Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Your post was very helpful --especially knowing that its value is mainly in the gold setting and that hand carved cameos are not rare. I did an ebay search using your suggested words and it was quite informative. Thank you.

 

I'm adding one to each with this post, but this thread has had:

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Go Team Cameo!

 

Yes!

 

Thank you in advance for taking time to look at this cameo. Any information would be appreciated.
It is 2.25 inches long and 1 10/16 inches wide. I have been looking for marks, but do not see any--which seems odd. Is there a place with cameos that usually have marks? I did see one post where the maker was written on the back of the shell. I have not tried cleaning the back. If you suggest cleaning the back, could you Kindly recommend how to do this.

 

I am stumped, help, please. I picked this up in an antique mall a few years ago. The cameo is not resin; it is not celluloid. It may be a type of plastic? It's not glass. It is not cold to the touch.. It is all one color, no contrast. It is set in a silvertone setting, never discolors. Size 7, no markings. The cameo itself appears to be an Asian woman (I have one other shell cameo depicting an Asian woman, and have seen one other on the internet.)

Any thoughts on this piece? Anyone seen a similar one? I have not tried to clean the cameo. Thanks.

 

This is my other piece where I see Asian influences. Were cameos carved in Asian countries? Shell cameo, goldtone setting.

 

The vast majority of older & antique cameo jewellery pieces have no marks, neither on the cameo nor the mount. Newer pieces in gold or silver are usually marked for the metal fineness, but the cutters of the cameos remain anonymous.

I would say that when they are signed, cameos are more likely to have the signature + sometimes other info like location and/or date on the back. Some engravers do sign on the front, particularly the most accomplished workers in hardstone. The Saulinis did many portraits in shell & signed on the front.

The face of the cameo looks quite clean, so no urgent need for a bath. What is that white stuff on the back, can you tell? Adhesive from a sticker? I would not subject her to aggressive cleaning methods in the hope of finding a mark that is probably not there.

 

Thank you so much Bronwen. I would NEVER know that often cameos have no marks and would have kept looking and looking. So that information is tremendously helpful!!

I have no idea what stain is on back. What would be a gentle cleaning method--water? (I tend to ruin things so I want to be careful)

Is it possibly you could kindly tell me a short overview of what the piece is so I can search it online and on ebay.
I am very appreciative of your help.

 

'Resin' is just a catchall term for unidentified/unspecified plastic. The point is, she's molded, mass produced. That's one industrial grade setting.

I do not see either lady as Asian. The first very much needs a bath. If the grime were to be removed from her eye & her lips, she might look very different.

The second was hastily cut, with more attention paid to the hair than to any other part. The face is really just a sketch; the eye, a slash. I don't see Asian here, just the minimal indication of an eye.

I do sometimes see cameo women with what strike me as Asian eyes being offered by Asian sellers. However, if you do an eBay search for cameos for sale out of Asia, you'll see that the modern ones on offer have Western features most of the time.

 

You should always look very carefully at any new acquisition because you never know. Some signatures only show up if the cameo is held just so to the light, so tilt it this way & that. Many very beautiful cameos are unsigned; some mediocre ones are signed. Most are not signed at all.

She can safely be soaked in tepid water with a little dish washing liquid. I can't tell at all from the photo what the white is, so don't know if soaking will affect it. If it softens it up, maybe it can be scraped off with a fingernail? If it is unaffected, think you'll have to live with it. It does not look to me like scrubbing with a soft toothbrush would do any good.

Many sellers with pieces like yours will not describe them correctly but I turned up a good number on eBay using 'shell cameo 1930s' to search in the jewelry category. I would try it again substituting 1920s for 30s. Be sure to look at sold listings as well as current ones.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide such informative and detailed information. It is very kind of you take the time to do this. And I am very appreciative of all I learn by reading your posts.

Thank you for letting me know. I will keep looking.

Thank you so much for letting me know I can safely soak the piece. I would have never realized it would be Ok to do this. I think this may loosen the white stuff.

After reading your search terms and looking at ebay sold listings, should I assume that is nothing valuable or unusual about this cameo and that it is worth $30 at best.


Thank you again

 

Thank you!

 

Bronwen: I followed your instructions below--which I never would have known--and I was able to remove all the white stuff!! Thank you so much. The inside looks pretty. It was very nice of you to take the time to provide me with such helpful information about my cameo.

 

Much better!

 

Not sure how you arrived at that figure. The gold makes it worth 2-3 times that. Cameos that are in gold filled or 'gold colored' mounts are selling for $30. Take a look at sold listings for 'vintage cameo white gold' & order the list by most expensive first.

 

Wow! I am stunned. I thought it was pretty much worthless and was going to put it in the "junk pile." It never even occurred to me that it was gold or gold filled or even white gold --especially because there is no gold mark. (With the smaller cameo I posted recently, it never occurred to me it was gold and then I saw a 14k mark on the clasp. This made me realize I simply can't tell if something is gold by looking at it.) Previously, you wrote that some cameos do not have any marks, but I didn't realize that might include gold or silver marks. This is very exciting! Thank you so much. I will search on ebay for "vintage cameo white gold."
I am very appreciative of the time you take to share your incredible wealth of knowledge on cameos. I have learned so much from your detailed and informative posts.

 

oops, deleted.

 

My deep apologies for maybe getting your hopes up incorrectly. I was writing when I was sleepy & got tangled in which cameo was 'this cameo' because they are so similar. Got it now: cameo #1 is marked 14K; cameo #2 is not marked & is untested. You were asking about the value of #2.

I cannot tell by looking at it whether #2 is in gold or in base metal, it would have to be tested. If base metal, you were correct, similar cameos are selling in the $30 - 60 range. If gold, then value in the same range as cameo #1. It's a pretty & unusual mount, so may well be white gold.

 

I should have been clearer in my post differentiating between the two cameos. Your information is incredibly helpful -- that the base should be tested because it is impossible for me to know what it is by looking it at, and I should not assume it is just base metal--even if unmarked. One note, I did try a strong magnet test on the cameo #2 (not marked & untested) and it was not attracted to the magnet. I will have the base tested. The main thing I learned from this post is that I should not assume what a metal is simply by looking at it. Thank you for helping me realize this.

 

Obviously not vintage nor antique but of cameo interest.
A little background: I have two daughters, both adult now. A couple years ago, I commissioned a cameo of my younger daughter. (See it HERE.) This month, I commissioned a cameo of my older daughter and my granddaughter. I received it today and I am so pleased, it actually looks just like them!
It is set in gold over sterling silver. For anyone interested, cost was $550 US all inclusive. Message me if you’d like the email address of the carver in Italy.
My two custom cameos will long be family heirlooms.