Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

I don't think the floral thingies are securing anything. The 'petals' are bent to varying degrees & when seen from behind look quite open. I tried to get a closeup of the stone at 4 o'clock (when trying to decide at what o'clock to call it, realized the pearls & stones are placed around the edge in a very eccentric way) as it's one of the clearer ones to see, but it became too pixelated. I see it being held by what one would conventionally call prongs inside the flower.

Even bent in as far as they could go, & many of them are not, the petals look inadequate to me to hold the pearls. If it was glue alone, think at least one would be missing by now. Hence I think there must be posts.

I think the brooch is as it was made originally.

 

One of the best uses of Headband Girl I have seen. Made in Austria.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384236258445

 

Any information about this cameo bracelet would be appreciated. If I am posting in the wrong place because it is not a cameo just let me know Thanks.

 

Victorian Revival? 1950s probably. The metal and what I can see of the clasp say 50s.

 

Thank you for that information. Would you happen to know is it valuable at all or just junk costume jewelry? Is it possible you could Kindly tell me the basics of how I would describe it-- "1950s victorian brass bracelet with hand painted face? so I could look up similar pieces on ebay? Thank you for your time.

 

Glad you do understand it is not a cameo, that's a bugboo of mine. But these porcelain miniatures do get lumped in with them. I have seen this lady before, possibly a renowned beauty of her day, possibly an artist's fantasy. These little plaques were mass produced for use in jewellery like this, usually ascribed to Limoges.

Very handsome bracelet. I would like to see the construction from the back & have a better understanding of how the clasp works. Is it basically a hook & loop type?

It is costume rather than fine jewellery, appears to be in very good condition. I would consider it a French Empire style cuff bracelet. I would think it is quite saleable, although not worth a fortune. It has a lot of drama.

 

Hi! Thank you for your very informative responsive. It is especially helpful to know that it would be called a -French Empire style cuff bracelet. And it is porcelain.

Actually, I wasn't sure if it was a cameo So my apologizes for posting in this thread.

I have posted some photos of the back and the clasps. There is no mark of the maker. You mentioned it was mass produced--would that be in the 1950s era and mean that it was not hand painted.

Thank you for your time!

 

Ah, a tongue & box clasp, very nice. This is a well made piece.

The miniature is either hand painted or a transfer. When you look at a transfer under magnification you can see it is printed with little dots. Painting will look like brush strokes, no little dots.

 

Thank you for the information. I looked under loupe and no dots. So it is handpainted. Do you think it is brass?
not sure if it is Ok to ask this--but would a rough estimate be $100 to $200

 

If you got lucky. Not sure what one would bring, but my guess is she's not hand painted. She may have some hand-painted detailing but the hand done ones were set in precious metal.

 

Thank you. So you are saying probably less than $100? That is really helpful to know.

Would I be correct that the metal is brass?

I did look again under a lighted loupe I think I see some dots in dark areas but not white areas. The white areas look smooth.

 

Just don't ask me how far under - no idea. My best guess from here is the bracelet is brass. It might be something else - take a magnet to it to check for steel.

 

I have a really strong magnet and it did not have any affect. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

I would try searching for vintage portrait bracelet or victorian revival portrait bracelet.

 

Thank you very much. Those search words --which I never would have known--helped me find similar items and gave me lots of good information.

I hope you don't mind my asking--Is there a way I can find out what the bracelet is made out of or would I have to go to a jeweler?

 

It looks like what I would call brass, or brass-tone or gold-tone, or gilt metal, possibly gold-filled. Some jewelers may be able to help, but I think many would just tell you it is costume jewelry.

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply. That information is very useful.

 

Brass has its own distinctive smell, which you can bring up by rubbing it vigorously against some fabric to create a little friction & heat. This is not silver, but silver also has its own smell. I have never detected a scent from gold. I expect the bracelet is brass, maybe the type known as pinchbeck. An auction house might call it yellow metal.

 

That is really impressive that you can identify the metals by smell.

 

There's really no trick to it. This morning I was handling a little silver serving piece, maybe for nuts, & the smell was so pronounced. If you spend a bit of time with silver in your hands, your fingers will begin to smell of it.