The Art of Cameos & Nena Officina Creativa (Torre del Greco/Umbria)
Courtesy Nena Officina Creativa
A brief discovery of cameos
Italy is home to 58 UNESCO World Heritage sites, the highest number of cultural and natural properties registered in a single country. In addition to this, it features on the “List of Intangible Cultural Heritage” for 17 different practices and expressions, such as truffle hunting and extraction, traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona, or the Sicilian puppet theatre Opera dei Pupi, to name a few. In 2020, the candidacy process was undertaken to add “the art of cameo engraving” in Torre del Greco, Napoli to the selection.
Armed with these flabbergasting facts, I set off to meet Monia Sturiale and her husband Giuseppe Borriello - Master Cameo Engraver from Torre del Greco - at the infamous Nena Officina Creativa boutique. This local artisan brand hailing from Terni in Umbria offers bespoke jewelry and accessories entirely handmade by Monia (and is the subject of the brand story shared last week). The label’s flagship line is the cameo collection created in tandem by the couple: Giuseppe designs and engraves the cameos, while Monia sets them as unique jewelry pieces.
Although technically not a “brand story” per se, the history and rituals behind cameo making warrant a deep dive into this fascinating artisanal practice.
“A cameo is a small-scale sculpture in which the design stands in relief above the surface. It is the opposite of intaglio. Often, the term refers specifically to a portrait cut in a gemstone (…). Commonly a banded or multicoloured stone, such as agate, was used, in such a way as to exploit the different layers of colour—with one colour for the background and another for the carving, for example.”
From stone to shell
Monia introduces me to Giuseppe and as we exchange greetings and prepare to settle down comfortably, I am immediately struck by the undeniable bond they share. There is a true connection between these two creative souls and I for one am moved by its energy.
Giuseppe is a storyteller in his own right and sets the scene immediately: “Torre del Greco is the only place in the world you can find shell cameo engraving”, he declares. The town sits between Ercolano and Pompei. Overlooking the Gulf of Naples, it is home to a little over 85,000 inhabitants. Its “Liceo d’Arte” features a dedicated cameo engraving program from which less than 100 professional cameo engravers graduate every year.
Giuseppe himself was born in Torre del Greco to a cameo-engraving family. “I was raised in shell dust”, he chuckles. “Instead of little soldiers, I used to play with pieces of shell that my father would give me”, he recalls. “As a child, you watch your father handling and working with the shells, and you start thinking ‘I’d like to do this!’ – typically it’s a family trade”.
I discover that the craft stretches back to Antiquity; other than Ancient Greece and the Etruscan period, it flourished in both Persia and Mesopotamia. In Italy, cameo engraving became very popular during the Renaissance, although it later moved to Austria, and by the 19th century, it was all the rage in Victorian England - which is no doubt what comes most to mind when a cameo is mentioned… In Torre del Greco, the craft was introduced in the 1700s by the French, who brought it in its stone carving form (this originally took place on sardonyx, onyx, or agate stone).
As the sardonyx stone became increasingly expensive to come by in turbulent economic times, the artisans set sail to find other material to replace the pricey mineral. The sailors soon discovered two-layered shells on the southeastern coast of Africa (Madagascar, Mozambique etc.), technically known as “Cypreacassis Rufa”, which they renamed as “carnelian shell”.
Traveling towards the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, they came upon the “Cassis Madagascariensis” species, which in turn was adopted as “sardonyx shell”.
Both shells replaced the sardonyx stone and cameo engraving on shell was born!
Today, it is the pride and joy of artisans in Torre del Greco. Giuseppe explains that “the beauty comes when you carve the white layer, and it contrasts with the darker layer that is revealed. With mono-layered shells, this would be impossible”.
From shell to cameo
“Our shells are the latter kind (“sardonyx shell”), we import them whole from the Bahamas”, Giuseppe continues his captivating tale. His company is based in Torre del Greco and handles the whole process, from ordering and receiving the shells, to cutting, designing, and engraving them. “The shells are natural and never farmed. They are sourced once they have “turned”, meaning once the mollusk inside is already dead”, he is careful to clarify. “They are laid out on the pavement under the sun so the dead mollusks can roll out naturally. Then they are cleaned thoroughly, otherwise they would rot.”
At this point, I am hanging onto every word to understand how you get from a three-dimensional spiral to a small, seemingly flat curved object. The mystery is revealed in the form of the following critical steps entirely handled by the artisan:
-
“Scoppatura” - With the help of a large circular saw set over water, the top portion of the shell (“la coppa”) is removed. The body is then marked with 4 cuts and subsequently sectioned into 4 portions.
-
“Segnatura & Sagomatura” - Using a permanent marker, various shapes are then drawn on each of the pieces. These are cut out with the help of a much smaller circular saw. This produces rough shapes that will eventually become the cameo canvas itself.
-
“Aggarbatura” – The rough shapes are smoothened and refined until they take their final form.
-
Each shell is then attached to a wooden handle using hot glue mixture made of rosin (solid form of resin obtained from pines), scagliola powder (fine plaster), and beeswax. The shell is attached to the hollow handle filled with the hot glue, so it is shock-resistant during engraving.
