Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Dare I say, it's becoming top flight?!

Not sure I've ever seen anything for sale by the first seller that was not priced in the thousands of dollars, so gazillion is pretty close. Hebe & the Eagle was an extremely popular subject. She comes along frequently, all along the price scale. This one, as you rightly observe, is excellent (after an intaglio by Giovanni Pichler) but if you love the scene, patience may bring one to you that is right for the price.

The second piece looks like a 'commesso', a cameo that uses a mixture of materials. It is difficult to know from the photo whether that is quite what it is. Looks to me more like a shell cameo that has been embellished with enamel. Very pretty & unusual. If she were to sell it, you'd be out another gazillion $.

 

@Aquitaine Is this of any interest to you?

 

AHA! I believe that is Diana?? Am I looking at a retaining substance on the back along the lower edge?? Not Bynes disease is it???? Not that I have read too much about that yet.....it's hard to stop, isn't it???

@Bronwen, I think I'm starting to lean more towards the unusual figures.....have also seen a few although not many, of Raphaels Madonna in the chair? Since I also have that cloisonne pin/necklace/coin(I think that's what it is) of the same scene......rather beautiful!!!!! Must feed the hordes.....two dogs and one husband!!!! Back later!!

 

None of the above. The section of shell used is a little thicker than usual. The white around the edges of the back are remnants of the next white layer.

Byne's is not hard to stop but it's impossible to reverse the damage. I've never seen it develop in this manner. It spreads in a spider web-like way.

And yes, it is Diana. Think you're turning into me, placing unusual subjects higher in your preferences. There are not any good examples of the Madonna della Sedia on eBay at the moment but there is a $10,000 Madonna Terranuova.

 

Found that I get more results for Hebe if I search for 'cameo feeding' in jewellery & watches. Sellers do not always recognize either the lady or the bird & use an assortment of words for each, but do recognize the activity. Have seen a number of 'woman feeding swan' cameos over the years.

 

AHH!! Thanks for the tip!!! Someday "it" (being whatever!) will find me!!!! And the great help!!!

 

This piece is a mash up of Raphael's Madonna della Sedia, Madonna del Cardellino & seemingly at least one other, yet to be identified.

 

@Aquitaine I keep you in mind when I go through listings for things I think are good quality, reasonably priced & more interesting subjects. I would be more seriously considering this Perseus if I did not already own 2 other examples. It is after Antonio Canova's sculpture. Photos leave a lot to be desired, but from what I can see carving is excellent & the vertically mounted pin indicates it has some age on it. I have no firsthand knowledge of the seller, who also has a conch shell Aurora/Eos for 3 times as much.

 

@Bronwen, Thank you so much for keeping me in mind!! My thoughts on the Perseus are mixed....in one respect, it is lovely although I'm not terribly fond of the hair. Whoever the seller is, I find it difficult to believe they couldn't have posted much better, clearer images!!! I see lots of dark spots when taking the time to look closely.....and thirdly, I get the feeling, since I saw no size posted, it's fairly small.... when I look at the thickness of the pin, and it going downward. In a way, sorry I'm so 'picky'......but part of my nature, I guess. Between Ebay, Ruby Lane, Etsy, Cameo Heaven, and finding one or two other random sites, I'm scanning often, figuring eventually something will turn up!!!! I LOVE that you're in a good price range!!!!! If I have to go more for nice, of course, I will.....just naturally hoping to try to keep it down a bit!! Thank you again!! Your help is invaluable!!!!
Sue

 

Oh, I'm just showing you possibilities. Taste is so personal, I'm not expecting you'll necessarily want anything I bring to your attention. More about developing your idea of what's worth the price & what's not. Cameo needs cleaning; I didn't see anything that way that can't readily be improved. There is one distinct hairline; not desirable, not fatal. Piece is probably no later than about 1850, so... You can kind of tell when a piece is really tiny. This looks average size to me, maybe about 1.5 inches tall.

 

And I didn't realize that was a helmet?!! If those others are yours, they're lovely!!!!!

