There is a real market for glyptic items. The marketing of these objects varies essentially according to their age. Cameos and antique or renaissance intaglios, which are extremely rare, are often only distributed through antique dealers or prestigious auctions specializing in this field. 

The intaglios, often small in size with a subject that is sometimes difficult to read because it is deeply engraved, are mainly sought after by collectors.

The cameos, thanks to their greater readability, are more accessible, and therefore more popular. They are also much more numerous on the antiques market.

Appraisal of cameos and antique intaglios

The adjective "fake" for a glyptic product may be used if the person who designed and/or marketed it used lures to mislead about the time and material of the object.

These two criteria being the ones that have the most influence on the commercial value of the object, an antique agate cameo will easily reach thousands of euros in the auction room, while a resin cameo from the 60s will hardly sell for more than 50€...

As far as dating is concerned, it is complex to summarize in writing what is above all a feeling acquired after years of experience.

Nevertheless, we can highlight the points that an expert will dwell on in order to be able to attest to the age of the object:

• The subject: we will observe variations in the subjects exploited according to the periods; the theme of Catholicism, for example, will be used only from the Renaissance, after the Counter-Reformation (16th century), and erotic scenes only from the 18th century.

• The style: representation of the portrait, or the style of dress. The bust is often pointed on a cameo from the end of the 18th/19th century, the back of a sculpture dating from ancient Rome is often rough, or double portraits are common during the Renaissance.

• The representation of different parts of the body (nose, mouth, eyes, hair, ...): the nose will be straight and small on a cameo dating from the twentieth century, and more often "Roman" on a cameo seventeenth century or older.

• The quality of the sculpture: the line will be clear on an engraving from the end of the 19th century, and will correspond to the mechanization of the craft. Conversely, on an antique intaglio, one can see with a magnifying glass a multitude of strokes, composing the same line, corresponding to the traces left by the burin.

• Patina and polish: an antique engraving will not have the same patina as a more recent engraving. It is also interesting to observe the polish in the hollow (at the junction between the subject and the background) of a cameo, it is complicated to voluntarily alter it, if the wish was to make it look older than reality, because it is difficult to access.

• The material: we notice the use of agate and glass paste since time immemorial. This is not the case with other materials such as shell cameo, which has only been produced since the 16th century, and was mainly marketed from the 19th century onwards. Lava stone cameos started to be produced from the 19th century. The use of man-made polymeric resins is much more recent, their appearance can be seen from 1930 onwards.

• The mounting: it is easier to date a mounting. A cameo will very rarely be more recent than its mounting.

• The pedigree: the previous owners are sometimes known, it is then possible to go back to the first one, and thus to date precisely the object.

• The signature: the signature of a renowned engraver allows the object to be dated but above all brings added value to the object.

A "fake" will never meet all the criteria of the same era. The imitations are often already existing reproduced models, therefore easily identifiable.

The identification of the materials used is generally easy for a professional with a gemological background, the most common materials on the market being agate and shells. More anecdotally, we also note the use of precious stones, fine and hard, organic materials such as coral and ivory, but also synthetic materials such as resin or glass.

There is a quick way to tell the difference between a shell cameo and an agate cameo: the shell cameo has a concave back and flake-like inclusions, while the back of the agate cameo will always be flat and without flames.

Shell cameo on gold mount, the back is concave with the presence of flames.

Agate cameo on gold mount, the back is flat with natural inclusions.

Do not forget to pay attention to the doublets for cameos, the subject is glued to the bottom, very often traces of glue are visible with a magnifying glass at the junction of the two parts, making it possible to quickly unmask this imitation!

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