Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=127&v=ESbv9FtUv_w&feature=emb_logo

(Tried to embed the video but couldn't get it to work properly.)

 

The rounded relief is what I mean by a characteristic of superior carving. Places tend to be flat in execution but these Bay of Naples & Mt. Fuji scenes are often on cowrie, so not flat in that sense.

 

This arrived yesterday. Hopefully, it is as advertised: carved conch shell. I acid-tested the metal, it did not even stand up to the 10K solution. I attempted to clean the rubbing on the back, thinking it may be grime, but to no avail.
Guesses as to age? Any further comments/ideas about it? It appears to have Victorian styling however the clasp/hinge does not support that age.
It’s interesting that the putto on the far right looks like the lower tips of his wings have been lost. However, the metal support on the back is shaped along the bottom edge appropriately for all three putti.
A part from older piece with a newer custom back made for it? A part with its original back with a newer pin mechanism?
EDIT: Odd... to the naked eye, the pin mechanism is the same gold tone as the metal back, but in the photos the pin mechanism appears silver-colored.

 

I especially enjoyed the last video, seeing the actual carving.
Using the closed-captioning with auto-translate to the English language helps... but often has amusing results.

 

I think the feather tips were deliberately rounded off to keep them from being so vulnerable to getting snapped off. As you say, metal backing is shaped to the shell as it is, and

I think that is what it is: original back plate with new brooch findings.

 

Thank you, @Bronwen !

Do you think the main piece is likely Victorian?
Possibly pinchbeck? It does not have the feel/look of brass when in hand...

 

Looks like. I'd check the backing for silver content. Do a scratch test on a stone and use the 18k acid. If it's silver it'll turn milky and curdle up. It works better than silver acid. The speed give you the silver content, or a decent estimate. If it just dissolve the mark, it's probably a gilt brass back.

 

Hard to say about age. It's not new, certainly. I know less about pieces like this. You see these triple angel pieces in coral, & I think Sardinia is where they are worked, so guessing they also took to conch as a substitute for angel skin shades of coral. The degree of detail is not that of work from the height of Victorian cameo work.

Back plate could be brass/pinchbeck or rolled gold. Think if it had been mounted in Italy they would have just screwed the findings straight in to the shell.

 

Antinous arrived yesterday and was given a good bath. He was found on eBay at a very reasonable price and a consultation with @Bronwen confirmed my suspicion that he may be a worthwhile acquisition. It’s wonderful to have expert advice so readily available here. Thank you, Bronwen, for sharing your knowledge so willingly!

Seller’s photo:



Antinous bathed:

 

Beautiful, as the young Antinous must have been!
I LOVE him

 

He never got to be old because

in the Nile & didn't come back up.

Good snag, @bluumz Thanks for sharing him with us.

 

What a lovely cameo, I am so glad it went to someone who gave it a bath and appreciates it!

 

I'm also grateful to @Bronwen for identifying Antinous. I had assumed he was a she and a bacchante.
So... Telemachus and Mercury now have a new friend... I'm starting a collection of gorgeous young men.

 

Another one for the dog lovers. Beautiful!
I think I see a signature on the back...

 

WOW!!!! I didn't think it was the SAME piece!!! WHAT a difference a bath makes!!!!!

 

S T U N N I N G!!!!!

 

@bluumz, there IS something there on the back, but it's SO faint and thin, and with that glare spot there, it's nigh impossible to bring up!!!!

 

Frustrating, isn't it. I see the possibility of an acid etched G, written as a large g. I've seen many cameos simply signed G by some Gianni, Giulio, Giacomo, Giuseppe...