Two 19th century shell cameo brooches, the first oval cameo carved to depict the Venus Anadyomene or The Birth of Venus, Venus depicted arising from the sea on a scallop shell accompanied by a cherub riding a pair of dolphins, with Helios Apollo riding his horsedrawn chariot across the skies with cherubs and muses, collet set within a plain gold frame with scroll engraved ribbon details to the cardinal points, the second carved to depict a figure carrying a lyre on his back accompanied by a child, collet set in scroll engraved mount, first brooch length 71mm, second 52.5mm. £200-£300

The birth of Venus or Venus Anadyomene (Venus arises from the sea), was a popular subject in Classical and Neo-classical art. According to Roman myth, Venus, the goddess of love and fertility, was conceived when her father, the titan Caelus-Uranus, was castrated and his genitals thrown into the sea; she was ‘born’ as a fully formed woman (the ideal of womanhood) arising out of the sea foam. Helios Apollo was the classical Sun god, riding across the sky each day in his chariot.

This depiction appears to be loosely based on The Birth of Venus or Le Triomphe de Neptune, by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), currently housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.