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Captivating Cameos

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QUESTION:  

A few years ago, I went on a trip to Italy. While traveling along the Amalfi Coast south of Rome on my way to visit the ruins of Pompeii, I discovered shop after shop filled with beautiful cameos. I bought several and would love to buy more. What can you tell me about the origins of cameos, and how can I tell if my cameos are genuine?



Thanks,
Marjorie
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ANSWER:  

A cameo is a form of glyptography, or bas-relief carving, which over the centuries has featured portraits, landscapes, and mythological figures cut into soft stones, hard stones, and shells. Roman artisans created two layers on one piece of material, the top of which protruded from its background, creating a multi-dimensional artwork. They used these detailed reliefs to adorn pieces of jewelry, such as brooches, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. The most common motif of antique cameo jewelry depicted a profile of a face or mythical creature.

Cameos first appeared as far back as 15,000 BCE. where ancient Egyptian civilizations carved figures into rocks to record important events. Cameo artistry traveled between the ancient Mediterranean cultures through trade routes connecting Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and often depicted mythological themes while paying tribute to gods and goddesses. As the Roman Empire grew, cameo carvers began to incorporate political portraits into their pieces. Wealthy people could afford to buy the expensive gemstone cameos, while less wealthy ones bought glass cameos.

During the reign of Alexander the Great in the 3rd century BCE., Greek and Roman cameos incorporated religious figures and mythological images. Also during this time, specifically in the Hellenistic era, women wore cameos to display their willingness to engage in the act of lovemaking. By the 15th century, cameos produced in Italy began to differ from the ancient ones.

The art of making cameos traveled between the ancient Mediterranean cultures through trade routes connecting Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and often depicted mythological themes while paying tribute to their respective gods and goddesses. As the Roman Empire grew, cameo carvers began to incorporate political portraits into their artwork. Wealthy patricians were able to buy the expensive gemstone cameos, while lower class citizens had to settle for cameos made of glass.

Cameos flourished in Roman times. The Romans used cameos to show off their wealth and taste. and to demonstrate their devotion to certain gods or political groups. Heroes and pictures from the Trojan war were very popular. Romans wore cameos as rings, ceremonial dress insignia, on helmets, sword handles, and as phalerae, a form of military decoration worn on the breastplate.

The materials used for gem engravings were almost the same as those in previous centuries. Glass cameos, however, date to the Roman period. Historians don’t fully understand the techniques used that allowed the fusion of up to seven layers of different colored glass that artisans then manually carved. Aside from creating several layers, glass had other advantages. It allowed the use of many different colors that weren’t available in gemstones at that time.

Roman cameo makers used a variety of stones. They carved softer stones, such as chalcedony and harder ones such as jasper, in relief, but these evoked less fascination than cameos carved from polychromatic hard stones, such as sardonyx and carnelian shells, which have contrasting layers that allow for detailed carving. In the best hands, these hard stones seem almost to combine the effects of painting and sculpture and have always been coveted both as fanciful curiosities and as miraculous unions of art and nature. Shell, an alternative material, is easier to carve, with only two strata to explore; it has not enjoyed the same prestige as hard stone.

Cameos have long been used to complement jewelry. Typically mounted in gold and often set in rings, these private adornments attained cultic significance in classical antiquity.

In the 18th century, wealthier women began wearing impressively carved gemstone cameos as a sign of wealth and prestige. Carvers soon realized they could use Plaster of Paris molds to recreate cameos from notable collections. Scottish gem engraver and modeler James Tassie began using molds of these famous cameos to recreate glass pastes that could pass as authentic, carved jewels.

Carvers realized just how easily they could replicate expensive jewels. They discovered the use of cornelian shells, which were soft, durable, and easy to carve. Queen Victoria popularized shelled cameos, featuring natural and humanistic scenes carved onto deep-sea shells. Meanwhile, as interest in collecting cameos grew, French military leader Napoleon He brought carvers from all over Europe into France to create cameo jewelry for both men and women. He even commissioned furniture to be designed with cameos carved out of precious gemstones like opal, sapphire, and garnet.

A new type of cameo made from lava rock also appeared during this time. Colored lava extracted from an archaeological dig at Pompeii proved useful for highly detailed carvings. Women often purchased lava cameos as mementos from their travels on their Grand Tours, which established the objects as a symbol of status and wealth.

Cameos have been collectible since the Renaissance in the 15th century when wealthy women collected them as status symbols. Today, elderly Italian master carvers are retiring, causing an escalation in the prices for finely carved cameos. Plus, new laser-cut cameos from China have been flooding the market. It’s now a buyer-beware market where only an expert is able to discern a really good cameo.

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