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Buying antique jewellery is both ethical and eco-friendly as harmful and destructive mining processes are not needed to make an item yours. So give yourself a pat on the back!
Find Out MoreA top quality cameoA layered stone or shell in which the design is cut in relief where the main design is carved onto the top layer and the remainder is carved away to reveal the next layer using the natural colours of the stone or shell to produce the different shadings of the carving. This is done in shell, coral, lava and various stones. that was carved by Pio Siotto who was an Italian artist active as a cameo and gem engraver from the 1830s onwards.
He initially studied architecture, and modelling in clay at the Academy of St.Luke in Rome. He then went on to engrave portraits and scenes, in profile and perspective, large and small, on medallions, pins, rings, bracelets.
He was commissioned to engrave a series of medallions representing the Kings of Poland. This collection in shell cameos, was begun in 1860, and completed in 1870. He completed a medallion depicting the Lacoon of the Vatican Palace. he has also made copies of sculpture of Thorvaldsen, Gibson, Canova, and Fedi. He engraved Fedi’s Rape of Polyxena, displayed under the Loggia dei Lanzi, in a cameo. He made a tryptich of sardonyx cameos to celebrate the family of the Queen Margherita of Savoy. Siotto won awards at the Expositions of Rome, Naples, Vienna, Philadelphia, and Melbourne. At Melbourne, he exhibited in a glass exhibition case, the process of cameo engraving from the naturalA natural stone is called such because it has not been subjected to any treatments. shell to completed carving.
This cameo is an excellent example of his work. It is a carving of a classical lady and the surround is 15ct62.5% pure gold (or 625 parts pure gold and 375 parts other metals). Popular during the Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco eras but was discontinued in the mid-1930s. gold with fine Etruscan Revival gold wirework. It was made circa 1860-1880. It has an added safety chainA small chain applied to a piece of jewellery with the purpose of adding additional security to prevent loss. On bracelets and necklaces a safety chain will often join the clasp ends should the clasp fail. On a brooch it is often attached to a small pin which is to be used in tandem with the main brooch pin..
If you are looking to buy a top quality cameo by a well known artist then this is the one!
Signed Pio Siotti on the reverse of the cameo.
Buying antique jewellery is both ethical and eco-friendly as harmful and destructive mining processes are not needed to make an item yours. So give yourself a pat on the back!
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