Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Crazy... there are so many uninformed listings!

 

It is an unusually high incidence; yesterday I found 3 cameos, in a search for shell cameos, that are actually hardstone, in the first 2 pages of listings. Sometimes I see things that are described as shell, are really hardstone, but priced as if they were hardstone, so figure seller will do OK.

 

I didn't know what you meant, now I do, although had to go back and look for it. Is one of the areas along the line of her visor? The photos are just terrible; if they had been sharp & there had been a few more of them taken from some other angles, this would have been much less of a gamble. As it is, can't know for sure whether that is glue ooze or what I think of as an aura. It looks more like the latter to me, from what I can make out. It's a good sign. If you scroll down to about the middle here, see the photos of the round cameo.

https://www.cameotimes.com/index.php/reference/materials-guide?start=2

Some cutters leave that little extra bit of background layer all around; more often it is only in areas with tiny details, like the lady's hair & lips. Really, the only thing I could see from the photos as they are that whispered 'glass', is the position of the figure relative to the edge.

Never know about the post. Sometimes things get here from England astonishingly quickly. Other times... Global shipping, last seen four states away. Until it arrives, we can only keep our fingers crossed.

 

I don't actually think it's "glue ooze"! "Aura" is a much nicer term and I'll try to use that to avoid future confusion.

It's something I asked you about early on and after you explained it to me, it's the one thing when I see it, I immediately go "hardstone!"

 

And just to be certain...

 

For some reason I've been searching cameos on eBay this morning. I decided to search every category instead of just the jewelry or collectibles. I found this one under Art > Art Sculptures. https://www.ebay.com/itm/182163885860

The question: what is the purpose of the holes in this lava cameo? Were there gold beads in it or something? I actually like it but would never pay that much, especially with a "partially broken" nose. Although in a way that makes it look like an ancient sculpture.

Oh, and @Bronwen , who is depicted on this cameo?

 

I have asked about similar holes before... I believe the answer was: carver using a drill for a quick finish. I think it's horrific every time I see it.

@Bronwen , did I remember correctly?

 

You know, after I posted it I suddenly thought this might have come up before. I'll go to look.

 

I see the seller is covering all the material bases:
Antique Carved Marble Relief Carving Lava Cameo of Neoclassical Girl Hardstone

 

Found it! That's even stranger than the lava one.

Bronwen's reply to your post:

 

Maybe I was making an assumption that it's lava? Could it be marble? Is marble a hardstone?

[I need to leave for a while... will return in a couple of hours, probably.]

 

Don't know if this will work, but I think this is a link to the spot in this thread where I asked about holes: https://www.antiquers.com/posts/454270/
(CROSS POST)

Sculpting-wise, I think marble is considered soft, but I don't know how that terminology fits in with cameo terminology.

 

Jivvy does remember correctly. But whoa! Someone got really carried away with the drill, finding as many places to use it as he could & using too large a bit. He about reamed those flowers right out!

She would usually be considered Flora.

You identified the material correctly. Chipped off noses are more the rule than the exception. Always one of the first things to check with lava.

No & no. Although I sometimes see them described that way, I have never seen a cameo for jewellery that I believed was marble. Marble is used in the next thing to a cameo, relief sculptures. You'll see wall decorations that are framed marble reliefs. Marble is actually a relatively soft & fragile stone. When I was arranging the shipment of things

from my mother's house, one of the items coming to my house was a marble sculpture. Was told shippers will not insure marble, then promised he would take very good care of it & he did.

 

Lordy! I came over here to post this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/123711221091



Vintage Solid Gold, Seed Pearl Natural Conch Shell Cameo Brooch Pendant US $399.00

An example of stone misidentified as shell, but priced like stone.

 

This, on the other hand, looks like conch shell



is described as
Victorian Pink Stone Cameo with 9 kt solid Gold setting
US $95.00

and is actually glass.

 

Somehow, I got taken past these posts when I opened this thread before, so only seeing now. Yes, what you circled is what I meant too. You have keener eyes than I do. I hadn't noticed any of those areas until you pointed them out & would not have spotted, in this photo, the place by her shoulder without your marking it. That one bothers me a bit because there's not a good reason for it. However, really no way to know whether we're looking at glue, stone, lighting artifacts, grunge.

Pâte sur pâte glass can have a similar look. See Mary Magdalen in old post:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/cameos-show-tell-or-ask-answer.23493/page-19#post-372247

 

I vote for stone, gold
Isn't it a gryllus? First time I hear the term Janate composition, thanks for the learning

 

I'm pretty confident it's stone. What I suspect about the metal is that the ring shank is low grade gold; the innermost bezel is some kind of base metal; and outer part could be anything from low karat gold to pinchbeck. I believe the cameo started life as a brooch, now made into a ring.



The composition does look very like a gryllus/gryllos. But

http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/43F63345-C4A1-4F40-BFCD-3B34C730B9AF

It's driving me mad. I know I have seen this composition a number of times, but haven't been able to find it anywhere in the Beazley Archive. It came back to me that I think I've seen the guy IDed as Cecrops, another major figure in the founding of Athens, but am only finding this:

http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/B45A09DF-A8D2-4A7A-9357-F6DD8B3417DA

A very different looking character.

Profiles overlapping, facing the same direction: jugate. Heads back to back: janate. Profiles facing each other: confronted.

 

What are your thoughts on this cameo I own? the back looks like gold double to me, but the front has a different tone to it.

 

That it is Psyche:

https://cameotimes.com/index.php/profiles-1/minor-gods/psyche

and Czech glass.