Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Looks like. Rigor mortis, maybe?

 

Hello!

I would apreciate your thoughts on those two cameos.
Thanks

 

I think they are extremely eroded. I know less about antiquities than about cameos from the 18th century & later, but I see some resemblance in the square one, maybe in both, to an image that appears on many coins & some cameos, Alexander with the horns of Ammon (Ammun). If you do an Internet search you will see lots of examples. Here's one:



It would be helpful to know where they originated. Most ancient cameos & intaglios were used as ring stones, are oval & quite small. Larger size can be an indicator the stone is not authentic; the square shape of the one is also cause for caution. It is very hard to judge the stones used from the photos. They do not appear to be any of the chalcedonies that were the stone of choice (or maybe just the stone that survived the ages best) for gems of the classical period. These look grainy & soft. Are they actually molded clay? You'd be surprised how far back they were mass producing engraved gems. I have a glass one c. 1st cent. CE that is just like ones in the Getty & a few other collections.

Without any more info, that's all I can say.

 

I see different possibilities in the square one depending on which photo I look at. The heavy rounded jaw also reminds me of Antinous:



In the last photo the thick neck is more like many Roman emperors, such as Nero:



Knowing where the pieces came from would help narrow the universe of possible images.

 

@Bronwen
Sorry for not replying instantly.
I am on the move and I shall address all the questions you raised in about an hours time.
The stones were supposedly dug out here in present day Serbia, a birth place of 13 roman rulers I think, so that doesnt really narrows anything down.

 

Means we don't have to think Sassanian. And out of all the Roman emperors that ever were, 13 are not so many. Of course, may not be a local boy made good.

In conversations with the only person I know who has expertise in ancient coins & gems, the matter of genuine v. fake has come up often. If I ask him about something listed for sale, usually he says he can't tell. If there is any uncertainty about the provenance, afraid I am far from qualified to render an opinion on that point.

I'm not home either & need to move to other things shortly. Let's see if anyone else weighs in.

 

Oh... ok Cheers!

 

https://imgur.com/a/vG0Tz
10 k cameo ring i was given from my dad it was his great grandfathers ( my great great grand father ). other than that i know nothing about it . beautiful ring . if any of you guys have any input id be glad to hear it .

 

Hello barronvon, & welcome. I looked through the photos & comments for the ring's own thread & do not see anything I disagree with. Think it is overall quite a nice & somewhat unusual ring. Tiger's eye cameo rings with a generic Trojan War hero type are pretty common when described that way. But the carving is better than average, with good relief & definition. Clutteredcloset is right that the use of the shield shaped blank for a figure rather than a crest, & in this orientation, makes this stand out, as do the asymmetrical design with the lone stone, which you will need to have tested to get any good approximation of value. I'm inclined to think it is genuine as it is not improbably large & has been set to allow light through. I do or don't see the stone being held in the mouth/beak of something, depending on which photo I look at.

Agree with Any Jewelry that the diamond shaped mark indicates the maker & probably American; additional research may turn up who. Am I correct that there is something above the battleaxe-looking thing? Maybe a swan or a goose?

I am glad to hear that you wear it with no immediate plans to sell. Your primary question was about value. First, you need to know about the stone, as a diamond of any size has its own value independently of the rest of the piece. Once you are able to describe the ring accurately & completely, the best way to ascertain current value is to search on line, particularly eBay & similar, for other similar things that have been sold. Do not be misled by asking prices or reports of professional appraisals, which have typically been made 'for insurance purposes' & are highly inflated.

The ring's greatest value is one that cannot be quantified in dollars: it is that it has been handed down now for several generations. It would be nice if it continued to move through time remaining in hands & on fingers for which it is a treasure.

 

Thank you for the input !! and yes above the axe looks like a duck or swan in the zoomed in picture but you can not see any of that with the naked eye, i was only asking about value out of curiosity and if it was worth too much id quit wearing it to preserve it ( would likely keep wearing it anyway , i love the interesting look of it ). it will not be sold . it will be passed down to my children , im the 4th generation to own it , dont want to stop that now . i think it is very unique because in my independent research i have not seen another tigers eye cameo quite like this with the gold work and extra stone . Again thank you very much for the input !

 

Do be careful with it though. Cameos, even stone ones, make lousy ring stones & easily get bashed, particularly pinkie rings. Probably you already do this, but a good idea to remove it when anticipating hands may take a beating. Otherwise, enjoy!

 

I adore cameos..... I chose them by how pretty the woman is in the cameo first, then price. These are some.....
I bought the above cameo, huge, for $18 at an antique show. The metal is some sort of base metal, but I love the carving work.




The above is a Christmas present from my husband and my favorite cameo. It is a rendering of Venus of Padua. I have more......

 

Hello, Marko, thank you for sharing a few of your lovelies with us. The first one is a rather abstract mother of pearl rendering of the second, which is a very nice helmet shell cameo of the Three Graces for $18. (Don't you just love making those kind of finds!)

The angel is genuine mother of pearl, but these seem to be mass produced, cut mechanically by some means; I have one like her set in a ring and have seen many others that match it line for line.

A couple of nicely set helmet shell pretty ladies, followed by my favorite, the conch shell earrings, embellished with marcasites, with cameos of Ariadne, who, after helping Theseus to escape the labyrinth and Minotaur, then being abandoned by him on the island of Naxos, was given in marriage by the gods to the wine god Dionysus/Bacchus.

And, of course your favorite, who is indeed Venus (as is my avatar). Nice that your husband knows that one goddess deserves another.

 

Thanks, didn't know those were Ariadne! I have a gorgeous Diana cameo, I thought I had a picture of it, doesn't seem I do.....

 

It's not always clear whether they are Ariadne or an anonymous bacchante, but this figure wreathed in ivy with the hair bound up in that particular way is identified as Ariadne in the catalogue of Tassie's impressions. Here is one example snipped out from many:



Diana's one of my favorites, so I have a number with her. Looking forward to seeing yours.

 

I am currently searching for the original image behind this cameo. It is not likely to be the cameo cutter's own composition. Thought maybe Thorvaldsen, but so far that path has led nowhere. Just sticking it in here to demonstrate that cameos are not always pretty. Cupid about to sacrifice a goose, although when Cupid engages in adult activities, I always see him as merely playing at it.

 

found one recently but could be plastic cos it is very light

 

With only photos to go by, I would have guessed glass, with some paint added for contrast, now mostly worn away. But if you think it is lighter in the hand than it should be, then plastic really the only other alternative. The paint is likely to be water soluble. Fortunately cameo does not look in need of cleaning.

This image always makes for an attractive cameo, even in man made material. It looks quite a lot like many depictions of Apollo, but the underlying image is the Angel Gabriel in a Raphael painting. Because it can be seen as Apollo, some cameo cutters have seen the possibility of making it his sister Artemis/Diana by adding her signature crescent.

 

Thanks, Bronwen.