Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Cameo Ring with Marie Antoinette and her Son, the Dauphin
Jacques Guay carved cameo portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette, though it is not known whether he is the author of this one. The carver took advantage of the natural striations of color in the stone to differentiate between the two figures: the queen and her son, the dauphin (1785–95), who would have become Louis XVII, but for the French Revolution. Such a ring might have been worn by a courtier or, after the Revolution, by a royalist sympathizer. The cameo is surrounded by a border of diamond sparks in silver mounts. The forked shoulders each enclose a tulip originally set with a crystal.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Henry Walters, Baltimore (?); given to Laura F. Delano, New York; given to Walters Art Museum, 1947.
Exhibitions
| 2016 | Madame de Pompadour, Patron and Printmaker. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 2010 | Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso. |
| 2006-2009 | Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 1984-1987 | Objects of Adornment: Five Thousand Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. |
| 1987 | Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery and the Zucker Family Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1979-1980 | Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 2/8/1962 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 6/20/1983 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 7/10/1984 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 3/25/1988 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 3/25/1988 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 7/22/2004 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 8/5/2015 | Examination | Examined in preparation for exhibition |
| 8/5/2015 | Examination | Examined |
| 8/15/2015 | Treatment | Cleaned to reduce tarnish in preparation for exhibition. |
| 8/15/2015 | Treatment | Cleaned |
Geographies
France, Paris (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 3/4 × W: 13/16 × D: 13/16 in. (1.9 × 2 × 2.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Laura F. Delano, 1947
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
57.1787