Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Maybe this Birmingham silversmith preferred this style, or to use as much silver as possible to raise the price, or...? Date letter is 1908/09, so not fabulously old. I have noticed that in the same period when Italian shell cutting was in decline, the taste or the skill for setting them in a custom bezel declined too. There's no rule about not covering the back of a shell piece, &, as you know, I always advise that a back covered when nothing about the design requires it is a flag that piece should be examined carefully to be sure it is not covering evidence of artificial material. In this case I would not be worried; have never seen fakes of these scenic cameos.

 

These little guys are growing on me. They have their own kind of kitsch charm.

 

I'm tempted by this cute little pink cameo pin. Is it glass? Age?
It's off center in the setting but hopefully it could be swiveled a bit without breaking it.
Thanks!

 

She's glass. Is there a little chipping at 3 o'clock that is permitting cameo to turn a bit? I see them from time to time, but do not know precisely when this pink glass, with its purplish cast & yellowish tinges, was being used for cameos. I've mislaid one, not in a setting, of a man in a suit, which seller told me had been found in a 'bottle dump'. Since item was mass produced, my best guess was that it was something like a campaign button directed at women voters. My WAG is they date somewhere 1930-1955.

 

Could not get in before @Bronwen posted, but I was voting for glass.

 

Thank you both.
What are the indications for her being glass?
She's cheap enough that I may just buy her anyway.

 

How about this one? (Sorry, it's the only photo!)

 

I've looked at a lot of pink glass cameos. I'm usually an anti-pink person, but there is something about these I like. I haven't seen your lady, but she definitely has the look.

She also has the softness/roundness of a molded piece and has little chips/cracks that say glass to me.

 

Based on just the one picture and no money coming out of my pocket? I see hardstone.

 

I see what I think is "aura" (do a "find in page" for "aura" here -- an explanation from @Bronwen ) where I've added a green line.

Sometimes, what looks like "aura" is a reflection of the cameo itself, but she's so dusty/dirty, I'm not sure you could see a reflection in the bottom section.

Of course, wait for @Bronwen ... I just try to get my arguments in early to test myself.

 

Thanks, @Jivvy If it goes cheaply enough, I may take a chance on it.

 

This is being sold as lava. I see resin.

But I don't know diddly about lava.

Thoughts?

 

I agree, resin!

 

Resin! Even looks like molded wax

 

Me too!
@bluumz go for it (if price is ok)!
It will look glorious after bath

 

I feel like a teacher happily marking quiz papers & giving everyone an A.
For this one, the color says artificial; the soft lines say molded; the suggestion of translucence & those little curved nibbles at the edge say glass.

Agree, hardstone. Subject is one very common on hardstone cameos; color within the typical palette. As Jivvy pointed out, the presence of what I refer to as an aura in places. For me, more than anything, this area of lace:



You can't do that with resin or with glass if the figure is a separate piece from the base. You could using pate sur pate, but you wouldn't want to build up the thickest areas with that technique. Hardstone. She'll look splendid, after a serious scrubbing.

 

She's definitely molded, you all recognize the signs. Choices are resin; 'lava glass', molded glass with a thick coating that gives it the texture of lava; modern 'lava', basically reconstituted lava, ground volcanic material mixed into resin & molded. Color makes me think the last; without more info, can't be certain.

 

Right?! It feels like it's waiting to be sliced up with dull knife.

This made me go back and re-read what the seller said in case I missed such a description and unfairly called out this item. But seller says ("cannot say with certainty") that it's carved from lava stone. Setting is reported as "gold filled."

That said, the seller also provided multiple giant photos for all to see.

I still think it's plain old resin, but to counter that, it already has ten bids (six different bidders), several days left, and is beyond what anyone would reasonably pay for resin (unless the setting is more valuable than I imagine). So...

 

Just so you know, may parents will pitch a fit (from beyond) if I ever get less than a B. NO PRESSURE.

 

I'd have to go with glass:



Not lava, that's for sure.