One of the most complex compositions I have seen in a Georgian cameo sulphide brooch,'Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, shewing her Children as her only Ornaments', 10 November 1783.A popular print by Bartlozzi of 1783 after an original work by Benjamin West PRA,the British-American artist(1738-1820). The work shows Cornelia,daughter of the Roman general Scipio Africanus and wife of Tiberius Gracchus,her two sons Tiberius and Gaius,known as the Gracchi.She is demonstrating that her jewellery is nothing compared to her children who are her true treasures.
1.25 by 1 inch.High carat gold cut-down setting.Beautiful domed crystal cabochon.
Sulphides were popularized by Apsley Pellatt and James Tassie in the late c18th and early c19th called 'cameo incrustations'.