Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

I have tried to insert text into your reply Bronwen but just looks like your text. I have no idea how to correct that on my iPad

 

It's OK - happens sometimes, when reply is typed inside the quote. You're going to want to be extremely careful with any attempt at alterations. I would try giving it a good long soak in plain water to hydrate the shell a little & hopefully make it a tad less fragile.

 

There’s some old glue there, looks like modern pva. I shall put it in water tonight. I think I could probably colour some wax to minimise the break, that would probably look more like shell than anything else.
She actually looks a lot better cameo from a distance, the mount helps.

 

Hello everyone, I’m possibly looking (hoping) for some help here. Probably about 8-10 years ago I purchased a lovely cameo from an eBay vendor selling from Italy, his name was Stani. I only purchased the one cameo and then shortly after he dropped off eBay anyhow, I would love to know if anyone can give me any details about what I bought, after reading through this thread a bit, there is more to cameos than one can imagine I wish I had saved some information about it, all I remember is the setting is

Front by AmandaM posted Sep 29, 2020 at 1:47 PM

Back by AmandaM posted Sep 29, 2020 at 1:47 PM

silver with a gold wash over. This guy did beautiful work, but I always thought it was odd that is he signed the back in almost chicken scratch, (first name only) how could he carve a beautiful front? Is this maybe machine carved? Anyhow really any help would be appreciated, I’m really curious now. Thank you

 

Welcome, Amanda. Looks like you have your media set to private, so we can't see. Think the tool 'Media Gallery Embed' (the camera icon) lets you put pix directly into your post. I can assure you that good cutters can have chicken scratch signatures.

 

Front by AmandaM posted Sep 29, 2020 at 1:47 PM

Back by AmandaM posted Sep 29, 2020 at 1:47 PM

Thank you for letting me know, I just changed it, so here’s another try.

 

Easier to see the name in this one

Back name by AmandaM posted Sep 29, 2020 at 5:38 PM

I bought it because I love birds and thought it was cute, but I wish I knew if it was real stone or shell or more of a mass produced type cameo.

 

She was hand cut in helmet shell. She's probably mass produced in the sense that 'Stani' likely has cut the same scene repeatedly, but each one would still be different. She's a lovely Hebe & the Eagle.

The vast majority of antique cameos are not signed. Modern artisans like Stani understand about branding & often sign their work, legibly. If you want to really set your head spinning, try this thread: Cameo Signature Help Needed

 

So good to know thank you so much after reading through countless pages of this thread last night I’ve really learned a lot and have seen some absolutely beautiful cameos!
Where do many of you go to find cameos? I’ve seen some here with bats, I’d love to find one similar.

 

This thread has rather twisted along into a tangled skein, but I suppose is no worse than having many separate threads. I generally advise newcomers to just scroll through the pix & stop to read only if something grabs their attention.

Most of my cameos have come off of eBay, as have most of the photos I use of cameos that are not mine. Many of the same sellers list on etsy and/or Ruby Lane, the two other main sources.

The cameos with the bats, Ariel from The Tempest, do not come along often & never cheaply. The one I have was bought as one of my few non-eBay purchases, part of an English estate auction lot. I had to buy an awful lot odds & ends to get the one cameo. Once all the fees & shipping charges were paid, it was not the best financial investment I've made, but I bagged my bat.

 

Just wondering what this cameo is likely made from.
Not my photos so apologies for the poor quality.

 

Very cool to see the original box... and I love the jeweler's name on the label on the bottom of the box: "Achille Squadrilli"!

 

It appears to be coral.

 

It is a great name. Interesting to see the name & address of a shop in Naples instead of a workshop in Rome, since Naples/Torre del Greco was/is the heart of shell cameo production. He carried all the stuff tourists carried back home: mosaics; coral; cameos (shell); lava; & tortoiseshell.

Having the fitted box boosts a cameo's sale price considerably. Fairly rare. My fanciest pieces did not come with custom boxes. I only have one that did & for some reason the blue velvet finish is all worn off the top, while the bottom is in pretty good shape. The box is sound overall & has an interior metal plate with a tab that functions as a hook the closed pin fits over, very tightly. This is its resident:

 

Nice! Meanwhile all I find around here is modern costume, if cameos appear at all.

 

I find looking through cameo listings very dispiriting these days. Anything at all nice is apt to be >$1,000; things in the $300 (asking) range sold for $30-50 ten years ago. I still think it is the price of gold, not a renewed interest in cameos, that is driving the pricing of non-collector pieces.

 

Bronwen please can I ask what you think of these?. Some carelessly removed out of their gold mounts. I’m particularly taken with the subject matter of the woman. I love the rosy cheeks!.

 

The conch shell bacchante you like is a very nice piece. The conch shell lady below is nothing special. A shame about the Three Graces. An unusually good one, broken out of its setting. A good portrait of a gentleman tourist; I think I may be one of the few people with an interest in collecting pieces like this. The Jesus is a good carving also. Below the gent are a low quality Psyche & an interesting looking Ajax/Menelaus (ID is in dispute). Is the scenic one something different from the usual village with twisted tree variety? Are there even more than are shown in these pix?

 

@KSW



Talkin' 'bout my guys.