Cameo brooches are an ancient sculpted type of jewellery usually of a facial profile or sometimes a full figure. They can be found on rings, necklaces, pendants and brooches. Men and women can be found on cameos but the most prolific style is a profile of a woman's head.
Many cameo brooches feature goddesses from the classic Roman and Greek myths.
Famous contemporary beauties were also used to provide the aspirational and ideal look of the time period. We can date cameos based on the hairstyle, jewellery or physical appearance of the figure. Sometimes a cameo can feature an unknown person that represents the "look" of the time.
Cameos were carved from many natural materials such as shell, onyx, agate, and lava stone as well as glass and plastic.
The popularity of cameo jewellery especially brooches in the 1970s reflected a revival of Victorian styles. However, the cameo portion of my costume jewellery brooches were designed and manufactured in the 1950s from a thermoset plastic - basically a material that hardens when cooled. The coral and blue colours are meant to resemble shell and Wedgewood porcelain respectively and were designed by Sphinx of England. But, the outside is dated from the 1970s.
I have brooches that contain the profile of a woman in an Art Nouveau style. They were designed and manufactured for the shop Past Times. The star crown lady is a direct copy of a 1900s brooch designed and manufactured in 1900s France.
Finally, within my collection of Cameo brooches I have included porcelain styles manufactured in the 1930s in St. Uzienne, France.
Now sold, you can read in previous blogs about a very beautiful and very rare Italian Lava Stone Cameo and a British Porcelain Sepia Mourning Pin. These are Georgian brooches.
All errors and omissions are author’s own.
Copyright Audra Daws-Knowles 2025