Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

I started my web site because there are so many cameos out there & so little easily found info. I have expressed my opinion of most of the books available here & there throughout the forum Suffice it to say, I do not recommend most of them.

 

OHH, YUMMMY @Bronwen!!! Looks like you done did GOOD! She's Lovely!!!!

 

If this is one of your collection, Bronwen, let there never be any doubt about your exquisite taste!!!!!!!!!!! She's SO classic!!

 

AWWWW, sounds like Jivvy might collect all of the 'lil Orphan Annies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Absolutely LOVELY!!!!!

 

She is not one of mine, I'm afraid. I'm hopelessly biased toward mythological subjects, 19th century & earlier. The flappers are really rather rare & would make a worthy collecting interest.

 

For some reason, I am biased more toward the historical rather than the mythological, though there is some crossover.
Queen Victoria arrived in my meager collection this week and I love her! Currently, I have my eye on a hardstone George III but he's tiny and a wee expensive. I have a small collection of other British royalty stuff and this is a nice sideline!

 

Agreed... certainly not meerschaum, lol.

That is so cool, truly. But here is the ensuing conversation with Mr Jivvy...

ME: hey Mr. Jivvy look, at this cool thing!

HIM: I don't understand the process.

ME: Let me read Bronwen's site to you.

HIM: *listens patiently* *raised eyebrows*

ME: Let me read this other page on Bronwen's site.

HIM: *listens patiently* But is there some point in the process where they apply heat or pressure?

ME: *blink*

HIM: Isn't just loose sediment otherwise?

ME: *blink* *blink* *blink*

HIM: I'm just asking.

ME: *blink*

So, what is holding these puppies together???

 

Can someone tell if this is shell? I’m not familiar with cameos enough to be able to tell. The background looks almost grey.

 

Of course wee is much harder to do well than large, but we love large. Quality of engraving, condition, value of mount?

I paid sort of silly money for this very small one, for an obvious reason:



Credit where credit is due. I did not do the clicks needed to add the second photo & to make them large. Pontiac kept thwacking her tail on the left button. Better than when she lies on the desk with her head in the opposite direction; she sometimes keeps hitting the right button, with undesirable results.

 

Yes, helmet shell. Country scenes are common. However, they seem to be entirely up to the cutter, not copies of anything; I've never seen any two alike, although certain elements are conventional. I love ones with a lively goat. And the waterwheel is an unusual touch. Nice one for right price.

 

Not much. They are fragile & seem to be prone to crumbling a bit at the edges without trauma. Not much different from dried, unfired clay, really. The way they look on the back says to me the mold is filled with the mineral solution & allowed to dry:



If the drying were helped by time in an oven, don't think you would get so much settling of the particles or the crystals some develop. The particles of the top layer are very fine; I imagine they would compact down tightly.

For those who want to know more about the process of making these, the details Jivvy read to Mr. J. are here. I have never encountered, maybe because I have never looked for, one of their 'encrusted' pieces. They used the process on everything, including taxidermied animals they would describe as 'fossilized'. (OK Jivvy, a new quest for you.)

Now that I've pulled out one of mine, I see I have a challenge: the bezel & frame are a lovely shade of turquoise, while the shank of the ring & the supporting undercarriage have not oxidized. Unmarked, but must be low karat gold attached to brass; didn't know this was ever done. How to get rid of the verdigris? Can't use anything acidic; don't even dare soak it in plain water for any length of time. Can scrape some off with fingernail. Water on a swab to get at the rest? If cleaned off, won't it develop again? Leave it, since won't affect the gold or the cameo itself?

 

That would be my recommendation ... because I suspect these are held together by fairy dust.

 

And thank you for all that, Mr. Jivvy will be interested to hear.

 

It's possible the outer frame, which is where the shank attaches, is gold too & it is only the brass bezel that has oxidized so extravagantly that some of it has been exuded onto the outer decorative frame. The crud is mainly in the narrow crevice that runs around between the bezel & the beaded looking frame.

 

These are the only photos, I've asked for a side view. 1" x 5/8". Unknown gold content. What do you think?

 

I’m torn between “Girl w/a goat” and “Leda and her headless swan”. I’ve opened up to buying one new piece and I can’t make up my mind because I’m a pig and I like them both.

 

I believe that's Hebe feeding the eagle, whose head I do see. The tip of the beak is in in the dish.
Hmmm, tough choice! What a nice treat for yourself.

 

LMAO You’re right. I’m a mess, I thought it’s head was in the bowl completely! I’m not familiar with Hebe I’ll have to look the story up.

 

Before looking at cameos, if I ever knew this story, I had long forgotten it.

If you continue looking at cameos, you'll find it's a popular subject -- and there's many a seller who has no idea that it's Hebe.