A necklace made of sixteen oval onyx cameos depicting both Renaissance and classical scenes.

Centrepiece. The Birth of Venus: the goddess is depicted having risen from the sea, grasping a cape behind her. She stands on a dolphin facing the left, with two attendants by her side. The one directly in front of her blows a horn, while the other is holding her drape (head deficient).

The other cameos show:

Hercules battling one of the giants, possibly Cacus: Hercules, bearded and in a loin cloth with a billowing cape, stands over the cowering giant with his club raised to give the final blow.

The Punishment of Cupid: Cupid and his mother Venus are depicted both nude under a tree, with Venus clasping her son’s head. She holds what could be a bunch of roses, which she uses to strike him.

A bearded nude male armed with a bow and arrow is shown in pursuit of a centaur who is attempting to abduct a naked female. The event is taken from the myth of the Lapiths and the Centaurs. The drunken Centaur is attempting to abduct Hippodamia. The ensuing battle - the Centauromachy - resulted in the Lapiths driving the Centaurs out of Thessaly. Alternatively, given the Herculean theme in several other cameos in the parure, the scene may depict the Centaur Eurytion abducting Mnesimache from the wedding feast held to celebrate her marriage to Azan. Hercules arrives just in time to kill the Centaur, returning the bride to the groom.

Venus rising from the sea; the goddess is depicted naked facing to the right, draping a shawl over her shoulders, her foot resting on the head of a dolphin. A less detailed version of the scene depicted in the central cameo.

Two ibexes

The Apotheosis of Hercules: Hercules, facing right, is depicted ascending to Olympus on a cloud, wielding his club. Above him hovers Cupid seated on a phoenix.

A domestic scene of two female servants changing the linen of an ornate canopy bed.

Hercules abducting Cerberus: traditionally Hercules was granted permission by Pluto to take Cerberus from the Underworld only if he could tame the beast without the use of any weaponry. Here Hercules and Cerberus are depicted at the mouth of Hades, with Hercules raising his club as if to beat the animal into submission.

Diana hunting in a woodland scene with hounds. The goddess is shown walking to the right, dressed in a long tunic and holding a spear in her right hand and possibly a horn in her left.

The Sacrifice of Isaac: the young Isaac is depicted bound and kneeling on a sacrificial altar with a crouching lamb and a flaming altar behind him. His father, Abraham, stands in front with his sword raised, ready to strike. Out of the clouds, directly in front of Abraham, the angel appears to restrain him from sacrificing the child.

Hercules wrestling Antaeus: Hercules, facing right, is shown with his arms wrapped firmly around the giant’s waist, crushing him against his own body. In the lower right corner is the fragment of a distant building.

A classical female nude facing left with a tunic draped around her waist, holding a -serpent in each hand, possibly depicting the death of Cleopatra, or - perhaps more likely - Hygieia, the personification of health. Like her father Asclepius, the god of medicine, Hygieia was often associated and depicted with serpents.

Hercules slaying the Lernaean Hydra: one of Hercules’ twelve labours, showing Hercules with a curved sword raised in his hands, just before decapitating the monster.

Orpheus charming the animals with his music: on the left, Orpheus, dressed in a short tunic, sits on a rock and plays his viol to the trees and animals, who sit entranced around him.

Atlas carrying the heavens on his shoulders: the giant is shown kneeling to the left between two edifices, with his arms wrapped around the sun and the stars.

The necklace is part of a parure (an interchangeable set of jewellery), fashionable in the nineteenth century. The ladies attending Princess Charlotte, on her marriage in 1816, wore matching sets of amethysts, chrysolites and topazes given by the Prince Regent. Empress Joséphine and her court were the first to embrace the fashion of Greek dress and cameo jewellery. Ancient, Renaissance and modern Roman copies of engraved gems were set in magnificent parures. By the 1850s the jewellers Castellani and Giuliano from Rome had revived the interest in Archaeological styles in jewellery and gem cutting. Earlier, in England Queen Charlotte is also known to have had a collection of cameo-set jewellery, including a parure with a bandeau of five large and eight small cameos.

Text adapted from Ancient and Modern Gems and Jewels in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 2008