Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Yep, just like it! What is your assessment? I'm trying to put all the little clues together... Quality fake with intent to deceive? Mass produced? Real person or not? Made of .....? From a mold or combination mold and carving? How is the silver tone produced? I just love mine and would like to know more!

 

I have been trying to put all the little clues together for years. A major problem is that a lot of the clues are deliberately misleading when it comes to the origin of the items.

The one thing I know is that someone developed a polymer that could be colored to do an excellent job of mimicking certain natural materials or the discovered how to do this with a polymer developed by someone else & came out with products that are entirely faux, visually very convincing with highly appealing designs. None I have seen have a patent or registration number of any type. Labels that seem to indicate a maker are bogus, just part of the design, a research dead end.

The products seen most frequently are the cameos, set as brooches, used on the lids of the little boxes, or used in products made by other companies, such as the lid of the Volupte compact. The little boxes are the second most commonly seen. Without a genuine brand name used for all items, rounding up their output has sometimes been a matter of luck. Just when I think I've found everything, something I haven't seen before pops up. For example, this little bottle:



We know it is the same company not just for similarity of appearance but also because it came with this:



I have seen plenty of boxes; never another bottle. And, stop the presses, just found this one in green with the little tag that started the numismatic fraud thread:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/233578225145





If you want to see a number of other examples of this ware, search for 'St Petersburg frog', 'Perfugium Regibus marble' & 'Danbiere box'. Another search is for this one. Note the eccentric punctuation, which sellers do not always transcribe correctly.



After looking at a bunch of these items sold or for sale at prices $100 & up, I need to lie down.

 

Thank you, Bronwen! So very interesting! Do you have a feel for the general age? To me, they still have some decorative value even if they are fakes. LOL but I am an amateur...so...I only just figured out it was Danbiere, not Danbiene!

 

I have started a thread in the Jewelry forum where I'm going to try to assemble the little I do know & provide illustrations so perhaps at least our members will not be fooled as either buyers or sellers of these items. In reviewing my photo files, I am coming to believe that company did not set out to deceive in any meaningful way but that eventually the 'marble' plaques were.

 

They're probably 1970s gift shop items that got loose.

 

'Got loose' is an understatement. Misdescribed plaques sometimes fetch hundreds of dollars.

 

OTOH somebody must think they're good.

 

They are very well made, very high quality for what they are. What impresses me more is the genius in selecting what to copy. A lot of them were molded from bronzes Edward Wyon made & ivories by Duquesnoy, featuring children, putti, mythological or fantasy scenes. No Napoleon, no Wellington. I've put up the various medals that were set into the back; now have to move on to the reliefs themselves. Doubt I've actually seen them all, but knowing about the medals prepares one to recognize others. Think I also need to round up more photos of the backs of some of the frames. There was a clear attempt to deceive perpetrated by the maker of the plaques or the framer if that was someone else. And I'm not even up to the frogs!

 

Somebody did a good job ... apparently a little too good.

 

Greetings,

I bought a cameo lot recently and wanted your thoughts on a few of them. This first small cameo is signed, the signature looks familiar. The mount is 800 silver. Who is depicted in the front?

This next one feels older yet the mount I believe to be more recent. It is unmarked gold and tested well up to 14k. Again, who is the individual ?

This one’s cameo looks more contemporary (the nose, details in the hair) but the mount looks old. The beading around the mount are a faint blue-grey color. Is this glass, plastic or stone? Do you think this is altogether a new piece or cobbled together from parts?

And finally, this is the main reason I bought the lot. This one feels very well carved and I loved the variety of colors from the shell in her hair and body. What puzzles me is how this sits in the frame. Frame is unmarked gold and tested to 14k. There are quality control issues on the frame and the shell doesn’t sit well in the frame. Could this shell be a replacement? Any help y’all can give is greatly appreciated!

 

The last one is a nice Edwardian era Diana/Artemis. All the cameos are helmet shell. Large pieces that are bezel set require a bezel custom made to follow the curves around the edges. Does the bezel she is in mirror the way the edges rise & fall? From the back she does not look seated well. Can't tell if she is slightly too large or sitting at an angle. Is she secure?

The second one looks inspired by some Psyches, but has a flapper look. Brooch findings put her to second quarter of the XXth.

The first one looks like she should be someone, but would have to be described as 'classical female feeding birds'. Hebe is probably behind her; wrong birds. The acid etched signature is neater than usual. Can't see all of it because of glare; what I can see is not ringing any bells. The setting looks Italian & could be gold washed 800 silver.

The third one could be 1930s or as late as 50s. Also an Italian looking setting, which seems to fit her well, so think cameo & metal are meant to be together. The beads could be the remains of inexpensive glass pearls. If someone added them, they did a good job. Is there a mark on what looks like a little plaquette on the back at the bottom. Might say 800?

If you're thinking of wearing the Diana, be careful of that clasp. I've met too many that come open on their own. An earring clutch on the pin stem can make a good safety catch.

 

Diana is sitting a bit at an angle. It is snug in the frame but the frames edges do not aline perfectly with the curves of the shell.

That little plaque does say 800 on the cameo with the beading. As always, thank you for all the help! Big Diana, Miss Beads and Flapper are all going into my collection case to be admired on the wall. I’ll figure out what to do with “Not Hebe” later.

 

@sharic As promised.



The next one is probably closest to how the stone looks in average lighting:



Sorry for this one, but you get the idea:

 

For a preview of the latest: Lidded Jar, What did I buy this time?

Will show her off properly when she arrives.

 

@komokwa Can you confirm for me that this says Shulamit?




Thank you.

 

The first two letters sound out Sh-l .. but that's as far as I get. The English to Hebrew dictionary says Shulamite is correct.

 

Thank you! It's more Bezalel work.

 

New girl is here & had a scrub to remove a bit of brown gunk.



She is marked on the back Bezalel/Jerusalem.



The Bezalel School (now Academy) of Arts and Crafts, was established in 1906. Current work strikes me as more art and less craft than in the earlier days, when they produced items used in Jewish religious practice as well as other items decorated with Jewish themes.

You can find other examples of cameos with this same image. The design is unusual among Bezalel cameos in that it is not labeled as being a particular figure; much Bezalel jewellery and the majority of cameos feature Ruth, Rachel, Rebekah, Judith, Jael, Shulamit or Esther. Typically the name in Hebrew is cut on the obverse in cameo. Perhaps this cameo is meant to celebrate Jewish/Israeli Woman rather than a matriarch or heroine. She is also the only design I have seen with an inset embellishment.

 

I think she's beautiful. And an unusual cameo, too.

 

I also like that she is very wearable. Although she does not have any additional safety mechanism, the way the C catch is curved, it holds the pin stem well while still allowing opening without difficulty. Now if I only had somewhere to go where it's appropriate to dress like a grownup.