Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Any neck beards? I think they were in for about five minutes once, other than now for a few hipsters...who aren't all that hip.

 

Looks like Horace valued every hair he had left & let them do what they wanted. Makes Einstein look well groomed.

 

For the range of gentlemen's hair & neckwear:

https://www.pinterest.com/cameotimescom/cameo-portraits-of-victorian-gentlemen/

 

I do so love the struggle of artists who tried to depict his neck mane...


He was married, of course. I cannot fathom why he thought that was a practical thing to do with the collars of the period. Let alone....good looking. All that trouble to shave, but not to trim.

Keeping this on topic, I thought this King cameo was a collar until I saw the man.

 

I guess a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do. But why do you gotta do that to yourself?

 

I'm probably mangling this, but think I remember once reading of a Roman mourning custom of shaving off the beard except for a strip below the chin.

 

Looks like a Peter Stephenson cameo No 336 from 1845.



The seller's link in case anyone has 2.5k that's burning a hole in their pocket...

 

Definitely aspirational pricing. If you aspirate it you'll choke.

 

LMAO

 

No thanks. If I'm shelling out that much at once, it'll be on a new mattress. I'd throw $20 at her in an estate sale though!

 

Is this...Pan? An altar of Pan? I would expect more grapes and less roses...

Also: That Stephenson cameo seller offered me $700 off. I think if they're going to jump at a large discount straight away then they know this is an obscene price.

 

Hmm. Does appear to be Pan & you're right that it would be odd to garland him with roses, although I see some leaves that could be grape leaves. It's really not usual to have a bust of Pan on a herm. Who is seen represented on herms a lot is Priapus. Maybe cutter bowdlerized it for delicate sensibilities.

 

I would have thought nymphs as well but they are awfully clothed. I feel like if you're going to wear a Pan and all he represents, then you should be prepared to show him in his uh natural state. Guess the carver thought that might not sell as well. Thanks for the term "herm" for my searches!

 

I bought this a while back and thought it was perhaps ceramic. This morning I was browsing and now I'm wondering if this is actually a Tassie-style glass paste cameo??

Mine:


A Tassie in The British Museum:


I noticed the texture in the hair immediately as I recognized the "grains" and divots in my Ceres:





The back of Ceres has some non-matte glassy patches on it that I previously thought were glaze, but now realize they are all inset, instead of on top of the surface.


I'm assuming this is not an OG Tassie because it's in gilt brass and his pieces are set in finer stuff. So "Tassie style" if it is the same material?

 

I haven't seen anything listed as this in a long while, but could it be what is called 'lava glass'? Unless the grainy coating is worn or chipped away it is very convincing in texture & weight.

This is lava glass; the chip on the back (& the multiples out there) gives it away:

 

I originally was interested in it, besides liking the image, because I've seen so many things listed as "white lava" that clearly aren't lava. So I wanted to see one up close. (This wasn't listed as that, it just looked similar.) So are these "lava glass" pieces actually a Tassie-style type? Using the same medium as he invented (which I've now seen described variously as leaded, enamel, and potash lol)?

I've now found exactly one site referencing other makers mimicking his works, and one auction house that had a gilt brass Lord Nelson brooch they attribute to William Tassie with no evidence.

This is not easy to look into when everyone has a different description for all white cameos and middle-class costume isn't a fancy royal portrait.

 

I learned a new word today, thanks!

 

Tassie called the white glass paste he developed with Dr. Quin in Ireland 'enamel'. The lava glass pieces are much newer, although still probably vintage. What distinguished Tassie's enamel was its hardness.

 

Ahermm......isn't that the sound of clearing your throat !??.....