cameo

The Great Cameo of France, five layers sardonyx, Rome, c. 23 AD, the largest of Antiquity Eagle Cameo, Roman 27 B.C. Two-layered onyx. Cameo of Roman Emperor Augustus wearing a gorgoneion and a sword-belt. Three-layered sardonyx cameo, Roman artwork, c. 14–20 AD.

Cameo (/ˈkæmioʊ/) is a method of carving an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel. It nearly always features a raised (positive) relief image; contrast with intaglio, which has a negative image. Originally, and still in discussing historical work, cameo only referred to works where the relief image was of a contrasting colour to the background; this was achieved by carefully carving a piece of material with a flat plane where two contrasting colours met, removing all the first colour except for the image to leave a contrasting background.