What are cameos made from?
Banded agate, also known as sardonyx or “hard stone”, cameos are the rarest of antique and vintage cameos and those most highly prized show three or four different colored layers. Skilled carvers can use the different bands to create hair in a slightly darker shade than the face; lace collars in white that contrast with clothing in taupe and the background in a deep brown. Lava cameos were created from the stone of the Vesuvius volcano as early as the 17th century and became very popular during the Victorian era among women traveling to Italy. Because lava is relatively soft, it was easier to carve than shell and when originally made, these cameos were generally less expensive than those of shell. Ironically, they are now as highly prized as shell cameos of the same quality and age because the softness that made lava easy to work also made it easily damaged. Simply put, fewer lava cameos have survived. Shell cameos are the most commonly available, as many Italian cameo carvers continue
