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

The curls on this portrait are the whole story. This cameo features a woman with an elaborate upswept hairstyle, large loose curls piled at the crown and trailing at the back of her neck, her expression alert and forward-looking. The carver gave the hair real attention: the individual curls are distinct and fully rendered, not suggested.

The helmet shell background is a warm orange-brown, and the carved figure rises pale and sharp against it with a strong contrast.

The setting is a single rope border bezel with a plain round bail, keeping the focus on the portrait.

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: 3.8 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.

Good for: a friend who finds antique jewelry more interesting than new. For the woman whose jewelry tells a story she didn't write, but is glad to carry. For a gift that gives the person something to think about every time she puts it on.

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

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.