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shell and porcelain cameos. This is not always true,
however, so weight alone is not a good indication of
authenticity.
8. Look at the finish. Turn the cameo in your hand
and observe the way the light hits it. A real shell
cameo should have a matte appearance rather than a
glossy one.
9. View the cameo in a strong light. With the back
of the piece facing you, hold the cameo up against the
sunlight on a particularly bright day or up against a
strong artificial light. You should be able to see the
entire silhouette if your cameo is made from shell.
10. Feel the temperature. Hold the cameo in your
hand for 30 seconds or so. A real stone or shell cameo
will feel fairly cool, but a plastic piece will quickly
warm up due to the temperature of the room and the
This antique Victorian Mourning Cameo brooch, c. 1860, is set in Bullmouth shell and depicts heat of your skin.
a Bacchante lady—a follower of the Greek God Bacchus—with a detailed vine and a pine cone displayed
in her long ringlets. Bullmouth shell has been popular as a base for cameo carvings for its natural
patterning which takes expert skill to carve. The back of the brooch contains a woven hair bouquet adorned
with flowers and pearls. The cameo and glass back are in a “swivel gallery” so it can be worn both ways. The Swedish Cameo Tiara
The cameo is set in silver and gilded in 18kt yellow. Sold recently for $985 in a private sale.
adapted from thepracticalgemologist.com
photo: Laurell Antique Jewelry
3. Look at the direction of the face. The majority of antique cameos In 1804, Napoléon Bonaparte was crowned emperor at the
will have a figure facing right. After that, a leftward facing figure is most Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris and his wife, Joséphine, was
common, followed by a forward-facing figure. Since profiles on authentic crowned empress.
vintage cameos can face in any of these three directions, this alone is With her new title came a need to amass a vast collection of jewelry
definitely not an indication of authenticity. If you have other reasons to befitting that title. Among them was a parure (set) of cameo (a design,
doubt whether or not the cameo is real, though, the fact that the figure carved in relief, into a hard stone or shell) jewels, apparently made for
faces left or forward instead of right, as is most common, could give you her by her husband's court jeweler, Marie-Étienne Nitot. The set
a further reason for doubt. included a grand tiara in gold set with pearls and large Neo-Classical
4. Observe the facial features. An authentic cameo will have high- style cameos. It is interesting to note that the seven cameos used in this
quality figures on it. The natural curves of the chin and mouth should tiara were actually made first and were not intended to go together
be reflected in the design, and the profile will usually have rounded which is why they are all different in size and color.
cheeks. Portrait cameos that have a straight nose are typically from the Joséphine died of pneumonia in 1814. As was the custom, an inven-
Victorian era. Portraits with strong, "Roman" noses are usually dated tory of her jewels was taken at the time of her death, but historian
before the 1860s. A nose that looks "cute" or button-like usually Trond Norén Isaksen noted the cameo parure was not included in this
indicates a newer cameo created in the 21st century. If the nose is inventory. Exactly what happened to the cameos after her death is a bit
turned up and the features are flat, it could be a sign that the cameo is unclear. Writer Vincent Meylan argues that her son, Eugène, received
fairly modern and likely created with lasers, making it non-authentic. them when he and his sister Hortense were given their mother's jewels
5. Note the type of pin. Flip the cameo over and look at the pin on to divide. His evidence for this claim may be sound as the set reappears
its back. An antique or vintage piece will usually have a plain “c-clasp” again in the line of Joséphine's son Eugène.
on it. With a “c-clasp,” the brooch pin loops under a crescent-shaped Eugène married Princess Augusta of Bavaria in a dynastic wedding
piece of metal. There is no roll-over fitting there to keep the end in eight years earlier at the behest of Napoléon, and by 1814 he was living
place. in Munich at the court of his father-in-law with Augusta and their
6. Take detail into account. While some authentic cameos are plain, children. Eugène and Augusta's eldest daughter, Joséphine of
many valuable antique pieces will include finer details on the carving or Leuchtenberg, married Crown Prince Oscar of Sweden and Norway in
painting. These features usually include things like earrings, pearl neck- 1823 wearing the cameo tiara, and it continued to be handed down
laces, loose curls, and flowers. Note that some details actually indicate from one generation to the next until the 1960s when the Cameo Tiara
when a piece is fake. For instance, many laser cut imitations have a faint began to be used as a wedding crown – a tradition that continues to
white band near the outer border of the piece. this day. While brides will recycle wedding gowns and tiaras used by
7. Weigh the cameo in your hand. Plastic and glass cameos tend to previous brides, it is remarkable that such a beautiful piece of history
be set in heavy base metals. As a result, they are usually heavier than exists and that it is still in use.

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