Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

The owners of that site are Oxford University's Classical Art Research Center, which I think is connected with the Ashmolean Museum. I would be surprised if they are not already quite aware of the sale. Think they keep on top of major auctions of engraved gems; they may even have been consulted about some of these. It's conceivable they will be in the bidding, although I have the impression they are just as strapped for funds as other cultural institutions these days.

 

To see all 40 gems in the Christie's sale:

https://www.christies.com/SaleLanding/index.aspx?intsaleid=28329&lid=1&saletitle=#lot_6199212

 

I alert someone at CARC if I find one of the Poniatowski gems on the market. They are not 'antique' (Imperial Roman or earlier); they were commissioned in the 18th century. Most of them depict scenes from classical mythology & CARC has been trying to build a data base with photos & current location. They already know about these:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...13&_nkw=poniatowski&_sacat=281&LH_TitleDesc=0

I have found a couple that had been lost track of. One was for sale on 1stdibs. Saw this one at a show. Seller knew it was a Poniatowski but hadn't done the little bit of research it took to figure out which one. They had no image for at all for this one, not even a plaster impression.

http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/05833414-D2BA-468C-BFE1-3BE649F3963B


They had an impression of this one; no photo of the gem itself. Offered for sale by the same dealer, again unidentified:

http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/51107662-F988-4DCC-82B1-8BC2AE29F5C7


It's very satisfying when I can contribute a little to the field, even if I don't have a PhD.

 

Oooh... I badly want this grasshoper
And the Aphrodite admiring her bums...

 

MINE! Actually, there is a piece coming up at auction next month that will not be cheap but that I could still manage if it doesn't get too crazy, that is one of my ladies in hardstone, signed by the same engraver who did my avatar. Auction house description has some errors: doesn't have the name quite right (good for me); pretty sure is misreading the date & making it 60 years older than it is (bad for me); says it is chipped when I think it is not (good for me). Auction not for a month. It it produces any news, you'll hear it here first.

 

We've now passed 25,000 views for this thread. We're closing in on this one:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/recognize-the-jewelry-mark.1417/

which has the most views of any thread in the jewellery forum.

 

Fingers crossed for you!

 

It's funny that one has so many views, especially because it's not even currently being used and is not anchored to the top of the forum. But I guess people hope that it includes an encyclopedia of marks. Now I've just added another view to it by looking at it.

 

I knew posting it would move the goal post just a little farther. I have the same take on it, that people looking for marks info still find it, because it does continue to gather views little by little. We're doing it faster here, so should be top of the chart any day now. Hope people find this thread worth looking through.

 

Definitely worthy

 

Merci, ma chère.

 

They seem to... although I haven't gone back to look at many of the older ones.

 

It is getting a bit unwieldy. I was thinking more of any newcomers with an interest in cameos, even if they just scroll through to look at photos, stopping to read only if they see something relevant. And searching the site for anything to do with cameos stands a chance of leading the seeker to something in these pages. Those of you who check in regularly have been learning to assess the cameos you come across more knowledgeably, which is what I hoped the thread would do.

 

Mission accomplished!

 

So very worth looking through!

 

And, a unique opportunity to see so much drunk putti!

 

Do you like this cameo, I

 

Base. Although I do not collect cameos, I could not walk away from this one at an antique fair a few years ago. Years of pleasure gleaned. Alas, not signed.

 

A beautiful detailed carving

 

It is indeed.