A few weeks ago, I was rummaging through an old box in my closet and found this treasure. It’s a cameo locket my grandmother gifted me when I was about ten or eleven years old (we won’t say how long ago that was). The chain went missing who knows when, and the fastener is broken, but the locket itself is intact. It’s not expensive and has only sentimental value, but I’m flooded with many happy memories whenever I hold it, and for that reason I’ll continue to keep it.
I got to thinking, when did cameos first appear, and what are the different types? So, I did a bit of research. Seems cameos have been around since ancient times and were first made from soft stones like onyx and agate. Later, craftsmen began using shells. While lockets seem to be the most popular, cameos are also set in rings, brooches, earrings, bracelets, and pocket watch fobs.
In the early days of cameos, they were used for more than jewelry and ornamentation. Because they are a relief carving (created by cutting away background material), cameos were used as official seals with wax. For the Greeks, they doubled as a form of currency. Since their beginnings, cameos have been worn by both men and women in every way from the simple and inexpensive to the elaborate and costly – inlaid in gold and adorned with precious gems.
I noticed that a woman in profile — especially Greek or Roman in appearance — is one of the most common cameos. Other ancient figures you might see are Roman warriors, Greek mythological characters such as Zeus and Medusa, minstrels, mermaids, and sirens. You can also find animals such as peacocks, birds, and rabbits. Modern cameos often feature fairies, angels, Christmas bells, cats, dogs, flowers, and hearts. Oval is a prevalent shape, but I’ve seen circles, hearts, and squares. Some lockets, like mine, open to reveal a miniature photo. Cameos’ popularity have risen and waned over the centuries. They were very popular during the Victorian era (mid-1800s to early 1900s), so they often made their way west with pioneers and travelers.
If you could design a cameo, what figure would you use? As an author, I think it might be fun to have a cameo featuring an open book.
After all this talk, I decided it would be fun to end the day with a little giveaway. A cameo, of course. Just comment and let me know if you have a cameo, ever had one, want one, or what is your favorite. I’ll randomly draw a winner at the end of the day and mail this rose cameo along with one of my backlist print books (sorry, U.S. shipping only). So, have fun and play along.
Howdy!
Of course, to the people who lived close to the earth in our not-so-distant past, the look and feel of Fall was as beloved then as it is today. So much was this the case that the Eastern American Indians devoted an entire festival of fun and merriment to Autumn — and that festival was called the Harvest Festival.
The particular man who came to the aid of the colonists was Squanto, who had been captured by the English and brought to Spain. He somehow found his way to the monks in England, who, in turn, helped Squanto to return to his home. Some versions of this story say Squanto escaped incarceration in England and in doing so, was discovered by the monks. Some say he was sold to the monks as a slave.
Now, the Harvest Festival was only one of six festivals of the Eastern American Indians. It was part of an ancient celebration wherein He who was and still is known as the Creator, was thanked for a good harvest season
The earrings are a light brown or tan color and, again, are shaped like a feather and have a gorgeous copper-colored chain that hangs down the front of the earring. They are hand-made, hand-cut and are so very, very beautiful. The creator of these earrings is a woman by the Indian name of Red Feather who has made other unique creations with Native American Style. email: 
A moment frozen in time will remain in my memory long past eternity. Inside the box was a beautiful ring. Diamonds and deep-blue sapphires sparkled with a thousand points of light. Daddy gently slipped the gift onto Momma’s trembling finger.
I can’t decide if the topic of this blog is interesting or just plain gross. My nose wrinkles when I think about it. I get itchy. My neck prickles. I don’t get this old Victorian practice at all, and it strikes me as too weird to explain.
The collected hair had another common use. A woman’s hair was considered “her crowning glory.” As a result, Victorian women had elaborate hairstyles. To get the fullness and volume, they used “ratts” (sometimes spelled rats). A ratt was made by stuffing a hairnet with hair, sewing it shut and inserting it into the elaborate coif. A ratt, roughly the size of a potato, gave a Victorian woman her trademark “Big Hair.”
The most common bit of bling would likely be a pocket watch and chain, that extra little something that showed a man’s taste, his position, and sometimes offered a glimpse into his life.
nal–it kept his watch attached to his person should it accidentally slip from the pocket–but it could also be jewelry.
ian times, garment clip chains were worn by women on the pocket of a blouse or waist band of a skirt and were worn by men clipped directly on the trouser pocket or vest pocket.
re probably her mother’s. Looking at those wonderful pieces got me thinking about the history of the cameo. 
Queen Victoria popularized the cameos made of sea shells. Napoleon wore a cameo to his own wedding and founded a school in Paris to teach the art of cameo carving to young apprentices.
to carvers in all locations and financial situations. Among the shells used are Cornelian, Cassis Madagascariensis, Empire Helmet or Conch, Sardonyx (that’s the material in the pink amulet above), and Strombus Giga. 
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