Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Willful ignorance can be very aggravating. And wishful thinking is very powerful.

 

I have come across several jewelry "experts" that put up plastic or glass cameos for sale, purporting them to be shell or agate. I also send emails and get similar responses.

Stupendous response!

 

With her pedigree and considerable experience, one wonders if she is being ignorant or wilfully misleading.

 

If you wore it in the wrong part of London you might be apprehended by the police for carrying and offensive weapon. It looks quite dangerous (to the wearer).

 

I do think wishful thinking combined with lack of educated experience leads to most listings of this type. The battle I occasionally engage in is the angel skin coral vs conch shell one. People with only casual experience with cameos may think they're all of the helmet shell type & not even realize the pink ones aren't coral. Since coral generally sells for more than shell, they naturally want to believe the piece they have is coral.

I have now & then seen a hardstone cameo described as shell, but not in some time now.

 

You may have been meant to bury the extra in the fabric of the garment as a form of safety mechanism.

 

You are a brave girl. I don’t even go there.

 

I don't have to go there, I send them here:

https://cameotimes.com/index.php/reference/materials-guide?start=1

The pictures make the case for most people. Doesn't mean they lower the price, but they usually emend the description.

 

Thank you for the link.
Excellent article! Enjoyed reading it.

 

I've run into the type. They usually don't want to hear they're wrong. When looking at the UK site the title for this one got me laughing; what is it going to hatch into? (and more's the pity I have a hunch it's resin too)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silver-c...5&algv=default&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

 

Holy cow! They say "An attractive item but please note that there is significant damage to the carved stone, see photographs." No kidding, her head is missing - and they are asking £35.00

 

I think the head is missing on the original statue too; I recognize the subject. The frame looks like someone hacked out the original cameo and put this one in. Or something.

 

Maybe it will grow a head. You're right that it doesn't actually look like lava.

It doesn't look like anything has broken off the larva cameo, so you may be right. I have not seen an actual lava cameo with this subject before.

We'll have to keep the larva cameos in the corral cameos.

 

Interesting, must be a famous one to be recreated on a cameo. Could you please share with us what the subject is.

I bet the seller would like to know it too. That would mean that the cameo is not damaged after all.

 

Once again, in a UK saleroom a cameo has sold for a lot over etimate. I have seen this happen a few times this year with signed cameos. At Sworders on nov 17th, a cameo estimated at £250-350 sold for £15,000. It was a hardstone cameo pendant in its original fitted case, signed Girometti. Probably Guieppe Girometti a highly regarded gem engraver and sculptor to the vatican c1850. It is not beyond the expertise of the salerooms to just google the names engraved on the cameos.

 

Picked up this cameo a week ago, it had Byne's Disease on the front and back but I thought she was so pretty I wanted to try and help her. Unfortunately I didn't take before photos because I dove right in to clean her using suggestions from Cameo Times. The only difficulty was finding the typewriter eraser, I finally had to order one from an ebay seller.

I think the front came out very good. On the back at the top I did the best I could but you can see where it looked very nasty.

Her setting is gold filled, no marks, looks early 20th century to me but I wonder if the cameo may be a bit older than the setting. She looks more finely carved than I expect to see for early 20th century, BWDIK

Is she a bacchante? I thought so because of the grapes and grape leaves in her hair.

Also, is the signature our friend Schmoll (Silz)? Just one initial S I can see.

 

I think what auction houses have been underestimating is the degree of interest that has developed in signed pieces, especially when signed by someone so famous, as these do not come up at auction with any frequency. They priced it as though it were a competent cameo in a nice setting. They did not appreciate how special the piece was or they were lowballing to make their achieved results look more impressive.

 

The process seems most likely to start at the interface of the white & the brown. Places where there are curls/tendrils/ribbons are hotspots.

A friend to whom I sent a pencil style typewriter eraser like the one I use subsequently discovered ceramic tipped pens for, I think, marking glass & found she liked them better. I have not looked into this myself, have not had to treat much Byne's, but feel safe with the typewriter eraser. Don't think you could do much harm with one. Was it helpful to you?

That is definitely his S. One of his better pieces.

Schmoll died in 1924 at the age of 87. My guess would be that he stopped carving by 1900. The findings on your cameo are 20th century, so have to agree you are correct on the cameo being earlier than the mount.

She is definitely a bacchante, one of Schmoll's favorite subjects. With flowers she becomes his other favorite subject, Flora.

 

Hi Bronwen, thank you for everything, I guess reading this thread has made my feeble brain retain some good information

Yep, where the curls and tendrils meet the background had a lot for me to clean off. The typewriter eraser was great. I started with a pink pearl eraser because that's what I had. Once the typewriter eraser arrived I could get into those little spots where the white and background meet. Another bad spot was under where the setting folds over the shell, I guess that kept moisture in.

This was my first try at cleaning up Byne's, it is a process!

 

I've been pleased by the 'scores' some of you have had while following this thread. And glad the typewriter eraser proved useful in cleaning up your new girl. I wouldn't be surprised if a cameo that has had Byne's once were not more susceptible to developing it again, so keep her well ventilated & away from cardboard.