Archive for Cameos
Looking at Cameo Jewellery, Hebe
Posted by: | CommentsAntique Cameo Jewellery often depicts classical scenes including those from Greek and Roman mythology. Before I add cameo jewellery to to my web shop I like to work out who the the characters in the cameo are. Today I found the lovely Goddess Hebe.
Hebe Cameo
Hebe is the Goddess of eternal your and beauty. Zeus was her father and her job was to serve nectar to the Gods. This cameo shows Hebe serving nectar to her father Zeus who has taken the form of an Eagle. Isn’t she lovely?
Wedgwood Jasper Cameo Compacts
Posted by: | CommentsVintage Compacts are very collectable with some costing several hundred pounds. One type of Vintage Compact which is highly sought after is those set with Wedgwood Jasper Cameo plaques.
Today I came across a particularly rare Wedgwood Jasper Cameo Compact which would be great for any compact collection or to accompany a collection of Cameo Jewellery. This compact was made by both Stratton and Wedgwood and features Paul Revere’s Ride. It is also nice to be able to put a name to the scene on a Wedgwood Jasper plaque.
Wedgwood Compact
According to the accompanying leaflet:
“Paul Revere and William Dawes, trusted couriers of the Patriots, rode on horseback from Charlestown, outside of Boston, into Lexington warning the countryside that the British were coming, under the direction of General Thomas Gage.
Revere and Dawes, with Dr Samyel Prescott, who joined them to help spread the tidings, went to Concord. They were intercepted by mounted British officers, but Prescott was able to make his way into Concord with the alarming news. Revere, who became an American folk hero, was captured but later released.”
Paul Revere's Ride
Have you a Wedgwood Jasper piece ( compact or otherwise) accompanied by Wedgwood’s description of the scene? If so it would be great to hear about it.
Cameo Habille
Posted by: | CommentsA few days ago I wrote about Cameo Jewellery and mentioned a special type of Cameo the Cameo Habille. Now I am luck enough to have a Cameo Habille to show you.
Cameo Habille Brooch Pendant Diamond
Cameo Habille
A very rare cameo indeed. This is a Cameo Habille which is French for Dressed Cameo . This lady is wearing a diamond necklace which is set with a real diamond. The cameo sits in a fully hallmarked 9 carat gold frame.
This cameo is a very versatile piece of vintage jewellery having both brooch and pendant fastenings on the rear. The cameo brooch or pendant measures a little over 3 cms long.
Have you a Cameo Habille? If so I would be keen to see a picture and if you agree add it to this post to build up a gallery of these special pieces of Jewellery. So far I have seen Cameo Habille as Rings, Brooches and Necklaces , I would be particularly impressed to see a cameo habille as a charm, bracelet or locket.
Cameo Jewellery Give Away
Posted by: | CommentsDid you read my article About Cameo Jewellery? I’ve a lovely piece of vintage Cameo Jewellery to give away. This cameo pendant is made of glass and set into gold tone metal and hangs from a sterling silver chain.
Cameo Pendant
This pendant measures about 3.3 cms long and the silver chain is about 38 cms long and is about 40 years old. The picture on this cameo pendant features a classical style lady and is probably a representation of a Greek or Roman Goddess.
Would you like this pendant for your own? I am giving it away and prepared to send it anywhere in the world. Being a piece of vintage jewellery, I only have one of these cameo pendants to give away. The lucky recipient of this pendant will be the person who in my opinion best answers this scentence about my jewllery shop at www.antiquesavenue.co.uk in less than 10 words..
“AntiquesAvenue is the best vintage jewellery site on the Internet because ……..”
Please leave your answer in the comments box of this blog. I will choose a winner by June 10th .
Thanks for your entries and looking forward to picking a winner. Anne
About Cameo Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsCameo Jewellery is back in fashion, for many years now it has been considered dated and Cameo Jewellery was something which jut sat in Grandmas Jewellery box. Now these pieces of antique and vintage jewellery are being brought out of the dark and show off again. The range of antique and vintage cameo jewellery available is huge, brooches of course, pendants, rings, earrings, bracelets and charms .
