Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

It does have a safety catch, an unreliable type that was in use roughly the Edwardian period. They have a way of coming open on their own.

Thank you Miss K. I love sharing what I know, answering questions when I can & of course showing off my treasures a bit too.

 

If you say so. I was thinking along the lines of one that closed all the way.

And I love seeing them!

 

The tiny tongue is supposed to hold the tip of the pin stem in the C when you push the tiny lever down. Some are better than others. The good ones close with a snap & require a little bit of pull to open again; most just roll up & down with no resistance.

 

I'll have to experiment. Thank you again.

 

You might need to push the pin stem inward a little to allow the needed movement.

 

An oval larva cameo brooch, second half 19th century, carved as a portrait

 

Check. I'll take it to the jeweler since it needs the rim of the surround to be smoothed out. Thank you.

 

Can you still edit this?

 

Question is whether the auction house that titled a lot this way can still edit it:

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...aign=auction-alert&utm_content=lot-image-link

 

Ah. Now I understand! I was in serious mode.

 

Must have been a disappointment if you were expecting something entomological.

 

Uuhh! I WAS deceived when I clicked to SEE the larva

 

Greetings,

Here is another cameo I am looking at but I’m having a hard time identifying.

Is this glass? I believe this is glass on a base metal. The back is also stumping me. What is that center part? Any idea on age or origin? The listing is incredibly empty of details.

 

It is glass, but doing a very good job of imitating hardstone. That thing on the pin stem is a clutch for a stick pin. They also work well as a safety device when the clasp is not a secure one.

 

Thank you for the identification. Most appreciated. Yes to your question was it a family member. I am not exactly who because we go back to 1643 in the area I live and the prior 3 years they lived in Salem, Mass when they arrived from Maidstone, England.

 

Yummy.



https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...0378/lot-507be512-b020-45d8-b13f-ab5101252ca0

 

Splendid!!!

 

@Bronwen A friend on CW posted that cameo, Measures: 1.9 x 1.5 "
she described it as lava...

Never seen one in what I think is soapstone!

 

It looks like the lid of a small box, along the lines of the cameo-lidded 'Danbierre' boxes. Definitely not lava; the other 3 she shows with it are. Have not seen this composition before; Night, not Athena. The sleepy lady & her owl look like they are a separate piece. A photo taken edge on would be useful. I suspect this is molded. Otherwise yes, soapstone, alabaster, one of the soft stones used for this sort of thing. Would need to be able to touch it to be sure.

I would like to know whether the thin line that cuts across the bottom is really out of alignment between the inner piece & the underside of the outer piece, or is it just the angle of the photo making it look that way.

Wouldn't be the first time people on CW got all excited over a cameo in man made material.