Featured William Shakespeare cameo signed by J Mouhe?

Hello again,
This baby came home today, had my eyes on it for some time lol.
Would like to share it, not sure if it’s really Shakespeare. It looks like Mouhe signature .
@Bronwen @PepperAnna @Aquitaine I wonder what are your thoughts. How old do you think the cameo is?
There is something that bothers me, I can see verdigris in the frame, it was sold as 9 carat gold, not hallmarked. The outer layer looks like a chain, that was welded. I wonder if in this process was used some metal that would cause verdigris over time ?
I have to go and test it anyway, but wonder if anyone came across something like that.
Enjoy everyone!
@Any Jewelry @Ownedbybear
@Ce BCA
Please let me know if you like more photos.

 

It is Shakespeare, with an unusually clear J Mouhe signature, which will be very helpful with making sense of the ones that are sketchier.

Nine ct gold is a very low fineness, meaning that the metal is mostly other things, which would include copper, the metal responsible for that blue-green oxidation. Also, settings may have parts that are gold & hidden parts that are brass.

 

Nice. I've never seen solid 9ct have verdigris and it is of course a very common grade in the in the UK. But basic gold solder (approx 25% gold, 45% silver, 20% copper and about 10% brass) certainly does suffer from it, the copper content can come to the surface during the process then it can go green over time. So not necessarily a problem especially if it is at joins and solder points. Surprised the vendor didn't clean it up though if they tested and knew it to be gold. May be best to have checked to be sure.

Edit to add, on gold it can be a good indication of age as modern solder compositions don't seem to suffer from this is the same way.

 

I've seen 9 carat with tarnish.

 

Congrats on finding a Mouhe cameo! It is well carved.

 

Very nice cameo. Congratulations!

 

A LOVELY CAMEO!!!!!

 

It is superb!

 

Yes it can tarnish, but doesn't develop verdigris, even 22ct can tarnish given enough time and mis-treatment. Two of the main causes are swimming and using bleach, the chlorine causes darkening over time.

 

Thank you so much for enlightening me, it’s true, the problem is at joins and solder points on the lower part of the cameo. The chain is a bit loose at parts, I think it was an actual chain as it was solder on each link.
Is there a solution I could remove the verdigris without damaging the shell?
Thank you.

 

A lot of verdigris treatments involve things with vinegar in them, like ketchup. You do not want to use them around shell. I would see what a soak in plain water followed by spot application of a toothbrush will do before trying something more chemical.

 

You can try mineral oil on a qtip, if the green is loose this will sometimes get it off. Otherwise silver polish on a qtip/pipe cleaner to get in the awkward spots will also work. I've never had a problem with these damaging shell, as @Bronwen says though avoid acids as they can dissolve the shell and damage the surface appearance.

 

Good to have suggestions on this matter that are shell-safe. After plain water, I would probably move to toothpaste, just because I have it around (unlike mineral oil) & have used it safely to clean stubborn grunge out of the crevices of shell cameos. Trying it on verdigris would be an experiment.

 

Lovely, thank you so much for your advice.
I have tried silver polish, it removed some of it, not all.
I will try oil, see if there would be any changes.
Kind regards,
Simona

 

As well as qtips and pipe cleaners you can also use inter-dental brushes and the silver polish, does take a bit of time and scrubbing, but it will come off in the end.

 

My cameo cleaning armamentarium includes a vintage typewriter eraser. Not the red rubber kind; one in white rubber that is set up sort of like a propelling pencil. I can shave a bit off the tip if I need a really fine wedge to get into crevices. It's an abrasive, so used as a last resort. It can be useful in getting marks off lava & smoothing down Byne's deposits.

 

Great word.

This sometimes works for removing some of those careless black acid stains on gold where someone has applied it straight to the item.