Featured Costume cameo brooch, early plastic. Please help id material and period.

A sweet floral 'cameo' brooch that hitched a ride with some other jewellery.
I know very little about costume jewellery, so any insights are welcome.
I know it is an early plastic, but which one? I see early plastic cameos described as Bakelite, but is it?
It is 5x4cm, 1.96x1.57".



I held it under a hot tap, couldn't smell much, but that could be my sinuses playing up. If you'd force me to describe the smell, I would say medicinal but only very faint. If my nose is right, that would mean a formaldehyde based plastic.
I read about the simichrome test, but I can't get that here.
There are tiny chips off the inner (cameo part) edge, and tiny scratches, hardly noticeable.


There is a seam running along the side, and a small protrusion on one side.


The back is slightly convex, and if this is the original position of the pin, it was made for a left-handed person.
It could have been re-glued, it isn't straight and the glue is a bit sloppy.


And any ideas of the period? 1920s-30s?

Thank you for looking.

 

No, it is just what is left over from pouring the plastic into a mold, or pressing the plastic.

 

Bakelite was carved, not molded and I see mold lines around the edge.

The pin back is not that old, my guess would be 1950s-60s, but wait for others to chime in. I bet @Bronwen will know

 

Thanks Marie.

 

I agree that it's not bakelite, but for future reference, folks report (I haven't tested it) that baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) can be used to test for bakelite. http://bunnyfindsvintage.blogspot.com/2015/09/testing-bakelite-with-baking-soda-no-way.html

Oh, and the smell test has never worked for me.

 

The smell test doesn't work for me either. I rely on Simichrome and the clunk sound it makes

 

Once you get past Celluloid, Bakelite & the other synthetics inspired by them (just ran into 'Tuskeloid' today) everything else is just generically known as 'resin', the exact polymer of no great interest. It looks like it takes its look from earlier cameos that had a jet frame with either a carved jet cameo or one molded in Vulcanite/similar made as a separate piece & held in place with glue or something like a brad.

The pin assembly was designed to go the other way up, in the right orientation for a right hander, attached at or near the center of the back with a screw, tack, etc. Someone who was not a jeweller glued this one on.

The fact that the sprue was not removed completely says this was an inexpensive piece from the beginning.

That's my guess too. Late 50s earliest. Really could be no older than the time it takes to get that degree of wear. It would still look quite pretty worn on plain black.

 

I agree with everything that Bronwen said (a safe bet with cameos, I know!).

I have something very similar in type, but a woman's head is on it instead of flowers. Bought it years ago via eBay from somebody who had bought a load of "new old stock" that had been stored for years. The seller said that she(?) had dozens of these in original packages. I believe the seller thought they were from the 1960s. That was back when I was buying lots of cameos and similar items in order to educate myself about the different materials by inspecting them in hand. I always rather liked the one I bought. It is unmounted, like this one, and has a cheap pinback. I've worn it many times.

 

Here's mine of the same era (probably a bit later)... I've gotten rid of a LOT of costume jewelry, but this one stays with me along side some really nice pieces... and some very silly stuff.

However, as a left-hander, now I kind of wish the pin back had been put on upside down.

 

Yours is the Three Graces, a very popular subject.

 

Aw, shucks.

 

Thanks for the link, Jivvy.
And I am glad I don't have to do the smell test in future, I have a bad reaction to formaldehyde and, to a lesser extent, dairy (for casein based plastics, even the smell).

 

Thanks Bronwen.
I considered posting it in the cameo thread, but thought it too humble. And humble it is.
It hitched a ride with some other jewellery, including a black coral bracelet which the seller thought was wood, 5 euro for the lot, so no harm done. I've seen them sell for more, and the bracelet and other 'stuff' is certainly worth more.

Right, off it goes, and back the right way up, without blobs of glue. My hands have been itching, but I thought I'd wait until someone who knows more about costume jewellery gave me the go ahead.

 

It has been known to happen.

 

Thank you for the date Marie, Fig and Bronwen. And a not so early plastic, so resin it is.
I agree, it is a pretty style, and from a distance you could even mistake it for the real deal. I could wear it on a winter coat, without having to be scared of damage or theft. But it will probably be listed (at some stage).