The above cameo is reminiscent of the work of Nicolo Morelli (1771-1830) a Roman gem-engraver much favoured by Napoleon, who often used stones with a warmish pink tone. However many gem engravers chose to portray the Emperor and his family, cf. M.Duchamp, Les Portraits en camees et intailles des Bonaparte par G.A. Santarelli (1758-1826) et B.Pistrucci (1784-1855), Collection du Musee d'Ajaccio, 1994. Napoleon gave much encouragement to the glyptic arts in France, extending the Prix de Rome to gem engravers from 1805 and fostering a school for students of the subject under Roman-Vincent Jeuffroy of the Paris Mint. Many Italian craftsmen were recorded working in France in the 1830s, but by the mid 1840s it was noted that more shell cameos were being produced in France than in Rome (S.Bury, Jewellery 1789-1910, vol.1, 1991