Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

@bluumz I think you are right!! What a great eye. I didn't see that at all.

 

I was thinking about starting a new thread about cameos of known people. I thought it might be helpful when we are trying to figure out a portrait sitter's identity. What would everyone prefer? A new thread or just keep everything about cameos in one big thread? Over the holidays several cameos of royalty and famous people came up for auction, which is why I am asking.

 

I vote new thread for cameos of historical persons (including non-notables) so we can find them more easily.

Think I only have notables: Galileo; Charlemagne; Rembrandt; da Vinci; Henry III of France; & one signed Mossop that I think is by William of his son William Stephen.

 

Agreed. I'm still reading my way through the Signatures thread and it's great to have it be it's own sleuthing thing. This mega thread is a great wealth of information but if we link a second thread in this one then anyone who finds this through Google can eventually find the others.

 

I have cameos of Queen Victoria and George Washington.
And would Telemachus count?

 

Think the question is whether or not to have a separate thread for cameos with portraits of persons who were alive in more than imagination only whom we can identify. Telemachus is more the type of subject I had in mind for this thread. (The kind I know something about.) Do you have an idea for another focused cameo thread that would be useful? I know this one is pretty unwieldy at this point.

 

but.....u understand that even with a stated focus , on a narrow sub group, control over that classification is an illusion.

This broad subject thread has worked remarkably well , but could it be tailored to a subsection and remain viable is another matter...! ..?
imho.....

 

Not enough control of who puts what where. You'll just end up with multiple cameo threads. If someone has a cameo of a known person, best to name that person in the post so it can be found through search.

e.g. if you have a cameo of George Washington, make sure you write "cameo of George Washington" because that phrase can be searched, and it will eliminate other references to George Washington. Be aware that computer searches are very literal. To a computer "cameo of George Washington", "George Washington cameo", and "cameo: George Washington" are three different things. Enough people follow this thread that one of the regulars can add the identifying phrase to a responding post close to the original entry if the OP forgets it.

 

File this one under a favorite cameo sub-genre: Grimey-to-Clean-Glow-Up. The seller knew this was gold but assumed she was glass and priced her verrry low. I instantly thought of Bronwen's little Diana.



A clean and a polish later...hardstone. The carving is about 1.25" high.



No signature. She does have a scratched in mark (Sort of like a J or L) on the edge but I think that's a setting mark or other non-signature marking. I haven't seen another quite like her yet, with the headband at the back.

 

Niiice. And again you've given me some strokes on my little efforts at cameo education.

The quiver & arrows obviously lead to Diana; the hair accessory treatment is a bit odd. One doesn't usually see the goddess wearing a sphendone (sfen-dough-knee) & a French maid's little frilled headband. But she is very well done. Congrats on your cameo buying acuity.

 

I give credit where it's due! Your scholarship on the subject is extensive and that you choose to share it is a rare thing. The detail you put into showing how to ID hardstone was sooo helpful. I wasn't completely sure until she came, but I thought the image different enough to suspect it.

Of course you'd know exactly the term for her headwear. I assumed the quiver meant they were going for Diana, but thought exactly the same about the headwear...though I do love the detail they put into it. Thanks for teaching me more about it. I was surprised and pleased at how nice the carving was under all that grime!

 

the carving is VERY VERY nice !!!

 

Recognizing potential beauty/quality underneath grime is a valuable skill for a cameo hunter.

 

NOT mine, listed by an online jeweler for a mere $7850 US.
Thought I'd share, it seems quite unusual... a double-sided cameo swivel stickpin:

 

That is very cool. I love the swivel storytelling design. Not so much the price.

 

Found some really great videos of the master gem carvers of the Postler family in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, demonstrating how agate cameos are carved. The only update in their technique is the addition of electricity instead of foot power.

 

I was about to write that I can't see the pix, then they opened up here.

The 3-faced image is called a gryllus or gryllos;the center figure appears to be Bacchus, so doubt very much the whole thing refers to the story of Perseus. Setting looks Georgian to me.

Spent time today watching YouTube videos related to cameo collecting. After Mirana brought it to my attention that one of them was featuring material from my web site naturally I was curious.

In that one, the delightfully vulgar woman, with what I think is a Queens accent, after getting off to a good start, mangles what is right in front of her & us, IDing helmet shell beads as conch shell, saying a coral cameo is also conch shell, then doing the opposite with another one. I felt a bit sad that by the end of the video she had concluded that her own collection was rather sh**ty. All in all, I think I'm just as glad that she also got the name of my web site wrong.

One of them does a pretty good job of correctly identifying the materials used for cameos in her collection, except she twice IDs as hardstone pieces that are conch shell. And a flashy Czech piece with a flagrantly fake cameo was also IDed as hardstone. A major focus of all the videos was recognizing materials. You would think the only plastics ever made are Celluloid & Bakelite.

I thought one was going along quite well because the collector, now white haired, said she had been collecting since she was 12, so she had some really interesting things to show. Then she showed a cameo that looked like this:


Well, sort of like this, a bit less detailed. She spun a whole tale about how this is the angel that introduced the snake into the Garden of Eden, somehow worked it around so that it became the angel that taught women about abortion. She had a name for this character that was new to me & did not stick in my memory. Folks, this is Nemesis, whom I think of as the Goddess of Comeuppance. Probably not a good idea to misidentify her in public!

 

The video I sent you was definitely....flamboyant! I also felt bad that she thought her collection was terrible now. It's not what I would collect but that seems a bit harsh for pieces she previously enjoyed.

When I'm looking for something to run while I do other things I put on some of these and am surprised at the weird conclusions some collectors come to.

 

The metal tests as 14K or better. No markings. Maybe some repair on the hinge. Old polish paste. The carved part almost looks polished down.

What should I ask for it?

 

That's so unfortunate about his face. It might only be worth the gold.