Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Here's a little collection of a type of cameo that I hadn't seen us discuss before, and one that I hadn't come across until I got one... Antique shell cameos set into tortoiseshell pendant frames, sometimes with tort chains.

This is mine, that the previous owner thought to be plastic.




I love the clover border and haven't seen it in any others yet. It passes for UV, tool marks, bug bites, no bubbles, natural texture in exposed areas, etc.

Here are other examples I've found since then. A couple listed on antique dealer sites as authentic tortoiseshell...










I hope this is helpful to anybody doing research or interested in various antique cameo materials. I think these incorrectly get listed as plastic and vintage so they can be a fun thing to recognize in the wild.

 

in the wild........ funny turn of a phrase..

 

That would apply to pretty much all the materials used....even the plastics at this point.

 

Geez, I just have cameos, very ordinary cameos, in ivory-look Celluloid.

 

time to branch out, then .....!

 

maybe try to find some in gold looking metal, with diamond looking stones , made of shell looking material.....

you know...the ones that look carved.....and look signed !!! .......

 

you could even start a Cameo looking collection...... & maybe explain them to interested folks.....!

just an idea looking thought...... .......

 

too much ...?

 

As a proud member of the New York Turtle & Tortoise Society, I'm a little more uncomfortable with tortoiseshell even than I am with ivory. Doesn't stop me from admiring the beauty of pieces made with it.

 

Tried to do some of that here:

Gatierre, Danbiere & Other Mysteries

 

I had one once with a chain that looked like tortoiseshell. Not sure whether it was or not. The cameo was a plastic, though, possibly bakelite. I sold it about 15 years ago, during a brief time when I rented a shelf in a locked case in an antique mall.

 

Definitely the type of cameo mounted is a good indication of how fancy the frame or chain might be. My other tort prendant was probably on a matching chain at one point, so I've considered faux ones. Typically they have bubbles in them to give the game away. I've seen one or two described as celluloid but sellers throw that word around so idk what it might actually look or feel like. It makes sense that imitations were made though.

 

I don't know, I have a sweet mid 1800s Bacchante cameo carved by Schmoll set in an early 1900s, plain gold filled mount. It deserves better but I'm not messing with it

I've posted it before but here is is again:

 

She's such a beauty, one of Schmoll's best. I'm the first to point out that quality of cameo & richness of mount are not always consistent. Witness all the times Ponytail Girl shows up in 14K. Guess when trying to evaluate a piece, the hypothesis that quality of both elements is similar is what you then see if you can knock down, disprove.

In your particular case, we know wild Schmolls are numerous out there, suggesting they were more affordable than work from other cutters. If they were bought by more middle class tourists, they must often have been set more modestly.

 

Gold fill is certainly a better mount than gold tone, which means you're likely to see a carved piece, or nice glass, and not plastic. That's what I meant by "type" and I did not say quality of the cameo. I also said "might."

Here I was specifically talking about a plastic cameo with a tortoise-looking chain means the chain will likely also be plastic. If a handcarved cameo like above examples, then more likely to be actual tortoiseshell.

Thanks for posting yours. I don't mind see oldies re-posted. This cameo thread is so long it's nice to get them out again! She is very lovely. Good Bacchante are some of my favorite carvings. The current favorite in my collection is a Bacchante too.

 

I encourage everyone to show pieces that are favorites or have features of interest that may never have been posted here before. We all love ogling, so get out those oglable pieces & let us see.

I'll kick off with this lovely hardstone cameo, signed Francescangeli. She has been on the Internet before, on another site I went to before I got snagged here.

 

I can see why. She's NICE.

 

That is beautiful, Bronwen. You have such a wonderful collection.

 

Thank you. Some of it is more beautiful than some of the rest.

I don't know what she was intended for. The photo hides it, but the front is framed in black, & there is quite a lot of stone behind her, coming to a convex back. She is much too heavy for jewellery of any type. I love her anyway.

 

A box decoration? I can see something of this quality being inset into a rosewood or a sterling box.