Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Here is an interesting cameo on eBay. I am not sure what the composition is- the front looks like bone, but the back looks like stone. Could it be cast? It is of a lady drop spinning, not knitting. Not a normal subject.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Lava-Stone-Cameo-Lady-Knitting/274392447615

 

I'm convinced it is molded/cast. From the edge it has the appearance of 2 or 3 different materials:



It's a bit different from other examples I've seen & the subject is also new to me, but I suspect it is a version of a dripstone cameo with a French origin. (@Any Jewelry is the costume of this woman spinning identifiable for country or region?) The mold used would have been a bit different in shape from ones I know. Layered structure, smooth front, rough back, mistaken for lava, possibly French subject, add up to dripstone for me until I can handle it myself, which I don't expect to be doing.

 

Thanks, Bronwen! I didn't know about dripstone cameos, but it seems likely. The dress of the subject is similar to this pic of a 19th century Scottish lassy drop spinning flax into linen thread, but the wooden shoes may point to France, Germany, or Holland.

 

This is not a hardstone cameo, is it?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VICTORIAN-HARDSTONE-WHITBY-JET-CAMEO-BROOCH-BOXED/333788093249

 

No, it's glass, & probably not original to that jet frame.

 

Anyone interested in a Carnesecchi cameo? There is one listed on eBay. The seller didn't see the signature on the back, but she sent me a pic where it is clearly visible. The subject matter is not to my liking, so I am passing on it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/383828102447?ul_noapp=true

 

If it's like other pieces of his, the name is so lightly incised you can barely spot it. Lucky lighting to pick it up in photo.

Not really to mine either. Think the scene is supposed to be Raphael & his favorite model, 'La Fornarina.' Besides, I blew the budget on the Reverchon, even though broken, just to have another one. Will show her when she arrives.

 

What Raphael has finished painting:

 

In the photo posted on eBay I could barely make out "ecch" and perhaps the "C" but that was enough to make me suspect it was Carnesecchi. The seller was surprised, as she hadn't noticed a signature. I did provide her with some info about Carnesecchi.

 

A descendant of his has a massive web site devoted to the history of the family.

I've bought pieces with about that much to go on. I bought the ring set with the cameo I use as my avatar based on the visible signature fragment 'ig'.

 

I sent her the link to that website when I sent her the info about Carnesecchi.

 

Evidently this cameo cutter was really meant to be a hairdresser.

 

I like the face on this cameo:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-...peach-shell-cameo-brooch-pendant/393035071210

It’s very similar to those on Ancient Greek pottery.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like shell to me. Would the experts here confirm my suspicions?

 

Given the costume I agree with France. She is wearing clogs, which were worn in many French regions. There is not enough definition in the headdress to say for sure, but she could be Breton. One of the old costumes, before the hats became rather exaggerated. Bretagne is the most famous French clog (sabot) wearing region.

 

Thank you, Madame. French costume helps make the diagnosis of dripstone.

 

She has the strong features the Greeks considered beautiful in both men & women. No ski-jump noses for them.

She looks like shell to me, very dirty shell. I think I see what it is about her that concerns you, but natural shell can have light patches that way. An informal observation of mine is that shell, with its microscopically grainy surface, grabs dirt in a way plastic & glass do not. I would never make a natural/artificial determination on that alone, but I take it as one clue.

 

Thank you very much for the analysis. After negotiation with the seller, I have purchased the cameo for the purpose of having a dripstone cameo in my collection. I will post pics after receipt.

 

Anna, I just checked some of the other photos in the listing, which have a sharper view of the hat. She is French but not from Bretagne, but from Auvergne, anothe well-known clog region. The dripstone could be local, because there are many dripstone caves in the region.


https://www.akg-images.fr/archive/A...umes-traditionnels-feminins-2UMEBMHXC2V7.html

 

Don't know why the photo appeared three times.

 

Hi AJ - thank you so much for the information. It is so interesting. I like the subject because I am also a weaver. It is rare to find a piece of jewelry related to flax spinning. I weave with linen often.