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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;nick1998, post: 11890793, member: 97611&quot;]While the quest on Medusa continues, I would like to share this one, which somehow makes me recall of our discussion of Verge. Recently I acquired this precious hardstone cameo and for some unusual traits it possesses it has become one of my favorites so far. Here’re the photos of it:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]549742[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]549744[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]549745[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]549746[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]549747[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Now two factors intrigue me most: One is the obvious unusually treat of the jaw, which unlike most cameos, expresses the curvy and fleshy of the muscle. I’ve only seen such treatment on commissioned portraits, but not on mythological theme unless for the very early ones. Second is the expression on the ivy leaves, the curves and thickness of it is the kind of expression I’ve never seen on other cameos yet. </p><p><br /></p><p>From the style of cutting, the traits of engraving, and the unusual traits above, plus the material features, I guess it’s probably a work from late Georgian to early Victorian, 1800-1850 I suppose. The source didn’t provide much clue except it was formerly in a private noble collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>The real mystery are the inscriptions on the back. As the picture shows there are three inscribed marks on the back, one on the center and two on the upper edge. It looks to me that the center mark seems to be “v. a.”, and considering the era and engraving characteristics, I’m making a wild hypothesis that the mark might point to Antonio Verge? Of all the resources I could find, except for the discussion here, the only reliable material about Antonio Verge seems to be the trade record of Castellani and the rest stay in obscure. Though [USER=5833]@Bronwen[/USER] provided an example of legitimate sign of Verge, sometimes an author has multiple ways of signatures, which makes me came up with the idea.</p><p><br /></p><p>Again, all the above is purely hypothetical and I’m really poor at recognizing handwriting. If you have any thoughts of deciphering the marks on the back, please kindly share with me. Any thoughts are welcomed, much appreciated![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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