Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

She's the spitting image of someone I know

 

I always thought you had a horse face.

 

I didn't say she looked like me . Avatars are funny though. I always think it would be a good game to have photos of all of us and you have to match them to their avatars. Wonder how many we would get right?!.

 

I wish I was as beautiful as my cats. I agree that would be fun. Some would probably be good at it, not me.

 

You are.

 

Back at you.

 

KSW, your avatar reminds me of a horse I once knew, Larry was his name.

In the 1990s DH and I rented a small cottage on what was zones as a farm. The owner rented out the barn to a woman who had horses and she thought me to ride. Larry was my buddy!

 

And sometimes they need very careful handling. I've broken a couple of these little levers in the past. Much to my dismay, since fixing that kind of clasp is beyond my skill set.

 

He's very cute,eating his hay but knows exactly what the photographer is doing.

 

The Nona cameo arrived! I gave it a small quick bath but she’ll have to go back in for another wash. Not all the grime came out. I agree with the earlier suggestion. This looks like ivory.

Her lip still has a tiny dip which I believe is a detail from the carver and not a chip or mistake. Perhaps this was based off an image of someone real and not imagination?


Compared to the other pieces of ivory I have this one is marbled with colors of yellow and creams. I don’t know if that denotes age but the clasp and pin on the back are not the older “c” style however I don’t see signs of the back mechanisms having been replaced. They are not glued on but affixed with teeny nails. It does not look like screws.

Nevertheless I am happy to add Granny in with the other ladies and gentlemen. She took the last available spot in my display. Full house.

 

She is a nice Nona! Surely the portrait of a beloved mother
Ivory aged, but that's fine! (I prefer patina like this to bright white, looking too new)
Your collection grew amazingly and beautifully
Time to get a new shadow box display!

 

She looks much better between the cleaning and your wonderful photography

 

Definitely ivory & a portrait of a real woman. See you have another that is a generic fantasy lady. My gut says some work has been done to the pin & clasp, maybe just the addition of those little tacks101010101010101010101010 (digital cat strikes again). Usually there was just a single post attaching each part of the brooch findings into the ivory, out of sight, underneath. The tacks are reinforcement, I think. The safety clasp seems too modern, but I don't see obvious signs of replacement, so...?

She's lovely. I would like to add her to 2 of the Pinterest boards I maintain, 1 for ivory & another for portraits of Victorian women. Would that be OK?

Is she 'Granny' because she's someone's ancestor? She does not look old to me. Think that's a big bow we see behind her neck, a young woman's style.

 

She’s granny to me based on her hair. Reminds me of my great-gran who has since left the physical plane to harass in spirit. A great tiny woman made of titanium, should I be so lucky to live to be over 100.

Absolutely! Pin away. If I ever post an image you like, please feel free.

 

@Bronwen - please can I ask- should I go and have a look at these wax seals in person?. I thought they were fascinating but can't seem to find much online to compare them with?. Photos are about half of them. Is there collecting value or simply items of interest?
Est £50-£80.
Thankyou

 

I've been thinking about these all afternoon & still not sure what to tell you about them. Only the 2 red ones really qualify as seals, & then only if they were ever actually used in the way genuine seals are, to validate the authenticity of something. There's a whole field of study, sigilography, that takes them up. The others would all be considered impressions of engraved gems & so would the red ones if they were only made to show what the seal looked like.

I have one of these with white on red. It's a strange material, very thin & light in weight, that seems like it should be fragile & brittle but is instead quite plastic & resilient. Mine is a bit cupped; found no way to flatten it. This is the first time I have seen ones in these Wedgwood blues & blacks & lavenders. I think the material is 'sulphur', sometimes called 'sulphur wax', but the final red product is not what you think of as waxy. I have no idea how the pieces here that are not red were made.

Like you, I have not seen these on line, only the type shown here, much thicker, with the gold paper collars. As you can see, these impressions are not the most accurate, with spots dropping out of the white layer. Suspect the technique was developed to compete with the gem impressions being made by Tassie & others & madly collected by the public at large, but results generally not satisfactory so never caught on.

I would class these as a really interesting novelty for someone like me who's interested in the history as well as in the gems themselves. Without anything to compare them to, no past auction outcomes, it's impossible to value them. Intrinsic value is nil. There's nothing among the subjects to give them exceptional interest, quite a miscellany. Unless any frames add value, I would say low end of estimate range is reasonable if you want them as a curiosity for yourself. I would not count on resale value, although might do well in front of the right audience. Right now they're decor.

Is that indecisive enough for you?

 

In my far less knowledgeable way that's sort of the conclusion I came to as I couldn't find anything comparable.
I did bid as I felt they had interest value, lost my nerve at £70 and they went for £100 + auction fees. Thanks for the information though .

 

I think your lever-style safety catch is a little worse for wear and not closing properly, but it is meant to close entirely. I have several with lever clasps, here’s one, pictured with the lever open and closed:

 

Thank you very much for this. I had a hard time visualizing this. I have been studying this, as I don't want to wear it until I can make sure it won't fall off. Now I see your pictures, I think I will have to take it to the jeweler for repair.

 

@KikoBlueEyes
Perhaps if you took a tiny set of pliers and gave a squeeze to the upper “C“ portion of the catch to bring it down and close the opening of the “C” a bit more, the lever will then meet with the tip of the “C” and close properly. Clear as mud, LOL?
At your own risk, of course!

edit: There needs to be enough of a curve at the top of the “C” for the pin to rest and still allow clearance for the lever to close below it.