Wilhelm Schmidt Opal Cameo
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A scarce 19th century gold and carved boulder opal matrix cameo ring, attributed to Wilhelm Schmidt.
This superb antique ring dates from the late Victorian period, circa 1900. The ring carries Austrian hallmarks for 14K gold and the city mark for Vienna. This opal cameo carving is attributed to Wilhelm Schmidt (1845-1938), a Victorian German cameo carver who became world-famous for his pioneering work with carved opal.
In 1874, Schmidt invented a novel technique of cutting opal cameos. Instead of carving the whole cameo from precious opal, he decided to used the matrix of the opal (the dark brown part of this cameo) for the background, in a similar way to which cameos are carved with agate. The first of these opal cameos were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1878 and his works currently reside in museums and notable collections across the world. Please see our final photo for referenced examples of Wilhelm Schmidt cameos in museum collections and those rare parallels which have been sold at auction.
This boulder opal matrix cameo is a fantastic specimen, finely carved to depict the bust of an idealised romantic hero of Greek or Roman mythology in neoclassical style. The foreground utilises the precious opal layer with neon green and blue flashes to highlight the long curly hair, whilst the background layer is the earthy brown matrix and is used for the face in typical Schmidt fashion.
The gold ring was created slightly later to house the precious carving. The ring maker’s mark ‘IK’ is also present on the ring, as well as the hallmark for Vienna and 14K gold. The cameo is held in position by seven claws, the shoulders decorated with floral and granulated motifs. Both the ring and cameo remain in excellent condition.
UK size Q 1/2, US size 8.5
The ring weighs 4.96 grams in total, and the boulder opal itself measures 16mm x 11mm x 4mm.
Schmidt never signed his work and the cameos he produced for jewellery shops and dealers were never credited to him. Examples, attributed by Seidmann, are in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London, the British Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
A scarce 19th century gold and carved boulder opal matrix cameo ring, attributed to Wilhelm Schmidt.
This superb antique ring dates from the late Victorian period, circa 1900. The ring carries Austrian hallmarks for 14K gold and the city mark for Vienna. This opal cameo carving is attributed to Wilhelm Schmidt (1845-1938), a Victorian German cameo carver who became world-famous for his pioneering work with carved opal.
In 1874, Schmidt invented a novel technique of cutting opal cameos. Instead of carving the whole cameo from precious opal, he decided to used the matrix of the opal (the dark brown part of this cameo) for the background, in a similar way to which cameos are carved with agate. The first of these opal cameos were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1878 and his works currently reside in museums and notable collections across the world. Please see our final photo for referenced examples of Wilhelm Schmidt cameos in museum collections and those rare parallels which have been sold at auction.
This boulder opal matrix cameo is a fantastic specimen, finely carved to depict the bust of an idealised romantic hero of Greek or Roman mythology in neoclassical style. The foreground utilises the precious opal layer with neon green and blue flashes to highlight the long curly hair, whilst the background layer is the earthy brown matrix and is used for the face in typical Schmidt fashion.
The gold ring was created slightly later to house the precious carving. The ring maker’s mark ‘IK’ is also present on the ring, as well as the hallmark for Vienna and 14K gold. The cameo is held in position by seven claws, the shoulders decorated with floral and granulated motifs. Both the ring and cameo remain in excellent condition.
UK size Q 1/2, US size 8.5
The ring weighs 4.96 grams in total, and the boulder opal itself measures 16mm x 11mm x 4mm.
Schmidt never signed his work and the cameos he produced for jewellery shops and dealers were never credited to him. Examples, attributed by Seidmann, are in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London, the British Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
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