Antique Edwardian ring. Carved moonstone, diamonds, platinum. Made circa 1900 - 1910. Possibly made in England.
Unisex - suitable for a man or a woman.
Measurements:
Weight is 5.6 grams. A little under a US size 8 (approximately 7.8).
Description :
Rounded rectangle in shape. The moonstone displays superior adularescence, with exceptional blue tones as the light catches it from different angles. It is carved as an intaglio depicting a classical mythological couple, Psyche and Eros. Eros, shown as a winged cherub, plays his double pipes (the aulos of ancient Greece). Quiver and arrows on his winged back. Psyche, a beautiful young woman with butterfly wings, holds an urn. Sculptural carving with beautiful detail.
The mount is platinum. Surrounding the cameo is a low collet, followed by a border of foliage in repeated pairs of leaves. Below is a ring of radiating fluting, a feature usually seen on closed-back Georgian jewelry. Here the fluting has an open center and acts as a gallery, raising the ring above the finger and allowing light to enter the moonstone from behind.
Securely joined to the fluted gallery on either side is a trio of collet-set diamonds, like the Prince of Wales’s three feathers. These form the shoulders between bezel and shank, and continue as modelled foliage down the sides of the hoop, which ends in a simple platinum band.
Marks and Metal:
No marks found. Metal was electronically tested as platinum.
Condition:
Generally good, with wear, particularly to shank, commensurate with age and use. Moonstone cameo in good shape considering age with no damage, chips or cracks. Please see enlarged pictures and don't hesitate to ask questions which we will do our best to answer.
THE STORY:
Cameos and intaglios, carved in relief and recessed respectively, belong to the ancient art of gem carving known as glyptics, practiced since antiquity.
The love story of Eros and Psyche is one of the most enchanting of classical myths. Psyche was a mortal princess so beautiful that people neglected the worship of Venus, goddess of love. In her jealousy, Venus sent her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with a monster, but Eros fell in love with her himself. After losing him through her own curiosity, Psyche set out to win him back, and Venus set her a series of seemingly impossible tasks: among them, filling a jar with water from the River Styx and bringing back a box of beauty from Persephone, queen of the underworld. The urn Psyche holds on this ring recalls those trials. In the end Jupiter, king of the gods, gave her the gift of immortality, and the lovers were united forever.
Psyche’s name means both “soul” and “butterfly” in Greek, which is why she is shown with butterfly wings, and the butterfly became a symbol of the soul. The union of Psyche and Eros was read as the union of the soul with love, a deeply romantic theme that made the pair a favorite in jewelry.
Eros, god of love, was known to the Romans as Cupid. Sometimes shown as a handsome youth, he was more often depicted as a winged cherub, or putto, a form that came from classical antiquity and was revived in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Today Cupid is best known as the symbol of Valentine’s Day.
Set in a moonstone, long thought of as a lovers’ stone, this carving makes a perfect token of love, as meaningful today as when it was made.
