Estimate

4.500 - 8.000

Session 1

14 April 2021

Hammer Price

Description

Micro mosaic
Gold frame
Italy, 19th century

7,8x4 cm

Category

Objects

Additional Information

Literature:
Benjamin, John, Starting to Collect Antique Jewellery, Suffolk: The Antique Collector’s Club, 2003.
Bennett, David & Mascetti, Daniela, Understanding Jewellery, Suffolk: The Antique Collector’s Club, 2011.
Bury, Shirley, Jewellery: The International Era 1789-1910, Volume II 1862-1910, Suffolk: The Antique Collector’s Club, 1997.
Gere, Charlotte & Rudoe, Judy, Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria, London: The British Museum Press, 2010.
Grieco, Roberto, Micromosaici Romani, Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2001.
Mack, John, The Art of Small Things, Boston: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Soros, Susan Weber & Walker, Stefanie, Castellani and Italian Archaeological Jewelry, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.

The vernacular expressions “God is in the details” and The Devil is in the details” express the concept that all must be made and thought in a thorough manner, and that something that might be perceived as plain and simple at first sight, can hide great effort and dedication.
The plaque that we are now bringing into sale is an accomplished example of a meticulous and labour consuming art, in which the master crafter applied with a tweezers, hundreds if not thousands of tiny tesserae, in order to compose a scene depicting a lion attacking a dog.
It was Sir Arthur Gilbert (1913-2001) – a notable British decorative arts collector – who coined the term micro mosaic. Such pieces were, up until then, simply known as ”roman mosaics”, a clear misnomer which, although alluding to ancient arts, was being applied to objects that did not exist up to the 18th century.
These dense artworks are nonetheless a type of mosaic created from minute glass fragments or tesserae. Fired at high temperature, tesserae are mosaic components normally made in glass or enamel that can be produced in a wide range of colours, known as smalto. This smalto is produced in thin rods or strands, the filati (meaning strand enamel) which, once cooled are cut into hundreds of minuscule cubes, the tesserae, that are carefully applied onto a metal (copper, gold or silver) or stone ground (in the 19th century Belgium black was the favoured stone). They are fixed onto a layer of mastic or cement to create the desired pattern – be it a portrait, a landscape or a hunting scene. Once this substrate hardens, a layer of coloured waxes is applied to the whole surface and polished to reach a smooth and uniform finish.


SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT

It is generally believed that the art of mosaic originated in the Far East, albeit the earliest mosaic compositions – created with pebbles and shells – are dated to the 3rd century B.C.E. and have been unearthed in Macedonia. It was however in Ancient Rome that mosaics, composed of small marble, terracotta and glass fragments, reached their utmost popularity for the decorating of floors in wealthy patrician villae.
The climax of this art was reached during the Byzantine Empire (330-1453 C.E.), when mosaics were chosen for decorating the earliest Christian temples. Such choice is certainly related to the material durability but it is also associated to the sumptuous and extravagant impression they convey, particularly through the abundant use of gilt tesserae, such as those seen at the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in the Italian city of Ravena.
Throughout the Renaissance (14th – 17th century) and the Baroque (17th – 18th century) the use of decorative mosaic compositions decreased as painted frescoes became favoured for both inner and outer surfaces. The use of mosaics however, was never totally abandoned as is suggested by Michael Angelo’s (1475-1564) plans for the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Although the Vatican’s mosaic workshops emerge initially under the Papacy of Gregory XIII (1572-1585) with the purpose of producing the mosaics that were being applied in Saint Peter’s, as well as on the altarpiece of the Basilica of the Vatican, they would not be fully inaugurated until the 18th century. By then some of the Basilica’s decorative paintings had deteriorated and the decision was made to replace them with mosaic compositions. This fact, together with the increasing numbers of papal commissions, contributed to the growth of master crafters able to fulfil the demand. The availability of free time in-between papal commissions allowed these crafters to experiment and perfect the use of the minute tesserae, that would eventually become the small portable artworks that we now know as micro mosaic.
Almost simultaneously the aristocratic taste for the Grand Tour emerges amongst the European educated elites. Lasting for months or even years the Grand Tour was perceived as an essential step in the education of the upper classes. Its main ideal was that these Grand Tourists would return home imbued with the culture of the cites they had visited and their greatest art. Within that mind frame, and to be able to remember and revisit what they had seen and experienced, the Grand Tourists developed a growing awareness of the importance of acquiring souvenirs. As such, a visit to micro mosaic workshops became almost as important as a visit to famous classical ruins or art museums.
Easy to carry – they could be kept with luggage until the end of the trip or sent home as “postcards” – they could portray a variety of subjects such as Roman ruins, flowers, birds, animals or Italian country scenes. Later, inspired by the latest archaeological discoveries in Europe (particularly those at Pompey), Northern Africa or the Middle East, they would replicate newly unearthed Roman motifs, Etruscan tombs, early Christian signs and hieroglyphs.
Often adapted or applied to pieces of jewellery these small precious objects became undisputed Grand Tour mementos.

Literature:
Benjamin, John, Starting to Collect Antique Jewellery, Suffolk: The Antique Collector’s Club, 2003;
Bennett, David & Mascetti, Daniela, Understanding Jewellery, Suffolk: The Antique Collector’s Club, 2011;
Bury, Shirley, Jewellery: The International Era 1789-1910, Volume II 1862-1910, Suffolk: The Antique Collector’s Club, 1997;
Gere, Charlotte & Rudoe, Judy, Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria, London: The British Museum Press, 2010