Georgian Hardstone Mask Cameo Ring
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A carved theatrical mask of Silenus, the drunken sage of Dionysus’s retinue, cut in brown and white hardstone around 1800 and later set in 18K French gold.
Silenus was the oldest of Dionysus’s followers. He was traditionally the god’s tutor, almost always drunk, and usually propped up by satyrs or slumped on a donkey. Yet the Greeks credited him with profound wisdom: when intoxicated, or captured, he could be made to prophesy.
He was pictured as a jovial old man, bald but bearded, pot-bellied, with a snub nose and heavy lips. Theatre masks pushed those features to caricature. In Greek drama, a mask (prosopon) let one actor play several roles, including roles of the other sex, and made each character legible from the back rows. Silenus belonged above all to the satyr play, the bawdy coda performed after a cycle of tragedies.
The cameo is probably Italian, from the Grand Tour period, when engraved and carved theatre masks were sought after by travellers returning from Rome and Naples. The carver has used the layers of the stone to set the pale face against a darker ground, giving the furrowed brow and broad grin real depth.
The ring is later, from the late 19th century. It bears the French eagle’s head control mark for 18K gold.
The cameo sits 5 mm proud of the finger, a bold, witty piece for anyone who collects classical or Bacchic imagery.
Specifications
- Date: Cameo c.1800; mount late 19th century
- Origin: Cameo probably Italian; mount French
- Stone: Carved brown and white hardstone cameo, agate
- Cameo dimensions: 20 × 15 mm; height above finger 5 mm
- Metal: 18ct gold, French eagle’s head control mark
- Weight: 4.84 g
- Ring size: UK N½, US 6¾
- Condition: Good overall. Possible old chip to the tip of the nose. Some claws secured to the stone with adhesive for added stability, as shown in the photographs.
A carved theatrical mask of Silenus, the drunken sage of Dionysus’s retinue, cut in brown and white hardstone around 1800 and later set in 18K French gold.
Silenus was the oldest of Dionysus’s followers. He was traditionally the god’s tutor, almost always drunk, and usually propped up by satyrs or slumped on a donkey. Yet the Greeks credited him with profound wisdom: when intoxicated, or captured, he could be made to prophesy.
He was pictured as a jovial old man, bald but bearded, pot-bellied, with a snub nose and heavy lips. Theatre masks pushed those features to caricature. In Greek drama, a mask (prosopon) let one actor play several roles, including roles of the other sex, and made each character legible from the back rows. Silenus belonged above all to the satyr play, the bawdy coda performed after a cycle of tragedies.
The cameo is probably Italian, from the Grand Tour period, when engraved and carved theatre masks were sought after by travellers returning from Rome and Naples. The carver has used the layers of the stone to set the pale face against a darker ground, giving the furrowed brow and broad grin real depth.
The ring is later, from the late 19th century. It bears the French eagle’s head control mark for 18K gold.
The cameo sits 5 mm proud of the finger, a bold, witty piece for anyone who collects classical or Bacchic imagery.
Specifications
- Date: Cameo c.1800; mount late 19th century
- Origin: Cameo probably Italian; mount French
- Stone: Carved brown and white hardstone cameo, agate
- Cameo dimensions: 20 × 15 mm; height above finger 5 mm
- Metal: 18ct gold, French eagle’s head control mark
- Weight: 4.84 g
- Ring size: UK N½, US 6¾
- Condition: Good overall. Possible old chip to the tip of the nose. Some claws secured to the stone with adhesive for added stability, as shown in the photographs.
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