Antique Gold Brooch with Shell Cameo of Zeus, c. 1875

This brooch from the 1870s features a beautifully carved shell cameo set in gold. At first glance, it presents an unusual depiction of a bearded man with ram’s horns. Zeus-Ammon, a fusion of the supreme gods of Greece and Egypt, is depicted in profile, facing left. This god became famous for his oracle site in the remote Egyptian oasis of Siwa. Alexander the Great once undertook the arduous journey to have himself confirmed as the son of this god at Siwa. Even under the rule of the Ptolemies, who would govern Egypt for three hundred years, this god was particularly revered and frequently depicted on coins and in sculptures. A well-known depiction can be found at New York’s Metropolitan Museum, for example. In our brooch, the god has been carved into the shell of a sea snail in an exceptionally vivid and detailed manner. A gold setting with a cord band and engravings secures the oval cameo, which came to us here in Berlin.

Estimate:$560.02

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