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MORE ABOUT GENARRO BORRIELLO
Nestled at the foot of Mount Vesuvius on the Bay of Naples is the ancient town of Torre del Greco. This picturesque Italian fishing village has a worldwide monopoly on shell and coral cameo production, which they maintain with a labor force of about five thousand artisans. Cameo carving is an ancient skill here. In the ruins of Pompeii, only a few kilometers away, stone cameos, preserved after the city was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in A.D. 79, have been discovered. The supremacy of the Torrese artisans was so great that on June 23, 1878, the School for the Manufacture of Coral and Cameos was founded by a royal ordinance of Umbert I in the same town. From that time forward, Torre del Greco and cameo carving have been intertwined. Today, the craft is taught at the town's Institute of Fine Arts, and the products are publicized worldwide.
There are several leading cameo producers in Torre del Greco. Among them is Gennaro Borriello who founded the company of Borriello S.r.l in 1954. Antonella Borriello, daughter of Gennaro Borriello, is the vice president of the firm and oversees the day to day production operations. Several internationally famous carvers work for the firm: Genaro Garofalo, Francesco Esposito, and Salvatore Balzano. The Borriello’s emphasize that the shells they use are not dyed, but naturally and uniformly colored; only all-natural colored shells are used. They believe that only the male helmet shell has the thick layers required for a fine carving; female helmet shells have thin layers and are discounted as good carving material.
Antonella Borriello explains that, while some of their carvers have attended art school, many have not. A certificate or diploma in art is not required to get a job as a carver and neither is membership to a guild or association. What may be necessary, in addition to natural talent, is a lengthy apprenticeship period. It can take up to five years to learn how to start and finish a cameo properly. Once learned, the skill is refined and solidified throughout the artisan's working career, as vocation changes are rare.
THE HISTORY OF CAMEOS
A cameo is usually made of two types of material, commonly precious or semi-precious stone. One material is carved into a figure — the most common type being a profile portrait of a person's head. This is then set upon the other type of material which provides a background of another color to offset the figure. Alternately, a cameo can be made from (banded) agate, where different layers of the same stone have different colors. Sometimes dyes are used to enhance the colors.
Though royalty has popularized wearing cameos, please note that men, as well as women, have worn them. The most popular cameos today are carved in sea shells, a tradition that began in the fifteenth or sixteenth century and was popularized by Queen Victoria of England. Since that time, cameos have predominately showcased women's profiles, and they have been worn by women who enjoy the beauty and craftsmanship of hand-carved cameos.
Yet cameos have not always been decorative jewelry for women. In fact, at different points in history they have been worn as frequently by men. The birthplace of the cameo was nearly 300 years before the birth of Christ in Alexandria, Egypt, and cameos owe their origins to ancient carving traditions. As far back as 15,000 BC, petroglyphs — figures carved into rock — were used to record significant events and communicate information. In ancient times people used cameos to depict an ethic or moral, or to make a statement about their faith or loyalties.
In the centuries since, cameos have been used for various purposes and decorated with a wide range of carvings:
- Early Greek and Roman carvings featured images of gods and goddesses, themes from mythology, beautiful women, and biblical events.
- Many cameos through history depicted then-living heroes or rulers.
- In the Hellenistic era, young women used cameos as charms to express desire. A woman could wear a cameo depicting a dancing Eros as a seductive invitation to love.
- During the Renaissance, Pope Paul II was an avid cameo collector. According to history, this love ultimately led to his death. His excessive display of carved gems and stones on his fingers kept his hands so cold that he caught the chill that meant his death.
- Cameos have been used on helmets and military accessories like breastplates and sword handles, on rings and other jewelry, and on vases, cups and dishes.
- Women first began collecting cameos to prove cultural status during the Elizabethan period. At the same time, tourist travel to the ruins of Pompeii was on the rise, and women began collecting shell and lava cameos as souvenirs to remember their travels.
- During the 18th century, men purchased carved gems to mark their prestige and cultural status.
- Cameos enchanted Napoleon, who wore a cameo to his own wedding and founded a school in Paris to teach the art of cameo carving to young, French apprentices.
- Not until the nineteenth century, when the popularity of shell cameos grew — reducing the use of hard stones or Agate — did profiles become as popular a subject matter as they are today.
Cameos should be dusted gently and oiled, using mineral oil, at least once a year. Do not scrub a cameo nor soak it! Cameos should be stored in a cool, dry place.
SHELL CAMEOS
The carnelian shell is the one most frequently used for cameo carving. In color, carnelian shells are a low-intensity peach or orange color, offering contrast between foreground and background colors.
Shell cameos are mainly carved in Italy, and 22 different types of shells are used. Cameos of great artistry were made in Greece dating back as far as the 6th century BC. They were very popular in Ancient Rome and have enjoyed periodic revivals, particularly in the early Renaissance and in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The sardonyx shell has a thick outer wall and a dark brown interior, and when carved it can resemble marble. Cameos carved in sardonyx shells are distinctive in color with a dark brown background and white foreground. They frequently cost more because the shells are rare.
AGATE AND MOTHER OF PEARL CAMEOS
Agate cameos are primarily carved in Germany and are blue or green in color. These cameos have a more modern look, despite the fact that agate has been used for cameos for centuries.
Some cameos are carved in mother-of-pearl, producing a cameo of an opalescent, bluish-gray color. These cameos are best set in silver.
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