Featured Jewel Lot Several Pieces I Need Help With

Hi,
I bought these jewel pieces today and need help with some of them.
Any information appreciated.
Thanks for looking
#1 is the Cameo, marked Made In Czechoslovakia on the clasp, 2 1/4"L x 1 3/4"W. The black is paint - is that usual? Maybe 1920s?#1 is the Cameo, marked Made In Czechoslovakia on the clasp, 2 1/4"L x 1 3/4"W. The black is paint - is that usual? Maybe 1920s?

# 2 is this enamel and gold colour pin with a snake, mother of pearl underneath the snake. Persian Turquoise for the eyes? Any ideas on where or when it was made? It is 1 1/4" x 1 3/4"

 

The snake piece is awesome!

 

Agreed - Sssssssssimply sssssspectacular!

 

Love the snake brooch. The catch is a replacement of what was probably a "C" catch, the tube hinge was used up until the 1890's, but I don't know when it was first used.
The left eye of the snake appears to be a replacement, it's quite a bit larger than the right. If you can't match the size up, I would consider replacing them both, a red or green glass stone could look good.

 

The cameo is 1910s/1920s or thereabouts, brass and glass. They weren't rare, but a lot didn't survive. The red pin is 50s. The box looks like tortoiseshell. It couldn't be sold here in the US unless it's museum to museum or the like. The honker on the right looks like a cairngorm or at least a wannabe. I can't see the rest well enough to guess. The 50s piece is the baby of the bunch however, from what is visible.

 

Thanks baker, aaron and Sandra! I like the snake too.
Sandra, Yes, I thought the eyes looked different, I won't try to replace them though, it probably wouldn't end well if I did Good to know about the 'catch', thank-you!

 

Thanks evelyb30, I've never seen a glass cameo before!
A Pique tortoise shell brooch

this next one I'm pretty sure is Vulcanite
And this big piece is Scottish I assume, 2 3/4" diameter, the stone is 1 1/4"diameter no marks on it

 

I just found the same cameo on Ebay - so they would have been done in a mold then?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-AR...582266?hash=item1eca642f7a:g:ObIAAOSwnK9ZVYrN

 

Lovely Lot.

 

Thanks cluttered!

 

What an interesting lot. Some truly older and beautiful items. The snake brooch is really unusual. Love it!

 

Absolutely! I'm wondering if it's cloisonné? Great looking piece!

 

Very nice cx. Like the others I love the snake brooch.
I would leave the eyes as they are, you probably don't notice it in real life.
I like the little piqué tortoise shell bee brooch as well, very pretty. Is it real tortoise shell or stained horn?

Yes, they were made in a mold. Similar ones are still made in molds

It is champlevé, rather than cloisonné. In champlevé the design is either cut out of the metal, or the metal is cast with raised partitions, and filled in with enamel.
In cloisonné very thin metal strips or wires are soldered onto a metal base. But when a piece is not handmade, you usually don't use either term, enamelled is fine.

The Scottish brooch is a copy of the classic silver and Cairngorm plaid pins. A favourite souvenir. Cairngorm is name for various stones from the Cairngorm mountains, mostly smoky quartz and citrine.
These brooches are still being made, some of them with old-fashioned tube hinges, like this one. This is the real McCoy:

 

The cameo, as has already been observed, is molded glass. The glass is white; it had to be painted to give the illusion of a hardstone cameo. Be very, very careful if you have any thought of cleaning it. Would not be surprised if the paint is water soluble.

Czechoslovakia was not Czechoslovakia until 1918, so that puts a floor under the date. Going by the hinge, length of pin stem & guarded clasp on the brass setting, I would say 1920-30s

The figure is Psyche:

http://cameotimes.com/index.php/profiles-1/minor-gods/psyche

 

[Thanks for all the replies folks!
QUOTE="Any Jewelry, post: 298655, member: 2844"]Is it real tortoise shell or stained horn?[/QUOTE] the photos are taken with light behind it, so I thought tortoise shell. Would stained horn look the same? I'll have a look around to see what I can find.

great information, thank-you!
Yes, I agree the Scottish pin is probably a souvenir piece.

thanks Bronwen, good to know. I'm just working on cleaning the metal around it.

 

AJ, do you have any thoughts on where this might have been made?

 

Anywhere in the Western world, really. I got a French vibe from it, but I could be totally wrong. Others know more about costume jewellery than I do.
I like the way the scale motif is in the mop-like plaque underneath the snake, and the snake itself is reticulated. It is like it is shedding it's old skin, a symbol of renewal of life. A snake is a symbol of eternity.

 

I think we should get @kyratango in on this.

 

Hum, really don't know if it is French or other country
But sure it is a cracker
My fav is of course the piqué turtle shell, because of the fly! BZZ BZZ

 

Knew you'd like that one.