Cameo Signature Help Needed

Signature help needed:



I'm not even sure what the 2 letters are.

 

I think the second letter is a W. Not sure about the first one, though. My first impression was G, but it also looks like L. Or other possibilities!

 

I can’t help with the signature but I like the cameo. Very unusual. Those two young people look like they are carving something on the tree trunk but what is that little creature doing down there?

 

I see GW, but the cameo is almost certainly Italian, not English or German, & W not used in Italian, not that it couldn't be someone whose family emigrated from a W-using country. My other thought is that the second letter is an N, written, like the G, in a lower case way, with a big swoop at the end.

 

Yes, I can see that as a possibility.

 

The scene is from Orlando Furioso, Angelica & Medoro writing their names on a tree. The creature is Cupid. There was a painting (think it's lost now) that was preserved in an engraving by Morghen. The Paoletti impressions include gems by Pestrini & Beltrami with the scene.



Pestrini's gem keeps Cupid hiding behind the tree, as in the print. Beltrami moved him to a spectator's position, sitting off to the side. My cameo follows Beltrami.

 

So that first "T" is exactly how my mom and I write the capital cursive "J" to me it looks like Juirtt.

 

We have seen a very T-like J with Mouhe, so good observation.

 

Thank you Bronwen. I’m off to read about Angelica & Medoro.

 

Since my brain keeps telling me it's a W, I prefer the idea of someone whose ancestry was from a W-using country.

 

If the cameo is turned 180 degrees, it could be read as Molz, Melz, Moly or Mely? The cameo subject and carving is beautiful. Great find!

 

@i need help Can you give me the link that produces the photo you pasted in here, of the front seen straight on? I was asked to see if I could find any other cameo examples of this scene for someone who is preparing a presentation on the subject of engraved gems with this theme.

Edit: Got it. Thanks!

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O113849/box-unknown/

 

It's going to make the day of a woman in Milan who is taking her mind off serious health problems by digging into this project, think for a virtual conference. The V&A example is great because it follows the Pestrini gem while mine follows the Beltrami, giving her a cameo illustration of each, one in a museum. Couldn't be better.

 

She could use a touch of fortune. Usually I can't do anything but sympathize with her; it's nice to be able to do something substantive for her. Have already popped off a message to her.

 

A recent purchase had a added surprise. I bought this cameo because I liked the gentleman's abundant beard and wavy hair. He was a bit grimy when I received him.

But he cleaned up nicely.



The surprise was on the reverse.



A signature from one of the Neri brothers! It has the flourish underneath the signature.