Featured What kind of plastic is this cameo and how to tell different platics?

THANK YOU!

 

Not likely to be styrene with those swirls. Probably a two part mix, similar to epoxy, which is poured as a viscous liquid into the form in two stages.

The injection molded plastic ones are one color with the raised portion hand painted white. You can see the edge of the paint with a loupe.

 

Great site - thanks - have bookmarked. Only with there were pictures.Was unaware of the 'cellulostic' group & would like to see.

 

This was an earlier, heavy-handed attempt at capturing the color variation natural to real shell. It can be done better:

 

Michelle, as to your question about "how to tell" different plastics (definitely read Jivvy's excellent link) but in addition to the look/feel/smell/weight, one also gets to also know which plastics are likely used for certain eras. There might be a few exceptions to this, but there probably isn't much celluloid being used post 1950s. The same is mostly true for Bakelite, although I have seen 60s/70s Bakelite pieces, but was definitely phasing out. So if you can ID an era for a piece, as you learn the types, that will be a clue, too.

Nothing is a 100%, but for items post 1970s, ID-ing the type of plastic probably isn't important for value. Will come down to the maker or design. Important to be able to discern between glass/bone/ivory/plastic though.

Happy learning! A lot of knowledge here about the different kinds of plastics, etc. so you've found a good place.

 

Amen to all of above. Will add that I have never seen a cameo that appeared to be Bakelite. Not sure I've ever even seen one represented that way.

 

Thank you, I meant to say exactly that, but got distracted.

One exception on "bakelite" -- it is still being made, don't know when the flood of "fakelite" jewelry pieces started hitting the market (15+ years ago or so?), but I remember a goodly bit of hysteria (much of the new stuff was virtually impossible to distinguish from the old).

SIDEBAR: about that time, there was also an amazing carver/sculptor who started putting new (and clearly marked as such) pieces out that were fetching astonishing prices. Can't recall if the artist was sculpting old or new plastic, but I do remember the magically-fantastic octopi sculpts.

 

Good point. Was thinking about the classic old type of Bakelite, but absolutely correct, there is new Bakelite out there.

 

When it comes to cameos, I have not noticed any constituency out there that collects any one kind of artificial cameo. I like to have pieces in a variety of materials, including artificial, because I advise other people about them & want to know more than photos alone can tell about their properties, but otherwise buy only cameos in natural materials, with the occasional exception for glass. When selling, 'resin' or 'man made material' is usually sufficient to describe these materials, regardless of chemical composition.

With a bit of rummaging in my memory, will emend this to say I have seen pieces on which the cameo itself appears to be more like Celluloid, on a backing that has a more Bakelite quality, and so described by the seller.

 

I have seen some say that on eBay that is why I am so confused and came here. So glad to have someone to ask these questions and get such informed and expert responses. I have learned a s..t ton from all of you in just the past couple of weeks. I also tried to the search before I post to see if anyone else has asked the same questions but sometimes cant find what I am looking for. Thank you all so much for the help!