Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

Yes, some of these violent removals are outright desecrations. These two were probably very pretty pieces that garnered many compliments for their wearers, once upon a time.

Fun to see your Figment go from your imagination to finished product. Thanks for showing us. Figment & the hammer both have claws, but Figment has got teeth!

 

It seems I misremembered slightly. This first one I am confident is Schmoll


But this second one just looked to me like a "Schm" in the signature. I can't remember if this looks like one of his signature variations or if I am just seeing Schmoll in everything.


Apologies if these have been posted before and I missed them.

 

Thanks Pica pica. Well, we're all very familiar with that first signature now. Monsieur Schmoll for sure. Have not seen this composition before, sort of the Annunciation with children, but he seems to have had a go at all sorts of scenes. I suspect some are his own imagination.

The second one, a jazzy Toilet of Venus, I'm inclined to think is 20th century work. I can see how that signature is easily read as Schmoll, or almost Schmoll.


(I tried looking at this one the other way up, but I think the way you show it is correct.)

Here's an example of how Schmoll wrote it, when he wrote all of it:



The one thing about Schmoll's signature that is quite consistent across all variations is the way he made his upper case S, so I think we have to assign Venus to someone else. It's going to bedevil me, trying to think who that could be. Inviting all comers to take a crack at it.

 

Possibly Alhm...? But it makes no sense.

 

All I know is this looks like Cupid bringing Venus her pickleball raquet.

 

I'll just say both are beautiful.

 

I hope these are ok

 

I also got photos of my smallest cameo. It is around 2cm in height. I am still unsure on subject, material and age despite my best efforts!

 

Those are perfect. I just wanted to satisfy myself that the cameo is banded agate & not glass. The French made good quality glass cameos in this red/lavender/white color combo, but your photos show the irregularity in the width of the bands that indicate natural material. One of the telltale features of glass is the evenness of the layers.

 

The way the cameo is set is consistent with brooches dating to the earlier half of the 19th century. I think the subject is derived from the head of the Trojan priest Laocoön from the famous sculpture, seen from a different side than the one in this photo (& with considerably less hair):



It is difficult to ascertain the material from a photo. It looks to me like it is conch shell, which can be all white like this.

 

Just wanted to say, this thread is fantastic! I have learned so much and have been proud to post a few nice cameos I have found. Thank you @Bronwen

 

Too bad there's no cameo emoji.

When it first became possible to search using an image, years ago, well before Lens, if I gave it a photo of a cameo to search for, it would come back with a whole page of pictures of whipped cream topped desserts. But we know there are other delights.

 

And no, we don't mean Herb Alpert!

 

...coming soon to every thrift store and tag sale near you!

 

Ah that does look like a very good match. I had spent a long time scratching my head over this so thank you.

This was my inkling. On the neck you can see darker veins going across the surface which I believe is a characteristic of conch. However, I've only ever seen conch in pictures and so I am not very confident in identifying it. Thank you so much for your help!

 

If the back were exposed to examination, we would have more clues about the material.

This is my attempt to help in the differentiation of conch shell from coral:

https://cameotimes.com/index.php/reference/materials-guide?start=1

Taken from the article:

On the cheek and neck, this piece also exhibits the faint striations not infrequently seen on conch cameos. While having the appearance of fine cracks or scratches that have become discolored, a fingernail will not catch in them and no amount of cleaning diminishes their appearance. Running nearly straight and in parallel, they probably mark growth increments and so are further evidence that the material is molusk-produced rather than coral.