The Story Of Cameos As Told By Di Vinci Torre Del Greco, Naples Italy:
Jewelry and other pieces daated about 4000 B.C. have been unearthed from the Sumerian Culture of Mesopotamia and the Minoan of Crete. They have been found in the tombs of Egyptian aristocracy and in China where they decorated shields of warriors. The art reched its peak in Greek and Roman times, was revived durin the Renaissance and later during the 18th and 19th centuries with that period's passion for all things classical.
Cameos are carvings on gems, hard stones, or shells, with two or more layers. The design is chiseled from the light vein of layer against the lower dark background (the reverse is the intaglio where the design is sunk). Though once made from Onyx, Agate, Sardonyx, Chalcedony and the like, today conch shells are commonly used. Shells are imported from the warm waters of the West Indies and Madagascar, the red or Rosaline cameo coming from shells of the Bahamas.
The artisan uses only a small part of the conch, only one large cameo and two small ones can be carved from an average shell. He first cuts out the part to be used, fastening the part to the end of round sticks. The rough outer layer is removed showing the white or pinkish layer beneath, and it is not until now that he decides what he will carve. Much as the block of raw marble will suggest the shape to the sculptor, the contour of the white layer suggests a picture to the carver, and he sketches a few lines on it to guide him. Then working with very sharp, small knives, he creates his Cameo. When it is finished it is soaked in olive oil, washed in soap and water, and finally polished with a brush. Setting are also made by hand as each Cameo differs in size and shape. One cameo may take anywhwere from a day to many weeks to complete. Art as individual as this cannot be timed.
The art is a difficult one, taking many years of rigorous apprenticeship, and it is only in Torre del Greco that this age-old craft is still taught. Although cheap imitations are made locally for the tourist trade from leftover pieces of shell, it is at the Di Vinci factory that cameos are carved so perfectly that their artisans are worthy of the title of Master-Carver or Artist, and the craft deservedly may be called Fine Art.
