1890's Victorian Cameo Necklace

This romantic necklace features a Victorian cameo hand-carved into a conch shell on delicate Sterling Silver chain. 

A cameo is a form of glyptography, or bas-relief, carving, which historically features landscapes, portraits, and mythological figures cut into a variety of materials, but most often into glass, hardstones, and shells. Cameo artworks were crafted to create two layers on one piece of material, the top of which protruded from its background, creating a multi-dimensional artwork. These detailed reliefs were often used to adorn pieces of jewelry, such as brooches, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. The earliest cameos took inspiration from prehistoric petroglyphs, which documented important religious and symbolic iconography onto rock faces.

Despite its popularity in previous periods, the most well-known era for cameo collection was the 19th century, inspired by royal cameo collectors Queen Victoria and Emperor Napoleon Buonaparte. Shelled cameos, which depicted these natural and humanistic scenes onto deep-sea shells, became quite popular under Queen Victoria’s reign.

While cameo traditions continued to persist in western culture, the Renaissance and neighboring Elizabethan period were both instrumental in fostering continued innovations in the art of cameo carving as elite women began to collect cameos as signs of cultural status. 

MATERIAL & DETAILS

• Circa 1890's
• Sterling Silver Chain 
• Hand Carved Cameo 
  
• Conch Shell 

Most necklaces can be shortened or lengthened upon request