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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;mirana, post: 9772105, member: 79705&quot;]For me, a hand carved and artist signed gold-mounted cameo commissioned and sat for by the (future) famous Union General Alfred Howe Terry during his 1860 jaunt to Europe to study military tech/strategies/etc. He signed up for the Union army at the start of the Civil War shortly after his return to the states from this trip.</p><p><br /></p><p>It was carved and signed by the famous Italian carver Tommaso Saulini. He (and the shop he started) was well-known for carving cameos for many great names, including several for Queen Victoria. Many international major museums you could think of have a Tommaso Saulini.</p><p><br /></p><p>I bought the cameo after I asked for additional photos and spied the tiniest hint of a &quot;T. Sau..&quot; signature (although I would have bought it anyway, it was so fine). </p><p><br /></p><p>Then I bought a book by two Italian historians on the Saulinis which turned out to have the exact preparatory sketch for the cameo in it. That sketch was signed by the sitter and notated with the date (December 1860). The shop noted that the sitter was an &quot;American National.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]481964[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>That signature, misidentified in the book as &quot;Perry,&quot; led my genealogical-wiz sister to figure out that it was actually the General himself, based on his numerous authenticated signatures.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]481965[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>I thought that was a pretty wild ride that makes a good story. I&#039;m also curious what they would appraise it at. Saulinis are worth thousands, but the last civil war sitter (Confederate major who died in the war) went for 9k. That was in &#039;08 though and I don&#039;t know the market for personal Union general artifacts. I submitted it to the militaria division instead of jewelry because I figured that&#039;s the unknown part of the equation for me plus it&#039;ll stand out amongst all the cannon balls and rifles. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie84" alt=":smuggrin:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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