-
“Disegno & Incisione” - The artisan can now sketch his design using a pencil. The engraving is done using special chisels (“bulini”), whereby the artisan carves into the white layer, working slowly to create depth by revealing the darker layer.
-
Once the cameo is completed, it is placed in the refrigerator, which enables a clean separation from the wooden handle. In the olden days, the artisan would tap the sides of the cameo to release it, sometimes creating imperfections in the process. Today’s refrigeration allows this final step to occur seamlessly.
All images are courtesy Nena Officina Creativa:
Nimble fingers make for nimble minds
The workmanship on the cameos displayed around me is exquisite. Such painstaking detail on such small surfaces.
Here, Giuseppe seems to note my admiration and stokes it even further by saying: “The shells are delicate to work, but not fragile, earning a respectable 6-7 on a hardness scale. They are typically 2 to 6cm wide and you have 2mm of thickness to work with.” The chisels come in different sizes and help achieve various levels of detail. This sculpting technique is called “bassorilievo pittorico”, essentially a shallow carving of the plane surface used to add texture and depth. “You start from the “highest” point of the design (where it literally stands out the most) and work backwards”, he explains. “The end result is that you will see colors that don’t exist!” I begin to fathom the importance of this literal shift in perspective and wonder how it works from one design to another.
As if on cue, Giuseppe smiles and says: “It is the shell that chooses the design, not the contrary. You respond to the shell, for example a swelling on the surface can be worked to become the bridge, while the flatter area behind it can be the water flowing beneath it. But if you have a particular design in mind, then you need to work the other way round and find the right shell first. You have to search through many pieces to find the one that can help you realize your vision, and even then be prepared to modify and adapt.” Engravers usually work several pieces at a time, switching from one to the other to discourage the eyes from getting used to a design, and therefore potentially overlooking mistakes. It takes about a month in total to complete all pieces.
How meticulous each chisel incision must be in order to not compromise the next! How connected is the artisan to the shell to obtain such intrinsic likeness to reality! I marvel at the infinite patience and nimbleness one must possess to breathe life into a shell and make each design leap out and grab you.
“Un connubio bellissimo”
The creation process of bespoke pieces for Nena Officina Creativa follows no set rules. The shells usually dictate the fate of the next design and Giuseppe welcomes their guidance. The subject matter is diverse and complex and covers everything from portraits, historical scenes, and landscapes, to fauna, flora, and famous things. I am even told that the first cameo ever sold by Monia was a 15cm rendition of the Statue of Liberty! Giuseppe tells me they are specialists in animal depictions, so I am not surprised to see dogs of all races immortalized in their designs. And I learn that Monia has a passion for Beatrix Potter’s world, which explains the iterations of Peter Rabbit brooches!
The couple also collaborate to create limited edition designs, such as the “infinite heart symbol” for Valentine’s Day earlier this year. “The heart was born from an idea, a quick sketch which we then combined with the infinity element and formalized.” The emblem was rolled out on cameo jewelry and featured on the boutique’s glass window in a bright red hue.
Here, Giuseppe underlines the uniqueness of their co-creations, right down to the actual shell. “The beautiful thing is”, he says with wonder, “each shell, a bit like a human being, is different from the other. And so, each ensuing cameo design will be different as well. Afterwards, it’s easy to make it into a standard golden brooch. But the real magic comes when Monia transforms it into something new, warm, beautiful, truly artisanal.” And that is most certainly “un connubio bellissimo” – the beautiful union of two creative minds.
I sit back to digest the layers of detail. Here is an art form that has survived the test of time. That continues to thrive in a community of dedicated and talented artisans, proud of their heritage. They have no doubt understood that true value is in keeping alive a centuries-old craft for the sake of spectacular savoir-faire and beauty. And caring more about preservation than exportation. Their pledge is to pristine craftsmanship, no matter how niche it is - and I for one applaud it.
These days, fellow Torresi’s and Nena Officina Creativa aside, the general population seems to be grappling with the value of cameo ornaments. Cate Blanchett’s earrings at the Venice film festival and the Princess Victoria of Sweden’s wedding tiara may have contributed to a boost in popularity in recent years. No doubt there is room to further educate the world about the cameo’s journey, its complexity, its storytelling power.
So how would one define the shell cameo today?
Is it vintage? – “something that is authentic from an era at least twenty years ago”…
Is it retro? – “a new item that has been made in the last 20 years to imitate an item of the past”…
Is it antique? – “any item that is over 100 years old”…
Master Shell Cameo Engravers of today are essentially creating new pieces of art utilizing the identical process used over a century ago. None of the steps have been improved or replaced by machinery, or AI for that matter!
Perhaps the people of Torre del Greco have already coined this inexistent term.
Perhaps it is simply “Made in Torre del Greco”.
Nena Officina Creativa
Via del Tribunale 23
05100 Terni
Italy
Tel: +39 0744 615 149
Instagram: nenaofficinacreativa
Facebook: nenaofficinacreativa
