Creative Commons License
Cameo with the Head of Janus (obverse); Overlapping Masks (reverse)
(Renaissance Europe )
This type of carved cameo with a Roman mythological subject was a speciality of carvers in Italy to feed the market for "antique carved gems."
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.
William Ponsonby, second Earl of Bessborough, Parkstead House, London, by 1761, [mode of acquisition unknown] [Bessborough no. 34]; George Spencer, fourth Duke of Marlborough, London, by 1762, by purchase [Marlborough no. 255]; George Spencer-Churchill, fifth Duke of Marlborough, London, 1817, by bequest; George Spencer-Churchill, sixth Duke of Marlborough, London, 1840, by bequest; John Spencer-Churchill, seventh Duke of Marlborough, London, 1857, by bequest; Sale, The Marlborough Gems, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 28 June 1875, p. 39, lot 255; David Bromilow, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, ca. 1875, by purchase; Julia Bromilow Jary, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, 1898, by inheritance; Sale, The Marlborough Gems Purchased by the Late David Bromilow, esq., Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 26 June 1899, p. 44, lot 255; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1899, by purchase [Dikran Kelekian as agent]; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by inheritance; Joseph Brummer, Paris and New York, 1941, by purchase [Brummer inv. no. N5143a]; Walters Art Museum, 1942, by purchase.
Geographies
Italy (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 1 7/16 x W: 7/8 in. (3.6 x 2.2 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase [formerly part of the Walters Collection], 1942
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.
42.1009