Summary

Pair of pendant earrings composed of two (different) cameos depicting busts of young women framed in matching gold settings, 1870s-80s. The cameos are set in gold bezels, enclosed in decorated tubular frames. The frames are each suspended on two diagonal legs joined by a small ring from which each earring hangs. A stamped gold fig leaf attaches to the gold wire hooks.

The hair on the cameos is less lavish than in many pieces of the last quarter of the 19th century, but is dressed with characteristic ringlets and roses. They present the late-19th century style of a gentle snub nose (distinct from the pre-1860s carving style of a straight Roman nose, or the cheap cameo nose slashed to a point). As carvings, these are of decent quality for the later 19th century stage of Italian shell cameo production.

The earrings are in an original dark brown leather-covered box, lined with dark blue silk and velvet. The inside lid is stamped in gold 'THOS GAUNT/JEWELLER/-&c-/ROYAL ARCADE/MELBOURNE'. The firm operated in Melbourne 1852-92. The firm was then sold but operated under the Gaunt name as a manufacturing jeweller until 1909. In 1979 Gaunt & Co. was taken over by Angus & Coote.





This pair, in a richly coloured gold setting, combines the European taste of cameos together with an Australian flavour. They are almost pristine, as they were probably only worn for a special occasion or because they were out of fashion and put away for over a century. Typical of the Australian colonial period, the decoration around the imported Italian cameos is of leaves and tendrils. The matched cameos are of a classical woman's profile with cloth draped over the shoulder and with a ringlet of hair falling behind an ear.

Thomas Gaunt died in 1890. His successful business, first established in 1858, was continued by his executors and renamed Thomas Gaunt & Co. in 1893. The business traded until 1960.

The ear pendants are presented in their original, London made and jeweller stamped, box. Although the outside has some wear, the interior is almost pristine.

Physical Description

Brown leather case with gold border, slightly raised in centre. Blue velvet lining. Hinged lid. Metal press button mechanism to clode. Each earring is fitted with a gold wire hook attached to a small, gold fig leaf. From this point, a ring suspends an inverted V of thick gold wire which connects to the framed cameos. The legs of the V are fixed to the frame of each cameo. The frames are oval, made in semi-round profile, decorated with a leaf applied at top and bottom, and a pair of 4-petal flowers on each side, joined by gold wire tendrils. The cameos are set in simple gold bezels within each frame. The white-on-brown shell cameos depict the subjects in classical profile, wearing a robe draped over the shoulder and a ringlet of hair falling over the ear.

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