The ancients in Greece and Rome loved cameo jewellery and apparently was also popular through the middle ages and into the Renaissance. Today the Cameos we see are at the very earliest Georgian but most likely to be Victorian and later.
What is a cameo?
Cameo Jewellery
Originally cameo was carved from stone or shell which had multicoloured layers so that the design and background were of different colours. This type of Cameo was popular in ancient Greece and Rome and the subjects carved at that time remain popular in more modern cameo jewellery.
A design which is carved from behind the material so that the main surface is called an Intaglio and is not normally included in Cameo Jewellery.
The term Cameo now embraces a raised picture design which can be either the same or different colour to the background and may be hand carved or in many cases the design in now molded into the jewellery. The brooch above is a carved shell cameo which is the type of cameo jewellery which most of use know.
Types of Cameo Jewellery.
Brooches are by far the most common piece of cameo jewellery, the large flat surface of a brooch is excellent for cameos although smaller ones can be joined together in a piece of jewelry where a curved shape is required such as this lava cameo
Cameo Ring
Cameo Materials
Most commonly we see cameos which have been hand carved from shell, the standard beige and cream/ white colours or the pretty Queen Conch shell cameo which gives a pink and white colour. Lava Cameo are carved from volcanic material which can range from a white colour through to almost black. Cameos can also be seen carved in bone and Ivory and a whole range of gemstones and hard stones. Other cameos are found in Jet, Vulcanite, Ceramics ( Wedgwood Jasper) and glass. Be warned nowadays cameos are being copies in plastic and sold as vintage, I do not know of any plastic cameos which have a collectable value and whilst some can be pretty they are are mainly worthless and plastic cameos are probably best avoided by the true cameo collector.
Lava Cameo
Came0 Subjects
The ancient Greeks and Romans carved cameos including those classical of Gods and Goddesses and of course the Emperors and famous folks of the day. This classical tradition was continued by the Georgians and Victorians and so many of the Victorian Cameos we see today can be traced back to a Greek or Roman myth. Some popular subjects are Leda and the Swan, Hebe and the Eagle, Pliny’s Doves and Aurora Goddess of the Dawn. Cameos were are popular souvenir from The Grand Tour of Europe which was a very popular adventure during the 18th and 19th centuries and the rich could commission portrait cameos of themselves . During the 20th century cameos often portray pretty girls and glamorous ladies.
Cameo Habille The Cameo Habille is a special and sought after cameo. The term is French and means “dresses cameo”. A cameo habille is a cameo where the subject is wearing jewellery such as this wonderful Cameo Ring where the lady in the portrait is wearing a real diamond necklace
Cameo Habille
Buy Cameo Jewellery
AntiquesAvenue often has genuine Antique and Vintage Cameos to buy, here is an example you might like:
Antique cameo brooch child drawing Victorian jewellery
A really lovely piece of antique Victorian cameo jewellery. This cameo brooch is hand carved from shell and set into a gold plated frame. The carving would have been done in Italy and is of very fine quality although there is a short crack right at the very edge close up by the frame hence the reasonable price for such a wonderful piece of jewellery.
This brooch measures about 5.5 cms long and 5.3 cms wide.
Victorian Cameo Brooch
Cameo Charms
Posted by: | CommentsCameo jewellery is often seen as brooches, rings and earrings. Less common but just as attractive are cameo charms, I suppose that these are found less often as a charm is small and therefore the picture is difficult to carve in miniature. Cameos are carved so that the picture stands proud of the background. Often but not essentially the design is in a contrasting colour to the background.
Cameos can be made from all sorts of materials, normally we think of shell cameos as can be seen in this cameo charm:
Cat charms from Nursery Rhymes again
Posted by: | CommentsCat charms come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and materials, they are one of the more popular collectable vintage charms. Cats often feature in nursery Rhymes and childrens stories. I’ve already shown you two of my favourites Hey Diddle Diddle and The owl and the Pussy cat . Now I have found Ding Dong Bell
Ding, dong, bell, Pussy’s in the well!
Who put her in? Little Tommy Green.
Who pulled her out?Big Johnny Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To drown poor pussy-cat,
Who never did him any harm,
But killed the mice in his father’s barn!
Here is that rhyme remembered in a vintage silver charm:
Wedgwood Brooches
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