Cameos

classical victorian cameo brooch £38.00 Vintage cameo earrings 9 carat gold £35.00 Vintage Wedgwood cameo brooch 1960s £40.00 Victorian cameo brooch Aurora Goddess of Dawn £170.00 antique lava cameo bracelet 9 cameos £220.00 Victorian cameo brooch - Goddess Flora £65.00 Victorian cameo stickpin lapel pin or tie pin £35.00 Victorian pinchbeck cameo stickpin £45.00 lady cameo brooch / pendant 9 ct gold frame £40.00 Vintage 9 carat gold girl cameo brooch £35.00 Vintage gold cameo pendant brooch £35.00 Vintage cameo brooch in silver and marcasite frame £35.00 Antique cameo brooch - Diana the huntress £40.00 Vintage cameo brooch with locket back £45.00 Victorian lady cameo brooch hand carved £25.00 Victorian 9 carat gold cameo brooch - classical lady £75.00 cameo brooch - antique asclepius cameo pinchbeck frame £140.00 cameo brooch - antique diana huntress gold frame £90.00 Antique victorian carved white marble cameo brooch £75.00 Victorian bacchanalian cameo brooch in gold frame £75.00 Victorian lady cameo with necklace gold frame £50.00 Victorian 9ct gold mounted Cameo Brooch Diana £70.00 Vintage 9 carat K gold cameo ring Edwardian £35.00 Wedgwood black jasper ring set in silver £22.00 Victorian hand carved shell cameo classical lady £14.00 Victorian cameo brooch Classical lady music muse signed £120.00 Shell cameo brooch fairy & swan 800 silver vintage £95.00

What is a cameo? Its a piece where the design stands proud of the background. Normally a cameos features a figure or figures. Perhaps a ladies head or a classical scene. I saw a cameo recently which simply featured a horses head. A cameo is a work of art in miniature which is meant to be worn.

A cameo can be distinuished from an intaglio which is where ther design is carved into the back of the piece and then viewed from the front. Cameo carving began in ancient times however very few of the cameos we come across today date from before the Victorian era and they are still being made today. And not all cameos are carved - Some ( Like those made by Wedgwood and those made of Gutta Percha or plastics or glass) are molded.

Here is a little look at the materials that cameos are made from:

1. Shell Cameos. This is what most of the cameos we see are made of. This usually has a brown /buff background with the cameo standing proud in a paler colour. Different shells shuch as that of the Queen Conch give a different colour with the conch being with with pinky tones. Most of these are carved in Italy

2. Lava Cameos Carved from the Volcano mount Vesuvius in Italy. This is quite soft and easliy carved giving a lot of detil to the cameo. The colour range from black, grey, though muddy brown and greeninsh colours to a paler cream.

3. Coral cameos Coral is a hard substance which is not easy to carve and so these are realtively reare but when done well have a lively pinky colour and a high shine. Be warned immitation coral in plastic does exist. A coral cameo with have a much colder feel than a plastic one.

4. Jasper pottery cameos A speciality of Wedgwood although they were also made by other Staffordshire potteries. These were set into all types of jewellery - cameo earrings, cameo ring and cameo brooches. The most popular colour is white on blue but a whole variation exists.

5. Glass cameo These are often created in one pice in a mould - they look like cameos but have a much greater degree of mass produciton than hand carved caemos. Milk glass cameos can be very attractive.

6. Hardstone cameos Made of different types of hardstone - agate and chalcedony being popular. This can give a good range of colour to the cameo as some of the hardstones have different colour layers within them.

7.Victorian Black cameos. Cameos as mourning Jewellery made from Whitby Jet, Gutta percha, French Jet ( black Glass) and bog oak

Comming here soon - more on Cameos - a look at the different subjects available. In the mean time - have you a special cameo made from a substance not mentioned here?