Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A 19th century oval ‘lava’ cameo brooch, carved in high relief to depict a Classical goddess in profile, wearing a diadem and with plumes to her hair, possibly depicting the Goddess of Liberty, personifying America, in plain gold collet mount, with later added safety chain, length 5.1cm. £100-150

The material generally known as ‘lava’ , found extensively in Italian cameos circa 1860s, is in fact a soft fine limestone, native to southern Italy, in particular from the provence of Salerno, near Naples. It is easily carved and found in a variety of colours, whereas volcanic lava has a rough pitted appearance. The use of the word ‘lava’ may have been an ‘interesting case of marketing for tourists enabling the myth to spread that it was Vesuvian lava’.

From Classical times, the three continents (Europe, Asia and Africa) were personified in the arts, usually represented by females, and with the discovery of America in the 16th century, a fourth continent was added. The American subject matter of this cameo probably illustrates how the market was tailored towards the large numbers of American tourists visiting Europe, whose souvenir purchases in Italy would have included Neopolitan ‘lava’ cameos.

See Charlotte Gere and Judy Rudoe: ‘Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria’, The British Museum Press, see pages 493 and 499.