A late 19th/early 20th century shell cameo brooch/pendant, the oval cameo carved to depict vestal virgins dancing before a monument, attending the eternal flame in honour of the goddess Vesta (Hestia), within a scroll and flowerhead gold surround, stamped ‘9CT’, width 6.5cm. £80-£100

Vesta (known as Hestia in Ancient Greece) was the Roman goddess of the hearth and family. She had a temple inside the Forum, in which a sacred fire burned which was never allowed to go out - if it did, the safety and security of Rome itself was thought to be compromised. The fire was attended by a college of priestesses called the Vestals or Vestal Virgins. The college comprised between 2 and 7 Vestal Virgins at any one time - daughters of aristocrats who were unbound from their families and the usual social obligations placed on women (to marry and bear children). Instead they undertook a 30 year vow of chastity and devoted themselves to the observance of the state rituals of their office - attending the sacred fire, preparing sacred foods used in rituals and caring/guarding sacred objects.