153. ATTRIBUTED TO TOMMASO SAULINI (1793-1864). CAMEO FOR A BADGE OF THE ORDER OF VICTORIA AND ALBERT, CIRCA 1856-1866.

Lot description

Carved shell with yellow gold setting.
Depicting the two busts of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in left profile.
Probably made for various sets by Saulini, the famous engraver of gems, hard stones and shells. These portrait shells were commissioned by the royal couple for the order and were mounted in their settings in London. In this case, like two very similar pieces in the Royal Collection Trust, it was never mounted in its usual diamonds-and-pearls setting. On many occasions, the goldsmith who received these "intaglios" rejected the shell medallions because they did not fit into the mounts manufactured according to the measurements issued by the Royal Order (as in the two examples mentioned above). In that sense, the order of Victoria and Albert had 4 classes, with different sizes depending on the rank of the intended person.
Gold mount: From the morphology we attribute the manufacture of this one to about the first quarter of the 20th century.
5x4 cm.
22.1 gr.
Literature: Piacenti, Kirsten Aschengreen; Boardman, John (2008). "IV. Badge. The Royal Order of Victoria and Albert". Ancient and Modern Gems and Jewels in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen. Royal Collection Publications. pp. 242-251. ISBN 978 1902163 47 5. Burke, Bernard (2009-05). The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time. Heritage Books. ISBN 9780788437199.
 
Reference literature:
Brooch; Cameo | British Museum. (n. d.). The British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1978-1002-34.