SHELL CAMEOS 

 By L. P. Gratacap 



Illustrations from the Morgan gem collection 



THE ancients were not acquainted with the artistic possibilities in 

 the pictorial gravure of shells. The permanence of mineral 

 matrices for their skill was readily apparent and the stimulation 

 supplied by the difficulties of the work enhanced both the appreciation 

 and the pleasure of cutter and engraver. Then too the variegated and 

 "layered" agates, with their strong tones gave opportunities for effective 

 contrast, while intaglios permitted keenness of outline and microscopic 

 precision. 



But any implied censure must be qualified by recalling that the conches 

 of the West Indies, which furnish the most adaptable material and the best 

 color for the engraver, were unknown to the Greeks and Romans, and that 

 the shores of the Mediterranean offered rather worthless material from which 

 neither experiment nor accident could have evolved the priceless "brooch 

 of our grandmothers." 



Shell-cameo art apparently arose during the sixteenth century, expand- 

 ing as demand increased. Ambitious subjects, drawn from the fables of 

 mythology or the biblical records, were attempted; portraiture and con- 

 ventional scenes also employed the numerous artists who now welcomed this 

 new resource which permitted beautiful adjustments of marble-white 

 relievos over saffron, yellow, orange or faintly mahogany backgrounds. 

 The shell structure with its superficial white layer coherent with a delicate 

 underlying colored film was a very convenient reproduction of the zoned 

 onyxes. The material too was softer to work, although its fragility deterred 

 hasty or careless sculptors. 



The helmet shells (Cassis cornuta, C. tuberosa, C. cameo [madagascarien- 

 sis], C. rufa) furnished the most promising and the more generally employed 

 material, but enthusiasm and curiosity brought into use other shells as 

 Turbo, Strombus, Meleagrina, Cypraea and even the Nautilus. In none of 

 these species however was there so useful or so permanent a disposition 

 of the parts for artistic effects and the background was either quite absent 

 or less adaptable for desired effects, thus the process of elimination has 

 reduced the first miscellaneous selections to the helmet shells alone and of 

 these Cassis cameo claims preeminence because of the very favorable color 

 development of the under conchiolin layer. The big stromb {Strombus 

 gigas) by reason of its deeply-tinted, roseate mouth was quickly appropri- 

 ated and its coloring produced vivacious effects, but the color faded and ex- 

 posure soon robbed the design of its beauty. 



The tiger cowrie (Cyprcea tigris) perhaps might be made to rival the black 

 helmet, but its convexity and smallness deprives the artist of a broad field 



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