Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Unfortunately, as @Bronwen pointed out, these old lever clasps are notoriously unreliable. The lever tends to flop back to the open position at will. Adding a safety chain could provide peace of mind.

 

Thank you for this thought. I have some forceps that I use for small things. I'll have to look carefully at it to see if I think I can do this without damaging it beyond repair.

 

I haven't worn it yet because I'm not sure it will stay on. I suppose I can use it with silk, as to not put a lot of pressure on the clasp. Is that a good idea?

 

A piece of large rubber band pinned together with the fabric of your garment will give invisible security if it opens, it won't slip!

 

Great photos. You can see that it's really a double lever system (who thought of this?) Pushing the top lever down pushes down the top end of another one, seesawing the bottom end of that one up. Does that slight inward bend of the pin stem mean pressure has to be applied to get the tip seated snugly enough? Here is kiko's:



And bluumz's:



A jeweller will have an idea whether the 'C' is the shape it's supposed to be. If it's too open, it's not by much.

No. It's liable to open anyway unless lever really clicks into place. Might be best to have a large jump ring run through an opening at the top of the frame & soldered for wear as a pendant

 

Not a cameo stricto sensu... but a nice subject in Wedgwood jasper ware! Lever clasp too

 

Thanks. That sounds much safer!

 

Thanks for letting us know the outcome of the auction. It's really hard to know how to think about these. Compared to collections of Wedgwood plaques, sets of plaster & red sulphur impressions, these are a rarity. Wonder if buyer has an idea of maker. Tassie was so successful with what he did, thousands of impressions to choose from in several different materials suited to different budgets, lots of others also got into the market. Think these were an ambitious attempt at something novel that was never perfected.

 

Wedgwood calls them cameos & there is no reason to think of them as any less cameos than we do of glass cameos. The modeler of this one decided to make Venus a little more modest by giving the suggestion of drapery on her upper torso. Below that is her uncovered tummy & then the usual covering of the lap.

Is the Wedgwood name impressed into the back upside down relative to the design on the front? Hope that's the case & not that the cameo has been put back into the frame wrong way up. Usually see Wedgwood cameos in their own very simple settings. This is quite lavish. Love it!

 

Thank you for the explanation!
I think the clasp is an old replacement, and put opening upside...
This is my first Wedgwood piece, the moonstones attracted me, as well as the Arts and Crafts construction and the deep blue

 

It is standard practice to make brooches convenient for the right-handed to put on by themselves. When looking at the back, the hinge should be on the right, the clasp on the left. If your brooch were oriented this way, the clasp would be the right way up. The oval of the plaque is not quite the same as the oval of the frame. I'm hearing wedding bells.

 

Perhaps it is a marriage

 

Just a bump because I hate to see this thread on page 2

 

I have a few Wedgwood "cameos"
The big one is marked with a J, so from 1881 or 1907, I'm not certain.

 

Thanks for keeping us au courrant.

 

They qualify as cameos, no need to bracket '...' The one on the right is similar to Flaxman's Dancing Hours, except flat footed, so don't know if he was the modeler for this one. They were so popular & versatile, they were appropriated for other designs, even by other makers.

The bow brooch is a pretty thing. I don't recognize the image. I'm assuming it's marked 'Wedgwood'? Despite the somewhat feminine appearance, to my eye it looks more like Apollo, with influence from the Apollo Belvedere. Definitely gender ambiguous under close examination, but I expect figure reads as female from ordinary viewing distance. 'Classically styled female' may be the only ID. Even the Wedgwood Museum is vague when it comes to assigning an identity to most subjects.

 

Here is the back of both pieces.
I can't make out the British marks, but it tests sterling.
Also, I use these little rubbery earring backs on all my pins to safeguard them from loss. Sadly, I've lost a few brooches in the past, so this helps alot!

 

Great idea! Where do you get them?

 

Unquestionably Wedgwood. I don't know what the additional letters mean; some of it is probably year.

You could make a new post in the silver forum & ask for help with the hallmarks.

Earring guard for brooches an excellent idea. Older pieces sometime have had a stickpin clutch added to the pin stem for the same purpose.

 

From a craft store. You get like 100 for a couple of dollars.