Posted 6 years ago
Passion4Ca…
(6 items)
I love this cameo. It is very beautifully carved. There is a play of light and shadow in the facial features despite the relatively shallow carving. It looks like a Saulini but it is not. There is a siganture on the back. It is difficult to read but I believe I can make out 'eri'. I am thinking it may be by the Neri brothers Paolo or Luigi. The date would be correct. How wonderful that there is a hand-written note by the sitter's great nephew. The note says ‘Cameo of my great uncle Ellis Cauliffe Esq 1850’. The box is original to the cameo. A rare find.
An excellent portrait piece. And so nice to have the original box and identity of the sitter.
I am probably not the only one here who would enjoy the challenge of trying to work out the signature, if you are able to capture it in a photo or two.
I will try and do that cameosleuth. Not an easy task but I will try. That's my task for tomorrow.
I know it can make a person crazy. Sometimes I take many photos, holding the cameo to the light at different angles, and hope at least one will pick up what my eye can see. There is also the trick of rubbing something in for contrast, such as talcum powder. Good luck!
I will try that cameosleuth. Thanks for the tip :)
I love these portrait pieces. Beautiful setting for it as well!
Thank you @themuse. I love combining the two passions that I have together...that is cameos and photography :)
I maintain a Pinterest board for cameo portraits of men (& another for women, who are much rarer). Would it be OK if I added Ellis to it? It would have a link to this page.
Cameosleuth I would love to see your pinterest boards! I don't suppose links are allowed here? Feel free to add. I would be honoured. I tried to take pics of the signautre. Not sure if I managed to do a good enough job. It was very hard. It could be my own imagination but I feel I can at least make out 'eri' and perhaps a flamboyant 'N" in front (the bottom part of the signature). Perhaps its wishful thinking on my part. Not sure what to make of the rest of the scribble.
Wow! I read Neri too, with a cursive capital N.
:-D
@kyratango so I'm not the only one then? :)
There's nothing here that bans links. A lot of people use them to convey pertinent information.
Thanks @Gillian. I didn't know that.
@cameosleuth I found your pinterest boards. All very interesting. Thanks for sharing the eye candy and info.
To make it easy for others, the gents:
https://www.pinterest.com/cameotimescom/cameo-portraits-of-victorian-gentlemen/
and the ladies:
https://www.pinterest.com/cameotimescom/cameo-portraits-of-victorian-ladies/
You did a great job with the signature photo. I will look again later; I often find such things look very different to me the second time I examine them. Right now what I think I see is a name that starts Fran___. Franz, Franco, Franceso, possibly an abbrebiation, the way Filippo Tignani sometimes put Fpo or Fppo. I do not see an upper case N. I was reading what is below as emi, in a different hand, although could be eri as in Neri. Three lower case letters written in cursive this way appear on some cameos and seem to be dealers' marks, inventory or price code.
Thanks for permission to add this gentleman to the others on Pinterest. I always have a small hope that ones of private individuals who can be identified will come to the notice of a descendant doing genealogical research. I also think cameos are an overlooked resource for historians of costume and hair fashions.
Thank you cameosleuth. Your input re signature is very interesting.