lifornia 
 
 onal 
 
 ity

 
 ANTIQUE GEMS: 
 
 ORIGIN, USES, AND VALUE 
 
 AS INTERPRETERS OF ANCIENT HISTORY; AND AS ILLUSTRATIVE 
 OF ANCIENT ART: 
 
 WITH HINTS TO GEM COLLECTORS. 
 
 BY REV. C. W. KING, M. A. 
 
 FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 ' Gemmae supersunt et in arctum coacta rerum naturae majestas, multie 
 nulla sui parte mirabilior." Ptra. Nat. Hiat.. xxxvii i. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 1860. 
 
 The right of Translation is reserved.
 
 :/>XDO : 1'ltINTKI) UV W. CI.OV I* ANP PONS, STAMFORD 6TKKKT, 
 AND CHARING CROSS.
 
 Agave; Cameo. Plasma 
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 PROBABLY at no period in England has art in its various rela- 
 tions been so intelligently illustrated and so fully investi- 
 gated as during the last ten years. The numerous exhibitions 
 of M'orks of art, both in this country and on the Continent, 
 have doubtless partly contributed to this result ; and with 
 increased development of taste there has sprung up at the 
 same time an earnest desire to investigate the principles of 
 ancient art in its various productions, and to trace the dif- 
 ferent phases through which it has passed before it attained 
 its highest degree of excellence. Every department of art, 
 both ancient and mediaeval, has found its expositor or histo- 
 rian ; and the amateur or student who desires to make him- 
 self acquainted with the painting, sculpture, or pottery of 
 ancient or mediaeval times, can at once be referred to able 
 treatises which will furnish him with the fullest information 
 on those and kindred subjects. But there is one department 
 of art in which the ancients peculiarly excelled, and of which 
 
 b
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 they have bequeathed us the most exquisite specimens of 
 their genius and skill, which has been comparatively neg- 
 lected in this country, or at least has not received the atten- 
 tion due to its importance : I mean their Engraved Gems. 
 It may with truth be asserted that there are few remains of 
 ancient art so replete with grace and beauty as the engraved 
 gems of antiquity ; and when we take into consideration the 
 important uses they have subserved to the historian, archae- 
 ologist, and artist, it seems unaccountable that this valuable 
 branch of art should have been so long neglected; yet 
 it is a fact that there does not exist in our language any 
 scientific treatise or popular manual to which the student can 
 be referred who is desirous of entering upon the study of this 
 most instructive subject. Of this I can speak from experi- 
 ence, for on myself commencing the study of antique gems 
 several years ago, during a long residence at Rome and 
 Florence, though with ample opportunities of gaining prac- 
 tical information as far as regards the gems themselves, I 
 felt greatly the want of some manual to guide me, not 
 merely in the first principles and the history of the glyptic 
 art (which has been attempted, though very sketchily, by 
 Millin), but of one that should, to some extent at least, 
 serve to guard me against the usual errors into which be- 
 ginners fall, and one which should supply, as far as possible, 
 that experience to obtain which practically, we must, as 
 Goethe says, pay many a heavy apprentice-fee. Hitherto, as 
 far as my reading has gone, nothing of the kind has been 
 attempted in our language, except in the excellent series of 
 essays, entitled ' Old Rings,' which appeared in ' Fraser's 
 Magazine' during the year 1856 ; and the standard work has 
 remained the * Pierres Gravees ' of Mariette, published more 
 than a century before. The books named in the list of 
 authors given at the end of this volume furnish indeed
 
 PREFACE. v 
 
 many valuable hints, but these are dispersed through volu- 
 minous treatises, and are only to be selected, with profit to 
 himself, by a reader already to some degree conversant with 
 the practical details of the science. I have therefore here 
 put together my own observations, the accumulated memo- 
 randa of many years, and the results of the careful examina- 
 tion of many thousands of gems of all ages and of every style. 
 These I have illustrated by passages from ancient authors, 
 and by copious extracts from other sources, tending to eluci- 
 date the matters herein discussed. This book had in fact its 
 first origin in a series of notes jotted down in my pocketbook 
 whenever a gem of particular interest came under my inspec- 
 tion, or whenever any passage of the author I chanced to be 
 reading contributed at all to the explanation of the difficulties 
 that beset my entrance upon this study ; so that it may be 
 described as a series of solutions of the numerous problems 
 which the incipient gem-collector has hitherto been obliged 
 to work out for himself, at a vast expenditure of time, temper, 
 and money. Most of these translated passages will be found 
 given at length (though occasionally but in part bearing upon 
 or illustrating the point under consideration) whenever it ap- 
 peared to me that they would lose their interest by curtailment. 
 Many repetitions will be found in the course of these pages, 
 and these I have allowed to remain in revising the sheets, in 
 order to make each article, as it were, complete in itself, this 
 treatise being chiefly designed for a book of reference, to be 
 consulted by means of the copious index annexed. Thus by 
 the aid of these repetitions the reader will to some degree be 
 spared the trouble of referring from one article to another, 
 since many of them may be considered as independent essays, 
 in each of which the particular subject discussed, together 
 with everything bearing upon it, has been worked out to the 
 best of my ability, and according to the extent of the materials 
 
 * 2
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 at my disposal. The various disquisitions upon coins and coin- 
 dies may at first sight appear foreign to the professed design 
 of these pages ; but as they were indisputably the productions 
 of the same class of artists as the engravers of the gems, and 
 are, besides this, almost the sole means we have of deter- 
 mining the date of the gems with which they coincide in the 
 identity of workmanship and of treatment, it seemed unad- 
 visable to pass them over without some slight consideration. 
 The long series of extracts relative to the mediaeval supersti- 
 tions as to the powers of gems and of their " sigils," absurd 
 as they may seem to the ordinary reader, are yet of great inte- 
 rest to the student of the history of the Middle Ages ; for in 
 the writers of that period allusions to such ideas are of fre- 
 quent occurrence, and are hardly to be understood without 
 some previous acquaintance with this belief, at that time an 
 established article of faith. The ' Lapidarium ' of Marbodus, 
 besides its interest as the earliest didactic poem since the classic 
 times, was for five centuries the received text-book on mine- 
 ralogy for all the students of MediaBval Europe ; and, together 
 with the extracts from Orpheus and Pliny, completes the 
 chain of the ancient writers on stones from Theophrastus the 
 founder of the science. 
 
 The very extensive and interesting class of Gnostic gems 
 has never hitherto been treated of in any English work that 
 has come in my way, except in the brief sketch by Dr. Walsh, 
 itself little more than an abridgment of the ' Apistopistus ' of 
 Macarius. I have therefore bestowed a considerable amount 
 of care upon this portion of the treatise, and have described 
 in detail all the most interesting types that have passed under 
 my examination. In the course of my researches for intagli 
 belonging to the latest period of the art, I have been for- 
 tunate enough to meet with authentic notices of many of 
 great interest, and executed some centuries after the date
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 usually assigned to the complete extinction of gem-engraving 
 in Europe. Of these, full descriptions will be given in the 
 appropriate sections. 
 
 The treasures of ancient art in Great Britain, as seen in its 
 great national museum and in the residences of private indi- 
 viduals, will probably bear comparison with those of any other 
 country in Europe in magnitude and interest, and perhaps in 
 no class of antiquities is it richer than in antique gems. The 
 collection in the British Museum, though scarcely on a par, 
 numerically speaking, with its other monuments of ancient 
 art its statues, vases, bronzes, and coins is nevertheless of 
 great value and importance, containing" as it does specimens 
 of the finest and rarest types of gem-sculptures, as I shall 
 presently take occasion to show in a chapter specially devoted 
 to this collection ; but by far the greatest number of these 
 miniature monuments of art are to be found in the cabinets of 
 our noble and wealthy amateurs. Besides the large and valu- 
 able collections of the Dukes of Marlborouglj and Devonshire, 
 Lord Londesborough, Messrs. Pulsky, Khodes, Uzielli, &c., 
 there exist numerous smaller collections, varying in number 
 from one hundred to two hundred gems, scattered over the 
 length and breadth of the land, in which are to be found, 
 buried as it were from the world of connoisseurs, many of the 
 choicest relics of the glyptic art. Indeed there are few Eng- 
 lishmen of refined and cultivated taste, versed at the same 
 time in the literature of Greece and Rome, who have resided 
 or travelled in classic lands, who have not brought home 
 with them some of these miniature memorials of the genius 
 and skill of the ancient artists of those countries. Nor can 
 we be surprised when we consider that not only is a refined 
 and cultivated taste required for a just appreciation of these 
 interesting relics, but a familiar acquaintance with the myths 
 and legends, historic events, manners and customs of Greece
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 and Koine ; and when these qualifications are combined in 
 any one, then will he be able fully to admire the wonderful 
 force and beauty with which the ancient gem-engraver has 
 contrived to represent, upon the most limited area, those 
 scenes and actions with which he is so familiar, and which he 
 is able to recognise at a glance. Such a one, too, is prepared 
 to survey with admiration and interest the portraits of those 
 distinguished men whose words and deeds history has handed 
 down to us, and whose features have been reproduced and 
 perpetuated on the imperishable gem. Various other reasons 
 may be assigned for the great number of fine antique gems 
 which have found tHeir way into the collections of this 
 country. The frequent revolutions and political commotions 
 which have disturbed the continent of Europe have rendered 
 England the asylum of many deposed princes, and of innu- 
 merable political refugees. Some of these have brought with 
 them cabinets of gems, and others a few rings, which from 
 their portability would naturally be laid hold of at the mo- 
 ment of their flight in preference to more cumbersome valu- 
 ables ; and these, in their hour of necessity, the owners being 
 compelled to part with, have been readily secured by the 
 amateurs of this country. Hence it has been remarked by 
 foreigners that there is no capital in Europe in which a collec- 
 tion of gems can be formed in so short a time as in London. 
 
 It is not my design in this work to describe or even to 
 briefly notice the gems to be found in the principal collections 
 of Europe, as such an undertaking could not be brought 
 within the compass of a single volume. I have restricted 
 myself, as I may here explain, in the selection of the various 
 types and characteristics of gem-sculpture, principally, though 
 by no means exclusively, to the Herz and the Mertens- 
 Schaafhausen Collections the former as being the best 
 known in this country, and the latter as the one to which I
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 have had constant access through the kindness of the present 
 possessor, and which, from its vast extent of nearly two thou- 
 sand stones, comprises examples of every period of style and 
 art. I have nevertheless deemed it advisable to insert a brief 
 sketch of the more remarkable gems in our great national 
 collection, both because there is no published account of them, 
 and that they are probably less known to the public than 
 any other class of its ancient treasures. I shall also devote 
 a few pages to the consideration of the finest works of the 
 Devonshire Collection, as there exists no catalogue raisonne 
 of this celebrated cabinet. The Marlborough Collection has 
 been more fortunate in this respect, the choicest of its con- 
 tents having been described and figured in two of the most 
 magnificent volumes ever published, the pencil of Cipriani 
 and the graver of Bartolozzi having been engaged for its 
 production. Mr. Pulsky's fine collection may now also be 
 claimed as one of our English treasures in this department, 
 as he has for so many years resided and collected amongst us. 
 It has afforded me several fine examples of important classes 
 of both camei and intagli. The very extensive and valuable 
 cabinet of gems belonging to Mr. Uzielli has been formed 
 chiefly by the selection of the choicest stones from the Herz 
 Collection, and further augmented by the addition of many 
 precious camei, lately acquired in Italy. 
 
 These descriptions, observations, and extracts will be found 
 arranged according to a long-considered system of my own, 
 under certain general heads, thus divided : 
 
 Section I. Materials : gems themselves. 
 II. Art : the different styles. 
 
 III. Subjects. 
 
 IV. Mystic properties of gems and of their sigils.
 
 Plato, contemporary portrait, aa 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ON THE STUDY OF ANTIQUE GEMS. 
 
 ALL persons who have had any practical acquaintance with 
 the subject of Antique Gems are agreed as to the important 
 assistance which this class of relics of ancient art affords to 
 the artist, the antiquary, and the historian, in their respective 
 departments. In the first point of view, these small yet 
 indestructible monuments preserve to us exact representations 
 of the most celebrated works of the ancient sculptor, long 
 since either destroyed, or else lost to the world. There is no 
 doubt that every ancient statue, either of especial sanctity, 
 or of great celebrity on account of its artistic merit, was 
 faithfully reproduced in the miniature work of the gem- 
 engraver, with that honesty of treatment so justly pointed 
 out by Goethe in the passage hereafter to be quoted. Thus, 
 in the poetical description, by Christodorus, of the seventy- 
 two antique masterpieces in bronze that adorned the Gym- 
 nasium of Zeuxippus in the 6th century, the choicest selections 
 from the plunder of the Hellenic world, we recognise at the 
 first glance the originals of many of the representations only 
 preserved to our times by the means of their copies on gems 
 of a slightly later period than that of their own production. 
 The Apoxyomenos of Callicrates, which was pronounced the 
 " Canon " or model of statuary in bronze, but which, together
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 witli almost all the other works in that metal, 1ms perished in 
 the times of barbarism, is allowed by all archaeologists to 
 have been the original of the famous intaglio in the Marl- 
 borough cabinet, an athlete using the strigil, itself also 
 classed amongst the finest engravings known. The Apollo 
 Delphicus too, supporting his lyre upon the head of a Muse 
 by his side, a subject often reproduced without any variation, 
 and usually in work of the greatest excellence, is incoutest- 
 ably the copy of some very famous and highly revered statue 
 of this deity, then in existence. Again, amongst the Mertens- 
 Schaafhausen gems my attention was attracted by a singular 
 design, the same god armed with his bow and arrows in his 
 one hand, and with the other holding the fore-feet of a stag- 
 standing erect : the whole composition betokening an archaic 
 epoch. There can be small doubt but that this little Sard 
 has handed down to us a faithful idea of the bronze group by 
 the early statuary Canachus, which from its singularity was 
 accounted the chief ornament of the Didymeon at Athens : 
 an Apollo thus holding a stag, the hind feet of which were 
 so ingeniously contrived by means of springs and hinges in 
 the toes, that a thread could be passed between them and 
 the base on which they rested, a mechanical tour de force 
 thought worthy by Pliny of particular mention. 
 
 Apollo of Canachus : Roman Sard 
 
 In the same manner we obtain representations of note- 
 worthy edifices long since reduced by time into heaps of
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlil 
 
 undistinguishable ruins. Again, if we consider the merits of 
 
 the engravings as works of art, we have in them perfectly 
 
 preserved examples of the taste and skill of those ages when 
 
 the love of the beautiful* flourished in its fullest extent, 
 
 unfettered by prejudice, tradition, or conventional rules; 
 
 whilst, from the unlimited demand during those ages for 
 
 engraved gems, both for the use of signets and for personal 
 
 decorations, artists of the highest ability did not disdain to 
 
 exert their skill upon the narrow field of the precious stone. 
 
 The unparalleled perfection and vigour of many of these 
 
 performances are a sufficient proof that they proceeded 
 
 directly from the master-hand, and were not mere slavish 
 
 copies by a mechanic after the design supplied to him by the 
 
 genius of another. Besides this moral proof, we have the 
 
 direct testimony of Pliny (xxxv. 45) that such a distinguished 
 
 modeller and statuary as Pasiteles also employed himself in 
 
 the chasing of metals and in engraving upon gems. This 
 
 artist, one of the latest lights of the Hellenic art, was a 
 
 native of Magna G-raBcia and a contemporary of Yarro, who 
 
 highly praises his skill. On the revival of learning, antique 
 
 gems were amongst the first relics of better times to claim 
 
 the attention of men of taste to their intrinsic beauty, and to 
 
 the perfection of the work displayed upon them, and no 
 
 longer as objects merely to be prized, as in the preceding 
 
 centuries, for their fancied magical or medicinal virtues. 
 
