Cameo Cutting

The discovery of the adaptation of the Conch-shell to the art of the Cameo engraver is traceable no farther back than the beginning of the reign of Her Gracious Majesty the Queen. The working of Cameos in precious stones, however, goes back beyond the earliest historical records; history contains no reference to the beginning or progress of the development. Tradition declares that the art was of Asiatic origin, and that it was practised by the Babylonians, from whom the Phœnicians carried it into Egypt. Thence the progress of the work is clearly traced to Greece and Italy, and in our own time to France and England. Those who have practised Cameo engraving in England may be numbered on the fingers of one hand. But it is not with the carving of precious stones this handbook deals, but with the youngest of all the processes discovered in connection with the production of the Cameo, that of working the beautiful Conch-shell.

The use of this shell for the purpose of Cameo-cutting was first practised in Italy, about the year 1820, and it was then believed to be of Sicilian origin. For many years all the shells used were exported from England, and the number averaged about three hundred per annum; these were valued at 30s. each. They soon became a favourite medium in Rome with the workmen, and the art was taken thence to Paris, where it flourished. In 1847 the sale of shells was reported to have reached 100,500, and their declared value was £8900, while the Cameos which were produced were estimated to be worth at least £40,000.

The prices of shells have since been very much reduced owing to an increased importation, so that shells of great beauty may now be purchased for 10s.; while they may be had in quantities as low as 1s. 6d. each. Choice black shells, however, still command a higher price.

The colour of the ground in these shells varies from pink and orange to an absolute black: this is called the Black Helmet (Cassis Tuberosa), and comes from the West Indian Seas. The shell with a pink ground is called the Queen Conch (Strombus Gigas), and is also brought from the West Indies. A favourite variety is the Bull’s Mouth (Cassis Rufa), found in the East Indian Seas, which has a sard-like ground. Another class is the Horned Helmet (Cassis Cornuta), which is brought from Madagascar; in this the ground is dark claret in colour. Occasionally shells are made use of having three layers, the upper, always dark-coloured, serving for the hair, or a wreath, or for armour; the second layer, which is always white, is used for carving the figure; and the third layer is the ground.

Messrs. Francati & Santamaria, of Hatton Garden, were the largest and almost the only dealers in shells for Cameo work in the Metropolis, and they cut them up to the exact size required for engraving. I have seen in their cellars many thousands of Conch-shells brought from foreign seas for the purpose of being cut up for export to Italy or Paris. Mr. Santamaria, upon one occasion, showed me a magnificent Black Helmet shell, which he said was the only one that had been discovered out of about ten thousand. A shell of ordinary size only produces, on being cut up, three or four large workable pieces, and these are worth from 3s. to 5s. each; but the Bull Mouth, of small size, may be purchased for a shilling. A face or figure engraved upon a shell looks well, particularly when the taste of the artist enables him to cover every knob with figures, and form an appropriate border of leaves round the whole; even the circles round the apex of the shell lend themselves to ornamentation, and shells carved all over are much sought after. An experienced workman will often employ his leisure in covering a large shell with work in this way. In the centre he places the principal design, always a classic figure or group of figures, and around, such ornamentation as his taste approves. One of these, cut in Hatton Garden, was sold recently for a hundred guineas; and another, almost entirely cut by Mr. W. King, a young Englishman then in the employment of Messrs. Francati & Santamaria, sold for £80.