The source for the present lot with shell cameos of 'The Twelve Ceasars', successive Roman rulers, is De vita Caesarum by the Roman historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. It was widely used as a source of inspiration for cameos after the Antique, busts or even marble reliefs. The popularity of the theme goes back to the Renaissance and continued until the first half of the 19th century, when persons of power sought to align themselves with the ideals and values connected to the Roman Empire. For another example, see a set of shell and hardstone cameos after the Antique representing Napoleon Bonaparte and his immediate family, sold Sotheby's London, 4 July 2018, lot 29.

The carved and jewelled mother-of-pearl stands are characteristic of the work by Johann Salomon Mayer. They notably show strong similarities to two clocks, signed and dated, in mother-of-pearl, enamel, gold and precious stones. The first one is a richly jewelled example set with two oval agate or shell cameos of Augustus and Vespasian, inscribed on the reverse: Johann Salomon Meyer Zerbst 1738, and is located in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (acc. no. 7677-1861), a second one, whose whereabouts are unknown today, is signed: J.S.Meyer Zerbst 1748.