Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Lot 588: "These depict the interplay between a young man and a young woman with different positions..."
LOL, I would have used a different kind of "inter-" word!

 

Hmmm.... look at the figure in the painting. Looks like Botticielli's Venus in his painting The Birth of Venus (my favorite painting in the whole world.) I see this scene as the model in the painting throwing on a robe and looking at the painting. But when I look again enlarging it (I only saw the hand coming down, not the one across the breast as Venus is depicted, I see instead the dress line.) But from faraway....

 

Is Nelson glass? And if so, is he cast from a Nicholson piece, or...?

 

Seller says Nelson is glass. Nothing to do with Nicholson; everything to do with 'warts'.

 

Ah, yes. that makes more sense (no relationship to Nicholson).

 

Bronwen......congrats on a long running interesting thread !!!

( I'm just making a ' cameo ' appearance ......)

 

Nothing livens things up like an appearance from Special K - drop in more often! I thought we were going to have a party when 'views' hit 2,000?

 

we party here ....all the time......non stop !!!

 

Everyone knows cameos rock!

 

@bluumz



The way the neck looks all dinged up concerns me. You might ask is this photo accurately captures how it looks in reality. The darkness of the streak down the face & the blotch above the eyebrow is also a little worrisome, may not be possible to safely remove completely.

 

Bronwen, what stains a cameo?

 

Bronwen, when I was in Cape May, I took these pictures of some of the cameos in an estate jeweler's case. Nothing fabulous and dearly over-priced. The lot had to be photographed through the glass case. I personally like the painted one the best.


I thought this brooch was pretty

This was my favorite. I like to see the Greek and Roman myths in cameos. I believe this is Bellephron riding Pegasus going to slay the Chimera. I will let you guess how much they wanted for this one even with the crazing and the broken part on the frame (see the right). It is set in 10K gold and about 1 1/2 to 2 inches? across.


One of my favorite cameos was in a Cape May estate jeweler's store. I was a 3 inch high oval depiction of Hermes holding a cadduesus. Way out of my price range, but it haunts me.

 

Virtually all the natural materials used for cameos are porous to some degree, even chalcedony; many are also too delicate for harsh cleaning materials/methods. Ink & pencil are the common culprits, suspect some cameos get raked with other silver jewellery. Fine scratches can trap & hold grime that may require a fair bit of soaking & brushing to remove, if the material allows. Lava & ivory can be stained by any kind of oil, including skin oil. Coral seems to resist staining more than shell does, but since it is also often dyed, care must be taken when cleaning is required. Lava can also lose color if it has been dyed. I usually remove very dirty lava pieces from purchase consideration: too easily stained; too risky to clean.

Pieces can be marred through damage to the finish that dulls it without actually staining it. Caustic or abrasive cleansers, ultrasonic cleaning, Byne's disease, do damage that cannot be reversed.

 

You're exactly right on the the subject: Bellerophon riding Pegasus to slay Medusa. Don't see this much, so saved to my 'Heroes' files. Cape May. WAG: $2,250.

I still regret not buying a Corki Weeks kaleidoscope in shop that specialized in glass items. I thought the price was quite good; also thought the people I was there with, including a new boyfriend, would know me for the nut job I am if I spent that kind of money on a kaleidoscope.

 

The one I would have asked to see is the gent:



Extremely well done, hardstone, would have wanted to check for signature.

 

I see 2 that are probably painted porcelain miniatures. Which is your favorite?

 

The one on the bottom. The cameo was $1,500.

 

My first thought was about that, then did the Cape May mark up.

 

A lovely Jacques & Marcus piece in 18K and diamonds. Who are these people, anyone in particular?

 

I finally got around to getting this done.