Featured French Jet cameo? Please help

Hello everyone,
Still discovering new cameos, this was described as French jet, I have flashed a light under it and the colour changes into dark red. I wonder what is the white material made of? I can see some blue colour on the sides, can it be glue?
I wonder what is the depiction about and the age as well.
The metal is yellow, but not gold.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Simona
@Bronwen @PepperAnna @Any Jewelry @Ownedbybear

 

French jet is the name for black glass as it is used in jewellery, including hair jewellery. Most French jet was made in Bohemia, later Czechoslovakia etc.
I have never seen dark red in French jet, but I have mostly seen (and own) beads, which could be thicker than the plaque of this cameo.

The white material could be one of the early plastics, but I leave that to Bronwen and Anna, who you have already tagged.

 

Your description is consistent with sardonyx, hardstone, both the deep red under strong light & appearance of blue at the edges, which is really a trick of a very thin white layer over black. Stones described as 'nicolo' are this, a top white layer over a black substrate.

If you paid glass prices for this, you got yourself a very nice hardstone Persephone. Now give that girl a bath! And show us after she dries off.

 

I am going to give this girl a proper bath now, , and post new photos in the morning.
Thank you so much.
There is allot of reading to do, better get on with it.
I paid £50 for it, which I presume it’s not allot.
Kind regards,
Simona

 

A very good price for what you got. A fair price for what seller thought they were offering. I have more than once acquired a nice hardstone piece that was represented as glass.

 

She has an ancient origin:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334855549848

 

Simona's Persephone is a much prettier girl.

 

Lovely!
Can we see a side view?

 

Beautiful!!

 

@Simona Buhus What a lovely piece!
Please can we see a photo with the light behind? I’d be very interested to see what it looks like.

 

She looks very like hardstone in this image! However, I've been watching a piece on the Bay that is this same woman....which probably means this one is also molded.



This seller also says "onyx or glass" so I'm guessing she's molded glass. It definitely explains how yours has that semi-translucent quality that looks so like hardstone! I have a different Ceres that is definitely glass, but has this same delicate mold and matte look. I think they're beautiful, even if they are molded, and so well done they pass as more expensive stuff. Maybe they are paté de verre which would explain how they get such fine detail?

 

Excellent, Mirana, even though it means I have to eat my words. @Simona Buhus Sorry, but your seller was correct & the piece is glass, very well done glass. It is too identical to the one in black Mirana has shown us. Think we're looking at Czech productions, c. 1930s.



Don't think it could be pâte de verre & be such a perfect replica, but the curls & nose have that kind of delicacy. The sard glass background makes it that much more convincing.

 

The (different) Ceres I have is a glass portrait glued to what I THINK is a ceramic disk. It's shiny like onyx on the facing side, but a grainy texture on the back, and heavy. Makes me think there's a small possiblity the base on this is actually a stone to complete the "higher end" costume illusion?

I'm fascinated by these pieces too, when they have a good look. There was a reason I was watching the all-black version even though I assumed she was glass. She makes a lovely looking piece I would certainly wear and @Simona Buhus should really enjoy.

 

@Simona Buhus Once she has had her bath & is ready for her closeup, could you also try to get a clear image of her from the side, showing the line where the white & black/sard meet? How this interface looks & feels (can you catch a fingernail there?) is often the tip off when trying to distinguish an assembled piece from one that is carved from.

Another clue is what I have taken to calling an 'aura' in areas where the carving is very delicate, such as tendrils of hair. For times we've talked about this see these search results (ignoring Judaica chain):

https://www.antiquers.com/search/156094895/?q=aura&o=date&c[node]=20&c[user][0]=5833

 

Please see below:

 

Thank you so much, below are few photos. When light passes through the black base material there is shining bright red protruding from the sides, but also a small air bubble in the glass that has a visible lighter red where the material is thinner.
When the photo is taken from one side, it’s clear that the white side was glued to the base.
The light also shows shades of dark Red especially where the base ends.
I tend to think the base is made of a material that has glass properties as it is heavy, and feels like glass. What is your opinion? How about the white carving, is it carved or moulded ? Any thoughts on the material that was used?
Finally, an approximate age for this lovely lady?
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Simona

 

Excellent photos, Simona. And I agree with your findings, two separate materials that were glued together. And bubbles in cold, translucent material mean glass.

The way it looks, and the fact that it is exactly the same as the one mirana posted, means it was molded.

 

Beautifully clean.

 

She's really lovely! I like her better than the all black version.

She has the c-n-t pin so I thought she was fairly old, but Bronwen thought 1930s. Is that because it seems like Czech glass and that was it's heyday? Im interested to know too as my glass girl has the some pin fitting.

 

Ditto. The C-clasp isn't definitive, but the tube hinge and the fact that the construction isn't on pads made me think earlier than 1930s too.

Czech glass jewellery was also very popular in the 19th century.
I have a French jet jewellery set that was given to my great-grandmother on her honeymoon ca 1890.