{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O106498"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O106498/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AF2934/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AF2934/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AF2934","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O106498/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O106498","accessionNumber":"1793-1869","objectType":"Cameo","titles":[{"title":"Female bust","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The art of engraving gemstones has been admired since the early days of the Roman empire. It was revived in Europe during the Renaissance, and again in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cameos and intaglios were prized and collected, sometimes as symbols of power and mounted in jewelled settings, sometimes as small objects for private devotion or enjoyment. This gem is in the 'neo-classical' style popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when taste in the arts echoed the subject matter and style of the Greek and Roman masters. Thousands of gems were made in this style in Italy and brought back by British Grand Tourists, who went there to visit the newly-discovered classical antiquities and archaeological sites. In Greek mythology Niobe, wife of the king of Thebes, was punished for boastfulness by the gods Apollo and Diana who killed all her fourteen children. Versions of this type of head appear on other cameos and echo that of Niobe in a sculpture of around 400 BCE found in Rome and now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.","physicalDescription":"Vertical oval cameo. Opaque white over dark greyish-brown layered agate, variety 'sardonyx'. Depicts a classicising female bust in high relief, facing three quarters to right. Set in a gold ring with beaded surround.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"sardonyx","id":"AAT11137"},{"text":"microquartz","id":"x43759"},{"text":"gemstone","id":"AAT201964"},{"text":"layered agate","id":"x42446"}],"techniques":[{"text":"gem-engraving","id":"x41224"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Engraved gemstone","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Myths & Legends","id":"THES49005"},{"text":"Gemstones","id":"THES270329"}],"styles":[{"text":"Neo-classicism","id":"x38958"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2006AF2934"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"032","id":"THES395777"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Cameo","id":""}],[{"text":"Ring","id":"x43339"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Italy","id":"x28927"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1785-1820","earliest":"1785-01-01","latest":"1820-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Townshend Bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"17","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"approx.","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"12","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"approx.","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Exact dimensions obscured by setting","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This gem was part of the collection of the Reverend Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798-1868), who bequeathed his important collection to the South Kensington Museum in 1869. Although the gemstone collection is not as comprehensive as that found at the Natural History Museum, it is of particular historic interest as its formation pre-dates the development of many synthetic stones and artificial enhancements. All the stones were mounted as rings before they came to the Museum.  Some are held in the Sculpture Section, other more elaborately mounted ones in the Metalwork Section.\r\n\r\nAs well as being a clergyman, collector and dillettante, the Reverend Townshend wrote poetry. He met Robert Southey in 1815 and through him the Wordsworths, the Coleridges and John Clare. He was a friend of Charles Dickens and dedicatee of his novel 'Great Expectations'.","historicalContext":"Engraved gemstones based on classical models were widely produced and collected in Italy in the eighteenth century.  Many were brought back by British Grand Tourists, and important collections were formed. This type of head is based on that of Niobe in a sculpture of around 400 BC found in Rome and now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.","briefDescription":"Cameo, oval sardonyx of two strata in high relief, set in gold ring, depicting classicising female bust, possibly Niobe, Italy, 1785-1820","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<font -u>List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington, Acquired During the Year 1869, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition.</font> London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 125"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1793-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1793","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2004-10-18","availableToBook":true}}