@Bronwen, would an imposter piece such as potentially this one you mention still have the crack in the foremost girl's neck, and the crushed thumb on the hand held above her head?? Just in learning mode here!!!!
Good observation & good evidence that what Christie's sold was indeed wax & they were not bamboozled by one of these extremely good replicas. Having observed numerous inaccuracies in descriptions of cameos offered by the major auction houses, I have little enough faith in them. I would have none left for Christie's if their 'experts' had fallen for what the Antiques Roadshow guy recognized as fake. These pieces are ubiquitous, & taken for what they appear to be more often than not.
The piece is decidedly not Russian - the inscription is not in Cyrillic at all. I do not know the size of the token or medal from the image, alas, but can aver it is not of Russian origin, quite surely.
Thanks for taking a look. The other medallions that are embedded into the reverses of the faux marble plaques are copies of genuine works that had absolutely nothing at all to do with the images on the obverses, so there is at least a fair chance that this St. Petersburg mark is also copied from something genuine, if misappropriated.
Just came across two new products from this elusive maker: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...0034/lot-575af1e9-77d4-4187-b035-aba50103fd07 http://www.ebay.com/itm/164001302905
And currently on eBay...Medallion on the back is the Paris exhibition... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Paris-Expo...171989?hash=item2f443adfd5:g:BAIAAOSw5v9eUTfL I have two of the small boxes and love them for their look and style. Interesting to finally learn a bit about them, even if it is confusing!
Welcome, amateurhour. Welcome to my own personal rabbit hole. Thanks for the link to the listing. I save photos for reference & sometimes for convincing a seller like this that they have a very nice faux marble & faux bronze wall decoration. Probably should just send them to Antiques Road Show, cuz why should they believe me? This one is pernicious because the medal on the back & the inscription on the front go together. There are others just like it with a different, unrelated medal on the back, making it easier to recognize that something's not right. The products of this company intrude now & then on the thread devoted to cameos. If you pick up here CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer you will see another recent case. It is tagged to kyratango because she has also tried to research the matter for me, but she won't mind if you read it too. There are additional posts on the subject sprinkled through subsequent ones. If you like the boxes, you may enjoy the cameo thread in general.