 Hence, amongst the other measures taken by Lorenzo dei 
 
 Medici towards fostering the dawning arts of design, we are 
 
 informed by Vasari that he established a school in his gardens 
 
 exclusively appropriated for the instruction of students in 
 
 gem engraving, and for the execution of similar works in 
 
 emulation of those ancient treasures which he so zealously 
 
 accumulated. The large number of magnificent Camei 
 
 marked with his name, LAVR. MED., still preserved in the
 
 xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Florentine Cabinet, notwithstanding the yet larger propor- 
 tion scattered over the other collections of Europe in con- 
 sequence of the subsequent revolutions of that commonwealth, 
 attest to our times the eagerness with which he sought after 
 these relics of ancient skill, and the high importance which 
 he attached to their acquisition. They were in truth, at that 
 period, before many antique statues or bas-reliefs had been 
 brought to light, the sole means of obtaining perfect and 
 satisfactory examples of the artistic excellence of the Greek 
 and Roman ages. And in no other department was this 
 prince more successful in raising up a school of skilful artists 
 than in this particular one, for the early Italian Camei 
 approach so closely to the Eoman, both in spirit and in 
 treatment, that to distinguish between them often baffles 
 the most extensive experience and leaves the real date of the 
 work a matter of dispute and of uncertainty. But fifteen 
 centuries before the days of Lorenzo, his illustrious proto- 
 type Maecenas had regarded this same branch of art with 
 especial favour, and has left striking evidences of his pre- 
 dilection for its productions in the scanty fragments of his 
 writings ; and, as a general observation, it will be found that, 
 the more extensive the knowledge of the man of taste in the 
 other lines of creative art, the more readily will he appreciate 
 the distinctive excellences of this one in particular; as is 
 clearly shown by the remarks of Goethe when this to him 
 entirely new field first opened on his view. For none but 
 smatterers in art ever estimate the value of a work by the 
 rule of its dimensions ; the man of true taste only looks at 
 the mind displayed in the production, not at the extent of 
 surface over which its result may be diffused. The feeling 
 which induces the pretender to taste to slight the genius 
 embodied within the small compass of the gem, merely on 
 account of its minuteness, is the same in its nature as that
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 which has prompted all races, as well at the dawn as at the 
 decline of the fine arts, to erect monuments which aim at 
 producing effect by their magnitude alone. Pausanias ob- 
 serves satirically that, "only Eomans and Ehodians pride 
 themselves upon the possession of colossi," whilst the master- 
 pieces of Greek skill rarely exceeded the size of life. And 
 thus, Cellini, piqued by a remark of M. Angelo (made on 
 seeing a small medallion of Atlas, chased by the former) 
 " that an artist might very well be able to excel in such 
 small designs and yet be incompetent to produce any work 
 of merit on a grander scale," in order to demonstrate the 
 falsity of this unjust assertion, immediately set about the 
 model of his famous Perseus, which most judges will pro- 
 bably agree in considering as superior to any statue left us 
 by his overweening critic. 
 
 It has been very justly observed by the author of ' Thoughts 
 on Antique Cameos and Intaglios ' that, although the work 
 on gems, whether in relief or sunk, be confined to a very 
 narrow space, and though, by reason of its necessary minute- 
 ness, it make not the direct, immediate, and powerful im- 
 pression upon the imagination and aifections which is felt 
 when we behold figures of life or above life-size, in high or 
 low relief, or when given to the eye on pedestals as statues, 
 still it remains an unquestionable fact, that in all that relates 
 to anatomical truth, expressiveness of attitude and aspect, 
 gracefulness of drapery, and every other detail and accom- 
 paniment of fine workmanship, the Greek, Sicilian, and 
 Roman artists were eminently distinguished, and especially 
 in that simplicity of contour and composition and masterly 
 ordonnance that have ever made the study of antique gems 
 so serviceable for the settlement of the principles and the 
 improvement of the practice of painting and sculpture. 
 Hence the lovers of the fine arts, and especially artists
 
 xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 themselves, may discover the importance of the study of the 
 antique in this particular branch of workmanship. For 
 herein, says Mariette, knowledge is brought under the 
 dominion of a noble and lovely simplicity, which suffers 
 nothing to be brought before the eye but what is required 
 for the elevation of our ideas. And to the same effect is 
 the remark of Gori : " What is there more pleasant than 
 the contemplation of the works of the artists of antiquity, and 
 to behold, shut up as it were within the narrow compass of a 
 small, it may be of a very small gem, all the majesty of a 
 vast design, and a most elaborate performance ? The art of 
 engraving figures upon these minute stones was as much 
 admired by the ancients as that other sort of laborious skill 
 which produced full-sized statues out of bronze or marble. It 
 may even be said that gems in their eyes were of greater 
 value by reason of the extreme smallness of the stones, and 
 a hardness that defied the steel tool, and submitted to nothing 
 but the power of the diamond." 
 
 In short, it may be safely affirmed that the gem engravers 
 of the Alexandrian and Augustan ages were, in all that 
 concerns excellence of design and composition (that is, in all 
 those parts and principles of their art that admit of com- 
 parison), rivals of the most famous workers in marble and in 
 bronze, however large the dimensions of their works, or 
 perfect the finish of their workmanship. These wonderful 
 artists contrived to enclose witliin the narrowness of a little 
 agate-stone all the complicated details of an event in history, 
 or of a fable in mythology, and to make them stand forth in 
 beautiful relief as a Cameo, or to sink down as beautifully 
 into depth as an Intaglio, with all that truth of design and 
 power of expression which characterise the excellence of the 
 largest works of the most consummate masters. Great indeed 
 must have been his taste and talent, his power and patience,
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 who could make a small-sized Onyx or Carnelian bear on its 
 surface or within its substance all those realities of place, 
 person, or thing, which belong to historical events or fabulous 
 traditions. It is Seneca's observation (suggested probably by 
 the sight of some production of the gem-engraver's skill), that 
 to enclose a whole within a small space is the work of a great 
 artist. The remark of Sir Joshua .Reynolds may also be cited 
 on this point, as to the importance of making this whole con- 
 gruous and consistent. " Excellence," says he, " in every part 
 and in every province of our art, from the highest style of his- 
 tory down to the resemblances of still-life, will depend upon 
 this power of extending the attention at once to the whole, 
 without which the greatest diligence is vain." The gem-artists 
 of antiquity, besides their other claims to our admiration, had 
 regard to uniformity of design, to congruity and consistency 
 throughout the entire work ; they took care that all its parts 
 were well fitted, and compactly distributed and disposed, and 
 that also in all their fulness and effect. \ 
 
 To the archaeologist, or the inquirer into the usages of 
 domestic life amongst the ancients, engraved gems are in- 
 valuable authorities, supplying as they do the most authentic 
 details of the forms and construction of innumerable articles 
 connected with the uses of war, of navigation, of religious rites, 
 of the games of the circus and the arena, and of the festivals 
 and representations of the stage, with the costume, masks, and 
 all the other accessaries of the scenic performance. Let any 
 one, though totally unversed in this department of antique 
 knowledge, cast his eye over a good collection of impressions 
 from gems, and he will be both surprised and delighted, if a 
 classical scholar, to perceive how much light is thrown upon 
 ancient customs by the pictures which will there faithfully 
 offer themselves to his view. There he will see the various 
 pieces of the armour of the ancient Greek or Etruscan war-
 
 xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 rior, carefully made out in their minutest details ; the obscure 
 subiect of the construction of the ancient trireme has been 
 
 li 
 
 principally elucidated by the representations thus handed 
 down to our times, whilst the various exercises, scenes, and 
 games of the paleestra, the theatre, and the circus, will be 
 found abundantly illustrated by the most instructive examples. 
 To take but a single instance out of the innumerable list 
 that might be quoted, the hydraulis and the mode of per- 
 forming upon it, of which no accurate notion can be extracted 
 from the long and obscure description of its construction 
 given by Vitruvius, are both plainly shown upon a plasma of 
 Roman date, lately in the Herz Collection, but since fortu- 
 natelv secured for the British Museum. 
 
 &> 
 
 Vizored Helmet : Etruscan. Sard. Macedonian Helmet. Agate. 
 
 Again, if we consider these gem-pictures in their relation 
 to classic mythology and fable, we shall discover many ob- 
 scure accounts left us by ancient writers on these heads, to be 
 eked out and rendered intelligible by the means of these 
 authentic remains of the creeds and ideas to which they 
 refer ; instances of which will be met with plentifully diffused 
 throughout the course of these pages. Thus, the new re- 
 ligions of mixed origin that flourished under the Roman 
 Empire, the Mithraic, the later Egyptian, and the various 
 forms of Gnosticism, cannot be properly studied without a 
 constant reference to these genuine illustrations of their 
 doctrines ; since the only written- documents concerning them 
 have been transmitted to us by either ignorant or prejudiced
 
 INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 adversaries, whose sole object was, to heap as many foul 
 charges as they could collect or devise upon the members of 
 rival sects. This is sufficiently apparent if we compare the 
 strange discrepancy of the notices of the Gnostic belief gene- 
 rally, as given by the Catholic Fathers from whom I have 
 quoted in the section upon its monuments, and the illustration 
 of the actual doctrines so plainly set forth in the talismanic 
 intagli engraved at the time for the use of these religionists. 
 As for the mysterious Mithraic worship, scarcely any other 
 source exists from which trustworthy information as to its true 
 nature can be gathered, except from the gems, cylinders, and 
 bas-reliefs still existing in such abundance, in spite of the 
 careful destruction by its opponents of all the larger objects 
 of the adoration of its votaries. 
 
 The disputed chronology of the annals of Egyptian history has 
 been already to some extent, and will doubtless, at some future 
 period, be yet more fully elucidated by the aid of the numerous 
 scarabei and tablets bearing the names and titles of the kings, 
 whenever a more satisfactory mode of interpreting their hiero- 
 glyphical legends, than the present conjectural method, shall 
 have been discovered and applied to their investigation. 
 These memorials will then do for the dynasties of Egypt 
 that service already done by the light of their medals for the 
 histories of the Greek, Roman, and Sassanian monarchs. As 
 it is, the present almost universal mode of reading every 
 hieroglyphic legend as though relating to Thothmes III. re- 
 minds one of the common mistake of persons not conversant 
 with ancient coins, who attribute every Roman medal to 
 Augustus because they see the letters AVG impressed 
 upon it. 
 
 Again, when we arrive at the period of the full develop- 
 ment of the glyptic art, we find a series of the most interesting 
 representations opening upon us; and one which includes,
 
 xx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 besides gods, heroes, and emperors, other world-famed per 
 sonages, poets, philosophers, and warriors ; portraits of whom, 
 as not occurring necessarily upon medals, we should otherwise 
 be entirely deprived of, or else have the want but inade- 
 quately supplied by a defaced or dubious bust or statue. 
 And the intaglio possesses a most important advantage over 
 the medal in the perfect indestructibility of its impress, which 
 no time, no wear can efface, and nothing destroy, except the 
 utter comminution of the stone itself. Medals, on the contrary, 
 from the high relief of their surface, and the unavoidable 
 friction of commerce, as well as from the action of the earth 
 upon them, frequently disappoint our expectation as to the 
 effectiveness of the portrait they bear impressed ; and besides 
 this, they were seldom executed with the same degree of care 
 as the costly intaglio cut on the valuable gem for the signet of 
 the sovereign himself, or of that person of undying name whose 
 " counterfeit presentment " it has preserved to remotest ages. 
 
 But all the pleasures and advantages to be reaped from 
 this study have been admirably set forth by the "many-sided" 
 Goethe, in his observations on the collection of Hernsterhuis, 
 of which I subjoin a translation, as a most complete sum- 
 mary of all that can be said on the subject, and a most 
 suitable conclusion to these prefatory remarks. 
 
 Before this, however, a few words may be permitted upon 
 the causes of the decline of the taste for antique gems in our 
 own age ; for it is a singular fact, considering how completely 
 this taste had become extinct in England during the last forty 
 years, that at no previous period had it prevailed to such an 
 extent, both here and in the other parts of Europe, as during 
 the last half of the preceding century and the commence- 
 ment of the present. Never before had camei of impor- 
 tance fetched such extraordinary prices (witness the fragment 
 ascribed to Apollonides, and purchased by the Duke of
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 Marlborough from Stosch for 1000 guineas) ; and the principal 
 gems of the cabinets formed during the same years are known 
 to have been acquired at sums falling not far short of the 
 above in magnitude. I have lately seen a cameo of Roman, 
 work, and that by no means of the highest order, a Roma 
 crowned by Victory, for which the Empress Josephine, herself 
 a collector, paid 10,000 francs ; and at her command Denon, 
 then Director of the Musee Imperiale, selected from the gems 
 there preserved a sufficient number to form a complete parure 
 for the wear of this unfortunate lady, the very impersonation 
 of refined and elegant extravagance. These gems, although 
 mounted in a suite of ornaments intended, from their origin, 
 to form a part of the crown jewels of France, never reverted 
 to the Paris Cabinet of Antiques after the fall of the Empress, 
 but were subsequently to her decease dispersed amongst the 
 various collections of European amateurs. It is to be hoped 
 that Denon had reconciled his duty with his loyalty by 
 selecting those camei which were more recommendable by 
 the beauty of the material than by the perfection of the 
 work. At this same date also the art itself had reached the 
 highest point to which it has ever attained since its revival ; 
 for it is within this same space of some fifty years that we 
 meet with the names of Costanzi, Rega, Pikler, and Marchant ; 
 and never before was skill in this profession so profusely 
 rewarded, instances of which will be found adduced in the 
 notices hereafter given of these engravers. 
 
 Many causes, however, may be assigned for the sudden 
 decline of the passion for collecting gems among the wealthy 
 classes of this country : one of considerable influence was, 
 without dispute, the uncertainty introduced into the study by 
 the unlimited fabrication of professed antique works, and by 
 the forging of the artists' names, a species of fraud now first 
 introduced, or at least extensively practised, and of which the 
 
 c 2
 
 XXH INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Poniatowsky collection may be cited as the most glaring 
 example. And this was a deception extremely difficult of 
 detection ; and one by means of which amateurs of little 
 experience were frequently defrauded out of immense sums. 
 After Payne Knight, the acknowledged chief of English 
 archaeologists, had been so notoriously taken in by the famous 
 " Flora " of Pistrucci, all the others began to lose confidence 
 in their own judgment, and refused to expend thousands in 
 the purchase of " antique " works, the living authors of which 
 might possibly come forward, as Pistrucci did, to assert their 
 own claims to the honour of having produced them. And 
 no other branch of archaeology demands the union of so many 
 qualifications in the collector to enable him to advance on 
 tolerably safe ground in making his acquisitions, seeing that 
 a knowledge of mineralogy, of the mechanical processes of 
 engraving used at different periods, as well as an accurate 
 discrimination of the respective styles of art, and, above all, 
 the constant examination of large numbers of all descriptions 
 of engraved stones, are absolutely indispensable before pro- 
 ceeding to the commencement of a collection which is in- 
 tended to possess any real value. All these causes, together 
 with the other drawbacks to the pleasure of this pursuit, 
 enumerated in Duke Ernst's letter to Goethe, respecting the 
 proposed purchase of the cabinet of Hemsterhuis, powerfully 
 operated towards the discouragement of this study, both on 
 the Continent, and, more especially, in this country. 
 
 Last, but most powerful of all, came the revival of the 
 taste for mediaeval art ; beginning with the study of its archi- 
 tecture, and thence naturally diverging into an exclusive 
 admiration of the smaller productions of the same school in 
 metal-work, and wood and ivory carvings; objects of a 
 character so much more adapted by their quaint grotesque- 
 ness and barbarous vigour to captivate the unrefined taste of
 
 INTKODUCTION. 
 
