Portrait Cameo Jewelry

Rodin Daniad Sculpture

gemportraits — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:09:59 +0000

Much of Rodin’s work shows the ‘non finis’ technique. Here drama and life is created by making the sculpture appear to be trying to break out of the stone. This happens because the base or background of the sculpture is left in the rough state or unfinished. Rodin’s work is generally considered the most important contribution to sculpture of his century. Realistic in many respects, it is nevertheless imbued with a profound, romantic poetry. The Gothic, the dance, and the works of Dante, Baudelaire, and Michelangelo were major sources of inspiration. Rodin considered his work completed when it expressed his idea, and as a result his sculpture is varied in technique; some is polished, some is gouged and scraped, and some seems scarcely to have emerged from the rough stone. He worked long over his more important works, returning to ... Read More »

The Ancient Egyptian Cameo of Ptolemy

gemportraits — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:51:29 +0000

Pictured is the Ptolemaeus cameo, also known as the Ptolemaeer Cameo. Vienna (Ptolemy, Ptrolemaer-kameo) Cameo Sardonyx (11 layers).

Ptolemaic but has been argued as Claudian and Severan.Evidence that it may have switched identities with the Gonzaga cameo during history only further complicates the scholarship but most feel comfortable identifying it as a product of Alexandria under the Ptolemies.

Also identified as Ptolemy II Philadelphos and Arsinoe, but has been argued as Claudian and Severan. Evidence that it may have switched identities with the Gonzaga cameo during history only further complicates the scholarship but most feel comfortable identifying it as a product of Alexandria under the Ptolemies.

The Habsburgs also described this as the “Gonzaga cameo”, probably on assumption that it had not been stolen by the Swedes in 1648. The original Gonzaga Cameo is shown at The Hermitage Museum, Russia. This results in considerable ... Read More »

The Gemma Claudia Roman Cameo

gemportraits — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:01:17 +0000

The Gemma Claudia is a Roman five-layered onyx cameo of c.49. It later found its way into the Habsburg collections now in the Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna (AS Inv. No. IX A 63). It is 12 cm high and set in a gold rim.

It depicts two cornucopia (with an eagle between), out of which sprout four portraits, two on either side. On the left is the Emperor Claudius and his new wife Agrippina (as Cybele, the goddess of fertility) opposite them, Agrippina’s parents Germanicus (also Claudius’s brother) and Agrippina. Its 49 AD date places it soon after Claudius marrying Agrippina in January 49, and makes it possible that it was an official marriage gift to the imperial couple.

The unknown artist carved the work from the five alternately dark and light layers of the stone with great virtuosity. He achieves an increased ... Read More »

Portrait of a Mother and Newborn Baby

gemportraits — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:37:14 +0000

An award winning gemstone portrait in white on black layered agate of a loving mother and her newborn baby. This portrait was taken from photographs of the mother and her newborn baby that were taken in the hospital moments after birth.

A close friend of the mother forwarded the photos to me and I selected one of them to create the gemstone portrait. This cameo was an award winner in the national British Goldsmiths Council Awards.

Gareth carving the cameo of Grace kelly

gemportraits — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:44:10 +0000

Gareth Eckley is using diamond tools to carve the Award winning gemstone portrait of Grace Kelly. The portrait was carved into a layered agate with three layers – black/white/black. This photo shows my carving set-up from 2007, when I mainly used a flexible micro-motor. I now mainly use the more traditional gem carving lathe that is fixed to my workbench.

White on blue agate cameo

gemportraits — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:16:43 +0000

A portrait cameo pendant that uses a white on blue layered agate. This color combination is very popular and gives a very feminine, modern effect.

Cameo locket with engraved message

gemportraits — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:54:49 +0000

Memory portrait Cameo locket in yellow gold with hand engraved message.

Design for the slider cameo locket

gemportraits — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:39:07 +0000

The cameo locket in yellow gold shown before the cameo portrait is installed

Queen Elizabeth receives my cameo

gemportraits — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:10:48 +0000

My Cameo of Pocahontas is presented in Virginia, USA to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This is now part of the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace, London.

Queen Elizabeth examines my cameo

gemportraits — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:04:58 +0000

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is shown examining my cameo portrait of Pocahontas. This was an official gift from the Indian tribes of Virginia, USA.