Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Agree, I think you will find it is ivory. Appears to be a portrait of an actual person, not something likely to have been mass produced. If you can, hope you will rephotograph her & post again. She may need a little cleaning up. A dab of dish soap in ordinary water will not harm her. I'd probably just rub the soap in with my thumbs, then rinse her off well & pat dry.

 

Definitely worthy of the 'Finds' thread too. I think some people just dismiss cameos as too old fashioned & uninteresting. She is helmet shell, 1920s-30s.

Welcome to our little cameo community.

 

If the seller is British/European (I saw the listing but don't remember from where) by 'corn' they mean what an American means by 'wheat'. Probably barley anyway.
What they don't know is what a sheaf is. Sheaves of grain in her hair. Would require one jumbo head.

The origin of this figure is something I'm still trying to chase down. Have never seen any two quite alike. In some the woman has grapes.

It is one of Domenichino's versions of the Cumaean Sibyl. The original painting is in Scotland. This is an impression of it as an engraved gem:

 

I use Domenichino's 'Borghese' Cumaean Sibyl as the avatar of my web site:

 

He looks like many other men of his time. That is a seriously high end setting, similar to ones I've seen used for Louis Zoellner's work.

 

Hi everyone,

i thought this was also informative. Seen similar pictures posted here.

https://www.1stdibs.com/introspective-magazine/getty-museum-engraved-gems/

 

I got to see these gems when they were available for inspection ahead of the sale & held the first one shown in my hand because the jasper was one of my favorite pieces. The Getty has so much money to spend, individual dealers knew they would be completely shut out & less well endowed institutions grumbled. The Antinous was the big prize everyone coveted. They also bought an ochre & black jasper grasshopper I love.



The sale (with prices):

https://www.christies.com/masterpieces-in-miniature-ancient-28329.aspx?saletitle=

 

Fantastic!!!

 

OOOOHHHH! LOVE IT!!!

 

Wow, wonderful! I love the grasshopper, too.

 

This cameo is breathtaking!

 

She's the only piece for which I have the original fitted box. She lives like a queen in blue velvet.

 

Is her neck maybe a little tooooooo long ?

 

Not sure what's going on with her upper lip.....

 

@kyratango, Did you see the MicroMosaics?????? https://www.1stdibs.com/introspective-magazine/elizabeth-locke/

 

I Don’t know either but I’ll be able to see it better once she’s here.

 

Wait until she has been cleaned up. I have more than once gotten a good deal on a piece because I recognized that the weird nose or strange expression that put off other bidders was just an illusion caused by grunge in the crevices.

 

Just a tad.

 

Locke also uses cameos in her jewellery.

 

Whoaaahhh!!!!! Bookmarked for eye feast