The Goldsboro star. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1881-18??, 1882-01-21
NO.. 49,.
Cutting Cameo Portraits.

| OutbluS OhhuCU Il lOItIaAtSe
| "Yes," said cameo-cutter to New
York Tribune reporter recently, " the
demand for the old style Of cameo
Jewelry is decreasing rapidly. but the
demand for good portrait cameos is
increasing just as fast. 1t is the general
impression that no good cameo portraits
are cut in this country, but that they
all come from Paris. As far as I know
there are no portrait cutters in this
country outside of New York. There
is one cutter Of cheap cameosin Boston,
but they send to New York for all the
portraits they have orders for"
care there first-class portrait cutters
in this city,"
"Well, claim that there is one, at
least, here. I have made cameo por-
traits Of Garfield, A. T. Stewart, ex-
President Hayes, the late Senator
Morton, of Indiana, Mrs. Scott Siddons
and many other prominent men and
women, and here are letters from Mr..
Hayes and Mrs. Garfield praising the
portraits highly. A galvano-plastic
copy of the Garfield cameo I sold for
$50 to sculptor, who had an order
to make a marble bas-relief of the late
President. The original cameo portrait
was bought by jeweler and set in q
broad, gold setting, in which thirty
eight larger gems were set; thirty-four
diamonds close to the cameo,tw rubies
above aud two below and two emeralds
on each side, without the row of dia-
monds. This copy of the well.known
picture, CLEOPATRA before C@sar,"I
value at $1,000. 1t is, as you see, an
oval, three and one-half inches long and
two and one-half wide. The cost of the
stone before it was dressed for cutting
was $75. I worked on it at frequent
intervals for three years."
"Do you make your portraits from
life or from photographer
I" / start them from photographs, as it
would be too tedious to do that from
life, and finish them in few sittings
from life, it being impossible to get q
natural, life-like expression from q
photograph. Yes, nearly all the por-
traits are ordered for making up into
jewelry, brooches being the most COM
mon, and sleeve buttons next. These
are two portraits Of little boy and
girl, whose father wants portrait of one
of them on each of his sleeve-buttons."
"Where do the best cameo stones
come from now%
"They all come from Brazil they are
taken to Germany, where they are
dressed ready for cutting, and then
taken to Paris, which is the only
market Tor them, as most of the cutters
are there" "What is the process OF
cuttlng" sit is done by "a lathe, worked
by treadle, with those detachable
tools and diamond dust. The tools are
of three kinds-for cutting, for grind
ing and for smoothing. These detach-
able tools are tapering iron bars. on
the small ends of which are fastened
wheels of soft porous iron, to hold the
diamond dust better than the steel
would. These wheels vary in size from
an inch in diameter to such ones as
this (holding up one), which an
unframed eye cannot see. For cutting
the wheels have sharp edges for grind
ing they are blunt-edged, while for
smoothing the wheel becomes cone.
The diamond dust, which, mixed with
oil and rubbed on the tools, does the
cutting, is prepared thus: Here is
cast-steel mortar and q pestle of the
same material that fits this deep mortar
into the deep mortar I put Q
few diamond fragments and drop of
oil, insert the steel pestle, and pound
with this hammer. There
is the dust ready for use. make it
myself, as it must be of different
degrees of fneness for different stages
Of the cutting"