Information on Etruscan and Etruscan style cameos and intaglios. The Etruscans inhabited western central Italy. This culture developed out of the Iron Age Villanovan culture—they are traditionally called ‘Etruscan’ after 700 BC, when their language was first written. Etruria was made up of twelve city-states, united by language and religion, who were loosely allied in the Etruscan league. Early on, kings ruled the city-states, but by 500 BC, the power was held by magistrates of the aristocratic class. Ancient Etruria was rich in mineral ores, agricultural resources, and timber; they were a wealthy people. The Etruscans were greatly influenced by the contemporary Greeks but they had their own distinctive character, which in turn influenced the neighbouring Italian peoples, including the Romans. The Etruscans reached the height of their civilization during the sixth century BC. Their decline was caused by the assault on them by the Greeks, the Gauls, and the Romans. They fought with Rome until circa 280 BC, by which time all the Etruscan city sates had lost their independence. By the first century BC, the Etruscans were assimilated into the Roman world. Used with Italy as Production place. Reference: The British Museum

The Etruscan Revival era emerged at the height of the Victorian period following the discovery of jewelry from this ancient Italian civilization in tombs outside of Rome. Reference: Isla Found

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Information on Hellenistic cameos. The Hellenistic period covers the period of Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the subsequent conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year. The Ancient Greek word Hellas (Ἑλλάς, Ellás) is the original word for Greece, from which the word “Hellenistic” was derived. Reference: Wikipedia

The practice of carving cameos was introduced by the Greeks in the fifth century BC, and with the emergence of the Hellenistic kingdoms after the death of Alexander the Great, master craftsmen set up workshops in the cities of these new empires, such as Antioch. The most noted cameo carvers were based in Alexandria and patronised by the Ptolemaic court. Reference: Live Auctioneers.

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Russian cameos have a style all of their own. Russian makers such as Faberge are excellent goldsmiths and their cloisonne is superb. Below are some examples of Russian cameos and cameo glass.

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Roman cameos and cameo glass are not only beautiful items but also tell us the history of the Romans through art. The Romans were highly proficient in cameo glass making and the carving of gemstones.

Roman cameos would often show depictions of gods and goddesses, animals and emperors. All of these give us an incite into the beliefs and people or animals of importance during the Roman Empire.

Throughout history, Roman cameos have been found their way into more modern items of jewellery and settings. This can be seen by the disk brooch below which has a later setting created by the Langobards.

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Information on Art Deco design. Art Deco was at it’s best throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s. Geometric and bold designs took over from the flowing designs of the Art Nouveau era. The traditional cameo was less prominent although they were often inset into geometric mounts such as the malachite cigarette box below. Cameo glass took on a new lease of life with designers such as Lalique, Daum andd Schneider putting their own stamp on their designs. New materials were often used in designs such as Bakelite,  chrome and aluminium. Below are some examples of Art Deco designs.

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Information on Art Nouveau design including a gallery and price guide of Art Nouveau cameos and cameo glass. From the 1880s until the First World War, western Europe and the United States witnessed the development of Art Nouveau (“New Art”). Taking inspiration from the unruly aspects of the natural world, Art Nouveau influenced art and architecture especially in the applied arts, graphic work, and illustration. Sinuous lines and “whiplash” curves were derived, in part, from botanical studies and illustrations of deep-sea organisms such as those by German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel (1834–1919) in Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature, 1899). Other publications, including Floriated Ornament (1849) by Gothic Revivalist Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–1852) and The Grammar of Ornament (1856) by British architect and theorist Owen Jones (1809–1874), advocated nature as the primary source of inspiration for a generation of artists seeking to break away from past styles. The unfolding of Art Nouveau’s flowing line may be understood as a metaphor for the freedom and release sought by its practitioners and admirers from the weight of artistic tradition and critical expectations.

Additionally, the new style was an outgrowth of two nineteenth-century English developments for which design reform (a reaction to prevailing art education, industrialized mass production, and the debasement of historic styles) was a leitmotif—the Arts and Crafts movement and the Aesthetic movement. The former emphasized a return to handcraftsmanship and traditional techniques. The latter promoted a similar credo of “art for art’s sake” that provided the foundation for non-narrative paintings, for instance, Whistler‘s Nocturnes. It further drew upon elements of Japanese art (“japonisme“), which flooded Western markets, mainly in the form of prints, after trading rights were established with Japan in the 1860s. Indeed, the gamut of late nineteenth-century artistic trends prior to World War I, including those in painting and the early designs of the Wiener Werkstätte, may be defined loosely under the rubric of Art Nouveau. Reference: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Victorian Cameos Information. Queen Victoria reigned between 1837 to 1901 and Victorian fashions changed considerably during this era including those of Victorian cameos. Although this era is referred to as Victorian, this section contains information on cameos and cameo glass during this era from other countries as well as those under the rule of Queen Victoria in order to show as many different styles as possible.

Queen Victoria loved cameos and by the late 19th century many cameo brooches were massed produced. Upon her widowhood, Queen Victoria commissioned a series of bejeweled cameos in onyx with a double portrait of her and her late husband to give as badges to members of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert. Reference: The Study.

During the early years of her reign, Renaissance Revival was the fashion. This could be seen not only in cameo jewellery but in household items such as vases as well. By the late 19th century this fashion was in decline and the Art Nouveau movement began.

After the death of Albert the country went into mourning and black became a favourite colour of the nation and remained so until her death in 1901.

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Neo-classical Cameos. Neoclassicism is a revival of the styles and spirit of classic antiquity inspired directly from the classical period,which coincided and reflected the developments in philosophy and other areas of the Age of Enlightenment, and was initially a reaction against the excesses of the preceding Rococo style. While the movement is often described as the opposed counterpart of Romanticism, this is a great over-simplification that tends not to be sustainable when specific artists or works are considered. The case of the supposed main champion of late Neoclassicism, Ingres, demonstrates this especially well. The revival can be traced to the establishment of formal archaeology. Reference: Wikipedia

Many gems were carved in the neo-classical style popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when taste in the arts echoed the subject matter and style of the Greek and Roman masters. Thousands of gems were made in this style in Italy and brought back by British Grand Tourists, who went there to visit the newly-discovered classical antiquities and archaeological sites. Reference: Victoria & Albert Museum

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