 XXlll 
 
 the amateurs of northern climes; and where a sufficient 
 amount of knowledge to avoid any very damaging mistakes 
 may be obtained with but little trouble, or natural sagacity, 
 or acquired experience. It is satisfactory to observe how 
 much more at present the attention of collectors is again 
 being directed towards these little monuments of perfect 
 taste, treasures only to be truly appreciated by the educated 
 and practised eye ; and how rapidly the mania is ebbing for 
 the acquisition of the Gothic monstrosities so much sought 
 after a few years ago. Now, when collections are brought to 
 the hammer, the most ardent competition is displayed for the 
 possession of the elegant art of the Eenaissance as manifested 
 in its majolica and bronzes ; and thus the public taste is 
 insensibly led back to the fountain-head of that very school 
 the study of the actual productions of classic times. This 
 is shown by the great rise in the value of antique statuettes 
 whenever they are oifered for sale objects in which is often 
 displayed the utmost perfection of antique skill ; and from the 
 love of these a fresh appreciation of the importance of 
 antique gems is rapidly springing up, as the vigorous com- 
 petition amongst amateurs for the best gems of the cabinets 
 lately disposed of abundantly testifies. 
 
 Prometheus making Man : Cameo. Onyx.
 
 Amymone: Early Greek. Sard 
 
 "This estimable man (Hemsterhuis) had been led to 
 strive indefatigably after both the Moral as regards the soul, 
 and the Tasteful as regards the senses ; and tin's with a 
 sagacious acuteness peculiar to liimself. If a person is to be 
 thoroughly imbued with the former, then ought lie always to 
 be surrounded by the latter ; hence for a private person who 
 cannot go to the expense of large collections, but who yet is 
 unable to dispense with his accustomed enjoyment of art, even 
 when on a journey, for such a person a cabinet of engraved 
 gems is in the highest degree desirable; he is everywhere 
 accompanied by the most delightful of all things, one that 
 is precious and instructive without being burdensome, whilst 
 he enjoys without interruption the most noble of all his pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 " But to attain this end it is not enough merely to will it ; 
 for the carrying it out, besides the money, opportunity above 
 all things is required. This last was not wanting to our 
 friend : living as he did upon the passage between England 
 and Holland, by keeping watch upon the perpetual coin-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxv 
 
 mercial intercourse between the two countries, and upon the 
 treasures of art constantly passing to and fro in that com- 
 merce, he gradually, by means of purchase and of exchange, 
 had succeeded in forming a fine collection of about seventy 
 gems, in doing which he had derived the most trustworthy 
 assistance from the advice and interposition of that excellent 
 gem-engraver Natter. 
 
 "Of this collection the Princess Galitzin had in great 
 measure watched the formation, and thus gained knowledge, 
 taste, and a liking for the pursuit ; and at that time she was 
 its possessor, as the bequest of a departed friend, who always 
 appeared to her as present in these treasures. 
 
 " The philosophy of Hemsterhuis I could only make my 
 own, together with its grounds and its ideas, by translating 
 them into my own language. The Beautiful and the pleasure 
 derived from it consists, as he expresses himself, when we 
 behold and conceive comfortably the greatest possible number 
 of images in one and the same moment. I, on the contrary, 
 must assert that the Beautiful consists when we contemplate 
 the normally Living in its greatest activity and perfection, by 
 which we feel ourselves excited in a lively manner to the 
 reproduction of the same, and also placed simultaneously in a 
 state of the highest activity. 
 
 " Accurately considered, all that has been said is one and 
 the same thing, only expressed by different persons; and I 
 refrain from saying more, for the Beautiful is not so much a 
 giver as a promiser. On the other hand, Ugliness, which has 
 its origin in the stopping short of its end, of itself causes 
 us to stop still, and to hope for, aim at, and expect nothing 
 at all. 
 
 " Accordingly, I fancied that I could interpret his ' Letter 
 on Sculpture ' according to the above rule, consistently with 
 my own sentiments ; and further, his little work < On Desire'
 
 xxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 appeared to me in this way intelligible ; for when the eagerly- 
 longed-for Beautiful comes into our possession, it does not 
 always make good in particulars what it promised in the 
 whole; and thus is it plain that the same thing which 
 excited our desire as a whole will sometimes not thoroughly 
 satisfy us in particulars. 
 
 " These considerations were so much the more important 
 as the Princess had observed her friend to long eagerly for 
 works of art, but to grow cold and weary in their possession ; 
 a fact which he has himself expressed so charmingly and so 
 cleverly in the above-mentioned little treatise. In such cases 
 a person has really to consider the difference as to whether 
 the subject is worthy of the enthusiasm felt for it ; if it be, 
 then must pleasure and admiration always grow upon it, and 
 perpetually renew themselves ; if it be not entirely so, then 
 the thermometer sinks some degrees, and one gains in know- 
 ledge what one loses in prejudice. Hence is it certainly 
 quite true that a person must buy works of art in order to 
 understand them, so that the desire may be removed and the 
 true value of the object established. Meanwhile, desire and 
 its satisfaction must here also alternate with one another in a 
 thrilling life ; they must mutually attack and release each 
 other, in order that the man once deceived may not cease to 
 pursue. 
 
 " However, it was often extremely agreeable to our party 
 to return again after these esthetic disquisitions to the con- 
 sideration of the gems, and we were in truth forced to re- 
 gard this as a most singular incident that precisely the very 
 flowers of Heathenism should thus be treasured up and so 
 highly valued in a Christian family. 1 I lost no time in 
 
 1 The Princess is depicted by Goethe as the very pattern of the perfect 
 Christian lady.
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxvii 
 
 discovering the most charming subjects of the compositions 
 which sprung to meet the eye from out of these precious 
 miniature representations. Here also no one could deny that 
 copies of great, important, antique works, for ever lost to 
 us, have been preserved like jewels in these narrow limits. 
 Hardly any branch of art wanted a representative among 
 them ; in scarcely any class of subjects was a deficiency to 
 be observed. The vigorous, ivy-crowned Hercules could not 
 belie his colossal origin ; the stern Medusa's head, the Bacchus 
 formerly preserved in the Medicean cabinet, the graceful 
 sacrifices, the Bacchic festivals, and besides all these the most 
 valuable portraits of known and unknown persons, all ob- 
 tained our admiration during oft-repeated examinations. 
 
 " From out of such conversations, which, in spite of their 
 height and depth, ran no danger of losing themselves in the 
 abstruse, a point of connection appeared to manifest itself 
 between art and religion, inasmuch as all veneration for a 
 worthy object is always attended by a devotional feeling. 
 No one however could conceal from himself that the purest 
 Ghristian religion must ever find itself at variance with the 
 true creative art, inasmuch as the former ever strives to 
 extricate itself from the objects of sense, whilst the latter 
 recognises the sensuous element as its proper sphere of 
 action, and is obliged to abide within its limits. 
 
 " Notwithstanding this, the subject of engraved gems could 
 always be introduced as an excellent intermediary whenever 
 the conversation threatened to flag. I for my part could 
 indeed only appreciate the poetical part of the engraving, 
 the subject itself, the composition, the execution, and pass 
 judgment upon and praise these points alone ; my friends, 
 on the other hand, were accustomed to bring forward quite 
 different considerations upon the same topic. For, in fact, 
 the amateur who, having procured such treasures, shall
 
 xxvm INTRODUCTION. 
 
 desire to raise his acquisitions to the rank of a respectable 
 cabinet, must for his own security in his enterprise, not re- 
 main satisfied with the mere ability to understand the spirit 
 and the sense of these precious works of art, and to delight 
 himself therewith, but he must also call external proofs to 
 his assistance ; a thing which must be excessively difficult for 
 one who is not himself a practical artist in the same depart- 
 ment. Hemsterhuis had corresponded for several years with 
 his friend Natter on this point, letters about which of great 
 value were still preserved. In these, the first thing that 
 came under consideration was the species of gem on which 
 the work was executed, inasmuch as some stones were 
 employed only in ancient, others again only in modern 
 times; thus, too, a superior degree of finish was above all 
 things to be kept in view, as a reason whence one might refer 
 the work to a good period of art ; whilst, on the other hand, 
 carelessness of execution being sometimes ascribed to the 
 taste of the period, as arising partly from incapacity, partly 
 from negligence, furnished the means of ascertaining the 
 earlier or later date of the work. Especial stress was laid 
 upon the polish of the sunken parts, and the connoisseurs 
 believed that they saw in this an irrefragable proof of work 
 of the best period. But as to whether an engraved gem was 
 decidedly antique or not, on this point no one ventured to 
 lay down any fixed rules of judgment; even our friend 
 Hemsterhuis having only been able to satisfy himself on 
 this particular difficulty by the decision of that unrivalled 
 artist Natter. 
 
 " I could not conceal from myself that I was here entering 
 upon quite a new field of observation, to which I felt myself 
 very strongly attracted, and could but lament the shortness 
 of the time of my stay, by which I saw myself cut off from 
 the opportunity of directing my eyes as well as mind more
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxix 
 
 steadily upon the above-mentioned particulars. On one such 
 occasion the Princess expressed herself with the utmost 
 amiability and frankness, that she felt disposed to intrust 
 me with the collection in order that I might study it at 
 home in the company of my friends and of connoisseurs, and 
 so be able to educate and ground myself in this important 
 branch of art, by taking sulphur casts and glass pastes from 
 the intagli." 
 
 This liberal offer Goethe at first declined, not wishing to 
 take upon himself the responsibility of the charge in those 
 times of trouble ; however, at last the Princess obliges him to 
 accept her proposal, and he carries the collection home with 
 him to Weimar, where he re-arranges the gems in two cases 
 in regular order, accompanied with casts taken from them to 
 assist in their examination. 
 
 The following is the result of his long and careful study of 
 this invaluable collection, which I give at length, without any 
 fear of its being considered tedious, as it points out in a most 
 clear and forcible manner the great artistic merit displayed 
 in choice works of this description : 
 
 " We found ourselves justified on internal grounds of art 
 in pronouncing, if not all, yet by far the largest number of 
 these intagli, to be genuine antique monuments of art, and 
 indeed several were found among them which might be 
 reckoned in the number of the most distinguished works of 
 this kind. Some were conspicuous from the circumstance of 
 their being absolutely identical with older casts of celebrated 
 gems. Several others we remarked whose design corre- 
 sponded with that of other antique intagli, but which for this 
 very reason might still be accounted genuine. In very 
 extensive collections repetitions of the same subject often 
 occur, and we should be very much mistaken in pronouncing 
 one of them to be the original, the others but modern copies.
 
 xxx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In such a case we ought always to keep in mind the noble 
 artistic honesty of the ancients, which thought that it could 
 never repeat too often the treatment of a subject once suc- 
 cessfully carried out. The artists of those times considered 
 themselves as original enough when they felt sufficient 
 capability and dexterity to grasp an original thought, and to 
 reproduce it again after their own fashion. 
 
 "Several of these gems presented themselves with the 
 artist's name engraved upon them ; a circumstance upon 
 which great value has been set for many years past. Such 
 an addition is in truth remarkable enough, nevertheless the 
 inscription generally remains a subject of dispute, for it is 
 very possible that the stone may be antique, and the name 
 engraved in modern times, in order to add new value even to 
 the perfect." 
 
 This collection was afterwards purchased by the King of 
 Holland. Duke Ernst of Gotha had been strongly tempted to 
 make the acquisition, but had been deterred by the following 
 reasons, which are well worth transcribing, as vividly pointing 
 out all the drawbacks to the pleasure of this pursuit. 
 
 Triton: Komac. Bed Jasper 
 
 Duke Ernst writes thus to Goethe : " Much as he desired 
 the possession of the collection now before him, and well 
 aware as he was of its great value, yet was he held back not 
 so much by inward doubts as (and in a much greater degree) 
 by an external circumstance. He had no pleasure in pos- 
 sessing anything for himself alone, but gladly shared the
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxxi 
 
 possession of it with others ; a pleasure too which was often 
 greatly embittered. There are. people who endeavour to 
 display their penetrating sagacity by appearing to doubt the 
 genuineness of every work of art laid before them, and by 
 casting suspicion upon the same. In order not to expose 
 himself repeatedly to such mortifications, he preferred fore- 
 going the eagerly-desired acquisition of the cabinet." 
 
 On this letter Goethe makes the following truly appro- 
 priate observations : 
 
 "It is highly vexatious to see a thing, though the most 
 perfect, received with doubt ; for the doubter sets himself up 
 above the trouble of proof, although he demands it from the 
 assertor of the authenticity of the work. But in such cases 
 on what does the proof rest, except upon a certain inward 
 feeling, supported by a practised eye, which may be able to 
 detect particular signs, as well as upon the proved probability 
 of certain historical requisitions, and in fact upon many other 
 circumstances which we, taking collectively, by their means 
 convince only ourselves at the last, but do not bring con- 
 viction into the mind of another ? But as things are, the love 
 of doubting finds nowhere a more ample field to display 
 itself in than precisely in the case of engraved gems ; now, 
 one is termed an ancient, now a modern copy, a repetition, an 
 imitation ; sometimes the stone itself excites suspicion, some- 
 times the inscription, which ought to have been of especial 
 value ; and hence it is more dangerous to indulge in collect- 
 ing gems than ancient coins, though even in the latter great 
 circumspection will be required, when, for instance, the point 
 is to distinguish certain Paduan imitations from the genuine 
 originals. The keepers of the French Cabinet of Medals 
 have long ago observed that private collections brought up 
 to Paris from the provinces contain a large proportion of 
 forgeries, because the owner, in his confined sphere of
 
 XXX11 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 observation, has not been enabled to practise his eye suffi- 
 ciently, and has proceeded in his operations chiefly according 
 to his inclinations and his prejudices. In fine, on considering 
 the matter with exactness, this holds good of all kinds of 
 collections, and every possessor of one will be ready to own 
 that he has paid many a heavy apprentice fee for experience 
 before his eyes have been opened." 
 
 Alexander. Reverse. Venus and Apollo. .Lapis-lazuli.
 
 Priest adoring the Winged Bull: Early Assyrian. Limestoue, 
 
 A SKETCH 
 
 THE HISTORY OF GEM - ENGRAVING. 
 
