Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Good luck on the auction!!

This other you found is really lovely. Lots of detail and fantastic anatomy. The French artists really had a style and I enjoy it.

That Schmoll seems really ambitious for him and nicely done. There's a fully signed "Schmoll" on the bay right now where the grapes were of least concern.

 

Congratulations to PepperAnna is she was LiveAuctioneers Bidder 943, winner of the Froullé framed cameo. Or condolences, if not. It was rapidly bid up to 3 times as much as auction house estimate. Most items on offer went for less than low estimate, so this one was a star.

 

No, unfortunately, I was not. I was bidding against one other person, and I realized that the person was not going to stop, so I did. I was disappointed not to get it.

But on a happy note, I did purchase the Mars and Bellona/Venus cameo we were discussing a few days ago. I will post pictures once it arrives. I tracked down the Charles Brown intaglio on which it is based at the Hermitage Museum. It is much nicer than the glass impression I posted earlier. Here is the link, in case you would like to have more info about it.

https://hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/18.+carved+stones/176201

 

I recently bought this cameo and was happily surprised to find a signature on the front of the cameo that was not visible in the terrible eBoo pictures. The carver was G. Gabrielli. After a little searching, I found 3 other cameos by Gabrielli and a little write up in "The Royal Academy of Arts: A Complete Dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904, Volume 3". It seems that Guiseppe Gabrielli liked to carve portraits of the Royal Family, which leads me to believe that my cameo and two others I found are of Queen Victoria.







He is also listed in Forrer's.


This cameo subject is very similar to mine. It sold last week at auction for over 1800 euro. This cameo is set by Ernesto Pierret, who supposedly rivaled Castellani at the time. It is signed on the front and back, but Gabrielli is not mentioned in the lot description, only Pierret.




I found another on Worthpoint, but don't know when it sold or for how much.
Again, very similar lady to mine. This one is set in 18K gold. The pictures aren't great, but the signature is faintly visible behind her back.

 

Here are the other three Gabrielli cameos, sold as a group in 2015 by Sotheby's.

 

I'm sorry you didn't get the framed piece but the Mars and Venus cameo is even better. A really stunning piece of workmanship.

Thanks for sharing your new piece and finds on some artists! Gabrielli definitely had a type and a specific style! Roses on the two could be indicative of English royalty, I agree.

 

Thanks, Mirana. I wonder if Gabrielli made a living carving Queen Victoria cameos. Mine is clearly a lower quality of carving and setting compared to the other two. The flower in her hair is very simple and the dress details less intricate on my cameo. So maybe Gabrielli intentionally made it that way to generate different price points for his customers.

 

Sharing a few other pieces in my collection, per @Bronwen's earlier suggestion. This little beauty was carved by Paul Lebas.

 

This is one of my earliest finds, and I still love it. The carver did a great job using the colors in the shell. Flora has a tiny chip off her nose, but it is not noticeable unless you look closely.

 

Your Gabrielli may not be as well carved but still what a thrill to discover a signature and a new (to us) artist!

The Lebas has such a fitting frame. Those curls are so delicate! And I always enjoy when they carve into the background a little to have things fade.

The Flora has a great, intentional style to her. I love the very deliniated flowers and leaves. Such nice depth.

 

Having spent some time gazing & going back & forth, I believe - hubris is going to get me one of these days - that the Hermitage got it wrong, & it is Venus, not Bellona. Maybe they made the identification by association with Mars, or maybe they, as I, thought the lady had something like a visor on her brow, which I now think is just the more angular treatment Brown gave the background figure compared with the more carefully delineated foreground god. Between the lack of any war related accoutrements & the feminine hair style, particularly that little squiff on top (see my avatar), I have to see this as the Goddess of Love, with her lover & opposite number.

Learned quite a while back that museums do not always get it right, let alone even the most prestigious auction houses & the fanciest books.

One of my favorite cameos from my own collection is a jugate rendering of Hercules & Omphale.



Found it in the Beazley Archive as an unpublished Tassie. Unpublished, but listed by number in an inventory, which names the subject & adds that it is by Brown.



This let me find it in the collections of the Hermitage, ascribed to William Brown.

 

Exhibition catalogues are so useful. I'm going to guess that Rudolph Hahn was a dealer both in worked & unworked stones, not a steinschneider himself. As written up, Carl sounds more like a dedicated cameist than does Philipp, who had 'agate ware', more lapidary sounding, yet only Philipp made it into Forrer, perhaps because he relocated to Paris. I don't think Forrer would have picked him up if all he made was agate ashtrays. That brooch screams French! Mark may be on side of clasp we don't see.

 

Yes, it was a great thrill. I was so happy. I had bought the cameo because I like cameos of real people and I was tickled that the carver included the double chin. I also like doing the research and am always glad when I find the info, which isn't always the case.

 

@Bronwen, I think you may be right. When I looked at it initially, I took the spear to be the female's accoutrement, because it was carved in the same layer. That's how I jumped to Bellona, and then the Hermitage had the same ID. But your points are well thought out and based on the evidence. So now I am in your camp.

I find when I look at cameos or intaglios that museums have, there are sometimes errors. Recently, I found an error of the V&A's identification of a Wedgwood mold. It was identified as a man, but actually it was Cleopatra with the asp around her arm. It was very similar to the Cleopatra cameo I own, which is why I recognized it in reverse. I emailed them with the info, but they have yet to correct it.

 

Yes, I agree with your analysis of Carl, Phillip and Rudolph. But as we know, sometimes people dabbled in pursuits other than the ones they are "known" for. I am hoping that when I receive the cameo, there will be a lovely first name initial hiding on the back of the cameo. As you can see from the picture, that part of the cameo is hidden in shadow. I am crossing my fingers!

 

This Tignani cameo generated an eye-popping result at an auction last week! Over $17,000 including the buyer's premium. Both it and the setting are beautiful, but I was surprised at how much it sold for.

 

I'm still very new to cameos and am considering bidding on this one at an auction tonight. She's described as pink agate & 20k. She's approximately 2". I'm guessing 1890s? I think she's really pretty, but I'm concerned about the "lines" not cleaning up well. Is that something to shy away from?

 

The "lines" are because she is made of conch shell and not agate/stone. You can see Bronwen talk in detail about the material on her website.

How much these go for depends on the gold content they're set in but they go for low hundreds typically. They might reach asking of $500 if the seller thinks they're coral, but of course they aren't (see Bronwen's site).

She's around 1900, yep. She is pretty! Some of this type can be very poorly carved so she's a better one. This type was popular and many made so if you don't get this one, there are others you can look at. "Pink cameo" produces many on e bay.

 

Thank you so much, @mirana! The auction shows a jeweler's appraisal that has her listed as agate. That's pretty scary that they got it so wrong!

 

Hi @sassafras! If you fall into the cameo rabbit hole, you will find that often auction houses are incorrect in their descriptions. This forum is really the best place to get info about cameo material, age, subject, etc. As @mirana mentioned, @Bronwen's site, Cameo Times, is an excellent resource. She is also the top contributor on this thread and the resident expert.

You did ask in your post about the lines. For me, that would be a "no buy". I would only consider it if the subject of the cameo is very unusual or the carving is outstanding.