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“Cameos occupied a special place in Victorian culture, crossing boundaries of art and personal ornament… One of the many attractions of cameos for the Victorians was their value as souvenirs of travel, but they had wider connotations – not least of connoisseurship, taste and classical learning.”
– from Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria by Charlotte Gere and Judy Rudoe.
It’s tricky to keep an introduction to shell cameos of the Victorian Era brief – they were a huge part of jewellery fashion all over Europe for the best part of the 18th and 19th Centuries, so there’s a lot of nuance to the various carvings and the periods they were made in.
Shell cameo jewellery and objects d’art are an excellent and affordable examples of the Victorian romantic interpretation of the “classical” style of ancient civilisations. Shell cameos of the era come in all shapes and sizes, and in varying levels of complexity, tending towards the extra large in the later Victorian period. This sweet ring depicting the profile of a maidens head is a modest size, which helps a great deal in dating it.
Cameo jewels were originally made by skilled artisans from Italy. Cameos carved into shell were (and still are) more affordable than their hardstone or precious gem cousins. They were popular souvenir items purchased by the well-to-do as souvenirs of their Grand Tour, reminding them of days spent immersed in the cultures of the ancients at sites such as at the Roman Colosseum, the Acropolis and Delphi.
It is highly likely that this ring is an example of a Grand Tour souvenir, bought unset and mounted in 9ct gold upon return to England. This ring was so loved by its owners that the original shank was worn thin – to keep it in wearable condition the band was replaced with a similar plain gold band in the mid 20th Century.
Shell cameos experienced a revival in the 1960s, and many of the cameos found today are from that later period. One of the key ways to distinguish between a Victorian cameo and a 20th Century cameo is to look at the nose. Victorian cameos often have a strong ‘Roman’ nose whereas cameos from the 20th Century follow that era’s beauty ideal of a small ‘button’ nose. Our maiden is more classically beautiful, and her nose is one of the ways that she can be safely identified a Victorian era jewel.
Manufacture:
The antique shell cameo is carved into a section of helmut shell. The cameo is slightly domed, with the profile in white against the orange shell background. The cameo measures approximately 16.6mm x 12.5mm x 5.3mm. The cameo carving depicts the profile of a young maiden, her long hair bound in a headscarf and adorned with flowers. The highest ridges of the carving have softened with wear over time, but the high quality of the workmanship is still evident.
The cameo is set into a solid but plain 9ct gold bezel with a rub over setting, as is often found in jewels of this style from this period. The band is a replacement 9ct gold flat band, hallmarked 9ct to the inside. The metals have been verified by XRF test.
The face of the ring measures 17.75mm x 14.36mm
Sits 7.3mm high on the finger.
Weighs 4.95 grams
Size U or 10.25
somewhat resizable
We do offer a resizing service starting at $45 Australian dollars. Please get in touch for a quote.
Condition:
In good wearable condition. The cameo caving is of fine quality and in good repair, however the ring has had the original shank replaced by a later gold band. An authentic antique piece at an affordable price point.
