Antique Archaeological Revival Lava Cameo Ring

Circa 1900, on a tour of ancient sites in Italy a young woman is captivated by stories of the ancient goddess Cybele; the ancient mother of all Gods; primal deity of nature and fertility and the focus of a cult throughout Greece, Turkey and the Roman Empire. 

There is a temple dedicated to Cybele on Palatine Hill dating back to 202 BCE, and in it a mysterious headless stone carving believed to depict her. Our heroine is so affected that she chose a hand carved 'Lava' cameo depicting the goddess Cybele from a workshop nearby to take home as a charm and her own acknowledgment of feminine power and strength. 

Please note her perfectly imperfect condition. Lava is a soft stone and her face has been smoothed somewhat with loving wear. 

Stones: 'Lava' stone; or Tuff commonly found in the area around Pompeii. Master carvers in Naples crafted them to emulate ancient Roman and Greek art. Common motifs include profiles of mythological gods, Roman emperors, cherubs, and classical maidens.

A material volcanoes eject in explosive eruptions is known generically as "ash", fine mineral particles light enough to be carried on the wind.  Created when the blast pulverizes the stone in its way—in geologist's terms it is "pyroclastic"—along with larger chunks of rock it settles around the volcano, solidifying into "tuff" or "tufa"

Metal: 9ct yellow Gold with a workshop stamp '9CT' inside the band. 

Ring Size: N or 6.5 as is but suitable to alter for fit. This is a free service, just leave a message on your order form.

Measurements: the cameo measures 14.2mm by 10.7mm. 

Read our BLOG article on jewels of the Grand Tour here. 

In most cases the boxes are for display only but a nice quality modern reproduction box will accompany this piece.