This unmarked pendant locket, c.1870, offered at Tennants in Leyburn is a copy of an Etruscan 5th century BC pendant in the form of the river god Achelous which was found at Chiusi and formed part of the famous Campana Collection now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The locket is decorated throughout with the granulation and filigree decoration that, relearned in the mid- 19th century, was such an important aspect of revivalist goldsmithing. Estimate at the Summer Fine Sale on July 17 is £3000-£5000.
Etruscan-style Castellani
Gold and enamel fringe Etruscan-style brooch, guided at £2200-2500 at Sworders.
The biggest name in Etruscan-style jewellery is the Italian goldsmith Fortunato Pio Castellani. An adviser on the excavation of the hugely influential Regolini-Galassi tomb in one of the wealthiest Etruscan family tomb of Caere in 1836, he was himself a collector of antiquities. The family emporium next to the Trevi Fountain in Rome was a must for Grand Tourists.
The gold and enamel fringe Etruscan-style brooch, guided at £2200-2500 at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet on July 27, dates from c.1860 by which time the business had passed to two sons Alessandro (1824-83) and Augusto (1829-1914).
