Cameo Signature Help Needed

I just finished reading the article Tomasso and Luigi Saulini, by Malcolm Carr, published in the November 1975 edition of Connoisseur magazine. In it, a letter written by English artist and sculptor John Gibson, is quoted. Gibson was acting as a middleman between the English palace of Queen Victoria and the cameo studio of the Saulinis.
Tomasso died in 1864. Apparently, a letter was subsequently sent to Gibson expressing concern over H.M. receiving the two cameos she had commissioned of herself and Albert in a timely manner, and there was a mention that she also wanted six more!
Gibson's reply states, "Saulini says that he will finish as soon as possible two more shell cameos & consign them to be forwarded by the French Ambassador & will with the help of a clever workman finish the others as soon as he is able."

Would this "clever workman" only do basic preparatory work or finishing... or would he actually do the majority, if not all, of the carving? Regardless, I presume the Saulini name was still signed on the pieces?

 

The cameos would have been for the Order of Victoria and Albert that she created, so there was a need for many. After Tommaso's death I thought his nephew Luigi continued fulfilling the commission, but maybe I'm wrong about that. I do know that James Ronca was the last to supply them. Cameos were in both hardstone & shell, depending on the class.

https://www.rct.uk/collection/442015/badge-of-the-order-of-victoria-and-albert-first-class



The one Queen Victoria herself wore was different from all others. I'm betting they are right that this shell cameo was a study.

https://www.rct.uk/collection/searc...r-a-badge-of-the-order-of-victoria-and-albert

 

Thank you, @Bronwen, for the beautiful photos and further info.

Carr's article states that Luigi is Tommaso's son, not nephew?

 

Think he may have adopted him. I have seen both. Met says it's father who was adopted:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/198636

Assuming they meant adoptive. Don't think I've seen anything definitive about whether or not they were related by blood.

 

I went through the thread, but it seems this one is still not solved; the writing looks like Kurrent to me, the common script used in Germany until the 1940s:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurrent

Note that there different types of Kurrent, and they all differ a bit. First letter could be a "S". It takes some experience to read it when it is printed, reading engravings/hand writings is even more difficult, especially as many letters look almost the same (c, e, i, m, n, r, u)

 

This must be one of the more challenging threads to wade through. I applaud your fortitude.

That the signature could be written in Kurrent is an interesting idea. Can't tell you how many Italian lower case 'c's I've seen that look just like that. Making some comparisons from the page at the link you sent, I would say the signatures I see, legible & not, look more like the school handwriting.

I have a whole collection of cameos with this signature:



Germany has been & continues to be a producer of hardstone cameos but is not known for work in shell. The odds are very high that a shell cameo will be Italian or French, with some possibility of English.

 

Adding a signature to the thread:

 

Haven't seen this name before. Garasoni? Gavasoni? This is Hebe, but your guy was no ornithologist.

 

A nice Lamont cameo, lady is asking help on a Facebook group, I gave her links to your Lamant post and Cameotimes

 

Not that we were able to learn much about him. Suppose just knowing he's French & not Italian is something. And that it's Lamant, not Lamont.

That's one of the best Lamants I've seen. Love how the dragon's tail is coiled around George's leg; an individual touch.

 

Thanks Bronwen, I forwarded your answer to the FB lady, and she thanks you (Me too of course!)!!

 

We're widening the scope of this thread to include cameo engravers who signed legibly, just to share. These 2 cameos, one shell, one hardstone, are by Francesco Carnesecchi.

First La Speranza. The signature is so faint I can see it only with the light just so.



And Flora.

 

Both beautiful! Have you shared these before? The Flora looks especially familiar to me.

 

I acquired the Flora just the other year & showed her off in the other thread. Can't recall if I ever posted La Speranza anywhere; you might have seen her in the Cameo Times article on the Anchor of Hope.

 

Hi Bronwen, Thanks for sharing these. They are both beautiful. You have such an outstanding collection of cameos!

Here is my Carnesecchi cameo. It is one of my favorites. The subject is the muse of tragedy, Melpomene. The signature is very light, so I took 2 photos.

 

@Bronwen For your signature library, are you looking for any in particular? I am willing to share whatever I have. I can post a list, if that would be helpful.

 

Thank you so much for showing her to us. Interesting how he chose to cut the dagger blade so it runs into a fold of her robe.

About faint signatures. I had had La Speranza for some time, thinking as everyone does that it was Mary Magdalen, & had checked multiple times for a signature without seeing one. Then, checking one more time, I spotted the faint thread of the signature. Not sure I could have read it if I had not already been aware of the name. Some time well after that I looked again, remembering the piece was signed but having forgotten by whom. For the life of me I could not catch a glimpse of the signature & began to think I wasn't remembering correctly. More time passed. One day it occurred to me that I had not checked for a signature since having cataract surgery. Lo, and behold! The signature was back. But it is extremely lightly incised. It seems to have been characteristic; also necessary because of the thin shell he used.

You have lovely pieces in your collection too. How long have you been collecting?

 

@Bronwen I have been collecting about 30 years. I started out with a couple, then it became an obsession. I love these tiny works of art.

 

I'm looking for any & all. One specimen of a signature is good, two or more, even better. Some, like Filippo Tignani, were quite variable in their inscriptions. So, even if I already have a sample of someone's signature, another is always welcome.

I have signed pieces from about 20 Georgian/Victorian cameists who signed legibly enough to make out the name & whose name appears in some kind of documentation. A couple or 3 that are legible but for whom I have found no record. A couple that are modern and a few with illegible signatures.

 

You have been at it much longer than I have. I envy you that you began to take an interest when you did. Judging by the cameo offerings on eBay these days, I was lucky to be buying when I did, & when I started to take a serious interest, old hands were complaining that it was no longer possible to find good pieces at good prices.