Cameos: A Living Tradition

The word "Cameo" refers to a particular method of carving. It is distinguished by a raised, or positive image in relief and an intaglio, which is a negative image.

Cameos are made out of one of three main materials: shell, agate, or hardstone, and glass. A master carver carves an image, such as a portrait onto a contrasting color. A cameo can also be carved directly out of a material that is distinguished by integral layers, or banding. Specifically, this kind of cameo is carved out of banded agate, or layered glass. In both cases, it is the differently colored layers, which make the cameo so striking. Occasionally, dyes are used to enhance the colors.

Cameos date as far back as 6th century BC Greece. Their popularity extended to Ancient Rome. One of the most famous stone cameos from this period is the Gemma Claudia which was carved for the Emperor Claudius. In the early Renaissance, the technique had a resurgence. The carving again became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Because of Napoleon’s support of the arts, technique such as the cameo thrived. The coronation crown that Napoleon wore was decorated with cameos.

The first revival in Britain was during King George III's reign. His granddaughter, Queen Victoria, was both a lover and supporter of the cameo trend and it is because of her that by the second half of the 19th century, cameos began to be mass produced.

The Romans were taken with glass cameos, where the technique was applied on artificial glass blanks. In appearance, these cameos looked much like agate and sardonyx. Glass cameos were produced in two periods; between around 25 B.C.E. and 50/60 C.E., and in the later Empire around the mid-third and mid-fourth century. Roman glass cameos are very rare.

The technique of cameo on shell dates back to the Renaissance (15th and 16th centuries). Before that time, cameos were carved from hardstone. The pieces that were made during the Renaissance were mostly white on a grayish background. The shells that were used were mussels and cowry.

By the middle of the 18th century, more shell varieties appeared. The helmet shell (Cassis tuberosa) from the West Indies, the queen conch shell from the Bahamas and West Indies, made their way to Europe and became very popular there. Demand continued after 1850.

Typically, early cameo designs were scenes of Greek or Roman mythology, or portraits of celebrities, such as monarchs and dignitaries. The cameo became the gist of choice from royalty to their subjects. Some of these pieces survive from more than 2000 years ago. These rare objects are in the hands of collectors and museums.

Modern cameos are primarily carved into layered agate, with their colors enhanced to create greater contrast. The colors that are most often used for two-layer stones are white on black, white on blue, or white on red-brown. With three-layered, which are also made, the predominant colors are black on white on black on black.

Modern technology has gotten into the business of cameos. Ultrasonic machines can carve cameos.

The majority of modern agate cameos are carved with the aid of the Ultrasonic Mill. The process, which goes very quickly, allows multiple copies to be made of a master design.

Today, there are very few master carvers, because of the combination of skill and artistic ability which are necessary. Today, except in the case of portraits, which must be carved by hand, most are machine-assisted and produced in a limited collection of between 50 and 200 pieces.

The finest examples of hand-carving shells can be found in the world-center for cameo carving in Torre del Greco, Italy. There shells are marked with a series of ovals and then cut into oval blanks for the cameo carver. The cameo itself is mainly cut with a metal scraping tool called a bulino, the invention of Jewish artisan, Antonio Cimeniello.