 IT is a curious fact that whilst the ancient mythologists have 
 ascribed to some particular divinity or hero the invention 
 of every useful or ornamental art, and of the instruments em- 
 ployed therein (as the loom to Minerva, the saw and auger to 
 Daedalus, the working in metal with the hammer and the anvil 
 to Cinyras the Cyprian, the lathe to Theodoras of Samos), 
 they should have left unrecorded the inventor of the various 
 processes of gem-engraving, a thing too so supremely im- 
 portant in their estimation, from its subservience to the uses 
 of public and private life, as much as to those of taste and 
 ornament. This silence on the part of the Greek mytho- 
 graphers, always ready as they were to claim for their own 
 countrymen the credit of every discovery or invention in 
 science or manufactures, even when evidently due to foreigners
 
 xxxiv A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 and merely naturalized and perfected on the Hellenic soil, 
 sufficiently proves both the Oriental origin of this art and its 
 comparatively recent introduction into Greece and Italy. 
 The negative testimony also of Homer upon this point is 
 justly adduced by Pliny (xxxiii. 4), who observes that no 
 mention whatever of signet-rings occurs in his minute de- 
 scriptions of works in the precious metals and of jewellery, 
 though he particularly specifies necklaces, earrings, and head- 
 ornaments ; and as a still more convincing proof that they 
 were not known in his age, whenever he speaks of the securing 
 of treasures it is always as being effected by means of an 
 artfully tied knot only understood by the fastener, not by the 
 impression of a seal, the usual Greek and Eoman substitute for 
 a lock. Again, when he speaks of the letter carried by Belle- 
 rophon he makes no mention of a seal upon it, simply calling 
 it a "folded tablet ;" and when the warriors cast lots, it is done 
 with marked sticks and not with their signet-rings, the univer- 
 sal method after the latter had come into general use. But 
 on the other side, as far back as historical records go, signets 
 appear as holding a most important place among the Egyp- 
 tians and Assyrians : the signet of Pharaoh, given to Joseph 
 as the mark of investiture with ministerial office ; the trea- 
 sure-cell of Ehampsinitus secured by his seal (Herod, ii. 121) ; 
 the signet of Judah given as a pledge ; the temple of Belus 
 sealed with the royal signet, &c. &c. circumstances all 
 showing that the use of these means of security had been 
 known in the East from time immemorial, and to have been 
 almost coeval with the institution of the rights of property. 
 For in both these centres of primeval civilization it must be 
 remembered that the soft clay of the two parent rivers, the 
 Nile and the Tigris, supplied the first inhabitants with a 
 material for almost every requirement, their houses, store 
 vessels, coffins, &c. ; and it must have suggested itself to the
 
 GEM-ENGRAVING. xxxv 
 
 first individual who deposited his property in a closed vessel 
 that it might be secured against pilferers by a plaster of clay 
 laid on the junction of the lid and rolled flat by a joint of a 
 cane, and hence the first origin of the perforated cylinder. 
 Something analogous meets us even so late as the days of 
 Aristophanes, when we find similar nature-seals (wormeaten 
 bits of wood) recommended as signets proof against all forgery, 
 to which the more elaborate productions of the engraver were 
 then so liable. From the natural impressions on the cane- 
 joint, or wood employed to stamp the clay, the transition was 
 easy, to some definite design scratched around its circumfe- 
 rence by the owner, and appropriated by himself as his pecu- 
 liar device. This instinct of possession, extending itself to 
 the assertion of exclusive property in certain figures or com- 
 binations of lines, is a natural impulse, and found to exist 
 amongst all tribes, when first discovered, wherever the first 
 traces of social life have begun to develop themselves. Thus 
 the Ked Indian has the mark of his nation, and that of the 
 individual (his totem}, to identify his property or his game; 
 the South Sea islander the tattooed pattern (amoco) that 
 distinguishes his family impressed upon his skin. These 
 simple signets preceded by a long space the invention of 
 hieroglyphics or any arbitrary signs for denoting ideas, for 
 the earliest Assyrian cylinders have nothing but rude figures 
 cut upon them, and bear none of those cuneiform inscriptions 
 so frequently added to the design upon those of later date. 
 And this later date is yet prior by some centuries to the first 
 appearance of anything like an engraved stone amongst the 
 first-civilized nations of Europe. Again, if we look to Egypt, 
 the incredible numbers of scarabs in clay and soft stone (of 
 the same date as these cylinders) still remaining, manifest 
 sufficiently the long-established use and the great importance 
 of the purposes for which they were employed amongst all
 
 XXXVI 
 
 A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 classes of the inhabitants of that land, the fountain-head of 
 European civilization. 
 
 Egyptian Scarab* in Steafcbist. 
 
 2 Prenomenof 3. " Truth, the i>ood 4. Title of Thothmos 1 1 1 " Tin 
 
 Thotlimes III. goddess." Sun-plnier of Creation, the 
 
 type of Amon." 
 
 Hitherto, however, we have come upon no traces, in 
 these earliest signets, of the true process of gem-engraving, 
 for all the designs they bear have been carved by means 
 of some cutting instrument upon a comparatively soft 
 material the earliest Assyrian cylinders being of Serpentine, 
 the Egyptian scarabs of clay or Steaschist. The invention 
 of this most beautiful art is undoubtedly due to the seal- 
 engravers of Nineveh, shortly before the reign of Sargon, 
 the date at which cylinders first appear made out of 
 the "Hard Stones" Crystal, Onyx, Agate, charged with 
 engravings executed precisely in the style of the archaic 
 Greek intagli, and marked by the same minuteness of detail 
 and elaborateness of finish. Amongst these, the signet of 
 Sennacherib may be quoted as an example most fully illus- 
 trative of this assertion ; for it is made of one of the hardest 
 substances known to the lapidary, the Amazon-stone, and 
 bears an intaglio which by its extreme minuteness and the 
 precision of the drawing displays the excellence to which the 
 art had already attained, indicative of the long practice of 
 the artist capable of such a work. Cylinders of nearly equal 
 merit to this, and a large number of fair execution, done in 
 the same style and by the same perfected process, continued
 
 GEM-ENGRAVING. xxxvii 
 
 to be produced during the whole succeeding period, down to 
 the very close of the Persian empire. The Egyptians, how- 
 ever, did not generally adopt this new but more laborious 
 process, but continued to carve or chisel their rude hiero- 
 glyphics on soft materials until the age of the Ptolemies, the 
 signets of the kings and nobles being engraved on gold, those 
 of the lower classes on the softer substances, and by the 
 means already mentioned. The circumstance that even in 
 the age of Theophrastus the best stone for engraving gems 
 with was still imported from Armenia, points of itself to that 
 locality as the place where its use was first discovered and 
 generally adopted by the workers in this line. Although 
 neglected by the Egyptians, the new mode of engraving upon 
 Hard Stones was speedily taken up by the Phenicians, the 
 allies or tributaries of the Assyrian and Persian kings ; for 
 many seals of a purely Phenician character, yet of the earliest 
 date, are found, bearing also legends in Semitic letters (of 
 which they were the first inventors), and even some cylinders 
 are preserved clearly attributable to the same people. They 
 diffused the knowledge of this, together with the other arts, 
 among the Asiatic and Insular Greeks. Homer frequently men- 
 tions the Tyrian merchant-ships voyaging amongst the islands 
 of the Egean, and trafficking in ornaments and jewellery with 
 the inhabitants (Odys. xv. 460) ; and the first intagli produced 
 amongst the cities of the sea-board still bear the impress of 
 an Assyrian origin in the stiff drawing yet careful execution 
 of the animals (bulls or lions for the most part), the favourite 
 devices upon the signets of the newly-planted Ionian or 
 .ZEolian colonist. And this was to be expected, for it will be 
 observed that the designs upon the scarabs of the Phenicians 
 themselves deviate but little from the strict rules of the 
 Assyrian code of art for instance, in the numerous gems 
 
 from their cemeteries at Tharros. Thence to Greece Proper 
 
 d2
 
 xxxvill A SKETCH OF THE HISTOKY OF 
 
 the transition was rapid, and the signet, now for the first time 
 universally worn in a finger-ring, came into general favour 
 throughout all the population ; a new manner this of securing 
 the seal, for its oriental inventors had invariably worn their 
 cylinder or stamp as the ornament of a bracelet or necklace. 
 That the invention of the finger-ring is ascribed to Pro- 
 metheus, a Greek hero, and its name, Sax-rt/Xiov (a word of 
 native origin unlike those of other personal ornaments evi- 
 dently of foreign root, as /xavjaxou and \I/XXiov), prove this 
 to have been a purely Grecian fashion. In addition to this 
 is the express statement of Pliny that the use of finger-rings 
 was introduced among the Romans from Greece, and though 
 gems of the most archaic style come to light on the mainland, 
 yet scarabs are only disinterred in the cemeteries of the 
 islands, and thus may have belonged to Phenician or 
 Etruscan visitors. Be this as it may, signet-rings must have 
 attained universal popularity in Greece before 600 B.C., soon 
 after which date Solon, amongst his other laws, passed one 
 prohibiting the gem-engravers (already constituting a distinct 
 trade) from keeping by them the impression of any signet 
 once sold, in order to prevent the forgery of a counterpart or 
 replica of the first for fraudulent purposes. And about this 
 time also Herodotus mentions the famous emerald of Poly- 
 crates and the reputation of its engraver, the jeweller and 
 metal-worker Theodoras of Samos. 
 
 Proceeding now to consider the contemporary class of 
 Etruscan scarabs, we discover in them also the most evident 
 traces of an Asiatic origin. Like the Phenician, they retain 
 to the last the form of the beetle. The subjects cut upon the 
 earliest sort are exclusively animals, domestic and wild ; it 
 was only after their intercourse with the Greeks had been 
 long established that they represent the figures and scenes 
 derived from the mythology of that people. This may be
 
 GEM-ENGRAVING. xxxix 
 
 explained on the ancient theory, that the ruling Etruscan 
 caste were a civilizing band of colonists from Asia, who intro- 
 duced among the Celtic (Pelasgian) aborigines of Central 
 Italy an art already flourishing in their native country. At 
 a later period the Hellenic settlers in Magna Graecia seem, 
 from their constant intercourse with the Etruscans, to have 
 borrowed from them the form of the scarab (doubtless still 
 venerated as a religious symbol), 1 but to have imparted to the 
 intagli engraved upon its base that elegance and finish due to 
 their own natural taste and advancement in modelling, paint- 
 ing, and statuary. Hence arises the circumstance, at first sight 
 so difficult of explanation, of the co-existence of two contem- 
 porary classes of scarabs, one extremely rude, the other highly 
 finished as regards the intagli. 
 
 In Sicily and Magna Grsecia gem-engraving, like the 
 cognate art of die-sinking, attained to its highest perfection 
 first. Greece itself was ever a poor country, and distracted 
 by perpetual wars, whilst the colonies sent out from it were 
 advancing, through commerce and agriculture, to an incre- 
 dible degree of prosperity. In one Dorian colony, Cyrene, 
 .ZElian expressly notices the wonderful skill (or numbers) of 
 the gem-engravers; and Ismenias is reported to have sent 
 from Athens to Cyprus to purchase an emerald engraved 
 with Amymone, the description of which had taken his fancy. 
 Most of the finest gems in our collections show, by the identity 
 of their style, that they proceed from the same hands that 
 cut the coin- dies for the mintage of these same cities. After 
 this, the establishment of the Macedonian dynasty in Asia, 
 and the command of unbounded wealth, conduced greatly to 
 the encouragement of this art, pre-eminently the handmaid 
 
 1 Worshipped by the Egyptians eggs, typifying the creation of the 
 as the symbol of the Sun, by its globe. (Plin. xxx. 30.) 
 forming the balls, depositories of its
 
 xl A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 to elegant luxury. This age gives us for the first time the 
 portraits of princes, whose likenesses now occupy the gem in 
 the place of that of the national deity; and from many 
 allusions of ancient authors (hereafter to be not-iced), it would 
 appear that the usual signet of any personage of importance 
 was the likeness of himself. The example of this substitution 
 was probably set by Alexander, and connected with his own 
 assumption of divinity, which will also explain his restriction of 
 the privilege of engraving his sacred portrait to Pyrgoteles, the 
 first artist of the day in that branch ; for the numerous heads 
 of this hero now extant are almost invariably of much later 
 date, and belonging to the times of the Eoman empire, when 
 they used to be worn as amulets. With his age also begins 
 the series of camei, the earliest known being the grand 
 Odescalchi Sardonyx of Ptolemy and Berenice, evidently a 
 contemporary work. Before this time, to judge from the 
 confused expressions of Theophrastus, the Sardonyx had been 
 almost unknown to the Greeks, and apparently supposed to 
 be an artificial composition of the Indian jeweller. 
 
 Demetrius Soter. Sard. 
 
 Thus the art went on in its rapid progress to its culminat- 
 ing point, its professors ranking high amongst the artists of 
 the day, and their works deemed worthy of commemoration by 
 the court-poets, as the Galene of Tryphon sung by Addaeus. 
 They were patronised by the greatest princes ; Mithridates
 
 GEM-ENGRAVING. xli 
 
 is recorded as the founder of the first royal cabinet of gems ; 
 we find also a ^ work upon this study dedicated to him by 
 the Babylonian Zachalias. Unfortunately, the engravers 
 never ventured to place their names upon their works much 
 before the times of Augustus, so that Cronius and Apollonides, 
 mentioned by Pliny as (after Pyrgoteles) eminent in this 
 branch, are the only artists of this age of perfection of whom 
 there exists any historical record. 
 
 The Komans, following their original teachers the Etruscans, 
 adopted from them at first the scarab-signet, and retained 
 this form until late in the republican period, as the modern- 
 ized treatment of many of the intagli upon such gems plainly 
 shows. It is impossible to fix the date when they began to 
 substitute signet-rings for this primitive ornament. Pliny 
 mentions that amongst the statues of the kings only two, 
 Numa and Servius Tullius, were represented as wearing rings. 
 These early signets, also, according to Ateius Capito, were 
 not set with engraved stones, but had the seal cut upon the 
 metal of the ring itself. When the use of gold rings was 
 introduced amongst them by the Greeks (those of Sicily, no 
 doubt), then engraved gems also began to be admired and 
 employed for signets. This change of fashion, which took 
 place in the later days of the republic, produced the nume- 
 rous intagli that are turned up in the vicinity of Koine, dis- 
 tinguished from those of Greek and of Imperial workmanship 
 by the deeply-cut intagli upon them, retaining much of the 
 Etruscan style, and giving nearly the same subjects as the 
 original scarabs, but with a better defined outline and more 
 correct drawing. Many of these bear traces of having been 
 originally set in iron rings, and thus indicate the period of 
 the first introduction of engraved stones into that city. 
 
 But under Augustus gem-engraving in all its branches 
 reached its very highest point, and more especially in the
 
 xlii A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 department of portraits. Under the patronage of Maecenas 
 flourished Dioscorides, Solon, Aulus, Gnaeus- all the talent 
 of Greece ; either attracted to the metropolis of the world as 
 offering the most promising field for their genius, or else 
 originally brought there as the freedmen of those nobles whose 
 family names they assumed on manumission. Now became 
 universal the practice of the engraver placing his signature upon 
 his best works, a convincing testimony to the high estimation 
 in which that class was held, in this permission to commemo- 
 rate themselves upon the ornaments of the highest personages. 
 
 Nereid and Hippocampi. Cameo. 
 
 This also is the age, par-eminence, of camei, whether portraits 
 or groups, or single figures ; for those that can with certainty 
 be assigned to the pure Grecian period are of extreme rarity. 
 The regular intercourse now established with the interior of 
 Asia supplied the Sardonyx, and that in pieces of a size and 
 beauty not attainable in modern times. To Severus inclusive 
 it may be said that the best works of the Roman school are 
 cameo portraits of the emperors and their relations. 
 
 During these two centuries the trade of making Pastes was 
 also carried on to an enormous extent to meet the require- 
 ments of the poorer classes, who could neither dispense with 
 so necessary an ornament, nor yet afford the cost of an 
 engraved gem of any merit, and thus were enabled to gratify 
 taste or vanity at a very trifling outlay. This business throve 
 amazingly, and has left us innumerable relics of the extra-
 
 GEM-ENGRAVING. xliii 
 
 ordinary skill of the workmen in glass until it ceases quite 
 suddenly in the third century, together with the productions 
 of the gem-engraver himself. Camei were often reproduced 
 in Pastes with wonderful fidelity and an admirable imitation 
 of the material, especially where the cast has been re-worked 
 and polished after the fashion of a gem. But Camei in Sar- 
 donyx were also produced in large quantities, many of them 
 extraordinaiy for art and material, some bearing the engra- 
 ver's name, but the greater portion unsigned, until the reign 
 of Severus. In fact, some of the finest extant belong to 
 the times of Hadrian, the most flourishing period of Roman 
 art in all its extent ; but from the date just mentioned gem- 
 engraving declined and became extinct with extraordinary and 
 unaccountable rapidity. Gold medallions and coins had super- 
 seded the intaglio and cameo imperial portrait as personal 
 ornaments ; the spread of Christianity acted more and more 
 as a check upon the reproduction of other representations of 
 the elegant Western mythology ; and those v permitted by the 
 change in religious sentiments were only the tasteless and 
 barbarous symbolical figures of the new Egyptian and Oriental 
 creeds. At length, in the 5th century, Roman gem-engrav- 
 ing entirely vanishes, its last traces fading away in the 
 swarms of ill-cut and worse drawn Abraxas Jaspers and Ma- 
 nichean amulets. Of the Byzantine nobles the signets were 
 of metal, charged with the letters of the cognomen quaintly 
 arranged in the form of a cross ; and the few men of taste yet 
 surviving treasured up the gems, the works of previous cen- 
 turies, as precious articles of vertu, not to be profaned by 
 common use. 
 
