Cameo of a bust of Henry VIII (1491-1547) in three-quarter profile to the right. He wears a fur-lined gown over a doublet and a plumed hat, within a raised edge and bevelled border revealing the three layers of the stone. The relief is flat and flush with the surrounding brown edge.

The date of the cameo points to the mid-18th century. The image is related to a medal of Henry VIII by the Swiss medallist, Jean Dassier (1676-1763), which was struck in 1731. It is of almost the same size and both the head and the way the figure has been placed in a roundel are comparable. Dassier produced a full set of medals of the kings and queens of England in chronological sequence from William the Conqueror to the reigning monarch, George II, to whom he presented the series. Many of the images had no known precedent to follow and so Dassier, used the imaginary engravings by F.M. la Cave which illustrated Rapin Thoyras’s History of England printed in The Hague in 1724.

The stone is a perfect shallow oval of remarkable size and deep colour. When strongly lit from behind the image is given greater depth and subtlety. It seems that towards the end of the 17th century there were a number of such pieces on the market that were polished and bevelled to show the layers but otherwise absolutely plain. They were highly valued and considered to be ancient

The cameo was included among the ‘curiosities’ of Queen Caroline, consort of George II, from Kensington sent by Horace Walpole to her grandson, George III, in March 1764. In Walpole’s list it was described as ‘King Henry 8th full face by .. [Valerio Belli]’.

Text adapted from Ancient and Modern Gems and Jewels in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 2008 and The First Georgians; Art and Monarchy 1714 - 1760, London, 2014