Designed in the Etruscan revival style, applied with bead and rope twist details, the front threaded with fluted beads supporting a fringe of graduated collet-set oval intaglios of garnet, carnelian, chalcedony and prase, depicting various Greco-Roman deities including Apollo, Jupiter, Mercury, Fortuna and Victory, spaced with seed pearl pendants, to a spiga-link chain necklace with a hook clasp, length approximately 455mm, unsigned, original fitted case stamped Giacinto Melillo. 

Formerly in the collection of Lawrencina Potter (1821-1882), née Heyworth, wife of Richard Potter (1817-1892)
To their daughter Lawrencina Durning-Holt (1845-1906)
Thence by descent within the family.

Lawrencina Potter was the daughter of Lawrence and Elizabeth Heyworth, a merchant based in Liverpool. In 1844 she married Richard Potter.

Richard Potter was an important investor in the Gloucester-based timber importer Price & Co., who supplied timber to the businessman William Eassie. Through their work together, Potter and Eassie's firms designed and supplied huts to house British and French troops during the harsh winters of the Crimean war, and after an appeal from Florence Nightingale through the Times newspaper in 1854, collaborated with Isembard Kingdom Brunel to build the pioneering Renkioi Hospital, which was vital in supporting and healing wounded soldiers until the end of the war in 1856.

By family repute, the present necklace and bracelet were acquired by Richard and Lawrencina Potter on a trip to Italy, coinciding with the contemporary vogue for jewels in this archaeological revival style.

Cf.: Thomas J J Holman, Multum in Parvo: A Collection of Engraved Gems, Wartski, London, 2019, pg. 30, no. 11, for a similar necklace by Melillo, dated circa 1870, set with Roman intaglios.

For additional information on Melillo, see Geoffrey Munn, Giacinto Melillo, a Pupil of the Castellani, The Connoisseur, 20th September 1977, pg. 20-22.

Unsigned. Intaglios from left to right: possibly Minerva/Athene (prase), Jupiter/Zeus (white chalcedony), Mercury/Hermes (garnet), Apollo (prase), Fortuna/Tyche (carnelian), Jupiter/Zeus (blue chalcedony), unidentified standing male figure (garnet), Victory/Nike (prase), possibly Jupiter/Zeus (white chalcedony). Largest intaglio measuring approximately 17.4 x 13.2mm, smallest measuring approximately 11.7 x 8.4mm. Intaglios mostly in good condition, one surface-reaching fissure and chip to smaller garnet intaglio of unknown standing male figure seemingly adapted into the carving. Pearls untested, each approximately 4mm diameter. Metalwork overall in good condition. Gross weight approximately 71.5 grams. Fitted wooden case stamped Giacinto Melillo Napoli, back of lid damaged, would benefit from re-gluing.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Please note that colour, clarity and weight of gemstones are statements of opinion only and not statements of fact by Sotheby's. We do not guarantee, and are not responsible for any certificate from a gemological laboratory that may accompany the property. We do not guarantee that watches are in working order. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue, in particular to the Notice regarding the treatment and condition of gemstones.
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This extraordinary necklace can be attributed to Giacinto Melillo (1845-1915). Melillo joined the workshop of Alessandro Castellani in Naples as a teenager, and by 1865 was managing it, at the the age of 19. Castellani's firm were the primary arbiters of the archaeological revival style, which was heavily inspired by unearthed Roman and Etruscan jewels. Through a combination of meticulous research, technical skill and artistic vision, Castellani and Melillo revived many ancient metalwork techniques, and adapted them to fit a contemporary audience, often other Europeans on their 'Grand Tours' of Greece and Italy. 

The skills honed by Melillo throughout his career with Castellani brought him later success in his own right, and he was awarded the Grand Prix and Legion d’Honneur at the Paris Exhibition in 1900. Usually unsigned, Melillo's jewels are often identified by signed wooden cases, as offered here with the present lot.

A similar necklace by Melillo can be found in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Museum no. 57.1534, acquired directly from Melillo's workshop by Henry Walters in 1903.