About Cameo Glass

Pilgrim Cameo

A glass created, under the directorship of Kelsy Murphy and Robert Bomkamp, by the Pilgrim Glass Company which helped pioneer the American Cameo glass movement.  This glass is internationally recognized for it's fine quality.

Pilgrim Super Cameo

A historically significant cameo glass consisting of five layers or more. The Pilgrim Glass Company was the only glass company in the world, or in history for that matter, to successfully blow and carve 12 layer cameo glass.   Since the company closed in 2002, this glass has become increasingly rare and more difficult to obtain.  Highly valuable and collectible!

Burmese Cameo

This is a striking glass which is rare due to it's chemistry.  Precious minerals and metals, such as uranium oxide with a tincture of gold, are required to manufacture it.  Our current supply of Burmese cameo glass is powder-cased and hand blown by our colleague, master-blower, Ron Hinkle.

New World Cameo

This is a cameo glass that is also known as powder-cased cameo.  It is created by rolling molten glass in powdered glass and reheating it multiple times to create additional colored layers.

Illustrious Cameo

This is a carved 2-layer, cold-cased, single color cameo glass that has been carved so as to leave a shiny, iridescent image standing out in bright relief against the background layer.

Cameo II

Multi-colored cameo glass which has been carved, then reheated making the image flow and also clarifying the upper carved layers to give the final piece a glossy finish.

Cameo III

The next step in the evolution of Cameo II.  A piece of Cameo II is further carved changing it's texture and leaving a relief of the carving on the glass, after which the glass is often cutaway for added dimension.  A complex procedure creating an incredibly rare glass.

Jewel Cameo

A glass which is cold cased with precious metals over hand blown glass leaving a shiny metallic finish which is then carved to expose the color beneath.

Cameo Graal 

A glass created with a complex procedure in which multi-colored, carved layers of glass are suspended in several dividing layers of crystal glass for a three-dimensional effect. 

Carved Glass

This is a single layer, single color glass and therefore can not be considered cameo. However, it can be deeply carved to multiple depths creating beautiful, richly colored works of art that are very affordable. The Blenko Glass Company, is a local company that has beautiful, quality glass ideal for carving.

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Cameo glass has existed since the Roman era.  As in ancient times, it still must be hand-blown as no machine can duplicate the process. It is a hot-cased, (created while in molten form) multi-layer, multi-colored glass that allows each layer to be carved in order to expose the different colored layers beneath. The more layers involved, the more difficult it is to both blow and to carve, which makes the glass all the more rare and of greater value.