Cameo

A Cameo is a carving fashioned out of a single material showing a detailed image in relief, typically applied to a piece of jewelry.  Cameos are fascinating because in antiquities, you would be able to identify the era a piece is from by the style of the figure depicted. For example; In a Roman Cameo, very primitive dress and the long, straight nose is reflected.  More commonly seen in the Victorian era, Ladies are shown wearing hats and she would be wearing a dress with a high lace collar adorned with floral motifs. 

Cameos have been around since the Roman Empire 25 BC, carved from glass. Though there are only 200 known artifacts from this period. They were highly coveted by Royals in almost every historic period but really made a revival during the Renaissance era, 1300- 1500.  Mediums used then were agates, semi-precious stone and onyx.  This is when the shell Cameo came into play, which is widely seen in Modern applications. Traditionally, Cameos had incredible artistic detail but as Cameos became widely popular by commoners during the mid- 1800s, increasing the demand, some quality craftsmanship was lost.  Celluloid is an early plastic that popular early 20th Century creations were made.  

By the end of the 1920s, Cameos were no longer in vogue.  Jewelry began edging toward the angular, geometry of the Art Deco period.  Cameos enjoyed a small rise in popularity in the 1950s and again in the 1970s.  Chances are, most of the vintage Cameos you've come across are from the 1970s.  During this time, it was all reproduced. We saw landscapes, Victorian-esque figures, Greek mythology and Renaissance motifs and Romans.  Cameos  were still carved from glass and shell. Avon and Jewelry houses like Sarah Coventry often produced them in plastic but with great detail.