Featured Cameo help

Good morning,

I just purchased the below cameo, it’s very large (7 cm) and set in 9 carat gold. The seller did not tell me that the pin is broken and he improvised something which needs to be replaced. The clasp is also unusual, is it possible that it might have been replaced as well?
I wonder what are your thoughts on the cameo.
Is it a well known depiction or is this the imagination of the carver?
In your opinion how old is the brooch?
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Simona
@Bronwen
@PepperAnna
@stracci
@Any Jewelry
@Ownedbybear

 

I think the cameo is older than the clasp. The clasp is an early locking clasp from the turn of the century. The cameo looks like one from 1860s-1880s to me. I don't recognize the subject, but let's see what Bronwyn has to say. I like the cameo very much, especially the tree with its hollow trunk. Nice find!

 

Agree entirely about the clasp: more modern than the rest, although still vintage. I'm inclined to put the cameo a little later than PA does, 1875 to end of century.

Cameist did indeed do a nice job with the tree & the plant past the dog. (An apprentice outshining his master?)

As for subject matter, maybe among us we can noodle it out. It strikes me as being essentially the same story as these depict, one about separated lovers.



The scene may or may not be mythological. Anyone good with Romantic poetry?

 

Lovely, am happy with everything that has been said.
The cameo reminds me of the Bible story of Abraham and his son Isaac, when Abraham was asked to make a sacrifice. The lady is always upset, in all depictions she is touching her face. The bearded man is holding the young boy hands in all your cameos.
The only difference is that in my cameo the boy is young, it’s not an adolescent like in yours and his mother is holding his hand.
Abraham had another son with a maiden, as his wife was unable to have children at first. I am wondering if mine is about the other son Ishmael….

I wonder what everyone else is thinking…
Thank you again.
Kind regards,
Simona

 

The dog could be artistic license. This doesn't match up with that story either. Ishmael wasn't a baby when they were sent into the desert; he was about 14. (Hagar would have worn more clothes, but we all know men so....)

The dog and the tree are just weird; I don't remember a mention of dogs in the Bible until you get to Ahab and Jezebel.

 

Dogs symbolize faithfulness, in this case, faithfulness in love.

On cameos, the location of Biblical scenes is often indicated by the presence of palm trees.

 

The woman and the boy are clearly being sent away.

So am I.

Abraham was supposed to be 100 at the time, so I think we can assume that Biblical dates and ages weren't correct.

Correct details are never the point of myth and legend, so they vary according to the available sources. Because most sources were edited out for political reasons, we don't even have an idea of the average age in all sources.
Besides, if we take everything in the Bible as fact, we should also deny evolution.

 

Every time I look at the tree trunk on the original one posted here, it looks like it has human legs. And I can't un-see it. That makes it more interesting to me, although surely it wasn't intentional.

 

It's a beautiful piece! The carving is handled so well. The foliage on the tree and in the background is masterful.
I agree with the others on age.
Too bad about the broken clasp, but that doesn't bother me, I still love it.

 

Look what I found in my files:



The tent in the background does suggest this is a Biblical tale & I have it tentatively tagged as Abraham, Hagar & Ishmael. Kind of looks like the cedars of Lebanon there in the back on the right.

The elements are starting to cohere. Hagar & her son are cast out and must live by hunting, hence the dog, the bow shown more clearly in the second cameo, the strap across the torso of the lady in Simona's cameo & what looks like a little water gourd on Ishmael's belt.

There is undoubtedly an artistic primary image for this version. Have not yet seen it, searching for 'casting out of Hagar', , none that show the boy trying to lead his mother away, but, for example:



Despite the similarities, I retract the notion that Simona's cameo relates to the one of the man leading away the barely clothed boy.

 

The cutter of Simona's cameo did hands unusually well.

 

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-h...lfilling-sarah-s-wish-splitting-83334423.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Holman_Hagar_and_Ishmael_cast_out.jpg

 

And he was very good at creating depth, like the inside of Abraham's cloak, and the shrubs on the right. He had a feeling of what to do with layered material, you don't see that quality of "illusion" carving very often.

 

Just for reference, this is the sacrifice of Isaac:

 

Abraham was not an example of good parenting.

 

Just found this image, exact as in the cameo, but can’t find the illustrator name or how old it is:
https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/noartistknown/hagar-and-ishmael-cast-away-bible/nomedium/asset/3784236

Just to solidify my understanding, the source can be the
Payne's Illustrated Family Bible. London, James Hagger, but the name of the illustrator is unknown?

London, James Hagger, 67, Paternoster Row. Leipsic and Dresden, A. H. Payne. 1862 : , 1862.

 

Just had a look again, there is something scratched at the cameo’s back, something that looks like like a H - and a letter like the photo attached.
Does it bring any bells?



it’s so well carved, I am surprised it’s not signed…
@Bronwen
@PepperAnna
Any thoughts?

 

From what I could find online, A. H. Payne may have been the engraver/illustrator. His full name was Albert Henry Payne (1812-1902). He is credited with many similar illustrations.

I've also found that this image is said to have been based on a painting "after" Anthony Van Dyck (which means it could have been painted by somebody else copying Van Dyck's style) titled something like "Hagar and Her Son Departeth" -- but I also saw it cited with different titles. Unfortunately I have not found any credible reference that there was a similar painting, or a good image of it. The only thing I found was on the MutualArt website, which sells copies of paintings. The image of the "Van Dyck" painting was very small and dark, and honestly did not look like it would have been painted by such a well-known artist.

The note on this page refers to the print being inspired by the Van Dyck painting.
https://www.mediastorehouse.com/fin...lish-school/hagar-son-departeth-23191770.html

 

Here is the MutualArt page. I've looked at it a few times, and now it won't let me get to the image without logging in.
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Abraham-sending-away-Hagar-and-Ishmael/9D15A925E42B9EAA

 

Great find, Simona. Information about the artist is there at the bottom of the picture, if we could only make it legible.