 

Top left is the sculpture itself, next to it is a massive hardstone version by Filippo Tignani, great big thing with some damage, probably from falling off due to its weight, mine. Bottom left is shell with a lot of writing scratched into, maddeningly not-quite-legible, maybe ending with the name Varon, mine. Last one is the one on eBay. You can see the execution compares very well, both for fidelity to the original & in comparison with the other two. Better work than the Tignani, really, but of course shell is easier to work than stone.

 

It's actually the cap of invisibility Hermes lends to him, along with his winged sandals. Canova decided to make it look like a Phrygian cap, something otherwise seen mainly on Paris (who abducted Helen, thereby starting the Trojan War.)

 

@Bronwen, So in taking your suggestion and using key words, on Etsy, I found several ‘Hebe Feeding’ but only one that I liked somewhat that wasn’t $10K!!! Only problem is the setting I think is lacking.....nothing to write home about.....but the price is right there....care to offer an opinion??? MANY thanks if you do!!!!! Oh it also looks like it might be signed??
Sue

https://www.etsy.com/listing/563881903/antique-gold-filled-cameo-brooch-pin

AND of course Ruby Lane has this sweet puppy that I’m JUST LOOKING at, trust me!!!!!!!

https://www.rubylane.com/item/753075-RL-00228/Antique-Victorian-Carved-Shell-Cameo-15k?search=1

 

The Ruby Lane seller is a dear friend with exquisite taste & exacting standards, more collector than dealer. These are the things she has decided to let go, so you can just imagine what the pieces she decides to keep are like!

I have a mixed reaction to the etsy Hebe, some things I like very much (e.g., the graceful line of the head & neck, the overall feeling of tenderness), some less so (Hebe's meaty arms; the eagle's huge head) & issues with the setting that would not matter to me if the carving were spectacular. However, the points that bother me are only noticeable on close, critical examination. I think the overall gestalt is quite lovely.

It's amazing the shell has stayed in such good condition when the frame has taken such a beating. I think it is not signed by the cutter, although no way to be certain, particularly with the pin obscuring some of it. What the seller sees as amm might be Ann; occasionally you see pieces with the owner's name on the back. The other mark is more likely to be a price or inventory code.

Price is not a bargain, not outrageous either. Bottom line is how much she appeals to you. Sorry to give you such an equivocal assessment. Think I'm saying it is not investment grade, if that is what you are seeking, but if the price is not a strain & she is calling to you, I would not try to talk you out of it. A test I use on myself when I can't decide is to ask myself how I would feel if someone else bought it.

 

@Aquitaine I don't check out what's on Ruby Lane as a regular thing. Many of the same sellers & cameos are on eBay; many cameos that are quite ordinary are overpriced. Since you sent me there, decided to review some of the current listings, starting with the most expensive, then looking in the range where you would like to stay.

I saw only a single cameo that I would give a buy recommendation. She is a dancer with a kithara, based on a fresco found at Herculaneum. If the cameo has a bath & the frame is polished just enough to shine up the high points while leaving the ornamentation dark, she would look very nice. I use disposable polishing sheets to do this. Saw another, sale pending, positively alarming. A glass cameo made in W. Germany, so post-WWII, represented as black & white onyx from 1870 - 1885.

 

@Bronwen, thank you so much for reviewing the etsy Hebe in particular! I actually thought the SAME about her arms and especially the eagle's head....and no I would not be crushed if someone else bought it!!! I was thinking IF I bought it would I have 'buyer's remorse' after looking at those arms and eagle's head once I owned it.....which is just why I keep looking!!!!

 

@Bronwen, your 'dancer' link didn't go anywhere, but I did find her and remember seeing her.....and yes, she definitely IS lovely....I DO have her bookmarked, so she is "in the running" list!! IF you don't mind...what is 'alarming' about the glass cameo (which I'm not fond of them anyway).....I'm getting an education here!!!!

 

I find the 'would I be sad/mad/glad/regretful if someone else bought it' is really useful in deciding whether to buy a BIN or how much to bid in an auction.