The Fine Jewellery and Watches sale at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium) in Stansted Mountfitchet on November 17 included this early 19th century Italian, hardstone cameo pendant signed Girometti.
Measuring around 2in (5cm) across in a textured frame, to one side is a relief profile of a bacchante in a veined green and white agate. It is finished verso with a four-petalled rose.
Many would have loved to buy it somewhere close to the £250-350 estimate. Instead the final bid was £15,000.
The probable date of c.1810 and the signature suggest it was by Giuseppe Girometti (1780-1851), the highly regarded gem engraver and sculptor to the Vatican until c.1850.
The choice of stone colour, used to clever effect in the vines that the subject wears in her hair, and the presence of an original fitted box added to its appeal.
