Cameo with Horse Grazing

Description A cameo is a small stone (or shell) carved in raised relief. The stone could be precious or semi-precious and of a single color or veined with different colors- such as onyx with white veins that could be distinguished for a striking effect, as here. The techniques were developed in the ancient world and the subjects are often taken from the classical tradition. The market for antiquities was great in the 16th century; since the differences between a Roman and a particularly ingenious 16th-century imitation were hard to distinguish, many "modern" pieces were offered as antiques.

Exhibitions

• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
• 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. 1984-1987.
• Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery and the Zucker Family Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1987.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters