Cameo Cutting

Cameo Cutting

The art of cutting Cameos in shell is of so very recent birth, compared with that of working in precious stones, that a claim to consideration in setting forth the method and practice may justly be preferred. Yet my little treatise, which is based upon practical experience, has been found, even in more limited form, a sufficient guide for the practice of the art, by a large number of amateurs in England, Wales, and Switzerland, to produce good work; these were all of them skilled in the use of the brush, the pencil, or the chisel. To all similarly proficient in any department of art, Cameo-cutting will be found a pleasant and interesting employment. 11 The discovery of the adaptation of the Conch-shell to the art of the Cameo engraver is traceable no farther back than the beginning of the reign of Her Gracious Majesty the Queen. The working of Cameos in precious stones, however, goes back beyond the earliest historical records; history contains no reference to the beginning or progress of the development. Tradition declares that the art was of Asiatic origin, and that it was practised by the Babylonians, from whom the Phnicians carried it into Egypt. Thence the progress of the work is clearly traced to Greece and Italy, and in our own time to France and England. Those who have practised Cameo engraving in England may be numbered on the fingers of one hand. But it is not with the carving of precious stones this handbook deals, but with the youngest12 of all the processes discovered in connection with the production of the Cameo, that of working the beautiful Conch-shell. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 64054
Author: Marsh, John B.
Release Date: Dec 15, 2020
Format: eBook
Language: English