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One of the first blog posts
I ever wrote was
about cameos and intaglios.
I just love them,
don't you?
Let me share
the name of the
jewelry company that has
jewelry company that has
a beautiful line of both.
Gorgeous items.
Timeless.
I have some
of their pieces
and love them.
But in case you would
rather not wear them,
there are intaglios
(pronounced "in-tal-io")
(pronounced "in-tal-io")
that you can collect.
Plaster intaglios were marketed in Italy
during the 18th and 19th centuries as souvenirs
for wealthy American and English tourists
(usually young men)
(usually young men)
as keepsakes of their European Grand Tour holidays.
The small plaster medallions were mounted into books
and each medallion was numbered and documented
with handwritten numbered notations telling which city
with handwritten numbered notations telling which city
or which attraction they had visited.
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| An intaglio Grand Tour collection intact in its original book. |
Buying them in their original books
can be pretty costly,
but if you are patient
and are good at searching,
you can find loose coins sold separately.
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| swedishdekor.com |
I went to a house tour
a few years ago and the home
had an entire entry hall filled
with over a dozen framed
intaglio sets. Gorgeous.
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| Southern Living Magazine |
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| Inspired Living |
I got lucky and found some originals
at Scott's in Atlanta last month.
I have yet to frame them,
but that is the plan!
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| Caldwell Flake Design |
Finding inspiration in all these photos.
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| Celerie Kimball Designs Here are the five that I bought. I plan to frame them in two sets.   You can identify an antique intaglio by the heavy paper collar that will have a tiny serrated edge where the paper was cut. Another indicator would be if you find a hand-painted catalog number on the side. See photos. New plaster copies do not usually have these details.  |
Do you have any antique intaglios
or
maybe you have a different
collection of smalls
or
maybe you have a different
collection of smalls
framed in your home?
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| Some of my old repros in the guest bedroom! |
8 comments:
The intaglois that are framed in the bedroom looks just GORGEOUS! I have my great grandmother's cameo. I only wear it at Christmas. What a feminine and classy post!
I have several cameos, but was not familiar with intaglois. Happy is the day that I learn something new.
Alison, no intaglios here, but they certainly are beautiful. I love cameos. My mom had several. They are lovely. Fun post. Love the jewelry! ~ Sarah
great post! informative. I bought my daughter and her baby girl matching ones...baby's was very tiny..sweet little cameos to wear for the baptism.
Oh my those are gorgeous, can't wait to see the final results.
I don't have any intaglios, and I don't think I've ever come across them. But now I will keep my eyes open for them on my flea market jaunts. But I DO LOVE cameos. I've always been drawn to them and have a few.
Have a great day.
Hi Alison,
Those are so beautiful! When I was in Florence Italy I bought cameos for my family.
They are a true work of art.
Dee
Love the cameo bracelet! Going to Scott's one day...on the bucket list!
I have an antique intaglio that was a fob for a man's pocket watch. The image looks like some sort of roman soldier or something. It was on the original chain, which was rather long. I wear it as a necklace.
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