Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

I like the dude with the dredlocks or whatever those curls are. The setting looks junky though.

The silver filigree of the building looks like Venice for sure. Maybe someone had the shell all carved and the dog knocked it off the table? Reused the carving.

 

The first one here is far & away the one that would be of most interest to a jeweller. When the figure herself wears jewellery, she is said to be en habillé. I have no way to know about the quality of the stone, but the gold mount looks quite good quality. Cameo itself is competent, probably from the 1930s.

The little lozenge shaped piece is unusual. Conch shell, from what I can see. I imagine it as having been used to keep a collar closed. Metal has aged well, possibly gold.

What's written on the bail of the pendant? Appears pretty good quality. Cameo itself is middling, but as a whole it would be very pretty when worn.

The last one in this group is a rather sketchy Ceres/Demeter in conch shell. You have the mark on the clasp for guidance on the metal.

 

First cameo is a typical 1950s production. Think I see frame is marked 750 on the back? She'll sell, but not sure for $150.

Does the stickpin with the coral Ceres have any kind of mark? Or has it been tested for gold content? It's a sweet piece & looks well made.

Just because she's the goddess of grain & crops doesn't mean Ceres should be covered in soil! Give that lady a bath. Is there some kind of marking on the back of the frame? Could be gold filled.

The unset conch shell Diana is not such a fabulous carving that she is going to sell for very much on her own. Probably of interest more to crafters.

 

Thanks for all of your work in analysis and writing!

 

Thank you all for the analysis on them!

 

Can anyone tell me anything about this men's cameo ring? I acquired it in a bulk jewelry auction, history is unknown. Thank you for your time!

Here's a link to the full album: https://imgur.com/a/8JSjnoW

 

I have not previously seen a cameo constructed in quite this way. It looks like what I would have to call foiled mother of pearl, the MOP now chipping away at the very thin edges. The figures are probably Athena/Minerva in the foreground & Aphrodite/Venus behind, in what is called a 'jugate' (think 'conjugal') composition.

Probably a handsome if inexpensive piece when new, now in poor condition.

 

Looks like the remnants of an 800 silver stamp?

 

I had that thought too, but couldn't see how the 8 could be so totally obliterated/absent when the zeroes have great definition. Also unusual to have mark on the outside of shank, although not entirely unknown. As it appears in photos, looks to me more like silver plate over brass.

 

That's my guess too. The goldish color around the stone and the greenies give it away.

 

Cameo of Minerva and France Protecting Children, carved by Jacques Guay (1711-1793), 1751.


Jacques Guay in his studio:


I just came across this guy because he was a protege of Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764), the mistress of Louis XV (1710-1774).

She apparently did some gem engraving herself, as well as engraving copper plates. Under the tutelage of Francoise Boucher (1703-1770), she produced a book of engravings of gems carved by Guay.

Engraving by Pompadour after Boucher of a cameo by Guay:


Cameo by Guay of Louis xv (1753):


Madame de Pompadour by Francoise Boucher, 1758:


Francoise Boucher by Gustav Lundberg, 1741:


In the 18th C, these guys were all heavy hitters.

 

Thanks for this little intro to Guay & the world he moved in. His pieces come up at auction from time to time & do very well

The Walter's has the book of her engravings:

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/8...les-pierres-graveaaes-de-guay-graveur-du-roy/

Love that in the scene of the goddess & the king protecting the child, all 3 have a shield.

Looking at the 2 examples here, Guay was not really in the very top tier of gem engravers. His faces are rather flat, not contoured in the way the best would do.

Bet Boucher was the devil with the ladies. (Or with the lads, as may be.)

 

Possibly both!

 

Thank goodness no one except the auctioneer was fooled by this & the lot was passed:

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...aign=auction-alert&utm_content=lot-image-link

A early Victorian carved hard stone cameo of ATHEIA ZEUSS DAUGHTER



(235 is the lot #, not a price.)

 

Molded ceramic maybe, in gold-filled setting. Hardstone? Well, the material is hard; they weren't totally wrong.

 

Ceramic with various paint jobs.

 

It's hard, and somebody carved the mold. so....? (LOL)

 

If this were on eBay, I'd put it with the Laughable Listings:

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/price-result/ancient-roman-gold-ring-with-cameo-c1st-century-ad/

Ancient Roman Gold Ring with Cameo c.1st century AD.

 

Wow, so funny! And the phrase "caveat emptor" dates from before that ring was made. Earliest instance listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is about 1523. But that is just a reference to the use of the Latin phrase in English.

 

I'm the one who started the Laughable Listings thread and I give you permission to put it (or any other laughable listing) there! (I think I, myself, have posted non-ebay carp there. )