British Carved Cameo circa 1900

Here is a piece i got from a guy in the UK some time ago. The bezel is gold. I believe uts carved coral or shell.

 

pretty......carved shell.

 

Cameos are carved in Italy.
Bezel could be from anywhere, and the cameo could have been set where ever the bezel was made.
You just happened to acquire it in the UK.

 

I should probably clarify that most shell carved cameos are from Italy.

This is from Wiki:
Shell cameos


A cameo carved into the dorsum of a shell of the tiger cowry, Cypraea tigris

Since the late 19th century, the species most used in good-quality cameos has been Cypraecassis rufa, the bullmouth helmet, the shell of which can be up to 6 inches long. In this species, the upper shell layer is whitish, and the lower shell layer is a rich orange-brown. Modern sources for this shell are Madagascar and South Africa. The finest hand-carving of these shells takes place in Italy.


The most highly prized shell for carving is the emperor or queen's helmet shell, Cassis madagascariensis. This shell has white and dark brown layers and is known as sardonyx shell, and looks similar to the layered agate known as sardonyx. This shell is found in the waters of the Caribbean.



Cameo carved on Cassis madagascariensis by Ascione manufacture, 1925, Naples, Coral and Cameo Jewellery Museum Ascione

The world center for cameo carving in shell is Torre del Greco, Italy. The shells are first marked with a series of ovals in a process called signing, then cut into oval blanks for the cameo carver. The actual cameo is mainly cut with a metal scraping tool called a bulino, an invention of Jewish artisan Antonio Cimeniello. A number of metal gravers are used: flat-faced, round and three-cornered. To speed production, grinding wheels are used to quickly remove excess material. When the details are completed, the shell is then soaked in olive oil, cleaned with soap and water and selectively polished with a hand brush.

 

Thanks i have no clue about them just bought it because it was nice.

 

u do now....

 

It is very pretty... relatively modern, I'd say carved in the mid 20th century or later.

 

I'm interested in the dating of this cameo. What do y'all think? To me there doesn't seem to be a definite time frame when considering the style of her nose and body/neck shape. To me her nose is slightly up-turned and not a long aquiline nose like Victorian to early 20th century cameos; however, it isn't a perky like a later 20th century to today cameo nose. To me her nose looks to date during a transitional time like 1920-1940. To me her neck is on the thicker side (Victorian) and not slender and elongated (1940s to today).

Gee, to me dating cameos is a tedious job because there are so many elements to consider like material, the detail of the carving, subject matter (mythology, classic, portrait, scenic), shape of nose (strong roman - early 1800s, long aquiline - Victorian to 1920s-1940, up-turned perky - 1920s to yesterday), style of body (buxom, thicker necks - Victorian to 1st third of 20th century or slender, elongated necks - mid 20th century to today), hair style (short tossed curls, bun, loose floating tendrils, and the repeating /cyclic of hairstyles in later years), adornments (flowers, jewels - cameos habille cameos) and the list goes on and on.

There is always the possibility the setting and the cameo are not original to each other and not of the same age. My mother had a few early 1800 cameos set in gold brooches she bought separately. I still have a few of her cameos not in any settings the I hope to posts someday for help in dating.

--- Susan

Edit: After finally posting this reply, I see Fig had posted her opinion of mid 20th century to later. I thought the same because of the up-turned nose but not really perky. Then I thought her neck was a bit thick for late 20th century. The detail just doesn't look fine enough to be Victorian. I just don't know.

 

It looks later than Victorian to me.