Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Good morning!
She wasn't supposed to come in until Monday but I guess USPS had mercy on me lol.
The grunge is real guys but to me it does look like stone now that I see it in person. ( I wanted to try the teeth test... but the dirt .) What are your thoughts? I am very excited to see what you think.
The figure has kind of a "matte" look and some of the parts in the hair, such as the hairband, is shiny. I noticed this same thing on my other stone cameo.
The enamel looks close to flawless by the way and I am pretty sure that the setting is gold. It does not have any marks or anything on it though.
Does the signature look familiar to you? I tried to write down what I am seeing as it was really hard to take a picture of it.
Do you think I am good to clean it or should I return it? Even if its glass, I still think it looks pretty nice.

Let me know if you need to see anything else

 

OK, here's my thinking. I can tell by the findings that this is a quality piece. Whatever it is that is all over her - looks like she was bathed in maple syrup & left to dry! - is really obscuring the edges one would like to examine, but the margin is clean enough at the top & bottom to incline me to stone. There does appear to be a maker's mark, also suggestive of stone. Is the background layer kind of lavender grey & somewhat translucent? That would bode well for chalcedony. Even the fact that she has got that gunk all over nudges toward stone; that faint graininess I can detect with my teeth can hold foreign matter more easily than glass does.

I agree that it is quite nice, even if glass, & also in my mind is how beautiful French glass cameos can be, which is why I can't completely let go of that idea. If you're prepared to accept her even if glass, I would say clean away.

As to the signature , I don't know who it is, but in my own collection is this shell Melpomene:

 

That is so dirty! But also beautiful. Is it possible that she was exposed to a lot of tobacco smoke? Although maybe that would deposit sticky grunge all over the entire surface, not just crevices.

 

It's like the polishing rouge was never cleaned off completely. I'm dying to see her cleaned up.

 

Oh, Bronwen, I could not have said it better.

Thank you for your opinion.
It is kind of a grayish-orangy color and it is indeed a little translucent:



I will go ahead and clean her for hers and our sake and then let see her true face.

Would you recommend anything to clean her up? I used warm water, some dish soap and a toothbrush for the other one.

 

The same cleaning method will be fine for this lady. The guck may come off more easily than we think, although could be stubborn in the deepest crevices. I would probably leave her to soak in soapy water overnight & then see what can be accomplished with a soft toothbrush. I have had pieces that required several rounds, not soaking as long subsequent times.

Really can't wait to see her all radiant. The set of her mouth will look different & she'll no longer have a black eye!

 

Well would you look at that.

With the power of Dawn, the maple syrup be gone! It came off pretty quickly haha.

@Bronwen I am super thrilled!
I can see the thinning of the nose!

And it feels gritty on my teeth, like a pearl would.

The clasp is actually very nice, it clicks in and seems secure too

Do you see how the hair bands are shiny compared to the hair? It is such a nice detail.

 

I think you got yourself quite a little treasure. As I said, radiant. Good going you.

 

BTW, love the mount too. I would check thoroughly for a French mark. Often on the clasp.

 

Thank you! I am very happy. Even if she were glass, I don't think I would have sent her back. I will get the gold tested too to see what carat it is.

Age-wise, can you go by the mount and say she is early 20th century?

What is bizarre to me, the place that listed her on Ebay is a gold/silver assay and jewelry place. I wonder how they missed this. I would think that she is worth much more than the $200 that I paid.

I've checked and couldn't see any marks with my bare eyes, but I am going to try and check the area with a loupe.

 

Gorgeous!

 

Just looked at Rosi's work-spectacular.So the phony Rosi (pictured above) doesn't quite have the level of artistic virtuosity a Rosi piece would ? Though a very pretty Cameo- Rosi's work (ie: fabric,hair)would perhaps be more nuanced,subtle ?
PS-When I think of sublime 'bas relief' I'm always drawn back to Ghiberti's Doors in the Florence Baptistry.

 

To which picture are you referring?

 

Think it was a Cameo of a Greek/Roman God or Emperor at Sotheby's/Christies.I'll find again and post.

 

Hi bosko, are you replying to something much earlier in this thread? A signature on a piece always enhances its value, especially if it is the signature of someone who can be found in the literature, even if only as an entry in a tourist guide or in Leonard Forrer's Dictionary of Medallists...

On the other hand, signed work is not always work of the highest quality while, frustratingly, much gorgeous work is not signed at all. It is a pet peeve of mine that a signed work of middling quality can fetch a better price than a masterwork by Anonymous.

 

Could it have been this?

https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/3840B/lots/11

 

That's it exactly ! -hope I didn't pick another phony Rosi ?

 

So is the thought that the Rosi cameo is a fake?

 

PepperAnna- I thought it was real (but i am a total amateur to Cameo authenticity & quality),but with fake Rosi's in the Marketplace,its better to ask questions as a student than to assume.There have been some excellent forgers throughout history.
I was an Art Major,but as far as Cameos-I'm a complete amateur. I know a tiny,tiny bit about Nicolas Hilliard,Ghiberti's Reliefs,Vermeer,and I know from 45 years of looking artwork-what I consider 'High Art' which to me (and only to me) places Cellini above certain other really fine,but not quite as almost divinely gifted Goldsmiths.
As far as Cameos-I'm a junior member of the Mickey Mouse Club alumni.

 

The Rosi sold by Skinner is genuine; the name & address inscribed on the back compare well with other examples I have on record, as do quality of work, type of stone & choice of subject. What they do not show or mention that does appear on other of his works is 'L ROSI' engraved on the obverse. May have been overlooked & not picked up in photo.