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Superb Cameo of the Warrior Goddess Athena-Nike Size: 2 - 1/8 by 1 - 5/8 inches Material: Shell, unframed Date: 1790-1810 Origin: Paris Condition: Mint, with no chipping or wear to the high points. A very few tiny incipient cracks due to dehydration and age are faintly discernible on the background. Such cracks are expected in a piece of this age and do not detract from its appearance or value. They can easily be hidden by a frame. Please see the third picture. This is a large, left-facing profile bust of the goddess Athena-Nike in the high neoclassical style. Athena, known to the Romans as Minerva, was the deity of many competencies: she was the guardian of the city of Athens and the patron of sundry craftsmen, particularly weavers and ship-builders. She ruled over the Muses, the lesser divinities who inspired creative endeavour. A virgin goddess, Athena was the protectress of maidens but she also granted fertility to barren wives. When depicted with an owl, she is the goddess of wisdom. Here she is shown in battledress in her role as the goddess of war. The Greeks drew a distinction between aggressive and defensive war, honouring Athena as the goddess of defense of the homeland while fearing Ares, the god of belligerence, for his bloodthirsty ways. The wreath of laurel leaves on Athena's helmet indicates that the goddess appears here in her incarnation as Athena-Nike, in which Athena mystically merges with Nike, the spirit of victory attained. When Athena appears in armour without the laurels, she is Athena the Warlike, about to engage in a battle which is yet to be won. |
| As befits a victorious warrior goddess, Athena is arrayed in splendid armour (albeit of medieval western European rather than Hellenistic design). Her helmet is a casque or burgonet style crowned with a keel-shaped high-comb surmounted with an exuberant panache (plumage). A suggestion of repouse work embellishes the helmet, a demirosette is above the ear and the wreath of laurels encircles the helmet. The goddess's body armour consists of a brigandine breastplate with a pauldron (shoulder guard) on the left side. She wears a ceremonial gorget at her throat. Although Athena-Nike is often portrayed holding a spear, here she has none, for both arms are invisible, swathed in an enveloping cloak. Athena's face is noble and androgynous; the features classically perfect with large beautiful eyes and a straight nose. The firm set of the mouth, and the chin, which is slightly pugnacious in its prominence, give the face an expression of resolve and tenacity. The ear (a detail, incidentally, which is uncommon even in profile cameos as ears are almost always covered by hair) is delicate and well defined. The goddess's epicene features are softened by the luxuriant hair, which tumbles unrestrained from under the helmet and down the goddess's back. In design and execution this cameo is magnificent, the work of a master carver of rare talent. The carving is extraordinarily deft and detailed. It is tragic that this piece is not signed so the name of its maker might honored as he deserves. The superior composition and impeccable workmanship suggest that this piece may have been carved in the cameo studio established by Napoleon in the first decade of the 19th century, though, as it unsigned, this cannot be proven. Indisputably, the craftsmanship is superb, the equal of any of the known pieces from the First Empire Parisian workshop. This cameo, a rare and splendid example of neoclassical elegance, is museum quality. It has a retail value of $1500. |
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