Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Hard stone mass produced ultrasound cut stones seem to be common.This article talks about shell ultrasound cameo carving, about 2/3's down the page. https://www.antiquetrader.com/collectibles/faces-give-clues-to-cameos-age-materials

 

Thank you, Holly. The article is riddled with inaccuracies, but the photo of ultrasonically worked shell is very interesting. I'm not home at the moment, but want to check the Miller book to see if this is quite correct: "In her 1991 book, “Cameos: Old & New,” Anna M. Miller wrote that at that time it was estimated that as many as eighty-percent of cameos were being machine-cut by ultrasound in Germany and Japan." The German cameos would be the hardstone ones.

 

Gosh,I hope I haven’t opened a can of worms here!. Nothing wrong with ultrasonic as long as the buyer knows that’s what it is and pays accordingly. The issue as I see it would be if it is then sold on as hand carved.
There is a similar problem with sellers glazing labels onto blank old pots such as Keiller Marmalade pots and then selling them. Nothing wrong as long as it’s declared but they are then being sold on to the unwary as the genuine article.

 

@Bronwen I’m considering buying a cameo very similar to the one on your avatar. To me it looks like the Capitoline Aphrodite/Venus but I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about it.

 

Not a can of worms, a very good question. I just read Anna Miller's section on ultrasonic cutting & she is speaking strictly about hardstone cameos. The figure of 80% was the estimate of one of her German informants. By contrast, she says the only electrical tool used by shell cutters is a dental drill. Shell cameo manufacturers will make the same design again & again, but pieces will have the variations natural to hand work. The German & Japanese ultrasonic pieces are cut using a template, so are identical.

Think the people buying ultrasonic hardstone are buying what they like at an affordable price & are not overly concerned with the production method.

 

Think she is the Capitoline Venus. Mine is by Filippo Tignani, rectangular, set in a ring.

 

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...aign=auction-alert&utm_content=lot-image-link

 

An 18k gold pendant for 200 Euro is a pretty nice deal. The cameo? It's a nice frame!

 

A modern oval cameo brooch in white metal frame
Auctioneer's estimate 20 GBP - 30 GBP
Additional fees apply 27.54% Inc.VAT/sales tax
Hammer price 130 GBP

'Danbiere' strikes again.

 

In its defense, it's pretty. Sometimes people pay for Pretty.

 

These seem to be virtually irresistible. Even when correctly described they still easily sell for $100+.

Love the way auctioneer used 'modern' as a euphemism for 'artificial'.

 

While on the subject, out of curiosity, just bought this one at a throwaway price.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unmounte...ee2-4f81-825d-8f740fe577ce#vi__app-cvip-panel

 

Now you'll have the chance to handle one of these, compare the feel of the surfaces to that of hand cut hardstone, & report back. The process described in the Miller book leaves a texture that reminded her of snow.

 

Looks like it was sand blasted after being carved.

 

I’ll inspect it & report back.

 

As Miller describes it, based on info provided by a maker of the equipment, the whole process is similar to sandblasting, with an abrasive being what is actually in contact with the stone surface, leaving a matte surface.

 

I’m gutted.
Just missed these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Edwardia...rksid=p2504926.m5232.l9681#vi__app-cvip-panel
I thought I had 5 min left but when I tried to bid it came up that the auction has ended.
I think the cameos predate the findings and are much older, maybe even Georgian.

 

Awww. Surprised they did not go higher. Because of screwbacks I suppose. I agree the cameos predate the findings. They're lovely little things, worthy of being bezel set in gold & suspended as pendant earrings. Unusual to see 2 shell cameos so well matched.

 

My Capitoline Venus has arrived.



I know, she has some scuff marks but I can’t see them without magnification and she was so reasonably priced that I couldn’t resist.
The cameo was listed as a doublet but it’s made out of a single stone. There are also some natural veins in the stone which I don’t find distracting because with my eyesight I can hardly see them.

 

Nice!