Featured CAMEOS: Show & Tell or Ask & Answer

The difficulty is that there really is no literature, at least not in English, that delves into lava production. I even bought a little book about volcanoes to try to get a better understanding.

My suspicion is that the use of molds in the creation of 'lava' pieces was not something the factories wanted to make public.

That is what I have imagined, a kind of slurry. Vesuvius blasts up through a limestone 'shield' that is part of the geology of the region, so the ash may have some properties similar to plaster of Paris.

The Cameo Times article in its current state tries to show what to look for to confirm a piece is actually hand carved lava, but I have yet to figure out any sure fire way to detect molding other than the gestalt & gut sense you develop after handling many pieces.

I was more successful with explaining dripstone & differentiating it from lava.

 

For now I am just going to show this & invite comments:



The long diagonal lines on the back are more like veins; they are not cracks.

 

First off: Beautiful and I'd pick it up! It's a really pleasing sculpt. Great face and hair. Even the folds are well done.

Construction-wise, this is the sort of thing that looks sculpted to me. The roundness of all the edges and overly smooth areas. If a mold, it would need carving after the fact in places like the hair and the hair is more round and less sharp to me in the "cuts". I just think it would be more expedient to sculpt a clay made of the local rock and certainly someone would employ that method. I guess we'll have to keep digging.

The back "cracks"...look like they have a drop shadow? Which makes it look like there's a film over the back that "cracked" but you can see if light changes that look.

 

That's gorgeous. I'd buy it. I believe that's done by hand.

Since you wrote that piece (silly me), my thought is something to think about. I see the plaques all the time. The mold is great, but the piece looks common. I've seen lava cameos that are extremely similar in their design. But, because they're all hand done, they have differences. From your own article, the back of this one (as well as mine and the first one you showed) all have the chisel marks on the back. You don't see that on a plaque, there's nothing to chisel.

I bow to your expertise. I've just never seen a lava brooch marked as molded.

 

I bought this cameo brooch for 50 cents in a little small town thrift store last week. I've done some online research, but still have some questions.



I cleaned it as much as I could, but am wondering if there's a safe way to get the remaining dirt out of the deep pits. I also need help with how to clean up the mess of glue on the back.



I appreciate any help you can provide.

 

I meant to ask if it's Georgian or Victorian instead of Edwardian. Seems like it's older than Edwardian?

 

u can't pull a cameo from the front..

 

I guess that means it can't be removed at all unless a jeweler removes the extra solder on the back. The back is such a mess--I'd like to at least clean up the glue, which is all over the back of the gold setting too. P.S. I don't think the cameo is worth paying a jeweler to remove it and clean up the back.

 

it's a nice..on 14k , and signed...... maybe better than you give it credit for...

 

Thanks, komokwa, I appreciate your opinion.

 

.........

 

It's Victorian shell carving in an archeological revival frame. The C-clasp was replaced with a 20th c. rollover for safety; It's pretty common on these. The "rod" is part of the original Victorian mount and probably a piece of lead or metal solder. Yes, solder blob was for maintaining the mount. No, the cameo wouldn't be removed from the front.

You might have two types of glue. There's usually brittle stuff, which would have been some sort of animal glue, applied under the frame edge. The lake of glue looks like a later attempt that was probably a type of super glue...and it's clearly flaking.

Put a drop or two of dish soap in a small bowl of room temp water and let him soak. Then you can use a clean toothbrush to get the gunk out of crevices and probably loosen old glue. It may take a few soakings and/or brushings. If I have particularly stubborn stuff in the carving then I'll use magnification and a needle or dental tool to gently push against the crud (not the carving) and pop it out. You can also use a dental tool or sculpting tool, etc. to try coaxing the soaked glue out. I usually have no problem with the animal glues, but the super glue may come up with a gentle pressure on the edge to lift it in pieces, after it's been soaked.

I haven't had to re-glue a cameo so I'd have to think on that. The organic material is easy, but metal more difficult, and you don't want anything that would color the carving. I've seen some old repairs done with wax which is an interesting option.

He could be Apollo but I wonder if he's not Adonis or similar type. Bronwen will probably know straight away. He's likely to be based on a sculpture or previous carving.

I don't think they've identified that signature but I swear I've seen others with it...

All n all a great find for $.50!! Can't beat that. What a nice find.

 

Thank you so much, Mirana, for answering all of my questions with such detailed and helpful information. I'll start with soaking the brooch in a drop or two of dish soap in room temperature water. Before I took the photos I tried using a stiff brush, toothpick and straight pin with magnification to get the remaining dirt out, but will try again after soaking (I even have a dental tool I can use as you suggested).

I'm not familiar with the term "archeological revival" jewelry, so am glad to add that to my vocabulary. I collect mainly 20th century costume jewelry, but do have some older pieces. After looking at Google images of archeological revival jewelry, I think I may have a few pieces.

I looked online for cameos and other images of Adonis, and couldn't find many. I've shown the closest example below compared to another Apollo-labeled cameo, with mine in the center--I guess it could be either?