Don't have Flash?  Want to see larger images? Click here to view images directly. Description: First, this description is LONG...but it is an exceptional piece and I feel worthy of the discussion.  And do look at the larger versions of the images if you are interested in seeing as much detail as possible. This listing is for an estimated c1820s-1880s Three Graces cameo.  I feel this is one of the nicest Three Graces cameo I've ever owned.  It's just one of a small collection of around twenty cameos of all grades and subjects I have to list, hopefully this week or at least as soon as I am up to the effort.  ;)  You can differentiate this as being The Three Graces as opposed to The Three Muses thanks to the absence of the musical instruments the Three Muses are famous for as in a lyre, flute, barbiton (lyre like instrument) or even books, scrolls, even the chastises (as in chastity belts) and chests of books or scrolls all dependent on the era the Muses depicted were taken from, anyway this piece is pretty much certainly the Three Graces. If you want you can click through using the gallery above to see any sized image you want up to images that are between 5x-10x life size so it's almost like using a loupe to examine the piece in your hand...not exactly as handy as in person but it's darned close as we can achieve today. Anyway, from looking at the characteristics of this piece I would date it at between c.1820-1870s give or take.  Looking at the hair styles of the Graces you can see they all have it in a bun-like style.  The hair is not a shorter "flapper/deco" (ca 1920s) style which was commonly used by carvers of the 1920-1940s but rather it's a less detailed style that could be one of the following Crispina, Faustina or even Lucilla hair styles.  All of those were popular, especially in cameos art from about the late 1700s through the mid 1800s. Another thing to examine is the style of the noses on the faces.  In this case the noses are more classic Roman or even Greek noses with straighter or even slightly raised bridges and a pointy or even a bit down turned end of the nose.  Newer post c.1880 era would tend to have noses which were more inwardly curved ending with more of that "cute button nose" tip...  ;)  These are characteristics found is pretty much all art of the era being discussed and one way to help date pieces of art like cameos. I added a shot of the cameo lighted from the rear to show the wonderful coloring of the shell.  I am not sure if many people collect their cameos for this look, but I sort of like this view and if I collected cameos I would have to build a display case that had the option of lighting from behind since the effect is so striking. Now as to the setting...that is more difficult but I suspect it is not the original setting.  Looking at the hinge for the necklace loop as well as the clasp on the pin point toward a late 1800s style.  It is worth noting that cameos are often handed down through the generations in a family and it is not at all uncommon they go through several remounts.  Of course these mountings will be custom and use era parts from that newer era.  We also can't really go by the gold content mark because they have used the "K" marking for centuries now.  Even the K14, not the "K" preceding the 14, is not significant as it can change by jeweler as well as country conventions of a given time frame with little to no hint as to era. Dating it comes to the carving itself.  In this case to help people make their own conclusions or to compare better to this description, I have made the original LARGE sized images viewable on my hosting site where you can select an image size that best allows you to see even the smallest details many, many times (up to a good 10x) life size so it's just like looking through a loupe with the item in your hand.  ;) Also, because the scene in general is more detailed than other of the more pedestrian examples of the Three Graces helps place this as a bit on the pre-1850 side of the range.  The garlands above The Graces combined with the visible multiple steps leading up to the platform where they stand are just levels of detail not present in mass produced pieces where those aspects tend to be present but without any detail beyond trying to rely on our mind filling in the blanks based on what we know should be there.  So, I guess that is a long winded way to state the detail helps place a given piece in it's era.  Still even then it's always a combination of quality of materials, detail level of the over all scene as well as the "feel" of a given piece of cameo art. The shell itself is nice and a better+ grade shell.  The back is polished and slightly curved.  In one of the images you can see the natural striations found in natural shell material.  Someone with more knowledge than myself would be able to narrow down the species of shell based on that itself but not me...best I can say is...well, it's sure prudy!! hehehehe.... Now as to my interpretation of grading this cameo, using a "Best, Better, Good, Fair or Poor" system of grading, I would grade this cameo as using Better+ on materials and Better grade carving.  I would not go so far as to call this "Best Grade" materials because, well, that should be reserved for only the best of the best pieces.  And the carving has wonderful detail and extremely good technique on The Graces gowns and general scene but the faces could use a bit more detail so that reduces the grade a bit in my mind.  Mind that this is not bad as a "Best" grade piece would cost a good 5-10x what I am asking here. Something else which aids in placing a piece in a given quality range is to look closely at the "lines" of a given carving.  What you will see in a copy are somewhat disjointed lines where the carver was copying another piece and took his/her eye off their work to look back at the other piece.  What you want to see are continuous lines that "flow" naturally and have the proper breaks where they make sense.  And in this piece I see no indications of it being copied from a standard older piece.  Of course all Three Graces cameos are likely "copies" of great paintings or drawings from centuries gone by, as in ancient Roman or Greek Empires...but good cameo artists would take what they read about or drawing they had made and committed to memory and translate that into their own piece of art.  In my opinion, this cameo is such a piece...obviously not a 500BC piece but certainly no newer than c.1870ish, more likely I say c.1830ish in origin.  Just remember that dating a cameo unless using the most advance equipment in research labs, is near to impossible beyond about a 50-100 year range.  It's why when described you will see estimated era's. All of that aside...this is just such a nice and delicate piece I am sure you will love to either add this to your current collection of give this as a gift to be treasured and passed down through the generations.  Pieces like this one are getting harder and harder to find and in a few years will be near to impossible to find.   Condition: Please see the description for detailed explanation of condition and how I rated the quality of this cameo as the discussion is fairly extensive and I feel it belongs in the description section rather than here in the condition section because it all relates to the overall discussion of this piece of art work. Additionally there are no signs of repair, alteration or restoration to this piece.  The mount/frame is in excellent condition as shown in the images.  There is a slight swerve in the pin itself but mentioned only for completeness as it might not be easy to see in the images.  Plus it was hard to get a clean photo of it. I find no damage to the cameo itself and the setting is in very gently worn condition. All of our items come from a smoke-free, pet-free home...even though we love the puppy dawgs.  And the kitties too...but just the good kitties not the naughty kitties. Maker: The piece is not signed and other than the K14 mark there are no other markings.   Era Made: I estimate this cameo as being made c1830-1880s.  The setting could be more recent maybe c.1880-1930s or so because of the necklace hinge as well as the pin clasp style.   Measurements: This cameo measures about 1-1/2" long by about 1-3/16" across.  These are the outside measurements of the frame.  The cameo itself is about 1/16" shorter in each dimension.  There is a slight curve to the cameo due to the natural curve of the shell from which this piece was made.   Items Included Summary: This listing is for the cameo as shown in the images and described in the description above.   As you can see we do require a PayPal account to bid on our auctions.  Not to worry if you do not have a PayPal account.  If you just drop us an email we can add your ID to our Bidder Requirements Exemption List.  This will let you bid on our auctions no matter what.  It's easy to send a note using either our email link below or eBay's Ask Seller a Question   Domestic Shipping: International Shipping: This listing is being offered with calculated shipping. 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