This early Victorian carnelian intaglio is the bees knees.

Depicted we see Cupid rowing a boat across the choppy seas we call ‘life’.

He shares his little skiff with his passenger, a love heart.

All combined with the French test ‘Un Entre Mille’ (One in a Thousand) the message here is that of recognising the unique love of a heart that is dear to you, be it your own or your beloved, and the desire to carry that safely through life by rowing your boat, symbolic of the corporeal being, carefully, navigating life’s trevails and prospering.