Featured Very old worn cameo ring

Can anybody help give me any information on this cameo ring?

I found it amongst my late grandmothers belongings and wondered if it could be her mothers before hers etc. It looks as though it was worn everyday for years and years, possibly at work. The face has been worn down a lot so have the little bits of silver that hold the cameo in place. These are definitely worn down from something rather than broken. There is no silver stamp, but I'm sure it definitely is silver.

Grandmothers Cameo by Amanda Rackham posted Mar 22, 2020 at 2:44 PM

Grandmothers Cameo by Amanda Rackham posted Mar 22, 2020 at 2:44 PM

Grandmothers Cameo by Amanda Rackham posted Mar 22, 2020 at 2:44 PM

Grandmothers Cameo by Amanda Rackham posted Mar 22, 2020 at 2:44 PM

I am interested in the history of this for my own personal gratification, if you can help I would be much obliged. Thank you

 

Hi Amanda!

Welcome to Antiquers............

I'll tag @Bronwen.....she's the cameo expert.

 

I like the setting


This is the closest I could find to the setting. This one dates to around 1900. But, of course, that is just the setting.

 

That setting looks like some of the Middle Eastern work that I've seen.

 

This is an instructive find, if it has been dated correctly. The helmet shell cameo of the pretty lady type is so eroded & so common across a long stretch of time, it is no useful in dating the ring, which is what Amanda (welcome!) hopes to do. There is not really a cameo question here; it's the elaborate mount that needs to be understood. Not sure whether it would be considered cannetille work. Very pretty & unusual piece & obviously much loved. Figuring out how many generations of the family will also require knowing the life dates of the grandmothers. But we need the eyes of those who know jewellery in a broader way than I do.

 

An intriguing ring, Amanda. Do you know if your grandmother or great-grandmother traveled?

Agree, if you include Asia Minor.
That very tight filigree work is rarely seen in Europe, but it is in some parts of Asia, including Turkey. My guess is ca 1920s Turkey, if @Bronwen would agree that the cameo could date from that era. If the ring is Turkish, the cameo was most likely made in Italy, and traded to Turkey.

 

The setting is gorgeous, I would think European Arts & Crafts with those twisted wire tubes. But very different from the more ethnic looking filigree ring Amanda found among her grandmother's treasures.

 

Cameo is 1920s-30s probably, given that we know some of the provenance & the degree of wear. Neapolitan cameo cutters exported tons of these & no doubt would have sent them anywhere requested. Would Turkey & region have requested them? Guess you never know. I have that 1930s Egyptian ring with an ancient Roman banded glass intaglio in it.

 

Turkey would, from the 19th century onwards they were very European oriented. The last sultans loved European culture and introduced a constitution with many Western elements. And many of the 1920s-30s reforms under Kemal Atatürk were inspired by Western culture and democracy. He was born in Thessaloniki, btw, a very cosmopolitan city throughout its history.

 

If its around 1920s that would definitely date it to my great-grandmother. How wonderful that this was potentially treasured by my grandmother all of the probably 30 years she has been gone for. I shall definitely be showing my mum when this awful virus allows us to spend time together again, certainly enquiring of their travels.

She was well travelled, but as far as I'm aware I've never heard Turkey mentioned. Thank you all, I'll update the thread in due course.

 

Beautiful setting. It looks very unusual