Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Expert opinions were unanimous that the glass intaglio is a replica of the amethyst in Paris. They were also unanimous that the glass is probably/definitely Roman, until one of them reversed herself after I demonstrated that the signature on the amethyst was not captured in the glass at all. Then she decided the glass had to be a later production. There was also a guy who agreed on the source image but struggled with dating the glass to Roman times strictly because of the extreme rarity of known stone-glass pairs.

 

It does demonstrate how difficult it can be, even for experts, to tell certain things. At least they all agreed on the source.

 

Quite true. Museums often enough have to sheepishly release the news that some iconic treasure of theirs is actually not what they thought. This was a famous one:

MET SAYS ITS POPULAR CAT IS PROBABLY FAKE

Everyone who was generous enough to share their opinion with me had to base their observations on photos alone, but, as more than one of them said, even with the piece in hand, they probably could not guarantee its antiquity. I imagine there are high tech ways to assess it, but probably would be destructive to the piece.

The argument for its authenticity is circumstantial: it looks like other known examples confirmed as Roman; genuine examples were plentiful on the market when the fob seal would have been made; the availability of affordable genuine pieces would have made forgery not worth the effort; if you were going to forge it, why in the world would you go to great lengths to obliterate the signature, a large part of the amethyst's claim to fame?

 

Hello! Picked up this pretty silver cameo recently. I'm guessing from around 1890-early 1900s? Is there a name for a double cameo like this? I don't think it's referred to as night and day right? It measures 1.75"L x 1.4"W. Thanks!

 

Very nice. Obvious art nouveau influence, but styles in cameos tend to lag behind the times. I'd put it to 1920s - 30s. The unusual shape betrays a bit of deco influence.

Night & Day probably inspired this duo, who are not representative of anyone or anything in particular as far as I'm aware. The technical term for compositions with 2 overlapping figures is jugate. (Think conjugal.)

Hope you will wear this from time to time. The C catch is not the most secure type, but I see a guard chain. Is it still in working order?

 

Thanks so much for the info! Yes clasp and safety chain all in working order.

 

Thanks for the interesting article link about the Met's cat sculpture. The article makes it clear that in all probability that one was fake, yet they were hesitant to declare it so unequivocally. Then they followed up quickly with a statement that the replica that was sold for $975 (!) in the museum shop was copied from a different sculpture in their collection, known to be authentic:
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/01/arts/met-asserts-cat-copies-based-on-authentic-work.html

I don't find the expensive cat in their online shop, but there is a small one for $45.

 

My wife has seen this at the flea market for a month. I hadn't seen it till today. If I saw it a month ago, we'd have paid double. I wouldn't pass this by. The guy sold it like scrap metal, because it's 14k. The setting sucks. The cameo is beautiful. Though you can hardly tell from my awful photos.

 

Very sweet. Not sure I've seen this exact composition before. From the way it is cut, I'm guessing c. 1920s. What age is suggested by the back?

 

This is the back. I think it's "newer". You should know this (you know it all), what is this made out of? It's not quite as dark as the agate one we had years ago. But, it doesn't look like normal shell.

I took this photo because there seems to be a marking on the cameo, but I'll be damned if I can make it out. It sure isn't readable in this awful photo.

 

Interesting assortment of findings on the back. The pin/hinge style is older, but everything else is more modern. Of course a cameo can be mounted any time after its making, the two elements are not necessarily contemporaries. In this case, if the mount is a good indicator of the age of the entire piece, I'd have to peg it as more recent than I originally thought: mid-50s - mid-60s.

I can't detect any marks on the back of the cameo, much less try to decipher them; I can't even quite make out what is stamped on the frame. Has the cameo been marked using acid etching?

Everything I can see in the photos seems consistent with shell. What about it seems different to you? Due to different species & sizes of shell being used, segments used for carving can differ in color, thickness & degree of curvature. This piece is so thick & flat, & signed by Michelini, who worked in shell for most of his career but had mastered hardstone in his later years, that I thought for quite a while that it is agate. It is shell:



The Soviet hallmark also encouraged me to think it a higher value piece.

 

To me, that looks like shell. It has that shell color in that photo.

Unfortunately, I can't take a good photo. My first ones were taken by a kitchen lamp, and this was taken by the window with the sun coming through. It's not that shell color, it's darker.

It probably is shell, because even though the back is darker than it is in ANY of these photos. I guess the camera is catching something I'm not seeing. The first photo is the truest version to the color.

 

It's definitely shell. There are a number of members in the Cassis family, which vary in typical color as well as the natural variation between individuals of the same species. Cassis madagascariensis can be quite dark:



Hardstone can be orangey-red:

 

Is there a consensus as to which medium , regardless of the prowess of the carving , makes the best , or finest cameo's ..??

 

You'd have to define best/finest, & from whose standpoint. The most highly regarded cameos in the academic/museum world are antiquities engraved in layered agate using more than 2 color layers, such as the so-called Gonzaga cameo:



Part of their value, in addition to quality of execution & age, are the difficulty of making fine work in this medium & its durability. Personally I love even more the work of Alessandro Masnago & of the Miseroni family. They worked in stones with irregular layers & a variety of colors. They must have studied each stone carefully to see what image could be brought out of it, rather than imposing a preconceived idea on it.

The materials that allow for terrific work that doesn't take years to complete are the ones that can provide a fairly thick piece that is soft compared to pietra dura: conch shell; ivory; lava. As we have often seen here, helmet shell can be turned into some gorgeous cameos, but they are necessarily* in the lowest of low relief. Cameos in these thicker materials can be more sculptural, although ivory & lava cameos are monochromatic.



* The exception is when the horn of the shell is used, but these tend to look unnatural unless seen directly from the front.

 

The first is exactly what this one looks like.

Those are all BEAUTIFUL. The first with the three colors, I had one that was magnificent. Brown background, white king on a throne holding a spear of some sort. There's a person standing in front of him, and there's a black dog on top near the king's feet. I wish I'd taken a photo of it at some point. But, I never did. It was stolen along with all the others she had. The frame was 14k, so the cameo was probably smashed to get the gold.

 

Garage sales are always crowded in our area. People have their phones out looking stuff up. We didn't get to this place till almost noon. Would you pass this by? We sure didn't. The bracelet is 800 silver. But, she doesn't care about the silver. The center cameo is gorgeous. The others ain't bad either.

 

That one flew under the radar and into your pocket. Congrats!

 

Very nice. I've seen my share of bracelets with shell cameos in silver scroll work, but not one quite like this. 1925 - 1935, I would think, with Ceres/Demeter in the center, Flora-type pretty ladies to the sides. Is it in need of a ring where the spring ring can attach? (Or, as auction houses say, "Clasp deficient"?)

I suppose most people still see cameos as seriously outdated. And then some of us know better.