Featured Need some insight please....

Sites like eBay & etsy draw in a huge number of potentially interested buyers without requiring any kind of buy in. Ruby Lane is not the place for someone who does not otherwise have high quality vintage jewellery to sell. Ebay does have 'concierge' service for those who would like to have someone else handle the sale for them. I don't know how much more of a bite this takes out of the proceeds. Jewellers who carry some antique/vintage items may buy or take on consignment; again, not the way to maximize what you would get out of it.

 

And now I approach cautiously!!! If something like this hasn't been posted before, here are a bunch of links to READ and get yourself educated, IF YOU CAN'T FIND SOMEONE FAMILY RELATED WHO WOULD LIKE IT, before you sell!! And as suggested above, look at all the sites you can to see similar to yours and what they are selling for!!!!! BEST of luck!!!

https://www.google.com/search?q=How+to+establish+value+of+decent+cameo?&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

Rule #1, never take cameo advice from a diamond buying site - http://jonathansdiamondbuyer.com/2013/02/01/how-to-value-and-date-your-vintage-cameo/#axzz4xThUkYAn - that thinks this is a cameo:


This is a cameo:


Most jewellers know precious little about cameos, although they're usually pretty reliable about settings.

 

Doesn't time fly when you have a beautiful cameo?

It is 19th century, so both 90 and 100 are on the conservative side.

 

the pin & clasp would seem to date it earlier ...

 

Aaauuurrrrggghhh!

https://www.interweave.com/article/...reation-value-jewelry-plus-dark-haired-cameo/

Which Cameos Are Most Valuable?
“Scenic cameos are generally more expensive than bust cameos,” Jeanenne says. “A very popular motif around 1860 was what is known as ‘Rebecca at the Well.’ There are many variations on this theme, but they usually include a cottage, a bridge, and a girl.”

These are very common, rarely well done & most of the time you can barely give them away. There are cameos of Rebecca & Eliezer at the Well; that's not what Jeanenne is describing:

http://cameotimes.com/index.php/profiles-1/religious/rebecca-at-the-well

Quality of carving tops the list of what makes a good cameo.

 

i.e. this one? I've shown it before, found in an estate sale this summer. I've never seen one with a gondola before, and apparently a dying woman with angels. No clue what the scene is.

 

Other cameos.............just sayin..!

 

'I've never seen one with a gondola before, and apparently a dying woman with angels.'

Gondolas definitely a rarity. This one carved from tiger cowrie is the only other one that turned up:



Yours is a bit Lady of Shalott-ish, but think the angels are small-C cupids, signifying that love is in the air & scene is meant to convey the romance of Venice. It's a common convention for indicating that a couple are lovers/spouses for the little god of love to appear where he might otherwise seem incongruous. This lone lady is beset with dreams of love.

Without seeing the back, guessing Edwardian.

 

Sorry about that folks, memory not what is was. I am glad so many have commented again.
Thanks so much. My family does not really seem to care for this stuff, I have many items and want to find some way to divest while I can.

 

Cameos of this general type are relatively common, but well executed pieces are still good sellers. Here's another example. In this case, the cutter used a horn of the shell for added depth. The panther skin is particularly fancifully done.

 

that is beautiful!

 

Thank you, Ms. Girl. Having packrat repost the other one gave me yet another opportunity to show those who thought all cameos were pretty ladies wearing corsages that it ain't so. And I know I find it useful in assessing a cameo if I can compare it with others that are similar.