 In the mean time the art had taken refuge under the pro- 
 tection of the young and vigorous monarchy of Persia, 
 when, together with the resurrection of the Achemenian 
 dynasty and religion in the 3rd century, its productions had
 
 xliv A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 come again into as general request as during the ages pre- 
 ceding the Macedonian Conquest, which have left us such 
 stores of cylinders and Assyrian seals. During the long rule 
 of the Parthians (a truly Turkish race), that region had 
 indeed been singularly barren in engraved stones ; it may be 
 said entirely so ; so dubious are any intagli that can be re- 
 ferred to the Arsacidae. But on the contrary, the four cen- 
 turies of the revived Persian empire have left to us abundant 
 memorials of their sovereigns and their religion, in works 
 somewhat rude it must be confessed, but still far less so than 
 the contemporary monuments of effete Western civilization, 
 and extremely valuable historically from the legends that 
 surround the regal portrait, expressing his name and high- 
 sounding titles. Barbarous as the style of most of these 
 intagli is, and coarsely as the lines are sunk into the 
 stone, there is a force and individuality of expression about 
 many of them which display the engraver's appreciation of 
 the true principles of his art. This class is continued down 
 quite to the Mohammedan Conquest in the 7th century, and 
 then suddenly comes to an end simultaneously with the 
 dynasty whose features it had so long perpetuated. 
 
 Late Sassanian Portrait: peihaps Ctosroes II. Calcedony. 
 
 Their place is taken by the only forms permitted by the 
 religion of the conquerors, elegant Cuphic inscriptions ar- 
 ranged in cyphers wrought in a neat and precise manner 
 upon the choicest stones. The demand for these signets
 
 GEM-ENGRAVING. xlv 
 
 throughout the East, and the taste required for the graceful 
 combination of the flowing curves distinguishing Arabic 
 calligraphy, kept alive all the mechanical processes of the 
 art until the time of its revival in Italy. 
 
 The Byzantine school of the same interval merely deserves 
 a passing notice, the sole evidence of its existence remaining 
 to us being a few camei of religious subjects, in which the 
 miserable execution is on a par with the tastelessness of the 
 design. Throughout the West for the same ten centuries 
 (from the fall of Home to the Italian Kenaissance) gem- 
 engraving was, with a few doubtful exceptions, entirely un- 
 known. The signets (still as much required, and for purposes 
 of the same importance as in the times of antiquity) were 
 seals of metal, or else antique intagli set in rings, having 
 their subjects interpreted in a scriptural s^ense, and legends 
 added around the bizzel to set forth this novel interpretation. 
 Official seals in the Middle Ages were large and elaborate 
 designs cut upon a metal matrix ; but the demand for antique 
 intagli to be set in personal signets was enormous ; not re- 
 gulated however in any degree by their beauty, but solely by 
 the nature of the subjects upon them, according to the pre- 
 vailing belief in the talismanic virtue of certain sigils, deter- 
 mined by the rules of the various Lapidaria then so much 
 studied. 
 
 Thus the art slumbered on, seemingly destined never to be 
 revived ; totally extinct in the West, confined in the East to 
 the production of the intricate convolutions of cyphers and 
 monograms, when with the first dawn of the Kevival in Italy 
 it not only woke up, but within the space of a single lifetime 
 attained to its second maturity, rivalling its ancient parent in 
 beauty and skill, and in one class, the camei, far surpassing 
 her in numbers, and perhaps in excellence. Towards the 
 middle of the 15th century Italian taste had grown rapidly
 
 xlvi A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 more classical, and had gradually freed itself from the infec- 
 tion of Gothicism (la maniera Tedesca) as the several re- 
 publics shook off their German tyrants a transition that 
 manifested itself in all the works of the Quattro- Cento, in 
 monuments, furniture, pottery, and jewels. The new passion 
 for antique works was necessarily compelled from the first to 
 look for its gratification to the gems so long treasured up by 
 their mediaaval predecessors on account of either their intrinsic 
 value or mystic virtues, but at length admired by the newly- 
 opened eyes of a more cultivated generation for their true 
 merits. To imitate them was the next step, and that not a 
 difficult one; the mechanical methods, themselves of the 
 simplest nature, were already known to the Florentines 
 through their constant intercourse with the Levant ; and the 
 goldsmith who had worked from his youth on the Nielli of 
 the same century was, as far as drawing went, quite on a 
 level with the ancient Dioscorides or Aulus. This is the 
 reason why the art reached its second full development in so 
 short a time, and almost without passing through any stage 
 of infancy, for the few gems that betray any influence of 
 mediaeval taste are extremely rare. By the end of the same 
 century we find Camillo Leonardo praising Anichini, Gio. 
 Maria da Mantova, and Tagliacarne, as equal to any of the 
 ancients, and stating that their works were diffused over all 
 Italy, which implies that their labours had already extended 
 over several previous years. 
 
 The next century, the Cinque-Cento, furnishes the celebrated 
 names of II Vicentino, Alessandro Cesati, Maria da Pescia, 
 and a hundred others of nearly equal merit, whose works, 
 especially in cameo, constitute at present (passing for an- 
 tiques) the choicest portion of many a celebrated collection. 
 The wheel and the magnifying-glass had now enabled the 
 artist to pour forth a swarm of camei with a facility unknown
 
 GEM-ENGRAVING. xlvii 
 
 to the ancient engraver ; whilst the demand for them as 
 ornaments (quite the converse of that prevailing in classic 
 times) had far exceeded that for intagli, and thus stimulated 
 the production of the former to an incredible degree. Large 
 intagli, however, in Eock Crystal, were especial favourites in 
 this century, and constitute the most noted works of II Vi- 
 centino ; these, together with the contemporary camei, adorned 
 both the ecclesiastical and domestic plate, the dresses and the 
 arms of the nobles and the wealthy merchants. 
 
 The next century, an age of civil wars throughout Europe, 
 which arrested and even threw back the civilization hitherto 
 advancing with such rapid steps, witnessed also a great decline 
 in this art, both in the quantity and still more in the excellence 
 of its productions, which are usually intagli of large dimen- 
 sions, coarsely and deeply cut, for the most part heads of 
 Roman deities and repetitions of the works of a better period. 
 
 The 18th century, however, brought with it a great and 
 unexpected improvement in both the branches of gem- 
 engraving, and more particularly in the works in intaglio. 
 The great point of difference to be remarked between the 
 style of the artists of this time and that of the best works of 
 the Cinque- Cento is this : the latter did not servilely copy the 
 antique, but borrowed its subjects and treated them in its 
 own peculiar manner, and that with a spirit and liveliness 
 that brought forth really original works bearing the stamp of 
 their era upon themselves, and hence valuable historically as 
 monuments of a particular period of art. But the engravers 
 of the last century totally disclaimed all originality, content- 
 ing themselves for the most part with making repeated copies 
 of certain famous gems, and placing their highest ambition 
 in the ability to pass off their own work upon unsuspicious 
 amateurs as some recent discovery of undoubted antiquity. 
 Almost the only one to be exempted from this charge is the
 
 xlviii A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 chief of the list, John Pichler, to whom may be added, in 
 some instances, Natter and Eega ; though the two hitter did 
 engrave and pass off many gems as antique, and which still 
 rank as such in many a noble cabinet. This may truly be 
 styled the age of forgeries of all kinds and degrees; the 
 adding false names to genuine antiques, the re-touching the 
 ruder gems of ancient engravers, the making pastes to such 
 perfection, that when prepared as doublets they often deceive 
 the most experienced eye. It is this period that has thrown 
 so much uncertainty into this study, and has rendered the 
 coming to a decision as to the genuineness of a fine intaglio, 
 if judged of by the work alone, irrespective of mineralogical 
 considerations, one of the most difficult tasks for the archaeo- 
 logist, however much attention he may have given to this 
 particular subject. Sirletti, Costanzi, Ant. Pichler, and a 
 host of others little inferior to them as copyists of the antique 
 manner, all pursued this then most lucrative trade, and have 
 left behind them an infinite number of such fabrications to 
 perplex all future connoisseurs. It may be asserted with 
 truth that, for every gem of any note full a dozen copies are 
 in circulation ; and often so close is the imitation, as to cast 
 a doubt upon the certainty of the original itself. The larger 
 intagli, especially the imperial portraits, have been the most 
 exposed to these fraudulent reproductions. This abundance 
 of counterfeits, and the discredit brought upon the critical 
 knowledge of collectors by their admission into some of the 
 choicest cabinets formed during this period, may be assigned 
 as one of the chief causes of the sudden decline of the taste 
 for gems since the commencement of the present century. 
 
 The few English gem-engravers who have ever attained to 
 any celebrity all flourished during the latter half of the 18th 
 century : it will suffice to name Brown, Wray, Marchant, 
 and Burch. Their works, all in intaglio, though fine and
 
 GEM-ENGRAVING. xlix 
 
 correctly drawn, are nevertheless much inferior to those of 
 the contemporary Italian school, the last of whom, Pistrucci, 
 survived till within a few years. With him and Girometti at 
 Rome the art may be said to have expired, as far as regards the 
 execution of works displaying equal genius and commanding 
 similar prices with the chefs-d'oeuvre of painting and sculp- 
 ture. Even at Rome all that survives of this once so nume- 
 rous profession are a few mechanics rather than artists, who 
 manufacture the cameo Onyx studs so largely purchased by 
 the visitors, mere trade articles, finished off by the dozen at 
 the lowest possible expenditure of time and labour; some 
 who still forge to order the mediocre antique intagli ; and, the 
 only class making any pretension to taste and skill, the cutters 
 of camei in shell. Thus the art of engraving designs upon hard 
 and precious materials may be said now to have closed its 
 career of thirty centuries in the same phase in which it started 
 at the first dawn of civilization, when the Egyptian first 
 fashioned his scarab out of the soft steaschlst, his first essay 
 being a work in relief, intended for stringing on the necklace 
 or bracelet ; so in our times the Roman shell-camei, of an 
 equally valueless substance, and designed for similar orna- 
 ments, alone preserve a faint shadow of the departed glories 
 of the glyptic art. 1 
 
 Helmet of King Stanislas Poniatowsky: Greek. Jasper-prase. 
 
 1 The different subjects touched will be found given at length under 
 upon in this sketch, with the au- their respective heads in the follow- 
 thorities for the various statements, ing chapters.
 
 Maecenas: intaglio by Solon
 
 .try : Greek work. 
 
 Onyx. 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 GOETHE ON THE STUDY OF ANTIQUE GEMS 
 
 SKKTCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE ART OF GEM-ENGRAVING 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE COPPERPLATES 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE WOODCUTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 jii 
 xi 
 
 xxxiii 
 
 liii 
 
 Iviii 
 
 SECTION 
 
 Ancient sources of gems 
 Gems used by the Greeks 
 
 Sards 
 
 Calcedony 
 
 Onyx, Sardonyx, Nicolo, Agate 
 
 Plasma 
 
 Jaspers 
 
 Garnets 
 
 Jacinth 
 
 Emeralds 
 
 Beryl 
 
 Amethyst 
 
 Sapphims Hyacinthus .. 
 Hyacinthus, Sapphire 
 
 Ruby 
 
 Topaz, Chrysolite, Chrysoprase 
 Turquois 
 
 I. MATERIALS. v 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 Magnet Loadstone 
 Tourmaline 
 
 5 
 
 Aventurine 
 
 7 
 
 Obsidian 
 
 8 
 14 
 16 
 
 Porphyry Basalt 
 Opal 
 Diamond 
 
 20 
 
 Pastes 
 
 22 
 
 Terra-cotta seals 
 
 27 
 
 Murrhina 
 
 38 
 
 Alabaster 
 
 41 
 44 
 46 
 52 
 56 
 
 Rock-crystal 
 Jade 
 
 Jet 
 
 The forms of antique gems 
 Chemical composition of gems 
 
 59 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 60 
 62 
 63 
 63 
 64 
 65 
 67 
 72 
 81 
 83 
 88 
 90 
 97 
 98 
 99 
 100 
 
 SECTION II. ART. 
 
 Tests of antiquity instruments 
 
 used by the ancient engravers 101 
 Egyptian intagH 113 
 
 Greek, Etruscan, and Sardinian 
 
 Scarabs 118 
 
 Assyrian and Persian cylinders 125
 
 iii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION 11. continued. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 High-priest's breast-plate 
 
 134 
 
 French collection 
 
 255 
 
 Persian and Sassanian seals . . 
 
 137 
 
 Berlin collection 
 
 259 
 
 Early Persian gerns 
 
 145 
 
 Florentine collection 
 
 260 
 
 Indian engraved gems 
 
 149 
 
 Other Italian collections 
 
 260 
 
 Modern oriental iutagli 
 
 153 Modern gem-engravers 
 
 261 
 
 Greek and Roman glyptic art . . 
 
 156 English gem-engravers .. 
 
 273 
 
 Stone-rings 
 
 176 Rings and settings 
 
 276 
 
 Flexible glass 
 
 1 79 Figure rings 
 
 295 
 
 Cameo-engravings 
 
 181 
 
 Papal and Episcopal rings 
 
 296 
 
 Names of artists inscribed on 
 
 
 Mediaeval use of antique gems 
 
 301 
 
 gems 
 
 200 
 
 Cross of King Lotharius 
 
 305 
 
 Coin-dies 
 
 206 
 
 Jewellery of the Roman ladies 
 
 306 
 
 Names of ancient gem-engravers 
 
 211 
 
 Crowns of the Gothic kings of 
 
 
 Catalogue of ditto 
 
 230 
 
 Spain 
 
 308 
 
 Antique gems of the British 
 
 
 Ring of the Great Mogul 
 
 310 
 
 Museum 
 
 238 Statues adorned with jewels . . 
 
 311 
 
 The Devonshire gems 
 
 246 
 
 
 SECTION 
 
 III. SUBJECTS. 
 
 
 Remarkable signets of antiuuitv 
 
 316 Ta,o. Abraxas 
 
 354 
 
 O ^ J 
 
 Chimerae 
 
 327 
 
 Isiac symbols 
 
 366 
 
 Astrological intagli 
 
 331 
 
 Medical stamps 
 
 371 
 
 Mithraic intagli 
 
 338 ' 
 
 Bronze stamps 
 
 375 
 
 Serapis 
 
 340 
 
 Subjects of intagli 
 
 376 
 
 Gnostic gems 
 
 342 
 
 Casts in plaster and wax 
 
 384 
 
 Christian intagli 
 
 352 
 
 
 
 SECTION IV. MYSTIC VIETUES. 
 
 Lapidarium of Marbodus 
 
 389 
 
 Magic rings 
 
 457 
 
 Medical virtues of gems 
 
 418 
 
 Prophylactic rings 
 
 459 
 
 Magical sigilla 
 
 433 
 
 Planetary rings 
 
 459 
 
 Signs of the zodiac 
 
 437 
 
 Gimmels 
 
 460 
 
 Figures of the planets 
 
 439 
 
 Dactyliomancy 
 
 461 
 
 Sigils of Ragiel 
 
 442 
 
 Toad-stone 
 
 463 
 
 Sigils of Chael 
 
 444 
 
 Treatises on gems 
 
 466 
 
 The worm Samir 
 
 448 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 471 
 
 Observations upon these sigils . 
 
 449 
 
 INDEX 
 
 489 
 
 Ovum Anguinum 
 
 454 
 
 
 Cupid on a hippocamp 
 
 Onyx.
 
