Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Two antique (not ancient!) cameos of same scene, on Ebay:

 

I have them both on my watch list, although expect bidding will go past what I would want to pay. It was a popular subject, usually known as 'Vulcan's Forge'. The original relief is by Bertel Thorvaldsen; the Thorvaldsen's Museum uses 'smithy' instead of 'forge':


https://www.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk/en/collections/search?utf8=✓&order=artist&q=vulcan


https://www.britishmuseum.org/resea...&searchText=forge+of+vulcan+mars+venus&page=1

 

ah, the original picture explains what's going under the seated woman's chair in the second one @kyratango posted (omitted in the first one).

 

The doves belong to Venus, who was married to Vulcan, & also had Mars as her lover. Here Vulcan is forging arrows for Cupid. Cupid is holding Mars' spear while Mars has one of Cupid's arrows.

 

I suspected you were spying these 2
That's why I didn't include the link
Thank you for showing the original work and the giving the depiction/interpretation of the story behind

 

What I love is that Mars "left his hat on" while wearing nothing else.

 

Bought her today for £6 from the Charity Shop. Would she be around 1920s -30s Italian? I looked at her nose so I think not 60s and she has neither headband or ponytail so I don’t know what her style would be called. No silver marks, think that’s why I got her at that price. She just fits my little finger.
Last 2pics before she had a clean.
~

 

Post war 40s or 1950s most likely & set in Italy, so probably 800 silver. Many cameos that do not hold up well when highly magnified still look very pretty when worn. Enjoy her!

 

Thanks, yes, and she does look a much finer carving in the real, than my enlarged photos suggest.

 

And clean her; she's pretty grimy. Soap, water & a soft toothbrush will do it.

 

Found these on an online auction.. they say natural material, but I have no idea what that means... not sure if I should bid on them or not, as they already are high priced.. could they be turquoise ?
Thank you so very much !

 

Sorry, hit the "post" button too fast..

 

Info gathering. I came across this little sweetie in an auction catalogue, described as 'A silver cameo and stone set brooch; square lattice frame set with seed pearls and turquoise beads to central paste cameo depicting Artemis the Greek goddess of hunting'. Estimate: AU130-200. I am curious as to what a 'paste cameo' is and whether this is worth the estimate [or more] assuming the description is correct?
Hope the photo is big enough. The catalogue only included this this one.

 

PS. I just noticed Xristina's post above mine. Is her set 'paste cameo' as well perchance?

 

Surely not natural...

 

Not in that all over colour, I would have thought.

 

Xristina's may be glass? Pretty color. The larger one looks like it has an older hinge on the back. The smaller one appears to have a chip at the lower right in the picture of the front.

The women don't match and the settings, while similar, are a bit different. So I don't think they originally went together.

 

From the backs and color, I would say glass.

From the color, if not glass then surely dyed.

I think the subject in both is Bacchus or "Goddess of the wine" ... I don't know if "goddess of the wine" is a real thing, but the internet thinks so.

But I almost always get the identifications wrong.

 

They may be glass, they sure look like it.. but, in this case, it's nothing natural about them and the auction is in the $300 range (for now).. I didn't know they are so looked after..

Thank you everybody for all your help !