Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Thank you guys

 

Cameo-spotting...
A book cover for "An epic family saga set in Victorian-era England".

 

Ponytail Girl strikes again!

 

They gave her a crown this time too
Queen of mass production

 

Queen Sarah of Coventry!

 

As we have discussed in the past, cameo prices can be all over the place. Two bidders drove up the price of this cameo.

 

Is it just me, or when you watch period dramas, do you look closely at the cameos? Most of the time it is ponytail girl or some other mass produced plastic junk. I wish the costumers would pay $20 for an antique cameo poorly carved instead of a plastic one.

 

It's not just you, and I whole-heartedly agree!

 

It's not only cameos! I love looking at the jewelry, pottery, glassware, clothes, cars...all kinds of things in old movies as well as period pieces

 

When the television drama Victoria was airing, I was always popping up & down to see what the Queen & the ladies around her were wearing at the throat. Sometimes a servant would be wearing something more period authentic than HM was.

 

Wonder if it was 2 bidders who actually believed the subject is Ganymede, the way cameos of Antinous can get driven up by bidders who do not otherwise buy cameos.

 

Who knows. The carving is not even very good.

That's another thing that irks me- when sellers describe a cameo incorrectly. In above case, if the person writing the description has done a 3 minute search, they would have known what the cameo subject was.

Last week, I came across a pair of cameo earrings. The seller (a high end NYC gallery) was asking $12,500 and the description was completely wrong. And of course, the earring weren't worth $12.5K.

 

Another one!

 

Today I was watching "Dr. Thorne", a period drama from Julian Fellowes, and two of the characters had on cameo necklaces. This time, at least the cameos were not plastic ponytail girl, but there were definitely not from the 1850s.

 

G**dwill find! Got lucky on this cameo, which I got in a lot with 2 silver brooches. Including shipping, the 3 pieces were $54.00. I was holding my breath at the end of the auction, hoping no one else would bid.

The cameo had lots of orangey "shellac", which I am still working to get off. The setting is silver and a replacement. There are cracks in the back that don't go to the front and vise versa. Bacchus looks mad because of the two frown lines between his eyes, which remind me of Bronwen's cameo of Emperor Nero.

 

Unusual look! And you have explained the reasons. I like it.

 

Score! What a great find. Wonder what the 'shellac' could be?

 

That man must breathe, sleep & eat that time period.

 

I have no idea. It isn't the normal grime I usually find on cameos. Here is the G**drill picture. The stuff was all over the toga folds, his hair and his face. It was really hard to remove. There is still alot between the lips.

 

Really! He gives a short narration before and after each of the 4 episodes, which is quite charming.