Sculpture techniques: carving in semi-precious stone & shell
Cameo of a Warrior (Ajax), about 1800. Museum no. 1797-1869. Jasper cameo in high relief.
Specialist craftsmen used a wide variety of materials for carvings. These ranged from gemstones and hardstones like rock crystal to softer organic materials such as shell, coral and mother-of-pearl.
Hardstones were worked with metal tools, diamond drills and abrasive powders. Organic materials, and the softer mineral substances like jet and amber, were carved with a variety of knives and chisels.
Some of these materials, among them jet and coral, were believed to have magical or medicinal powers, whereas rock crystal symbolised light and purity in medieval times.
These carvings had many functions. They included cameo portraits, gems with mythological subjects, religious artefacts such as devotional pendants, containers carved in precious rock crystal and inexpensive pilgrimage badges made of jet.
Also, from about 1540-60 rulers and wealthyburghers assembled collections of gems, cameos and other virtuoso carvings. They often displayed them in special cabinets, or rooms, alongside curiosities from the natural world and foreign parts.
Process set showing the making of a shell cameo of the artist John Everett Millais, James Ronca, about 1850–90. Museum no. 1386 to E-187
Semi-precious materials
Crouching Lion, about 1690-1700. Museum no. A.10-1950. Given by Dr W.L. Hildburgh FSA. Carved amber.
The images in the lightbox below show objects carved in amber, jet, horn, coral and mother-of-pearl, dating from the 15th to the 19th century.
These materials were often associated with a particular geographical region and highly valued because of their rarity.
Many of the religious objects were portable, as were the small portraits. They were often made near to the source of the material and then taken elsewhere.
Shell cameos
Shell cameos are much easier to cut than those made from gemstones. Also, the raw material is cheaper and easier to acquire. They were popular in the 16th century and then again in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the passion for carved gemstones led to a parallel explosion in the market for cheaper shell cameos. They are still popular today.
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