• Material: Sardonyx Shell, 15k gold tested.
• Size: 2 1/8” by 1 6/8”.
• Date and Origin: Circa 1880 Italy.
• Conditions: There are two microscopic spots, not visible at all by naked eye and almost invisble even with the help of a loupe, one on his right upper lip and the other one on his right cheek, mentioned for accuracy otherwise mint.

Museum quality cameo depicting Ariel on bat. Lovely rare and unusual subject matter for a cameo and this one is even rarer because Ariel is depicted standing and guiding the bat instead of sitting on it like in the more usual depiction which is after a painting by Joseph Severn. I have never seen Ariel so depicted.  Ariel is the mischievous sprite, from Shakespeare's The Tempest.  The text reads: 

Where the bee sucks there suck I, 
In a cowslip's bell I lie, 
There I couch where owls do cry, 
On the bat's back I do fly.
After summer merrily; merrily, merrily shall I live now,
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough..."

This cameo is outstanding, the carving is more than superb, just look at the bat and at his wings which are truly magnificently rendered. I really am speechless seeing the infinite beauty of this cameo, it is so beautiful that I can cry looking at such a beauty. The sense of movement can be clearly seen in this cameo, Ariel’s robe gently waves around his body, while he keeps the bat’s reins.  This is an unusual and rarest cameo. The carving is very relieved from the background and is very white, which means that the shell is of highest quality. Look also at the peacock feather, it is amazingly carved and just give you the idea that it is a real with no weight feather. The carving on Sardonyx is so white and this makes a crisp contrast with the background and the subject is very highlighted. The scene is so ethereal and the effect is really breathtaking. The bat wings are something of incredible for how they are carved, they are pale white almost transparent and gives you the impression that they really could fly. There is then Ariel who is high reliefed and so well and finely made, his body is perfect and the proportions are amazing. The bat is something of really outstanding, his head is three-dimensionally carved and seems that you can pick him from the cameo background. Everything in this cameo is art and amazingly carved.  All the details are just perfect.  Please look at the picture of a similar Ariel standing on a bat from An Illustrated Shakspere Birthday Book, 1883, published by George Routledge and Sons, London, New York.
This is another masterly carved cameo. A more than desirable collectors piece, rarest and museum quality cameo.