An old label from the Gallery of Antiquities, Guildford suggests the sard cameo in this pendant is 13th century Italian and previously part of the collection of the late Sir Alfred Jodrell (1847- 1929) sold at Christie’s in 1933. Jodrell founded the Shell Museum in Glandford, near his Norfolk home at Bayfield Hall – the oldest museum in the county.
The cameo depicts the double-headed figure of Janus and the head of Socrates, in an unmarked gold pendant frame. With international bidders on the phone competing against the internet, it eventually sold for £5500 against a £400-£800 estimate at Duke’s (22% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester on December 8.