 
 
 l 
 
 18 
 
 1Z 
 
 15 
 
 v 
 
 .. Salanetri icl . et 
 
 LOUDON: JOHN M17RHA.Y, SO, AJ.B EMA-RI.E STR F .
 
 PLATE T. 
 
 SCARABEI FROM THE MERTENS-ScHAAFHAUSEN COLLECTION. 1 
 
 1. FEMALE in a long robe lifting; from the ground a child with deformed leers: 
 
 probably Pallas and Ericthonius. Etruscan. Sard. 
 
 2. SEATED SPHINX, above is the royal vulture, in front a palm-tree. Phenician, 
 
 Calcedony. 
 
 3. WARRIOR on horseback caiTying a trophy. Etruscan. Sard. 
 
 4. GRYPHON devouring a stag. Greco-Italian. Sard. 
 
 5. CROUCHING SPHINX, in front two hawks, in the field various letters. Late 
 
 Egyptian. Topaz. 
 
 6. NAKED MAN touching his ancle : perhaps an Apoxyomenos. Greco-Italian of the 
 
 best period. Amethyst. 
 
 7. WARRIOR plunging a sword into a human head which he carries in his left hand : 
 
 perhaps Tydeus with the head of Melanippus. Etruscan. Sard. 
 
 8. SILENUS reclining, in his hand the cantharus ; a large crater in the field. A 
 
 magnificent old Greek work. Calcedony. 
 
 9. FAUN reclining on a raft formed of six amphorse fastened together, and holding 
 
 up a wine-skin for a sail. Etruscan. Sard. 
 
 10. WARRIOR extracting an arrow from his leg: probably Diomede wounded by 
 
 Paris. Greco-Italian. Sard. 
 
 11. BACCHUS in a long robe, in one hand a rhyton, in the other a myrtle-branch. 
 
 Etruscan. Sard. 
 
 12. A WINGED MONSTER, resembling the winged boar on the coins of Clazomenae. 
 
 Sard. 
 
 13. SEATED SPHINX, bold and spirited style, perhaps assignable to Chios. Agate. 
 
 14. WARRIOR in full armour kneeling (Tydeus in ambush), of the best Greco-Italian 
 
 style. Sard. 
 
 15. SEATED FIGURE adoring an Egyptian king, advancing towards him. Fine Greco- 
 
 Egyptian work. Obsidian. 
 
 16. CUPBEARER; in one hand the wiue-strainer, in the other the ladle by which the 
 
 wine was taken out of the crater. Late Etruscan. Obsidian. 
 
 17. NAKED WARRIOR with huge hemispherical shield and large sword. Etruscan. 
 
 Sard. 
 
 18. NAKED YOUTH, in his hand a large broadsword, weeping over a sepulchral 
 
 column (Castor at the tomb of Aphareus), on which is bung a discus and a 
 strigil. Greco-Italian. Onyx. 
 
 19. WARRIOR bending a bow, behind a shield; perhaps Pandarus. Greco-Italian. 
 
 Calcedony. 
 
 20. AN AGED MAN supporting a fainting youth, a female grasps his arm. This group 
 
 is explained by Steinbiichel as Daedalus introducing Theseus to Ariadne. 
 Greco-Italian work of the most perfect execution. Sard. (Perhaps Electra 
 and the Chorus tending the mad Orestes.) 
 
 1 This collection is one of the most im- Cento works, and continued until her death to 
 
 portant ever formed by a private person. enrich the series with fresh acquisitions made 
 
 Madame Mertens-l^-haafhausen of Bonn was i in Germany, France, and Italy. At present it 
 
 already in possession of about 100 antique consists of 1876, comprising fragments and an- 
 
 gems when, in 1839, she purchased the entire tique pastes (the latter comparatively few), or 
 
 Praun Collection. This consisted of above 1626 stones and 250 pastes. 
 
 1000 engraved stones, and had been formed i In 1859 this Cabinet was purchased by the 
 
 during the second half of the 16th century by j present owner, and was added to his already 
 
 Paulus von Hraun, a patrician of Nuremburgh, ; important series, amongst which are nuni- 
 
 who died at Bologna in 1616, after having bered some of the finest intagli of the Herz 
 
 passed the greater part of his life in Italy. ; Collection, the Maecenas, the Discobulus, &c. ; 
 
 His cabinet of gems, left as an heir-loom to and (from another source) the Triumph of 
 
 his family, had always been preserved intact Silenus, perhaps the most perfect antique 
 
 until the time of its acquisition by Madame composition known ; nil figured in these 
 
 Mertens. She separated from it the Cinque- plates. 
 
 e 2
 
 PLATE II. 
 
 GREEK INTAGLI FROM THE MERTENS-SCHAAFHAUSEN COLLECTION. 
 
 1. HERCULES SLAYING THE HYDRA. Exactly identical with a type of the coins of 
 
 Phaestus, in Crete. Sard. 
 
 2. HEAD OF PENELOPE, or more probably of Creusa. See Christodorus ' Statues 
 
 in the (Gymnasium of Zeuxippus' (Anthol. i. p. 32) : 
 
 " ./Eneas' consort next, in mournful guise 
 The veiled Creusa met my wondering eyes ; 
 Round both her cheeks her veil full closely drawn, 
 Down to her feet descends the flowing lawn 
 As one lamenting stands the woeful dame, 
 And tears of bronze her nurse's fall proclaim ; 
 How conquered Ilium on that fatal day 
 Lost and betrayed had sunk, the Argives' prey. 1 ' 
 
 Deeply cut on a very fine Sard. 
 
 3. ATREUS ARMED WITH THE HARPE OF PERSEUS (the founder of Mycenae), 
 
 about to cut up the child of his brother Thyestes. Bold Greco-Italian work. 
 Sard. 
 
 4. HEAD OF APOLLO. Fine work of the early school. Nicolo. 
 
 5. HEAD OF A POET (perhaps Terpander, wrongly called of Ulysses). Calcedony. 
 
 6. WOUNDED WARRIOR DEFENDING HIMSELF WITH AN AXE. Antique paste. 
 
 7. NEPTUNE. Delicate work in low relief. Yellow Sard. 
 
 8. SILENUS holding a crater to his panther. Late work, probably Roman. Sard. 
 
 broken. 
 
 9. HERO AND LEA.NDER. Fine work. Pale Sard. 
 
 10. ORPHEUS seated on a rock, supporting his lyre on the trunk of a tree. Sard. 
 
 11. CERES, or a priestess with sceptre and fillet, her hair gathered into a long tress. 
 
 Minutely finished. Sard. 
 
 12. ACTOR IN THE COMCEDIA TOGATA, holding the pedum, and wearing a comic 
 
 mask. Sard. 
 
 13. VENUS REGARDING HERSELF IN A CONVEX MIRROR. Agate. 
 
 14. INDIAN BACCHUS. Archaic style. Sard. 
 
 15. ERECTHEUS ABOUT TO SACRIFICE HIS DAUGHTER CHTHONIA beneath the sacred 
 
 olive-tree: a female seen emerging from the ground typifies the following 
 suicide of all her sisters. Agate. 
 
 16. YOUTHFUL FAUN CARRYING A KID. An admirable work. Yellow Sard. 
 
 17. LUNA VISITING ENDYMION sleeping upon Mount Latmos : Cupids bearing attri- 
 
 butes of the chase An admirable group, and engraved on a Sard of extra- 
 ordinary beauty. 
 
 18. ARGUS WITH ADZE cutting out the stem of his ship from the vocal oak of Dodona 
 
 supplied by Pallas. Greco-Italian work. Sard.
 
 GREEK GEMS. 
 
 LONDON; JOHN MURRAY, hO. AI.BEMA.BJ.E STREET j I860.
 
 
 LONDON ; JOKN MURRAY. SO. AiBEMARt. E STREET, I860 .
 
 PLATE III. 
 
 ROMAN INTAGLI FROM THE MERTEXS-$CHAAFHAUSEN COLLECTION. 
 
 1. A SEATED YOUTH holding a serpent over an altar : behind him is a butterfly on 
 
 a branch: symbolizing a sacrifice to Esculapius. Sard. 
 
 2. AGED FAUN SEATED, stirring the contents of a large vase : iu front, Cupid with 
 
 a flambeau. Deeply cut on a splendid Jacinth. 
 
 3. JUNO CAPITOLINA ; before her the sacred goose. Sard. 
 
 4. CUPID ON DOLPHIN, playing the double flute. Onyx. 
 
 5. DOG'S HEAD AND SACRIFICIAL KNIFE: attributes of Hecate. Red Jasper. 
 
 6. BUSTS OF GALLIENCS AND SALONINA crowned with wheatears: between them 
 
 an altar on which stands an eagle. (Compare the noted aureus of Gallieuus 
 thus crowned : Rev., VBIQVE PAX.) Sard. 
 
 7. JUPITER SEATED WITHIN THE ZODIAC : upon the gem of Jupiter, Lapis-lazuli. 
 
 Astrological intaglio, the horoscope of the owner : 
 
 " Nunquam erit pauper cigus nativitatis dominus est Jupiter." Almansor, XII. 
 
 8. CERES (perhaps Agrippina Junior) IN A TRIUMPHAL CAR drawn by two ele- 
 
 phants. Fine work. Yellow Sard. 
 
 9. CUPID ARMED WITH THE TRIDENT, MOUNTED ON CAPRICORN : beneath are the 
 
 globe and two stars. Astrological gem. Sard. See p. 332. 
 
 10. CUPID GUIDING WITH THE TRIDENT TWO HORSES issuing out of a large shell. 
 
 A most elegant intaglio. Sard. 
 
 11. JUPITER ENTHRONED, the eagle at his feet: in the fieW, Cancer. Astrological 
 
 gem. Calcedony. 
 
 " If Jupiter be found in Cancer (as Horoscope) the native will be the friend 
 and faithful confidant of the secrets of the great and powerful." (Firmicus, 
 Decreta Signorum.) 
 
 12. CUPID MOUNTED ON A WHALE ; above him four stars : below, a swordfisb and 
 
 a dolphin. Agate surrounded by an imitation of an Etruscan border. Con- 
 stellation of the Fish. 
 
 13. GAUL WITH FLOWING HAIR AND NAKED TO THE WAIST, Crouching down, his 
 
 shield slung at his back ; in his hand is the huge and pointless iron broadsword 
 described by Polybius (n. 33). Early Roman, referring to some Gallic victory, 
 perhaps of Marius. Plasma. 
 
 14. HERMES PSYCHOPOMPUS RAISING THE SOUL OUT OF HADES: in the field C.A.D., 
 
 initials of the owner. A work of the Early Empire. Onyx. 
 
 15. LYRE FORMED OF TWO DOLPHINS AND A MASK: upon the bridge sits an owl. 
 
 Onyx. 
 
 16. HERMES LEASING AGAINST A COLUMN, holds forth a serpent; at his feet two 
 
 more rear themselves towards him. Calcedony. 
 
 17. GORGON'S HEAD. A work of amazing vigour. Purple Ruby (or Almau- 
 
 dine). 
 
 18. ROMAN SOLDIER ADORING MARS, who holds in one hand a trophy, in the other 
 
 a legionary standard. Early work much in the Etruscan manner. Sard.
 
 PLATE IV. 
 
 GREEK AND ROMAN GEMS FROM THE MERTENS-SCHAAKHAUSEN 
 COLLECTION. 
 
 1. YOUTH SEATED and making a gesture of refusal with his han<] ; before him 
 
 stands a woman apparently urging some request. (Hippolytus and Phadra's 
 nurse ?) Roman Plasma. 
 
 2. PORTRAIT OF MESSALINA : behind the head are the letters TON remaining of the 
 
 owner's name, the field of the gem having been broken away. Very fine work 
 of the period. Jacinth, 
 
 3. ROMA SEATED ON ARMOUR, HOLDING A VICTORY : in front the petasus of Mer- 
 
 cury placed upon two shields ; behind are the sceptre of Jove and the staff and 
 serpent of Esculapius. Sard. 
 
 4. WARRIOR REGARDING A BIRD placed upon a sepulchral column round which 
 
 twines a serpent ; at its base lies a ram. Panofka explains this as the oracle 
 of Picus consulted by a warrior. Sard. 
 
 5. ARTIST SEATED ON THE GROUND engaged in chasing a huge Corinthian crater. 
 
 Sard. 
 
 6. BUST OF SERAPIS supported on a globe and column placed over an altar : in the 
 
 field a trifid emblem between the letters T and 2. Red Jasper. 
 
 7. BUST OF A BACCHANTE looking upwards. Worked in a very bold manner. 
 
 Sard. 
 
 8. THREE GRECIAN WARRIORS at the foot of a sepulchral column, one of them 
 
 stooping down puts his hand into a tall pitcher. The Argonauts purifying 
 themselves after the accidental slaughter of Cyzicus ; or, more probably, accord- 
 ing to Urlichs, the Heraclidae drawing lots for the partition of the Peloponnesus : 
 their respective pebbles having been cast into a vase of water, Cre^phontes by 
 substituting a ball of clay, which dissolves, obtains the last choice, Messene. 
 (Apollodorus, II. 8.) Greco-Italian work. Sard. 
 
 9. FOOT OF HERMES CRUSHING A BUTTERFLY: the symbol of death. A most 
 
 exquisitely finished engraving on a splendid Jacinth. 
 
 10. HEAD OF AUGUSTUS within an olive-garland. Minute work. Sard. 
 
 11. EAGLE WITH SPREAD WINGS; on his breast the head of Ganymede. Sard. 
 
 12. ULYSSES PRESENTING THE BOWL OF WINE TO POLYPHEMUS; behind him 
 
 stands one of his companions with a wine-skin on his shoulder. Carbuncle of 
 extraordinary size and beauty. 
 
 13. MOUNTED HUNTER with two hounds chasing a lion. Sard, convex on each side, 
 
 and perforated in the centre. 
 
 14. THREE SIRENS WALKING. Amethyst. 
 
 15. THE CHILD OPHELTES encircled by a monstrous serpent. Red Jasper. 
 
 16. BUST OF FATHER NiLUS with the cornucopia ; in front, the papyrus. Pale 
 
 Sard. Very fine work. 
 
 17. THE CITY OF ANTIOCH seated on rocks; below is the river-god Orontes; in 
 
 the field the initials A. I. M. A., for " Antioch the Sacred, the Metropolis of 
 Asia." Plasma. 
 
 18. The same City, but seen in front: on one side stands Fortune, on the other the 
 
 tutelary genius of Antioch placing a wreath on her head. Calcedony.
 
 CREEK AND ROMAN GEMS. 
 
 
 
 
 LOIIDONiJOHN MURRAY. SO. ALBEMAKLE STREET. 165O.
 
 Plate 
 
 GREEK AND ROMAN GEMS 
 
 i tis. ^~ 7 / v St. ' . ^ ^rv : 7 ' 
 
 : JOH>J MURRAY. SO. A.LBEMA.RLE STREET. 18GO .
 
 PLATE V. 
 
 INTAGLI, FROM THE RHODES COLLECTION, GKKEK AND KOMAX. 
 
 1. SAGITTARIUS. Fine Roman work. Sard. 
 
 2. PROCESSION OF SILENUS, supported by a Faun. One of the finest Greek gems 
 known, both for excellence of grouping and perfect finish of the figures. Sard. 
 
 3. MESSALINA. Contemporary portrait. Yellow Sard. 
 
 4. VENUS INSTRUCTING CUPID IN ARCHERY. Roman. Sard. 
 
 5. APOLLO DELPHICUS. Greek of the best period. Jacinth. 
 
 6. VENUS ROBING HERSELF. Roman. Sard. 
 
 7. FAUN POURING AN AMPHORA INTO A CRATER. Greek. Sard. 
 
 8. BACCHIC FESTIVAL. Roman. Sard. 
 
 9. BACCHUS WITH HIS PANTHER. Greek. Sard. 
 
 10. VENUS GUIDING HER SHELL. Modem Italian. Calcedouy. 
 
 11. PRIAM BEFORE ACHILLES, Briseis raising him from the ground. Finest Greek 
 
 style. Sard. (P. 157.) 
 
