The sustaining image of a cameo that most of us will relate to is the cameo brooch. This was a popular piece of jewellery during the 18th and 19th centuries. Normally the elderly wore cameos but costume cameo jewellery is making a comeback!

Anything that is described as a cameo means that the design in carved in relief. In plain English, the cameo, normally a picture of a woman stood out from the surface on which it was mounted. All types of cameos were made and usually the materials employed for the job were a variety that could be easily carved, such as stone, coral, lava and sometimes unfortunately, ivory. Unusually enough the most common type of material employed to make cameos was shell. Large tropical shellfish such as the conch were used as these shells contained many layers
and were very easy to carve out intricate designs.

Before women became popular subjects for cameos more classical images such as Greek and Roman gods were used. Using women on cameo jewellery became extremely popular during the 19th century. In fact, richer families could afford to have their womenfolk pose to have their own likenesses carved into the cameo! A lot of industrialisation occurred during the Victorian period and it was during this period that cameos began to be mass produced using moulds. Classic and traditional designs were reproduced using cheaper materials such as glass and Bakelite. Cameos have remained a firm favourite throughout history. They are a piece of jewellery that is timeless and will always remain so.

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