Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Nice find !
I’m sorry I can’t help you with the signature, but I don’t think the metal is brass.. have you tested yet ?

 

No I have not. I have a kit and I’ll scratch test it on my stone tomorrow. Pretty little thing, I loved the leaves and the wandering branches on the frame. She’s also in high relief. Its difficult to capture but the profile is very raised.

 

She's very, very nice. Carved at the horn of the helmet shell from your description of the depth. Ariadne may be right. To be 100% confident one would have to be equally certain that that is a grape leaf by her right ear & not more curls. Pretty close though. See:

http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/C7FBD049-5689-449A-9DB8-3FFF0F99770F

http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/BCC32E74-C1E9-4778-BE21-C023074453A1

This is the most common:

http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/D4913B30-F3E7-4BBE-B257-7722293460FD

Well, definitely a signature & not random scratches, which is always the first thing to establish. As with so many, appears to be easily legible until you get down to trying. Not clicking for me right off; sometimes inspiration comes later if it's a name I've seen before. Unfortunately, cutters who worked only in shell are poorly documented & some names are lost now. @Jivvy ?

 

Already on the small screen this evening, so no clue, but will definitely take a look when on my computer tomorrow.

Been a while since we had a good cameo puzzle!

 

Then there was this one. Even with her in hand, I'm not much wiser. Google got my hopes up when it suggested 'graveur' in connection with my request for Solier.

 

Hmmm.

https://books.google.com/books?id=yR5dAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=solier+cameo+-magaly&source=bl&ots=JbR34icYzW&sig=ACfU3U13wFQH3EXwr3sjukHcJ2CdHT5lJQ&hl=en&ppis=_e&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjv4pCNvPXlAhWSmOAKHQfrChMQ6AEwBnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=solier cameo -magaly&f=false

Even just reading descriptions you know this must have been glorious to see, don't you think @Any Jewelry & @kyratango ?


https://books.google.com/books?id=y...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Section starting on page 33, Notes on Fans, explains about it:

https://books.google.com/books?ppis...cameo+-magaly&q=fans#v=snippet&q=fans&f=false

 

AHA!! BUT, is the bf??????

 

OH greg, that's SO sad.....I'm so sorry.....yes, WAY FAR too young. You sound like you both must have made the most of your time together!

 

I try to keep him in his box. I cringe inside every time he announces, I bought you something! Let you know in a couple of weeks how the advent calendar for cats is being received.

 

Could be just Solie, which is a name some people do have, always a promising sign. That could be a stray line making it look like there's 1 more letter.

 

Have to request a version that avoids that bright white spot... it's killing me six ways to Sunday.

 

I really dislike this signature. It most ways, it doesn't make sense to me.

Sure, on first blush I see "Solie/Solier" but then I start looking at it and there is much that is questionable. The "li" portion is just odd.

 

You are onto something. Held strong with the acid test until we got to 18k. Between 14k to 18k I saw some loss of the material on the stone but not all. I’m very surprised the seller didn’t do some homework before selling. Compared to what I’ve paid for some simpler cameos this was relatively cheap especially with gold involved.

 

I tried again tonight after work and the sunspot was furious again. I’ll attempt a better photograph tomorrow morning in early light.

 

'I really dislike this signature. It most ways, it doesn't make sense to me.'

Maybe it's Jolie. After all, she is pretty.

 

Still looks...difficult. Is this any better?
And the last two, trying to capture the dimension. I believe @Bronwen is right (as usual!) in which part of the shell it’s carved from.

 

There's some similarity to Mouhe, but doesn't quite get there. Hard to sort deliberate from accidental scratches.

 

@BMRT , I only saw this earlier today. I'm so sorry. Jewellers now are not accustomed to working with shell cameos. My guy is so aware of the hazards of soldering near one (he doesn't have laser solder capability) that he has been very cautious about taking on jobs. Nothing disastrous has happened, but the cameos do end up thickly coated on the back with what I think is the same sort of 'water clear' acrylic an artisan I knew used to protect the semi-precious stones he mounted in free-form vermeil settings if he thought they were at risk of shattering from the heat.

At least you were able to decisively contradict his assertion that cameo was discolored when it came to the shop. Doesn't help the cameo but gets that matter settled between you. What is supposed to be happening to it now?

 

There is a photo of some others made using the same technique in this post:

 

Nothing acrylic would protect anything while being soldered with hard solder.
It would need https://www.esslinger.com/heat-shield-jewelry-protective-paste-1lb-jar/

Working with shell would be similar to working with opal.