Notes and peculiarities

The shapes

Since the beginning, the most commonly used shape for shell cameos has been the oval one, followed by the round one; less frequently, square, rectangular, triangular, pentagonal and hexagonal shapes are found.

Only rarely can the shapes be eccentric and in these circumstances to respond to the specific needs of goldsmiths and complex jewels or to remedy the inconveniences of accidental breakages or perforations.

The funds

For decades, the artists of Torre del Greco have treated the background of the shell cameo in a simple way, just as it emerges from a perfect engraving embellished with a perfect polishing, either by hand or with the aid of a hot acid "pignatello".
In more recent times, more attention has been given to the background with hammered, scratched, nebulous, veiled effects, so that in many cameos, not only the sculpted subject emerges but also the context in which the subject is inserted.

This peculiarity is particularly evident in the scenic cameos.
The background, however, always depends on the quality of the engraved shell and, as a good rule, the darker it is, the more sought-after it is by artists on the market.

The value of cameos

This is the most controversial and certainly the most unpleasant topic. For the sake of completeness of documentation, it can be said that, apart from the sentimental value from which even our cameos do not escape, these artifacts have a commercial value and an artistic value.

From a few dozen/hundred euros for souvenir cameos in carnelian you can get to a few thousand euros for masterpieces by the "masters".

A curiosity, which usually does not involve customers and buyers, is represented by the fact that cameos, especially commercial ones, are paid to engravers and merchants by the millimeter. For payment, the major axis is measured; in the case of round or square cameos, the measurement considered can be increased by a few millimeters.

The price of a cameo is based on various factors: the beauty of the work, the quality of the piece of shell, the name of the author, whether it is a simple figure or a complex scene, market demand, and advertising support.

In this regard, it must be said that the major buyers of cameos are the Japanese, who however are mainly interested in Cassis madagascariensis cameos, followed by Italians, Germans, English, Spanish and Americans.