 12. MERCURY AND SCORPIO. Astrological Roman. Plasma. 
 
 13. PALLAS. Finest Greek work. Sard. 
 
 14. CUPID RACING. Excellent Roman work. 
 
 15. A DISCOBOLUS. A gem to be reckoned amongst the very finest Greek iutagli 
 
 extant. Sard. 
 
 16. AGRIPPINA JUNIOR. Contemporary portrait. Plasma. 
 
 17. PAN AND OLYMPUS before a fountain on the margin of which crawls a snail. 
 
 (The emblem of voluptuousness.) A most minutely-finished Roman intaglio. 
 Sard. 
 
 18. FAUSTINA MATER. Contemporary portrait. Sard. Formerly in Horace Wai- 
 
 pole's Collection.
 
 $7! 
 
 mttr gjampfum of 
 
 As most of the gems here given have been selected from the Mertens-Schaarhausen Cabinet, 
 it has only been considered necessary to designate those introduced from other sources. 
 
 Lion's head, signet of Theodoras :* Archaic Greek. Sard (Rhodes), (p. 168.) 
 
 Agave : Cameo. Plasma. A splendid example of the Roman style in flat relief 
 
 Plato: contemporary work. Sard (Rhodes). This rare portrait has a marked 
 individuality of expression, which, in addition to the Psyche-wings attached 
 behind the ear, sufficiently distinguish it from the heads of the Indian Bac- 
 chus (see next No.). It is worked out very carefully in a flat style upon 
 a pale Sard, and belongs to a much earlier period than the signet of Saufeius, 
 the portrait upon which it identifies in a most striking manner. To this 
 most interesting intaglio we can apply in their fullest extent the words 
 of Wiuckelmann (Pierres Gravees, p. 420) speaking of a similar, if not 
 the same, gem " La gravure de cette pierre est fort antique, et elle est 
 exe'cutee avec grande finesse ; elle parait si antique qu'on la croirait faite du 
 terns de Platon meme" (See Mon. Ined. iii. pi. 169) 
 
 Apollo of Canach us: Roman. Sard. 
 
 Vizored Helmet : Etruscan. Sard 
 
 Macedonian, or Syro-Macedonian, Helmet. Agate 
 
 Prometheus making Man : Cameo. Onyx (Rhodes). 
 
 Amymone: Early Greek. Sard. The pitcher in her hand signifies the gift of 
 the fountain of Lerna by Neptune, and which gushed from the rock struck 
 by the trident 
 
 I'AGK 
 
 Title 
 
 XI 
 
 xii 
 
 xviii 
 xviii 
 xxiii 
 
 1 Where no scale is attached the gems have 
 been drawn to twice the diameter of the ori- 
 ginals ; the only way to produce the same im- 
 pression of magnitude upon the eye as the 
 cast itself from the intaglio creates by its 
 spherical projection. This is the reason why 
 drawings of gems if made exactly to the scale of 
 the originals always appear much diminished, 
 for though the outline of the figures remains 
 
 equal in both, no allowance has been made for 
 this projection, amounting often to half a dia- 
 meter, where the work is in high relief. 
 
 2 Or perhaps Theumenes. Combe gives 
 (PI. 18, No. X), a drachma of Cnidus, with the 
 type of a lion's head in a precisely similar 
 style, and over it the magistrate's name 
 EYME . .
 
 LIST OF WOODCUTS. lix 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 Triton: Roman, lied Jasper (Rhodes) xxx 
 
 Alexander. Reverse, Venus and Apollo. Lapis-lazuli. Pronounced by Stein- 
 
 biichel a contemporary portrait of this prince, but see p. 44, note 
 
 Priest adoring the Winged Bull : Early Assyrian. Limestone (Layard) 
 
 Egyptian Scarabs in Steaschist (Layard) xxxvi 
 
 Demetrius Soter. Sard (Rhodes.) (p. 159.) xl 
 
 Nereid and Hippocampi : Cameo xlii 
 
 Late Sassanian Portrait perhaps Chosroes II. Calcedony. Chosroes alone in 
 the Sassanian series appears in front-face on his coinage (Author's Col- 
 lection) xliv 
 
 Helmet of King Stanislas Poniatowsky : Greek. Jasper-Prase (p. 203, note) 
 
 (Eastwood) 
 
 Maecenas: Intaglio by Solon. Topaz (Florence) 
 
 Mercury: Greek Cameo. Onyx. This is one of the finest works in relief of 
 unquestionable antiquity that has ever come under my notice. The head 
 is in the low flat relief that invariably marks the productions of an early 
 Greek artist, and is also entirely cut out upon the black stratum by the 
 diamond-point alone. It possesses the additional and historic interest of 
 having once belonged to Caylus, who has figured it Recueil, vol. i. pi. lii., 
 where he notes the fact that it is a fragment from a larger group cut down 
 
 to the size of a ring-stone (Rhodes) li 
 
 Cupid on a Hippocampus : Roman Cameo. Onyx lii 
 
 Heads of Silenus (Sard) and of Socrates (Onyx), showing the actual distinction 
 
 between these portraits, so frequently confounded with one another .. .. Iviii 
 Greco-Italian intaglio upon a scarab a Lion pulling down a Bull of some- 
 what later work than the same subject given at p. 156. Sard of the 
 most beautiful quality, resembling a Carbuncle. The beetle itself is skil- 
 fully cut, though of small dimensions. Scarabs of this highly-finished 
 class are usually much inferior in magnitude to the genuine Etruscan sort 
 
 (Rhodes) Ixiv 
 
 Livia. Red Jasper. A contemporary portrait (Rhodes) 1 
 
 Male and Female Comic Masks : Roman. Sard. The inscription is as upon 
 
 most of these caprices purposely obscure, and now unintelligible (Rhodes). 5 
 Diomede and Ulysses carrying off" the Palladium: Greco-Italian work. Agate. 16 
 Medusa: Greek. Black Jasper. This was regarded by Madame Mertens as 
 
 superior to any Medusa known even to the Blacas ; perhaps with justice . . 20 
 
 Sappho: Archaic Greek. Jacinth (p. 169) 27 
 
 Augur taking the Auspices: Etruscan. Jacinth. He is dividing the sky into 
 
 templa with his lituus. An unique representation (Rhodes) 27 
 
 Olympic Victor : Etruscan scarab. Emerald 37 
 
 Taras or Palasmon: Greco-Italian. Beryl. Winckelman (Pierres Grave'es de 
 Stosch, p. 353) calls the antique paste of this gem a precious monument of 
 
 Etruscan art, and equal to the Tydeus of the Berlin Cabinet) 38 
 
 Apollo: Greek work. Amethyst. Engraved in a very shallow and early manner 41 
 
 Hercules : Roman work. Obsidian (Rhodes) 63 
 
 Seals of Sennacherib and Sabaco II. (Layard) 81 
 
 Hercules Mad : Etruscan scarab. Crystal 96 
 
 Horses of Achilles mourning over the slain Patroclus 3 (p. 157) : Greek. Yellow 
 
 Sard (Rhodes) 101 
 
 3 Winckelman (Mon. Ined.) calls this Dio- I gem the attendant figure is clearly a female, 
 modes the Thracian exposing Abderus to be not Diomedes. 
 devoured by hi savage horses; but on the I
 
 lx LIST OF WOODCUTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Sacred Hawk: Greco- Egyptian work. Garnet 113 
 
 Sacred Animals. Green Jasper. This group consists of the cynocephalus, his 
 tail formed into the asp, supporting on his paw the ibis ; over his head is 
 the beetle ; behind him the hawk ; and looking up to him the jackal. This 
 
 gem is of the Roman period, rude, and deeply cut 113 
 
 Portrait of a Ptolemy : Greco-Egyptian. Dark Sard (formerly Herz's) 115 
 
 Signet of Sabaco II. (Layard) 118 
 
 Di-drachm of Sybaris .. .. 119 
 
 Scarab with Mask. Agate. Winckelmann (Mon. Ined. i. pi. 13) figures an 
 antique paste of Stosch's, a fly-shaped mask, exactly agreeing with that 
 cut upon the back of this scarab. He plausibly enough explains it as refer- 
 ring to Jupiter Apomyios, or " the Chaser away of flies," to whom Hercules 
 instituted sacrifices at Elis in gratitude for the sen-ice he once rendered to 
 him in that capacity. Baal-zebub, the Tynan god, " the Lord of flies," was 
 so named from the same prerogative. Hence, taking into account the Phe- 
 nician style marking the intaglio itself, as well as its subject a Thundering 
 Jupiter we may regard this insect-formed visage as designed for the type 
 of that redoubtable divinity. The turretted head also, introduced as a dis- 
 tinctive symbol into the field a frequent obverse on the coinage of Pheni- 
 cian cities (Aradus, Berytns, Orthosia, Sidon, &c.) strongly confirms this 
 
 attribution 124 
 
 Assyrian Cylinders First Period (all from Layard) 126 
 
 Pure Babylonian Second Period (Layard) 128 
 
 Persian Third Period (Layard) 131 
 
 Signet of Sennacherib. Amazon-stone (Layard) 137 
 
 Assyrian Seal Sacrifice to the Moon. Agate (Layard) 137 
 
 Assyrian Seal the Babylonian Dagon. Agate (Layard) 137 
 
 Persian Seal with Phenician legend. Calcedony. The inscription is indubitably 
 of equal antiquity with the intaglio itself, the strokes forming the characters 
 being manifestly cut by the same tool as the figures, and both equally worn 
 
 by use 140 
 
 Narses. Garnet. This inscription is imperfect, the gem having been broken 
 and cut round. The true reading, therefore, may be " Nowazi Shah," and 
 refer to Sapor I. Certainly the extreme beauty of the work would seem 
 
 to indicate the earliest times of the Sassanian sovereignty (Pulsky) 142 
 
 Pirouzi Shapouhri (Sapor II.). Sardonyx (p. 144) 142 
 
 Varanes (Bahrain). Nicolo, perforated. The legend reads, VRHANPI 142 
 
 Assyrian and Persian Seals in Agate and Calcedony (Layard) 145 
 
 Satrap of Salamis. Sard (p. 146) (Author's Collection/ 149 
 
 Persian : Seipentine. The King contending with two Andro-Sphinxes : Ormuzd 
 
 hovering above the Tree of Life (Layard) 153 
 
 Hebrew Jacinth of the Sassanian period (Eastwood) 155 
 
 Proteus: Etruscan. Sard. The subject as uncommon as is the extraordinary 
 
 perfection of the engraving itself 156 
 
 Archaic Greek. Calcedony. Lion pulling down a Bull ; the type of the coins 
 of Acanthus. The work of this intaglio shows much of the Assyrian 
 
 mariner, and is probably Asiatic Greek (Author's Collection) 1 56 
 
 Youthful Hercules: Greek. Sard. He wears the hide of the Cithaeronian lion, 
 which he slew at the age of nineteen. This he afterwards discarded for 
 the invulnerable skin of the lion of Nemea. Such youthful heads are 
 usually, but wrongly, described as of lole or Deianira, but the short curlv 
 locks stamp them of Hercules (Rhodes) " 15<| 
 
 4 The character beneath the chin of the unique gold piece of Menelaus king of'Cyprus, 
 
 jMirirait is the Persian S.aml Is seen thus singly minted at Salamis. See the Xnm. Cypriote of 
 
 beneath the Ram's head on the coinage of this the I)uc <le Luynes. 
 city, also behind the head of Venus on the
 
 LIST OF WOODCUTS. Ixi 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Caligula and his Sisters, Julia, Drusilla, Agrippina. Sard. This is one of the most 
 
 singular historic intagli in existence, and its genuineness beyond suspicion.. 164 
 Antoninus Pius: Cameo. Emerald. The stone is a true Emerald, though of 
 
 bad quality ; doubtless from the Egyptian mine 1 04 
 
 Philosopher meditating upon the Immortality of the Soul: Greek. Agate of 
 three bands. The severed head upon the ground typifies Death, as the 
 
 escaping butterfly the Soul set free (Rhodes) 165 
 
 Sailor of Ulysses opening the Bag of Winds given to him by ^Golus to ensure a 
 
 calm voyage : Etruscan scarab. Sard. 165 
 
 Caligula as Mercury. Sard (p. 171) (Rhodes). 176 
 
 Apotheosis of Augustus, who is borne up to heaven by Mithras. The " Cameo 
 
 of the Sainte Chapelle," Paris 181 
 
 Greek Cameo found in Cabul. Sardonyx (p 199) (Rhodes) 185 
 
 Ceres, with name of artist, Aulus. Sard (Rhodes) 200 
 
 Cicero ; contemporary portrait. Antique paste. 200 
 
 Signet of Rutina. Red Jasper. A monster with heads of a boar and a bull 
 
 conjoined (p. 484) 201 
 
 Gryllus, signet of Titinius. Obsidian. The " motive " of this composition 
 (not clearly given by the cut) is two doves pecking at the ear of a huge 
 mask, one from above, the other from below. The figure is completed by a 
 wolf's head. This was a favourite caprice. One exactly similar, but 
 
 better finished, is now in the collection of 0. Morgan, Esq., M.P 201 
 
 Neptune: Poniatowsky gem. Amethyst (Rhodes) v 202 
 
 Inscribed Etruscan gem. The name is that of the hero, but written in the cus- 
 tomary barbarous manner (Foreign Collection) (p. 168) 202 
 
 Hercules strangling Antaeus ; Earth, the giant's mother, reclining below : 
 
 Cinque-Cento. Sard (Rhodes) 206 
 
 Di-drachm of Caulonia, showing the guilloche Etruscan border 210 
 
 Maecenas, by Apollonius. Jacinth. This portrait is perhaps superior even to 
 
 the Julius of Dioscorides, being in a more elegant and softer style (Rhodes). 211 
 Satyr surprising a sleeping Nymph (Amymone) ; signet of Aspasius: Roman 
 work. Agate. Extremely minute, half the diameter of the cut, yet most 
 
 elaborately finished (Rhodes). ' 228 
 
 Faun with Urn : finest Greek style. Sard (Rhodes). 230 
 
 The Julius of Dioscorides. Sard (British Museum) 238 
 
 Hydraulis : Plasma (p. xvii.) (British Museum). The two men at the sides are 
 working the pumps that force the water into the huge bronze reservoir, 
 shaped like an altar, which supports the pipes and the performer. The 
 air compressed in its upper part served the purpose of the wind-chest in 
 the modern organ. The letters are blundered, but probably stand for 
 VIVAS ; addressed to the musician to whom the gem was doubtless pre- 
 sented by an admirer. 8 242 
 
 Cupid rescuing Psyche ; by Pamphilus. Sard (British Museum) 245 
 
 Hermes making Lyres (Foreign Collection) 246 
 
 Roma holding forth a torques, the usual reward of military valour : a Victory 
 presents an olive-branch ; at her side is a singular vizored helmet on a 
 
 stand. Spotted Sard .. 255 
 
 Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds (Foreign Collection) 260 
 
 5 The description of the hydraulis, invented i means of water ; for the pipes are bent down 
 
 by Ctesibius of Alexandria, as given by Aihe- i into water, and the water being 'pounded ' by 
 
 nseus (iv. 75), exactly applies to this intaglio. ' an attendant, whilst tubes pass through the 
 
 " The hydraulic organ seems to be somewhat | body of the organ itself, the pipes are filled 
 
 alter the nature of a water-clock. Perhaps it j with wind and give forth an agreeable sound, 
 
 ought to be termed a wind-instrument, inas- ' The organ resembles in form a round altar." 
 much as the organ is filled with breath by
 
