Timeless Cameos

As soon as you saw the word cameo in the title, an image popped into your mind.  It was probably of an oval necklace or brooch, featuring a woman's profile in white against a pink background.  Perhaps there is also a tiny rhinestone or diamond.  Something like the cameos pictured below.

That particular image is one of the most enduring in jewelry.  Cameos have been around for at least 2,000 years.  They have been carved or molded from materials like stone, mother of pearl, ivory, shell, plastic, glass and metal.  Some of the most popular motifs have been mythological, historical or religious.  But cameos are not restricted to portraying people.  Almost anything  the maker can come up with can be used at the subject of a cameo.

During the Victorian era, carved sea shell cameos from Italy became particularly fashionable because they were worn by Queen Victoria.  They were also  said to have been worn by Queen Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great.  But these days, you don't need to be a queen to wear cameos!

As old as the craft of cameo making is, they are still being carved from similar materials today.  Sometimes the best way to explain something is to take a picture, so I've included some examples of modern cameos.  Luckily for us, these cameos are readily  available and affordable.