 1830s, UK. These intaglios came in there original wooden stacking trays and are very clean even if a few have rubbing on there high points. All gilt paper wrapped and numbered as they should be. Measures as shown 1 inch or 25mm approximate. Numerated 113 by Paoletti.

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.

All measurements provided are approximate.