14KT GOLD MEDITERRANEAN CORAL DIONYSOS ESTATE BROOCH

An Outstanding Antique 19th Century 14Kt Gold and Mediterranean Coral Figural Hand Carving of Dionysos Brooch, of reddish orange color, with superb detail and superior hand craft the face of Dionysos is rendered in superb three denominational high relief detail showing the contours of the face and subtle curls of his beard, with grape vines around the back of his head and neck. Piece accompanied by a GIA certificate certifying that there are, 'No Indications of Dye', partially drilled mounted to 14kt yellow gold brooch. The piece comes with a GIA Report as will as the COA with Insurance Replacement Value Appraisal Certificate for $22,500.00.

DETAILS:
- SIZE: 2-1/4 In. Height x 1-3/4 In. Width x 1-1/4 In. Depth. (36.74 x 26.33 x 23.60 mm.)
- WEIGHT: 47.49 Grams.
- CONDITION: Excellent.
- GIA REPORT: No Indications of Dye
- COA APPRAISAL: $22,500.00



BACKGROUND:
DIONYSOS (Dionysus) was the-Olympian god of wine, vegetation, pleasure, festivity, and madness. He was depicted as either an older, bearded god or an effeminate, long-haired youth. His attributes included the thyrsos (a pine-cone tipped staff), a drinking cup and a crown of ivy. He was usually accompanied by a troop of Satyrs and Mainades (wild female devotees).

MYTHS:
- Dionysos was a son of Zeus and the princess Semele of Thebes. During the course of her pregnancy, the god's jealous wife Hera tricked Semele into asking Zeus to appear before her in his full glory. Bound by oath, the god was forced to comply and she was consumed by the heat of his lightning-bolts. Zeus recovered their unborn child from her body, sewed him up in his own thigh, and carried him to term. - After his birth from the thigh of Zeus, Dionysos was first entrusted to the care of Seilenos (Silenus) and the nymphs of Mount Nysa, and later to his aunt Ino, Semele's sister, and her husband Athamas. Hera was enraged when she learned of the boy's location and drove the couple mad, causing them to kill both their children and themselves.
- Dionysos instructed the hero Ikarios (Icarius) of Athens in the art of winemaking. However, some shepherds, upon drinking the wine, thought they had been poisoned and killed him. The sorrowful god then set him amongst the stars as the constellation Bootes. - As Dionysos was travelling through the islands of the Aegean Sea he was captured by a band of Tyrrhenian pirates who thought to sell him into slavery. The god infested their ship with phantoms of creeping vines and wild beasts, and in terror the men leapt overboard and were transformed into dolphins.

Excellent.