Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Hello, LucyLocket. I'm confident the figure is female, although not one with a specific identity. I agree with @Figtree3 about the time frame, sometime in the era around WWII, maybe even from the war. I have been told people used to come to where Allied troops were stationed in Italy at the end of hostilities & offer cameos for sale to the soldiers. This one was set in Italy, probably in 800 silver. The cameo itself was cut in helmet shell.

 

Any idea of who or what this might be? We were out in NJ today and saw it but didn't want to make an offer until I got some ideas from you all There is some writing on the back that looks like J&H L Tryon (it my also be Tryan) there is some print below that I cant make out. Will do the hour drive back if it is work my while (they are asking $139.98) Thanks All!!

 

This is also being offered on eBay for $149. (Listing says item is in Atlanta?) It is Achilles, although cutter may have been thinking Athena. It's not a good piece, no matter what it says on the back. (Reads like a dealer's mark, not a signature.) Certainly not worth $140. What I think it's worth is not an offer the seller would accept if they're going for this much. The Bonham's cameo is much better & also appears to be set in gold. It still reached a surprisingly high price.

 

Your right this is the one from Ebay(I took so many pictures put them in one folder on the PC and forgot to note where each one was)... I was out today in NJ looking at quite a few... some had signatures.... this was curious but not what I normally would go for. Thanks for the heads up!! I was surprised at how many I looked at today.. makes one head spin. Lucky hubby keeps me on a tight leash when we go antiquing Or I'd take half the vendors home with me (Cited from: https://www.antiquers.com/threads/cameos-show-tell-or-ask-answer.23493/page-242)

 

The original of this Achilles was by an engraver named Grew. This is a plaster impression of that gem:



I have one in my collection that is also not the highest example of the art, but it is signed by Luigi Michelini, a known engraver from the first half of the nineteenth century. He seems to have signed everything he ever did. He eventually became quite accomplished & began to work in hardstone. Pieces like this one I assume to be earlier work.

 

Not the usual fare here but I thought you might like to see it nonetheless. Also, can you verify for me that this is Athena?

 

Yes, Athena. Is she drawn on, not etched in? Trying to figure out what happened to her nose. Pretty piece.

 

Maybe the baby in the tintype got to the cameo? (LOL)

 

LOL Evelynb! It does look to be unhappy about the whole thing.



maybe these will help. She is raised.

 

Ah, I thought she was flat. Carved in relief, so every inch a cameo. Very nice case for the baby's formal portrait.

 

The baby photo is a carte de visite, BTW, not a tintype. CDVs normally were not put into that type of case but sometimes people cut them down and did it. Or if the case was large enough they wouldn't have to cut the card mount. Have you ever taken the picture out, @Pattywithay ? Occasionally an older image will be behind a newer one.

Because of the oval around the image of the baby, I would date the CDV to the 1870s.

And I love the case cover! Very nice. It dates from about 10 years earlier than the baby photo, I think.

By the way, the case could be damaged if the parts are not taken apart carefully. And the metal mat and preserver could be dented. So I'm not advocating taking it apart. Just asking.

 

Thanks for all the info and dating Figtree. Yes, it’s a CDV and I have taken it out. Handwritten on the case behind it says 8 month picture. I may have a tintype that will fit it but that baby is so cute! I think the shell may be on bone but not sure about that. Unfortunately it is missing a couple pieces of shell.

 

It’s pretty big. Measures about 5 by 3.75 inches.

 

Oh, so the back is covered in leather with a gold-stamped trim, and the shell is on the front and sides? That is very interesting.

And the baby is very cute! That facial expression!

 

Yes the back is leather.

 

It all looks like mother of pearl to me, no bone.

 

I think she is my first cameo with a signature (the pin is missing).. but unfortunately I can't read the signature.. CiaroSale ? Something similar ? Thank you for taking a look..

 

I see it the same way you do. She is the Muse Erato.

 

Thank you, I was wondering who might be..

 

Hello,

I just joined today to ask for help identifying a mark on a suspected piece of platinum. As I refreshed the page hoping for a reply, this cameo thread popped up, so I thought I’d share. This pendant / brooch St Anthony cameo in 800 silver came from the same jewelry buy as the plat chain in question.