Posted 7 years ago
Kjane79
(69 items)
I need help finding out more about this antique cameo. It belonged to my friends' grandma. (my friend is 64 if that helps guess how old Grandma would approximately be.) She doesn't know anything about it, just that her grandma had it as long as she can remember... I've looked and I'd guess maybe 1920 Italian, carved shell... No clue on the metal... The front looks gold to me-no tarnish. But the back is dirty and I don't know. No marks. I've checked everywhere I can think. And the clasp looks to be a newer addition, but I still don't know what it could have been originally? Please help!
So, I'm thinking maybe this is the Goddess Diana (Artemis)? But it's definitely not the most flattering representation...
Rollover clasps have been around since the 1900s. The cameo is somewhat simply carved. The prongs used to hold the cameo in place look to be of the same material as the pin, hinge and clasp. The mount could be gold filled, rolled gold or what's known as pinchbeck - the Poor Man's Gold. Not really possible to tell from just looking at photos. Diana? Maybe. I didn't find any like this one in a Google Image search.
The underlying image is definitely Diana/Artemis, the crescent moon on her brow says as much. See:
http://cameotimes.com/index.php/profiles-1/olympian-gods/diana-artemis
However, the addition of the dove in front of her makes her one confused lady, since among her aspects she is the virgin goddess of the hunt as well as the goddess of the night, while this bird belongs with either Venus/Aphrodite or with Aurora/Eos, goddesses of love & the dawn, respectively.
The mix & match imagery of the cameo, combined with the rollover safety clasp that opens at the front rather than at the bottom probably puts this to the 1930s, when Grandma was in her 30s or 40s.
Sorry for the late response! Thank you to all who helped and loved. The jeweler pretty much agreed with what you all said. One very confused Goddess and no greater than probably 12k, but without a damaging test, it'd be impossible to be exact. I don't think it's SUPER old either, but I do kinda like the confusing aspects of it!