Gold and agate Gryllos, Late 18th Century - Photo Sotheby's

Composed of a banded agate carved with three faces of a blackamoor, to a later  mount designed as two intertwined serpents, with ruby and diamond set eyes. Estimation: 4,000 - 6,000 GBP. Lot. Vendu 20,000 GBP

LITTERATURE: Cf: Vivienne Becker, ‘Antique and 20th Century Jewellery’, London 1980, page 141 for an example of a carved blackamoor head, similar to the gryllos.

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: A gryllos can be a creature that is part man, fantastical beast or similar to this example with a series of faces. There are examples of gryllos cameo jewels in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and also The Royal Collection of Her Majesty the Queen.

Sotheby's. The Jewellery Collection of the Late Michael Wellby: An Eclectic Eye - Jewels Spanning Four Centuries. London | 11 déc. 2012 www.sothebys.com