Description

A pair of nicely carved antique shell cameo plaques probably from an earlier necklace and from the shell cameo carving area around Naples, where these shells are fished for, remounted as drop earrings, with the screw fittings with rosette motifs bearing traces of French assay marks for 18ct. The subject is Night or Sleep, the draped figure bearing an owl in one hand and a torch in the other.

The cameos themselves are approximately 5/8 inches: 17mm and the earrings overall 1 1/8 inches: 28mm