Cupid was appealing to the Victorians because he allowed them to express romantic desire through the respectable language of classical mythology. Baby cupid was playful, mischevious, and hinted at the erotic with that arrow, but there was no impropriety (unlike with, say, Pan, who was a horny half-goat, or Priapus who was known for his boner. Satyrs, also, were often depicted drunk and chasing women - they represented the appetites that Victorian society was trying to keep under wraps. Cupid was DECENT; he made ancient erotic symbolism made socially acceptable, especially in the refined visual language of Neoclassical gem engraving. Ironically, the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum revealed a far more sexually explicit, penis-decorated `ancient world than many admirers of classical antiquity expected. Here, two cupids - one resting, one taking aim - are carved into contrasting layers of nicolo onyx.
MATERIALS: 14k gold (tests), nicolo onyx
AGE: c. 1870
CONDITION: Very good - ear wires are newer additions
SIZE: 1 1/8" length measured from the top of the ear wire, 7/8" diameter