Is this beyond hope?

The lines in the bottom circle is "shadowing" lines also to the left of her nose.Very odd they would only be in 2 locations on the whole piece though.

 

This part strikes me as being hand made; the engraving is not at all symmetrical. Maybe those were places it was held in a clamp!

 

Photo experiment. Will this one enlarge?



Is that a crack or a pencil mark on the left? There would have been a pencil inside.

 

No clamps,it would have been held in a pitch bowl for the engraving.

 

That's really interesting to know. Thanks! There are some cameos, cut in shell & pared down so they're extremely thin, that are then backed with pitch or slate so they look like sardonyx from the front. Or is a pitch bowl not one filled with pitch?

 

It is a cast iron bowl filled with pitch,the best I have used came from northern India.I no longer have a contact for India so the next best thing comes from the North West.............. http://www.northwestpitchworks.com/

 

Can't enlarge the pic by clicking on it, so looked on my phone: it seems to be a crack line, going too in the recessed areas, where a pencil line wouldn't go

 

Yes, I meant the ripple in the part you mention. I did just go back and see that your first post showed a picture of that side closed, and it seems to lie flat. So maybe not as warped as it appears to me in the photo with it open.

 

I think that's the least of its issues, since there's no other indication of water damage. But thank you for pointing it out. I would not have noticed, & to make this decision I need all the info I can get.

 

Seller got a good photo of the mark on the front. What looks like two lines of writing actually appears to be just squiggles. However, there is a French maker's mark in one corner:



@kyratango Any insights?

 

Right! Lozange shaped maker’s mark says French I see a P as last initial, but that’s all

 

That's all seller sees too. I don't see much more. To the left of the P I see a shape that could be an A or maybe a bell. Think there is another meaningful element on the far left (that looks like an airplane) but can't tell if there is anything more or just accumulated grunge muddying the picture. When I go to the Ministry of Culture's web site, they're sorry, the database is currently inaccessible.

Wonder why the maker put that field of lines? If the maker's mark had been in the middle... Either way, centered or not, perhaps the purpose was to help you find the mark?

 

Seller confirms, hairline crack.

 

Can use that for lower the asked price

 

I have tried to get more information out of them about the metal, whether it is silver that would look fine if it were cleaned up, or silver plate that is worn away in some places. They are not restorers, they are leaving all that to buyer, item is being sold 'as is', & I'm supposed to be able to tell how it is from photos alone. I can tell that at the moment they are not receptive to the idea of lowering the price. If the condition were much better they could ask quite a lot more for it, so think they have taken condition into consideration when pricing. I just think condition diminishes value more than they do.

 

Not a cameo decor, but to compare the price:
https://www.antiques-delaval.com/fr...argente-berth-napoleon-iii-xixeme-siecle.html

 

And some other mop pieces...
https://www.bijoux-cybelle.fr/louis-edouard-courquin

 

I wonder that you tried so long. I'd have stopped asking them long time ago. people that don't answer properly - hands off.

 

Beautiful things here, but nothing with anything comparable to the cameo on the card case. If the cameo were set as jewellery, in a simple gold mount, it would be worth what they're asking for the case. In a fancy mount, more.

I'm really looking for a card case with a nice cameo at a price I can afford. It doesn't have to be MOP, but it was a popular material for these accessories. The one I'm agonizing over has by far the best cameo. If only it didn't have major issues...