Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

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She definitely looks like shell. You would probably see a curve on the mount if seen from the side. Some are more curved than others.

She's also quite dirty so she'll probably look even better carved once she's had a bath. That grime often hides good carving.

As someone who started collecting about a year ago, I suggest reading this whole thread as your cameo collecting education starter. It's an amazing resource!

 

She's exactly the sort of thing most beginning cameo collectors like, so you have me intrigued about your preferences.

She is helmet shell with the background ground down to translucency & utilizing some of the next brown layer to highlight the flowers. From the hinge, pin & clasp, I would say late 19th/early 20th century.

I have never seen one quite like this. She is more of an animal pelt-wearing bacchante type, except grapes & animal fur have all been converted to a carpet of flowers, so we will have to call her Flora.

She would look much better after a bath. However, the frame does not look good quality & I'm not sure how much polishing could improve it.

Whether she's worth it depends on how much is being asked & what that sum means to you. If you would get no enjoyment from her, even when she's cleaned up, save your money for something you want more.

We're looking forward to seeing your new acquisitions.

 

Welcome, @Celestial11 !

 

Already on the way
I did read it (mostly) and also read the signature thread. It’s great and I learned a lot

Thank you Bronwen, I decided to not purchase her. Indeed she was not cheap and I have better cameos on my wishlist ! I’m afraid my preferences do not match my bank account so I try to find the best balance I can between price and quality...the hunt is real
I’ll probably receive both cameos tomorrow but I’ll need to take photos and will try to clean them up a bit (one at least). I know how to do it in theory but I’m scared to put too much pressure and damage the shell
Will post as soon as I can

 

They're not as fragile as you might think. You'll do fine. If I've got a particularly curvy one, I might put a mound of cotton rag under it to support it while I give it a soft scrub with a soft toothbrush. The soaking does a lot of the work, unless you've got a really grimy one, then it's gonna take a few soaks at least.

 

As Mirana said, shell cameos are not so fragile as all that unless the shell is already compromised in some way, such as cracks or an unusually thin background layer. Most of the cleaning work can be done by soaking. If you can resist wanting to see right away how a piece really looks, let it soak overnight, if the mount doesn't contraindicate it.

 

This new listing gave me a good laugh in more ways than one...



Ah yes, the celebrated VOLTAIRE in his classic....lace cap. I have absolutely no idea how they came to that conclusion.

And then there's the price. Did they slip and put an extra zero in, or do they just not want to sell this piece at all? Their other listings are in the realm of sanity. I'm currently refraining from asking them that....and pointing out that's a very nice 19th c lady in a bonnet and not an 18th c Enlightenment philosopher in drag.

Of course they did not mention that it is signed by Pio Siotto on the back. The frame is very Castellani-esque, though in a box for Fiorentini. I love that she's wearing a cameo in her cameo.

 

Here is my first cameo, a lovely Flora

Before and after her bath (maybe not 100% clean but enough for me )



Silver mount with a trombone clasp, I think 1900-1910 maybe ?


And the (in)famous "ann" seen in the signatures thread and thought to be a dealer mark if I remember correctly...


More soon...

 

Where do people get these ideas?! As you said, other listings are not off the wall. For heaven's sake, don't tell them it's signed or they'll want twice as much.

Looking through the handful of examples I have of Siotto's work,with the addition of 'Voltaire', am really impressed by his willingness to tackle 3/4 frontal views & by how well he did them. This guy is one of mine:



My other one is a profile of a man with the most marvelous comb-over:

 

I don't usually buy cameos... But I couldn't pass it for the price, the nice carving and the pristine condition!
5.3cm high, 4.3cm wide.
There is a number and what looks like a signature on back
I think the scene is related to young Zeus-Jupiter fed by the nymph Amalthée from a horn (the goat is perhaps the former Amalthée avatar).
Just wanted to share with you, but if you have other informations...

 

She's a beauty and you did a good job of cleaning her

 

Thank you so much !

 

She's lovely, with an inquisitive look to her. Think your assessment of age is correct or close. Possibly a decade later.

 

It's definitely the infancy of Zeus. The text for the Tassie catalogue names both goat & nymph Amalthea. But the story is that Cybele entrusted Zeus to her corybantes for his upbringing; the cymbals hanging on the tree suggest that is who the lady is. The goat can take possession of the name Amalthea. Later he wears the goat's skin.

A cutter who signs his work ME? Nothing comes to mind at present.

 

I've seen another one in the last day or two. We probably speculated about a dealer's mark because sometimes it occurs on a piece with another signature.* Sometimes it look like Aum to me. I seem to recall that the word 'om' is made up of those 3 sounds plus a fourth ineffable one. We can chant while we wait for enlightenment on the source of this marking.

* That was it.



Looking through my file for 'Ann', I see pieces of all different subjects, varying greatly in quality of execution.

 

Siiigh his carvings are so beautifully executed. Definitely on my "dream" list of carvers to own that I suspect will take a long time to find at a reasonable price. That beard is so magnificent!

 

How lovely she looks after a proper bath! I love that the artist made sure the flowers were properly rounded and formed, instead of the flat ones so many lesser carvers did. Will you wear her?

"Ann" might be specifically the jeweler who framed them (who was also usually the dealer/shop owner). It makes more sense to me that another artisan would feel right about signing the back of the piece, as opposed to one that only sold the finished pieces. After all, they no doubt went into store-marked boxes anyway which would represent the shop owner's "mark." But that's just my personal opinion lacking any evidence.

The other Ann pieces I have saved that have frames all seem to have the kind popular around the turn of the century, so your dates are pretty accurate I would think.

 

That GOAT! I would have bought it just for the goat. It's well carved. Fat Baby is my second favorite. Are you going to make a frame for this one? Because I can only imagine the questions you'll get about it!

I can't find another ME but that mark above it looks awfully like Schmoll's S to me.

See @Marie Forjan's cameo here...

 

Cybele... now to have a plunge in mythology to know more about her!
Thank you!
ME... I swear it isn’t me

 

Yes, the GOAAT!!! And the nymph little toes
I’m hunting for a period frame to hang it, but I may try a kyratisation...
Thank you for the Schmoll idea