Cameo Molds

A Puzzling Cameo Question

I inherited a box of molds from a relative, along with many other items. On the outside of the box is written in pencil, "cameo moulds". A few of them have a residue left on them as if they were used in making an item, but I don't know what!

The images on them are different, but all seem to be of the Greek Classical era. I'm sending these photos of a few of the molds I own. I don't believe they are made of metal, but of some hard material ... perhaps a plaster like substance???

I would have to remove the edge from one in order to determine the exact material. The edges appear to be heavy paper.

Any clue as to what I have?

Thanks!

Maxine

I consulted with Marjorie at Mad About Molds. Neither she nor I have ever seen molds like yours.

In fact, they can't be cameo molds per se because the images are not in reverse such that one could make a cameo from them.

Rather, these look like plaster (or clay) castings taken from molds.

The code numbers penciled on the back of each piece may be catalog numbers. The different color finishes make them look like samples.

Could your relative have been a sales rep at one time, showing these samples to craftspeople or jewelers who made cameos?

However that makes me wonder why the samples weren't made from typical cameo materials of the period.

I searched the literature for information about plaster cameos and found nothing. You probably know that originally all cameos were sculpted.

The first cameos date back to the 4th century B.C.; and classical Greek images such as yours were very common. Stones with distinct layers of coloration were used. During the Renaissance, shells came into use for carved cameos.

Learn more about cameos.

It wasn't until the mid-1800s that cameos were molded. Typical materials were glass, celluloid and bakelite plastic.

Subsequently, cameo artists used the newer improved plastics, as well as porcelain and plant resin. Today, many cameos are molded from polymer clay (as the beautiful cameos displayed on Marjorie's site). No mention of plaster.

The good news in my round-about way of saying, "I don't have a clue", is that you seem to have something quite unique - perhaps rare.

Mystery Solved!

The reason these don't look like cameo molds is because they aren't.

These are INTAGLIOS - they have a raised surface. In the early 1800's an inexpensive way to display a reproduction of a European classical sculpture was through a carved disk, or seal.

"Grand Tour" intaglios were usually made of plaster, and were souvenirs of that European tour - they were a cheap and perfect medium to reproduce old coins, ancient Roman disks, etc.

The reason they're wrapped is because they were displayed and collected in book form, so the wrapping would make sure they were of equal depth, a uniform display look and had a uniform flat edge/surface to glue to the rigid display page. (You can see old adhesive clinging to the paper wrapping.)

The numbering on the back could be anything from a display sequence, to someone's past effort to catalog them for sale or auction, but not for a catalogue ordering process.

While most plaster intaglios are white or buff, some were made of resin or wax of varying colors. But because the backs of these are whitish, it appears as though they're plaster that's been painted to make them look like wax seals.

Meredith

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