Carved Cameo Pendant, Curly Haired Woman, Sterling Silver, Antique Helmet Shell Cameo, Victorian Necklace

The carving on this cameo is precise and personal: a woman with an elaborate upswept arrangement of curls, a beaded necklace at her throat, and a dangle earring that the carver thought to include despite having barely three-quarters of an inch to work with.

This is a helmet shell cameo, carved in the Italian tradition that ran from the 18th century through the Victorian era and beyond. The warm peach of the shell's upper layer gives way to a deeper orange-rust at the ground, and the contrast is sharper than you might expect in a piece this size.

The sterling silver setting is a classic rope-border bezel, simple by design. The pendant suspends from a handmade bail.

Hallmarked Blue Piranha, .925. Dimensions: just under 2 inches (5.1 cm) long from top of bail to bottom of pendant; 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) wide. Weight: 8.2 grams.

Each pendant is available without a chain, so you may use your own if you prefer. If you want to add a chain, I offer different lengths and styles. Every chain comes with a 2-inch extender, so you can vary the length. Please choose your chain from the options at checkout.

Your purchase arrives gift boxed, in a soft pouch with a story card.

Good for: the woman who dresses with intention. Someone with a weakness for antique jewelry. For the occasion worth marking with something with its own history.
About cameos:

Cameos have been carved for thousands of years, falling in and out of fashion since ancient Greece, while the Victorian era gave them their biggest cultural high point.

Cameos are carved from shell but they can also be created from glass, hardstone (such as sardonyx), lava, vulcanite, and coral, as well as other materials. Hand-carving continues today, most famously in Italy, where the tradition is still very much alive. The cameos I work with came from an antique market, found loose and in varying condition. Some were chipped, but some were quietly extraordinary. Those are the ones I kept.

The shell cameo tradition runs from ancient Greece through Rome, through the Renaissance, and reaches one of its peaks in the 19th century, when carved cameos became a staple of fashionable dress and sentimental jewelry alike. Helmet shell became the standard cameo material because of its natural two-tone layering and the relative ease of carving compared to hardstone.