Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

And where do you think 'mercredi' comes from? See:

https://cameotimes.com/index.php/profiles-1/allegorical/days-of-the-week

 

Ahhh, so it's a title rather than a carver's name? And the subject is Mercury rather than Hermes?
I've mixed feelings on that. After all, it's better if a cameo is signed by the artist with his/her name, correct?

EDIT: I do realize that Mercury is the Roman equivalent to the Greek god Hermes.

 

Your turn to educate me. I know the word 'charivari' in the sense of shivaree, & remember the over-priced, short-lived clothing store chain. I see the charms are mementos/trophies. Where does this usage come from?

 

I think he's pretty sweet. And way better than many signed cameos I've seen. Way.

 

Greek, Hermes. Latin, Mercury. Same guy. When I reread you post, noted you said it was small. Suggests it was cut to be part of a Days of the Week bracelet, a nice one with the names of the days on the back, but got set more nicely as a solo piece.

Yes, signed beats labeled every time. I do see listings, usually for lava pieces, that say 'Signed Dante' or 'Signed Petrarco'.

 

They mostly seem to be worn on lederhosen. From what I see it’s much more common to find them for males vs female ones. Pronounced “shawriwari”. It’s a heavy silver chain, status symbols since only the wealthy/nobility could hunt. I’ve seen some sample ones that had nice charms like crystals or coins along with hunting trophies. All the ones I’ve seen are silver, some accented by bronze or copper maybe even gold.

Because none of the trinkets/luck charms are mass produced they are all in different degrees of finery. They get bequeathed in families and people morph them depending on what they felt was worthy to contribute. The ladies little Charivari are usually more demure but still pack a bunch of charms.

My favorite charm is this maw which is currently going on Etsy to the tune of $350: Pretty fierce. I’m putting one together for myself so of course it’ll be filled with whatever I find that brings me luck and if I manage to find myself a nice antique piece I absolutely can’t live without...

 

Thank you

He is smaller than the "large" pins I have but he's still rather big for a bracelet... but some of those cameo bracelets are pretty ostentatious!

 

I have also seen days of the week demi parures, including a bracelet + typically a brooch & earrings, so could have been made for that.

 

Is this being represented as the dentition of any actual animal?!

 

Did you see this week's Antiques Roadshow? It was one of those "where have prices gone" episodes. Somewhere in the mix is a killer cameo necklace.

Should be this one. ... '
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/watch/episode/2317-vintage-reno/

 

Yes? No? Not really sure lol



But this type of charm is pretty common which led to my joke about killing a scorpion with a sandal. All joking aside I have a soft spot for what I consider a helpful bug and scorpions and spiders live in that relm for me. I’ll happily scoop them and take them outside somewhere far from my home if they wander in.

The fiercest thing I’ve taken out has honestly been a cockroach. I have no love for them.

 

Seems like a bit much, even for a stoat skull:

https://imgur.com/gallery/N9v6i

No scorpions here, but is the land of cockroaches. I encourage the spiders as one countermeasure.

 

Looks like raccoon to me. But small, I think.

 

Looks like a ferret skull,but there are a number of small mammals... i.e. fox,marten,red deer hoof,etc. https://www.google.com/search?q=bav...6YPjAhUBt54KHVA6ACgQ_AUIESgC&biw=1505&bih=891



cat skull necklace
http://www.spinningcastlestudios.co...necklace-earrings-set-pagan-priestess-jewelry

 

For anyone else who wants to take a look, the necklace is about 42 mins. in. Appraiser I think got it pretty much right. I have only seen these in helmet shell with the usual coloring. She described this one as shell with a clear crystal backing, a sort of doublet.





What I believe it to be is shell, with the background layer pared down as thin as it could be, backed by this lovely jasper (or rhodonite?), which shows through the translucent shell, giving the cameos the appearance of hardstone. An actual doublet.

During the Regency/late Georgian period there seems to have been the revival of a trick that had been used in Germany several hundred years before of cutting cameos in the easier to work shell, then coating the extremely thin back with pitch or putting slate behind, as a quicker, cheaper way of producing cameos that look like sardonyx or nicolo. This clever artisan used a more interesting stone to give the effect of an even fancier cameo.





You sometimes see these sold as 'oyster shell'. There is no reason to think they are anything other than helmet shell, cut mainly or entirely in the white layer.

 

I purchased it at a flea market in Paris, so probably French.

How old do you think it is? Could it be Georgian based on the pin length?

Considering the unusual subject matter and the fact that it is made out of dripstone, do you think it's a valuable cameo, even with the damaged nose?

 

I'm working on a Young Adult fantasy novel set in a German-inspired world.

 

Pretty small. About 1.57 inches/4 cm tall.

 

We're back to this train of thought:

Rarity, & taste/interest of person evaluating it. To someone who only collects signed hardstone cameos set in gold, it is not even worth looking at. To someone who, like me, finds all sorts of cameos interesting, it has modest value & to someone who really likes Beatrice Cenci it has even more worth. Our beloved Mme. kyratango knew what the other one was when she saw it, but you would have to explain it to most people. As I look through photos I have saved of cameos of this type, I am reminded that the subjects are just as varied as those on cameos in other materials, so Beatrice is no more rare than many others, just more attractive than some.

Too bad we don't know where yours came from. I know of Saint Nectaire, Saint Alyre & the Dripping Caves of Royat; there must have been many others.

Many lava cameos also have had the nose knocked off. It's not a plus, but not necessarily fatal. It would, however, be good if the black caught in the wound could be minimized.

Those long pins were around until safety clasps were invented, so no indication of Georgian in age, although it is undoubtedly an antique. The little decorative pattern on the otherwise simple frame is another touch that suggests she was not set in Italy.

 

Wish my family had any lore half so interesting. How cool is grandma?