Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Neither could I, this is all I have. But I am used to looking at the pictures instead of the text anyway.

 

The point comes across.

 

SBSVC - What photo editing program do you use and/or what's your trick for cleaning pix up to this degree? I'm trying to see if it's possible to get a clue to what's engraved along the truncation line of this guy. Can you do anything to pick it out? Have no doubt you'll be able to make more of it than I could:

 

I think it says GimmeDat! Right?

 

Speaking of which, this is a double whammy - cameo and saphhiret glass.

 

That makes for a really lovely effect.

 

Probably a "lovely" price tag too.

 

Hi all!
Interesting video of gem carving:

 

Thanks! Much more informative, including the part showing how even in antiquity they had ways to improve the color of the stone, than this one, which only shows someone adding small refinements to a cameo:

https://www.facebook.com/ilpiccolomuseodelcammeo/videos/2096569683962429/

 

I liked Stan Washburn's "The true account of the death by violence of George's dragon"... in which the dragon spends busy days ridding a neighborhood of manitcores and relaxes in the evening at a local pub where his drink of choice is called "a virgin".

Some of the images and captions can be seen here (enough to show the slant of the story):

https://www.dia.org/art/collection/object/true-account-death-violence-georges-dragon-66750

 

Too funny. And so true about how stories evolve. Manticores are a mythical beast you don't see every day. Makes me feel like going back & rereading Robertson Davies books.

 

See what I mean?

Now you know why.

 

Dragons hunted them to extinction!

 

Got these two cameos in a big lot of costume jewellery (which I will post for some help a bit later)

The brooch unfortunately was damaged and converted to a pendant.


They appear to be shell cameos, but I'm not certain. Any help in determining authenticity?

Lastly, how is the best way to clean them without causing additional damage? Can it be soaked in baking soda water or will that cause damage?

 

We'll wait for @Bronwen to say for sure, but ... I believe they are both shell cameos. Also, about the pendant one -- it is possible that it originally had both a pin and a bail to allow its use as a pendant. I have several cameos that always had both.

 

Both cameos are shell, which can be washed with mild soap & water. I use dish washing liquid in tepid water, soak, & brush with a soft toothbrush. The settings look more vulnerable to damage than the cameos. You will not want to use anything harsh or that has any possibility of interacting with the metal. Make sure they get thoroughly dry before putting them into any kind of box or bag.

It's possible the one that is no longer a working brooch always had a jump ring there for use as a pendant, or one may have been added to what was originally an attachment point for a safety chain as a quick & easy way to restore the piece to wearability.

Both are probably from the 1950s.

 

Thank you for the useful tips Bronwen!

 

The broken one looks like it has an 800 silver mark on the bottom. I'd be careful with the metal so as not to rub a gold coating off, if it has one. The other piece is shell in a costume setting.

 

@Bronwen https://www.ebay.com/itm/372448065000
A centauress?