The Italian Shell Cameo – How is it Made?
The outer coating of the shell, what is called the cup, and the inner lip which is what is cut off to form the Italian cameo is what is taken of the shell. The shell is cut out to form an oval shape and then smoothed off by a grinding wheel until a perfect oval shape is obtained. Once the oval is smoothed out, the piece is ready for the carver to be sculpted. The carver will then remove the whitish layer around the edge of the oval to create the contrast of a white figure on a dark brownish background. Before the sculptor cuts into and carves the white area of the shell, he will have to outline the shapes with a pencil, before starting the actual carving with a very sharp steel carving tools. The most difficult part of the birth of a cameo is the carving of that miniature figure which demands exact minute details to be shaped with very small carving tools. Interestingly, sometimes, dentist tools are used for the job. Cameos have been carved the same way for thousands of years. Modern m
