Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Hello, Simona. Welcome to Antiquers.com. I saw your other post with the 2 pieces of costume jewellery. Others will be able to tell you more than I can about those.

Your photos are very out of focus. Is the back of the cameo flat or concave?. I think your cameo is helmet shell but am not 100% certain because I cannot see it well. An Italian cameo in a British setting from the mid-20th century.

As for reading, this is a good place to start:

https://cameotimes.com/index.php/reference/materials-guide

Also the articles available under 'Profiles' in the top menu.

Nineteenth Century Cameos by Michele Rowan is, in my opinion, the best book on fine cameos. You are interested in costume jewellery, so I would recommend Cameos: Classical to Costume by Clements & Clements. These are in English; I do not know what may be available in other languages.

 

Hi,
Thank you for your reply and the recomend book, I will most definitely buy it.
About the Cameo, the back is concave, it feels cold and slippery, and in my opinion it has British hallmarks on the gold. I will update tomorrow with better photos.
Because I am new to this field, I buy what looks good to me, different, something I never seen before....may be wasting money, but I am learning as well. And, now , with all good people on this site, I can take informed decisions, I am very grateful for this.
Thank you so much again.
Kind regards,
Simona

 

From this information I am sure your cameo is carved helmet shell.

Yes, to the best of my knowledge, only Britain used 9ct as a standard fineness for gold. The US does not recognize anything below 10K & an Italian setting would probably be 750 (18K) gold.

 

What does "very yang" mean?

 

ANNOUNCEMENT

I have lately made the decision to open up my web site, CameoTimes.com, to the wider public. Most articles that were available to basic subscribers are now unrestricted; articles that were available only to premium subscribers are now available to registered users.

Registration is free. Any information provided goes no farther. I only very occasionally send out any e-mail, so no deluge of unwanted messages. Sort of like this place.

 

That is wonderful, @Bronwen. Thank you so much!

 

This showed up in my mailbox today. Not a piece of cameo jewelry, but a cameo none the less. It is quite large and carved from an abalone shell.

I really like the subject and the little details like the feather in the woman's hat, the striped stockings of the bather, and the tiny flag on the changing tent. No signature or markings on back.

 

Not a cameo in the strictest sense, but literally an engraved gem. The shell is oyster. What a fabulous example, both for subject matter & for size. Many of these I have seen have a seaside motif & I suspect they were souvenirs, whether of one particular place or, more likely, of a number of waterfront locations. This one is wonderful & a bit racy.

 

You are very welcome.

 

Morning all, my friend sent me these photos, trying to figure out the age, if carved or molded and black material. The cameo part is set in sterling, 1 1/2" diameter.
I think it is molded, maybe on glass?
any information appreciated
thanks for looking

 

'Headband Girl' (my designation), probably the single most reproduced cameo that has ever been. Most of them are glass.

 

Yes, I was happy to find it. I checked around on the internet and saw them sometimes listed as abalone (mostly antique ones from Asia) and sometimes as oyster, so I wasn't sure which one was correct. I agree, the ones listed as oyster have a seaside motif. Here are a couple more examples. The last two pics are exquisite carvings!

 

Amazing! Little works of art.

 

Without having seen what you saw in your researches, I would guess that some of the Asian ones were carved abalone, but the ones with a shape like yours are oyster. Yours has the engraving on the side of the shell that was toward the outside when the animal was alive. On the other side you can see part of the hinge at the apex & the 'scar' on the surface where the muscle that pulled the shell closed was attached. Abalone are really perverse snails, with a univalve shell. I would like to know the process by which these shells become flattened.

 

thank-you Bronwen

 

Which would you choose?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/401890219840

http://www.ebay.com/itm/333828242012

 

Tricky...

I like the mount on the $1,995 piece better, plus the photos are better, however I see Byne's disease on the back. Yet I could clean that up. But it also has a crack and appears to be unsigned.

So in the long run I would go with the signed $950 piece.

 

I don’t like the hands on either of them.

 

We got to talking about cameo portraits of gentleman in the signature help thread. I have a handful that are signed, but a couple of favorites, although very high quality, are anonymous.





The second guy looks like he should be some noble Roman, until you notice the fringed epaulet peeking out from the drapery.

 

I really like the first gentleman.