Small Wonders: Early Gems and Jewels
Small Wonders: Early Gems and Jewels
Teresa Talani
Cameo with Cupid Seated
Lot Closed
December 15, 11:24 AM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Teresa Talani
Naples, fl. 1797
Cameo with Cupid Seated
agate, within a 19th-century enamelled egg-shaped locket set with an impression of the Herakles intaglio signed by Gnaios in the British Museum (inv. no. 1867,0507.318)
signed: TALANI F or TALANH
cameo: 18mm., 3/4 in.
31mm., 1 1/4 in. overall
This delightful and rare cameo is signed by the Neapolitan female engraver Teresa Talani, who was responsible for portraits of Emma Hamilton (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. no. JEW0161) and Empress Josephine (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, inv. no. 42.202). Talani's business card is in the British Museum, London (Tassinari, op. cit., fig. 1). The present cameo finds a close comparison with another by Talani depicting a seated satyr in the British Museum (inv. no. 1978,1002.443).
RELATED LITERATURE
G. Tassinari, 'Teresa Talani, Gem Engraver in the Age of Napoleon,' LANX 18 (2014), pp. 48‐128