Vintage Ruby and Sapphire Comedy and Tradegy Cufflinks

Product Details

A beautiful pair of vintage 9kt yellow gold cufflinks, Hallmarked London, England c.1973, that features the Comedy and Tradegy Masks with 4 round faceted cut medium pinkish red rubies, est. 0.24ct and 4 round faceted cut deep greenisg blue sapphires, est. 0.25ct. They have the rotating flip bars that allow easy passage through the shirt cuff openings.

"The masks are known today as "Comedy and Tragedy" and are used now as a symbol for theatre or acting or drama. ... Taken from Greek Mythology, the smiling mask represents Thalia, the Muse of Comedy and Idyllic or Pastoral Poetry, and the sad, tragic mask represents Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy and Singing"...."Symbolically, these masks were meant to allow the wearer (actor) to express  emotions freely, without any restraints"

"Mythology aside, theatre masks were used by actors during performances so as to clearly depict emotions to every member of the audience, even one who was sitting in the seats far away from the stage. The large faces added a sense of exaggeration to the actors’ emotions, which helped them convey their emotions to the entire open-air theatre. These masks also allowed actors to play characters independent of age and gender, as all the actors in ancient Greek theatre were always men. Theatre masks allowed them to play female roles with ease. Similarly, one actor could play more than one character with the help of these masks. Hence, we can conclude that theatre masks indeed played an extremely important role in ancient Greek drama."