Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

But... he might need it again, and it's cheaper to store the old one than to go buy a new one. (said every crafter ever born) Of course FINDING the dratted old one when it's needed is another matter.

 

Do you know my husband ? That's exactly what he says..

 

No need; I know tool guys and quilters ... aka me. It's a Law of Crafting that the thing you tossed last week because you'd never use it is the piece you need to finish a project this week.

 

Just missed acquiring this unusual Lamant:

 

Aaauuugghhh!

It is called a commesso, for the mix of materials. I don't always like them but this is lovely. What bothers me most about typical cameos en habillé is that the figure is usually facing to the side, while the jewellery is facing front. Whoever clothed this one (I don't think it would have been Lamant himself) got the perspective right, except the gold chain is very slightly off.

Must have killed you to lose out. My deepest sympathy.

 

Thank you, it did. I spotted it as a brand new listing on bEtsy for a very affordable price and with only a moment's thought, I hit the buy button and paid. Then and only then did I read the title/description and found that it was a posting with a "Reserved for" title... the seller had listed it for a specific buyer. The seller promptly refunded my money, stating that the intended buyer had had it in his/her cart and it had disappeared before he/she could complete payment.
C'est la vie!

 

That's just plain cruelty.

 

Bit of an overcast Sunday & I just felt in the mood to post a cameo, even though not a new acquisition.



It is signed Vitoli, or possibly Vitorli on the back. Thought I had found another Vitoli cameo in Google's top result for my search. I was so excited. From GoodWill.com

Vintage Vitoli Cameo Tie Tack & Cuff Link Set



The search continues. For now, all I get is this cameo from when I posted it before. Heavens! Have I shown you everything?

 

Beautiful!!!!!!

 

Thank you. He really was extremely faithful to the original, which is by Guido Reni. There are places he could have left out the detail & no one would notice, but he cut them anyway. I can't find him in 19th century guides to Rome & Paris. Findings indicate the piece is from first third of the 20th. At the turn of the century, the documentation gets scant.

It's not especially heavy but is pretty large. You need one of those ample bosoms to wear it. I would look like I was wearing my mommy's jewellery.

 

It seemed to me my dad was never so happy as when he was doing some job & found it required a tool he didn't have. A home improvement store was his idea of heaven.

 

Tool store = toy store. Forced to go to the toy store? Horrors! I have the same reaction to going into the bakery or the meat department at the supermarket. (LOL)

 

I have childhood memories of going with my parents to a local Sears store. My dad would get dropped at the tool section and mom and I would go look at school clothes/shoes, etc. No matter how long we took, when we went back to the tool section to pick up dad he was never ready to go.

 

This one's a bit unusual...

 

Was she off to the guillotine???????????!!!

 

I don't know, but she should be shot. Probably title is 'Love Is Blind."

 

Maybe she's Justice? Or else her husband just didn't want her eyes to keep following him around, giving him the stinkeye while he looked at more tools?

 

All of the above.

 

Poorly carved though we know there are far worse and broken. Quite big Victorian brooch at 2 inches, just thought I would show her. Figured out she’s Ariadne, her staff or thyrsus looks like a weapon used in Stargate! Not gold

 

Anything that's not a 1950s pretty lady makes a nice change.

The background layer is extremely thin. I have wondered whether there was a period when this was considered desirable for the delicacy, translucency & difficulty. Or are these fragile pieces just the result of an unfortunate choice of shell segment that did not leave more material to work with?

Carver seems to have been uncertain as to what several of the elements were supposed to be. The staff has become a thrysus/spear/distaff. I'm afraid the clouds look to me like an illustration of the small intestines.

The Ariadne v. bacchante/maenad question (& the Dionysus v. maenad question) applies to so many pieces. My personal position is that Ariadne is not some wine-besotted, crazed follower of Dionysus, she's his wife & a queen, so the grapes, thyrsus & panther skin are not really her proper attributes. We've talked about some of these issues before, e.g.:

CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

There's a particular hairstyle associated with Ariadne & a wreath of ivy is often hers.