Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

While I would be quite happy to give it a home here. It looks like the gem that is impression #2594 in the Tassie collection:

 

I think I'm being kind when I say maybe someone was TRYING to do a caricature cameo??????????????????

 

I love that particular blackamoor stickpin!!! Although he's got quite a divot under his left eye! He's just appealing.....is that a mask in/on his head gear???

 

If you mean that bit right at the center of the band, I think it is just decorative, although I can see how it gives that impression. 'Blackamoors' are more often than not depicted as royalty, a European idea of royalty.

 

Maybe it was like this?

 

Sorry! Somehow I missed all of your posts on the topic!

I've been thinking what to do, but I'm not sure about a full repaint -- I think all of the face details (such as they are) are in the paint only (will take a closer look).

I did think about doing some touch up and using a different wacky background color.

Not sure where I will land.

 

My goodness, he really is a fun one!

 

Seriously... I dunno. Certainly a possibility.

 

You're being far too kind. I call these hatchet faces because they look like they were cut with a hatchet.

 

just curious: were there any soapstone cameos carved by the cameo masters? there certainly are quite a few out there labelled as antique or vintage.

 

'Soapstone', 'alabaster' & 'marble' are terms that get used informally for more than one type of stone, all of them pretty soft. I would not want to say that there was never, ever any such work, but none of them has been the material of choice for cameos, maybe because they offer the worst of both worlds: harder than shell, so more work to cut; not as durable as any of the quartzes or the gem stones, more prone to wear, fracture & scratching. Most of what is called 'lava' has similar properties, but also the advantage of being a location-specific souvenir for the region around Vesuvius.

The original purpose of intaglios, where the design is engraved down into the stone, was for use as a seal; color was less important than hardness & any metaphysical properties attributed to the material. Cameos are decorative rather than functional. While there are monochromatic ones, stones with layers or patches of contrasting color have always been preferred for this purpose.

I sometimes see cameos described as being alabaster or marble; have yet to see one suitable for wear as jewellery I thought actually was, although some reliefs made for decor, such as some framed wall plaques, do appear to be one or the other of these stones, as well as plaques, principally from France, frequently of religious subjects, that are described as meerschaum or 'pipe clay'.

 

Another cameo found in my wife's treasure box, mounted on red gold very thin.


And some specific swiss hand work staying alive in certain places but with bone now and sold more as souvenirs, here it's typical from swiss carving (underand over the cameos) and they were a lot of small animals too made with those art nouveau pendants photographed here.
They were bought with other items "new", never used and in original condition, luckily well preserved and no cracks.
The girl at left is made in the spirit of the Pomone used at this time on many ceramics etc…


On the pictures I've put an oriental pendant together with the swiss one just as a curiosity, this is the symbolic use of a monkey in my opinion which is used here.

 

thank you!! i have made chinese name seals from soapstone but that was a long time ago. since i have just found my stash of extra stones, i was wondering what to do with them: perhaps a new year's project?

 

The Flora cameo is gorgeous. The chances are slim, but have you checked the back for a signature? Sometimes you have to try angling a piece different ways to the light to spot one.

I have seen bone, or some I think are antler, similar to this, although most commonly with woodland/hunting scenes on them. It would be of interest to see the back of these. How were the bails attached?

Love the monkey. Is it a brooch? Does she have striations/grooves etched into the surface to suggest fur?

 

An excellent project. There is no reason soapstone could not be used for cameos, just as it is used for the Chinese intaglio seals. You must remember to show us if you do proceed with this endeavor.

 

This one appeared on eBay in the last few days:





http://www.ebay.com/itm/233089465720

 

This is not a swiss one, the back is not good and the quality is really not as fine, the bone when used id treated like ivory and very white, certainly cleaned with ammonia and oxygenated water(H2O2), the brooches with hunting scenes are more coming from germany, but you can found a lot of souvenir jewels with swiss towns names engraved with a very fine piercing and carving work, they are flowers too, roses, edelweiss etc…
The bails are just cut behind at the under part and then opened to mount on the medallion, the monkey is a pendant as you can see, there are cuts made to simulate the fur, not so finely carved than some others items but a good quality.

 

I came across this interesting jewelry artist who uses old cameos in her work and just thought I'd share.

https://annaporcu.com/

 

I’ve seen those leather bracelets but with an old cut steel belt buckle instead of a cameo. Both work very well

 

The leather isn't really my cup of tea but I do like some of the settings she has done. Regardless, it's nice to think that some lovely loose cameos are getting a new life.