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Cameos and portrait miniatures

Oh glitterata, those are so gorgeous!!! My mother used to have the most amazing cameo collection. Some quite large. Sigh, unfortunately my sister and niece got a hold of them after her death and sold them. I love your collection!
 
Thank you, Michelle. How sad about your mom''s collection. I hope someone somewhere appreciates them still, even if you can''t enjoy them any more.
 
I can''t believe I forgot to post this one! It''s a high-relief shell cameo set in jet (coal-like fossilized material). It has a little damage to the background shell in the upper right, but not too bad. Jet indicates mourning, so it''s probably an angel carrying a soul to Heaven. Though it could be Cupid and Psyche.

cameogl11.jpg
 
From a slightly different angle, to show the high relief. I love this cameo.

cameogl12.jpg
 
glitter- what a beautiful set! my grandmother had a beautiful pink-ish cameo that belonged to her mother (my great-grandmother) that she passed down to my mother. my mother kept it upstairs in her attic for years. three years ago the attic got struck by lightning and the whole 3-level house burned to the ground. after the fire, one of my mom''s friends was going through the rubble.. he stuck his hand around in a 1 foot pile of ash and pulled out my grandmothers cameo. it was completely unharmed. i hope she passes it along to me one day.
 
Jess, what an amazing story! I would love to see a photo of the miraculous cameo if you happen to have one.
 
Date: 12/5/2009 3:32:12 PM
Author: glitterata
I can''t believe I forgot to post this one! It''s a high-relief shell cameo set in jet (coal-like fossilized material). It has a little damage to the background shell in the upper right, but not too bad. Jet indicates mourning, so it''s probably an angel carrying a soul to Heaven. Though it could be Cupid and Psyche.
When I saw the image, I thought Love and Psyche as well, but that wouldn''t fit mourning symbology at all.
 
I bet it was carved in Italy as Cupid & Psyche--perhaps a copy of some famous painting--and then set in England as a mourning piece.
 
Link to the thread with my new portrait miniature.

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Your collection is stunning!!!
 
The holidays brought me a pair of English sisters from the 1840s. They''re not actually jewelry, so I guess I shouldn''t really be posting them here, but I can''t resist.

sistersgl.jpg
 
What a great gift!You must have been a very good girl thid last year for Santa to reward you so well !The sisters are really well done and i bet if they arn''t too large one could be worn on a heavy cord as a large pendant!Thanks for posting your new gift...been missing your posts!
 
Thank you, Jewelerman!

I''ve been trying to save money, so I''m on a no PS diet for a while. For some strange reason, when I hang out on PS I''m more likely to blow money on jewelry. I can''t understand it.
 
glitterata -

i have no experience of cameos, tho i *did* have an obsession with all things miniature when i was young that has lasted through to my middle age. i dont know if you saw my thread on my charm bracelet, but i mentioned there that i loved charm bracelets as they were, to me, the pinnacle of beautiful miniatures.

however, having now seen your collection, i might have to revise that! your collection is STUNNING, and it''s an education listening to you discuss the individual pieces. talk on, lady! we''re listening and learning....

and by the way - re replacing the broken frame on one of your portraits - i had that done for a beautiful antique clock i own where some of the brass work was missing. it was highly detailed and replacing that 2" piece cost me a fortune. i can only imagine what it would cost in gold...*gulp*

thank you again - this thread is a complete joy.
 
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