LAVA CAMEO OF TWO MERRY DANCERS WITH LYRE Size: 2 by 1-3/8 Inches Materials: Lava Cameo in a Gold-plated Silver Bezel Date: ca 1840 Origin: Italy In this charming and spirited scene, two dancers are shown frontally at full length, the figure on the left holding a lyre. Clad in graceful diaphanous garments, they perform their dance against the background of an outcropping of rock. The composition is energetic. The carving is precise yet fluid, executed with delicacy and fine detail: note the exquisite rendering of the lyre strings and the folds of the garments, in particular the scarf billowing airily over the figures' heads. Although the piece is inspired by Greco-Roman design, its lively sense of movement and rhythm is a fresh and welcome change from the usual static neoclassicism of cameos of this period. It is a large cameo, oval in shape, carved from terracotta-colored lava. It is set in a sturdy gold-plated silver bezel marked 595 with its original C-clasp. The bezel and clasp are in very good condition. A shallow diagonal crack is present on the right side of the lava surface of the cameo. This diagonal hairline is not an incipient crack, but a natural vein of the stone.