Years ago, I bought out a lot of unmounted cameos, lava cameos, micro mosaics and gems from the estate of an old goldsmith (family business for a couple centuries) in Paris. This one, never mounted, was among those. I'm working through that collection now. Each sold separately.Years ago we did a lot more with micro mosaics than we do now. We sold a whole lot over the decades to the dealers in Rome and Florence, then would see them in their shop windows at triple value when in those cities. The most valuable spaniels are the ones with intricate mosaic work in curly tesserae. I'll add an old one we had to show the difference if I can find the images.
While this one has slightly curly colored glass tesserae, and is pristine, it is a collector's piece, or for someone who wishes to have a goldsmith make a suitable gold mount for it. I've seen these worked up into a stunning necklace with a variety of Grand Tour (c.1800-1850s) micro mosaics - truly to die for. Measurements noted on the photos: 40mm x 32mm and 4mm thick. No chips, no losses to tesserae, pristine at 170 years old or more.