 Ixii LIST OF WOODCUTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Juno; by John Pichler. Sard (Rhodes) '269 
 
 Ship under sail emblem of mortal life (Foreign Collection) 276 
 
 Cupid chained by Psyche to a column. Girasol. The signet of M. Mausius 
 
 Priscus 284 
 
 Narcissus and Echo : Roman. Prase. Cupid, emerging from the fountain, is 
 aiming his shaft at Narcissus ; Echo, reduced to a shadow, hovers before 
 
 him (Rhodes) 284 
 
 Mask hollowed out behind to contain poison. Onyx (p. 278). The subject 
 apparently chosen by the wearer from the same motive that caused masks 
 to be adopted as the usual decorations of monuments, or else to mark his 
 
 opinion, " Life is a jest and all things show it." 289 
 
 Signet and Monogram of Paulus. Sard 294 
 
 Serapis: Roman work: Cameo. This Onyx has running through its white 
 layer in which the bust is cut the large perforation of the original 
 
 Indian bead 30 1 
 
 Triple Mask: Roman. Jacinth (now in Lord Braybrooke's Collection) 301 
 
 Jupiter Olympius: Roman work of the best times. Sard (Rhodes) 302 
 
 Attributes of Ganymede : Roman : Cameo. Onyx 311 
 
 Diocletian and Maximian as Janus. Green Jasper 315 
 
 Antique gem with forged name of artist (Mycon), an addition of the last century: 
 
 Greek work, on a very fine ruby-coloured Sard (Rhodes) 316 
 
 Signet of Maecenas : Etruscan scarab. Calcedony 319 
 
 Mithridates ; a contemporary portrait. Yellow Sard of a very singular quality, 
 
 neai-ly opaque (Author's Collection) . . . . 322 
 
 Stymphalian Bird: Roman. Burnt Sard (Author's Collection) 327 
 
 Bunch of Grapes: Roman. Red Jasper (Author's Collection) 328 
 
 Gryllus, a fantastic Horse : Roman. Sard. 329 
 
 Sol within the Zodiac (Foreign Collection) 331 
 
 Augustus with his Horoscope Capricorn (Foreign Collection) 332 
 
 Hipparchus the Astronomer: Roman. Lapis-lazuli. The gold spots of the 
 
 stone have been taken advantage of to form the sun and stars 337 
 
 Alexandrian Emerald : of Roman date, and the identical gem figured by Caylus 
 (Vol. I. pi. Ixvi.), who calls it " une tr&s belle prisme d'e'meraude ; but it 
 
 is a true Emerald of the Mount Zahara mine 337 
 
 Mithraic Bull symbol of the Earth. Green Jasper (Author's Collection). .. 338 
 Mithraic Talisman of Nicandra. Green Jasper. A gryphon supporting a wheel 
 a common attribute of Sol stands upon a column, to which a figure is 
 fastened with hands bound behind the back. The legend on the reverse 
 invokes his protection for Nicandra and Caleandra ; apparently Alexandrian 
 ladies, judging from the orthography of the name Neicandra, instead of 
 
 Nicandra 340 
 
 Anubis, surrounded by the seven vowels (p. 345), standing on a serpent. Green 
 Jasper. The stone is broken at each extremity, but the head is evidently 
 that of a jackal, not a hawk's as it appears in the cut. The work of the 
 intaglio is extraordinarily fine, rendering this gem quite unique in its class. 342 
 Abraxas. Green Jasper. Also of unusually good and finished work, and 
 belonging to the very dawn of Gnosticism ; certainly not later than 
 
 Hadrian's reign 342 
 
 Chneph : Alexandrian. Sard. The legend, if written in the usual letter, is 
 XvovQis Avox 2e/us E<A.eyi, followed by the trifid emblem so common in 
 
 these formulae 344 
 
 Martyrdom of a female Saint. Red Jasper. This was probably executed about 
 the time of Diocletian, its style bearing a close affinity to the neat work 
 
 characterizing his restoration of the coinage (Litchfield) 352 
 
 Triune deity, with Coptic legend. Greeii Jasper. This figure has the heads of
 
 LIST OF WOODCUTS. Ixiii 
 
 PA OK. 
 
 the ibis, jackal, anil hawk, attributes of Isis, Annbis, and Phre or Sol, 
 whose triple godhead he symbolizes. The legend on the reverse ends with 
 the word Sou^apra, a title constantly occurring in these invocations, but 
 as yet unexplained 358 
 
 Mithraic Symbol. The two Principles, altar with the sacred wafers, lustral 
 water, raven, &c. ; above are seen the busts of Sol and Luna. Plasma. 
 The work of the rudest description 359 
 
 Hermes Heptachrysos : Roman. Sard 363 
 
 Isiac Vase. Red Jasper. This is an extremely elegant composition. Asps 
 form the handles, under which are Satyric masks. The (afterwards) 
 
 Christian symbols upon its surface are worthy of attention 366 
 
 Oculist's Stamp. Sard (British Museum) 374 
 
 Jupiter, Sol, Luna. Opal (p. 66) 37G 
 
 Cassandra mourning the doom of Troy. Sard. Gerhard, however, explains this 
 as Aglauros meditating suicide. The subject is, in fact, extremely obscure. 
 It may mean Roma lamenting some great calamity before the Palladium . . 378 
 
 Minerva supporting the bust of Domitian. Sard. The head has, in the gem, a 
 proper radiated crown, which is blundered in the cut. The work of this 
 gem is particularly neat 378 
 
 Hercules trimming with his sword an uprooted tree for his club: Etruscan 
 scarab. Sard. Mercury furnished Hercules with a sword on his first start- 
 ing upon his adventures, but he exchanged it for a club on having to deal 
 with the impenetrable hide of the Nemean lion, which \he was obliged to 
 flay off with the beast's own talons (Apollodorus, ii. 4) 380 
 
 Type of the Satyric Drama. Red Jasper. This symbolical group comprises the 
 
 satyr, the mask, and the goat, the original prize of the early comedians. . . 380 
 
 Gorgon : Greco-Italian Cameo. Sard. An unique example of so early a period, 
 worked in the same manner as the scarabs. This identical Gorgon's head 
 is seen on the coins of Posidonia, and may be safely assigned to the same date. 383 
 
 Pompey, with his titles. Nicolo. The legend is formed of the contractions for 
 " Cnaeus Pompeius Imperator Iterum Pra?fectus Classis et Ora? Maritime/' 
 his style upon his denarii ; where it will be remarked that the engraver 
 like the Arrius immortalized by Catullus has thought proper to spell Orae 
 with an H 384 
 
 Death of Eschylus. AD eagle drops a tortoise upon his bald pate, mistaking it 
 
 for a stone. He holds a bowl to signify his love of wine (Stosch) 388 
 
 Polyphemus: Sard. A fragment of a magnificent Greco-Italian scarab. The 
 giant seated upon an inverted amphora, has been beguiling his hopeless love 
 for Galatea upon a rustic lyre, which appears dropping from his hand : iu 
 the field is the plectrum, the exact form of which instrument is here very 
 carefully defined, and gives additional value to this remarkable intaglio. . . 389 
 
 Plato ; signet of Saufeius. Sard. An early Roman work, dating from the 
 Republic. Heads of Plato can only be distinguished from those of the 
 Indian Bacchus whom he resembled as much as his master did Silenus 
 when the butterfly-wings, in allusion to his doctrine of the soul's immor- 
 tality, are introduced, as here, upon the shoulder, or, as sometimes, behind 
 the ear. I believe, however, that I have discovered another distinction 
 the extremely elevated eyebrows, arched into a complete semicircle, in such 
 portraits ; a personal peculiarity of the sage that did not escape the witti- 
 cisms of the comic writers of his own times. Thus Amphis, in the Dexi- 
 demides (Diog. Laert. iii. 1)- Q plato> p]ato> 
 
 How all thy wisdom lies in looking grave ; 
 
 Majestically lifting high thy brows 
 
 Like as the snail [protrudes his eye-tipped horns]." 418 
 
 Psyche mourning the flight of Cupid (Foreign Collection). 433
 
 Ixiv LIST OF WOODCUTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Phenician Sphinx. Spotted Onyx. The object in the background is probably a 
 
 mummy-formed divinity (Rhodes)." 438 
 
 Silenus placing a crater on its stand ayyoOrjicr), or incitega] : Roman. Sard 
 
 (Author's Collection) 442 
 
 Parthian King between two crowned Asps. Sard. On the reverse of this most 
 puzzling gem are cut a serpent, some Greek letters, and certain unknown 
 characters. It is probably due to some early Persian Manichean, or 
 Gnostic, which would explain the introduction of the asps, the Egyptian 
 symbol of royalty 448 
 
 Indian Sacred Bull, with Pehlevi legend. A calcedouy, hemispherical, stamp. 
 This Brahminee bull figures even on the early Assyrian monuments. Here 
 the legend commences with the usual AP, or title of the king, but the other 
 letters are so rudely cut as to be undecipherable ; perhaps the three last 
 stand for Bagi, " the Divine." 454 
 
 Favourite Racehorse, Syodus (Speedaway). Jacinth. Greek work of uncommon 
 spirit, commemorating, there can be little doubt, some victor in the 
 Stadium (Rhodes) 466 
 
 Somnus, on his rounds, holding a wreathed horn in each hand, and from one 
 pouring out his balm upon the earth. The god here is depicted with but- 
 terfly-wings like Psyche, of which 1 have seen no other example, since his 
 figure upon monuments can only be distinguished from Cupid's by the 
 diversity of their attributes. Lessing has admirably treated this subject in 
 his dissertation, " Wie die Alten den Tod gebildet." The work of this 
 intaglio belongs to the best period of Roman art, and is cut on a Sard of 
 the finest quality 470 
 
 Death, within an opened monument ; beneath is the pig, the funeral sacrifice : 
 Cameo. Onyx. The ancients represented Death and Sleep as twin- 
 brothers, but black and white in colour, earned in the arms of their mother 
 Night (Pausan. Kline, xviii.). In addition to the difference of colour Death 
 is distinguished by his inverted torch, Sleep by the horn whence he pours 
 out his dewy blessings. 
 
 "Et Nox, et cornu fugiebat Somnus inani." Theb. vi. 27. 
 
 " Night fled, and with her Sleep with emptied horn." 471 
 
 Dagon : Phenician scarab. Green Jasper ; or perhaps a green terra-cotta. . . 476 
 
 Babylonian Cylinder. Loadstone. Remarkable for the neatness of the cutting 
 
 of the cuneiform inscription filling one half its surface 488 
 
 Fauns playing : Nicolo. Described by Caylus (II. pi. Ixxxiii) as having been re- 
 cently discovered at Xaintes, set in a massy gold ring weighing l\ oz. The 
 antique setting has disappeared, by reason doubtless of its large intrinsic 
 value, but the correspondence of the scale and material prove the identity oi 
 the gem itself. 489 
 
 Canopic Vase : Greco-Egyptian date. Almandine ; retaining its antique iron- 
 ring (p. 285). On the belly of the vase is the sun's disk, and below, the 
 royal vulture with spread wings. The iron ring itself is elegantly formed. 
 (Author's Collection) 498 
 
 8 Described by Raspe as " a Persian Sphinx, the bas-reliefs of Chelminar; with a figure be- 
 or Mithras, the image of the Sun, as seen upon hind, like Horus, swathed." 
 
 Combat between Lion and Bull : Etruscan. Sard.
 
 ANCIENT GEMS, 
 
 SECTION I. MATERIALS. 
 
 SOURCES WHENCE GEMS WERE OBTAINED BY 
 THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 BEFOEE we enter upon the consideration of the intagli and 
 camei themselves, and of the various styles of art which they 
 present, it will be more appropriate to give a brief descrip- 
 tion of the different sorts of gems upon which they usually 
 are found, to point out their respective characters, and at the 
 same time to identify, as far as can be done, the species of 
 stones principally employed by the ancients for these works ; 
 and to distinguish them from those only known to modern 
 engravers, or at least more generally used by the latter than 
 by the artists of antiquity. The sources whence they were 
 obtained will be separately noticed under each head, but a 
 most suitable introduction to this section will be the elegant 
 description given by Dionysius Periegetes of the trade in 
 precious stones carried on by the Orientals early in our era ; 
 for, although the date of his poem is disputed, yet his allu- 
 
 B
 
 2 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 sions to Persian wars seem to point to the age of Augustus, 
 or at the latest of Trajan : 
 
 " And Babylon's vast plain, where miles around 
 The lofty palm-trees overarch the ground ; 
 Where, far more precious than the mines of gold, 
 Serpentine rocks the beryl green enfold. 
 Apart his Indian waves Choaspes leads, 
 And in a separate course bounds Susa's meads : 
 Upon his banks the beauteous agates gleam 
 Rolled like to pebbles by the rushing stream, 
 Torn from their native rock by wintry rains 
 And hurried by the torrent to the plains. 
 Those who Parpanisus' deep valleys claim 
 Conjointly bear the Arianian name : 
 No lovely land the wretched natives own, 
 But sandy wastes with thickets rough o'ergrown : 
 Yet other sources do their lives maintain, 
 And endless wealth springs from the barren plain ; 
 On every side the ruddy coral shines, 
 On every side they view the teeming mines 
 Whence th' azure slabs of sapphire brought to light, 
 With guerdon rich laborious hands requite. 
 Towards the east spreads India's lovely land 
 Farthest of all along the ocean's strand : 
 The first illumined by his earliest rays 
 When rising Phoebus heaven and earth surveys : 
 Hence the sleek natives dark as night appear, 
 Adorned with flowing hyacinthine hair ; 
 Of whom, some, skilled the golden ore to seek, 
 The sandy plain with crooked mattocks break ; 
 Others the airy webs of muslin weave, 
 Whilst others to the ivory polish give ; 
 Some seek amidst the pebbles of the stream 
 The verdant beryl, or the diamond's gleam, 
 Or where the bright green jasper meets their view, 
 Or the clear topaz shows its lighter hue,
 
 SECT. I. GEMS USED BY THE GREEKS. 3 
 
 Or the sweet amethyst, which, serenely bright, 
 Diffuses far and wide its tranquil light. 
 The land thus blessed with rivers never dry 
 To all her sons doth constant wealth supply." 
 
 These gems, together with other Indian productions, were 
 brought for transmission into Europe to the great annual 
 fairs held in Syria, one of which is thus described by Amnii- 
 anus (xiv. 3) : " Batne, a municipality in Anthemusia, 
 founded by the ancient Macedonians, situated at a short 
 distance from the Euphrates, and crowded at that time with 
 wealthy traders, where on the annual festival, held at the 
 beginning of September, a vast multitude of people of all con- 
 ditions assemble at the fair to purchase the goods sent by the 
 Indians and Chinese, and the numerous other productions 
 accustomed to be conveyed thither both by sea and land." 
 
 
 GEMS USED BY THE GEEEKS. 
 
 Theophrastus (c. 30) thus specifies the kinds of gems most 
 used in his own time, the 4th century before our era : " But 
 of gems out of which signets are made there are several 
 others, such as the glass-like sort (Beryl), which possesses 
 the property of reflection and transparency, and the Car- 
 buncle and the Omphax (perhaps the Chrysoprase), and 
 besides these the Crystal and the Amethyst, both of them 
 transparent. Both these and the Sard are found on 
 breaking open certain rocks, as well as others, as we have 
 before stated, presenting certain differences, but agreeing in 
 name with each other. For of the Sard the transparent and 
 blood-red sort is called the female, while the less transparent 
 and darker kind is termed the male. And the different 
 kinds of Lyncurium are distinguished in the same way, of 
 which the female is the more transparent and of a deeper 
 
 B 2
 
 4 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 yellow ; and the Cyamis also is named, one sort the male 
 and the other the female, but the male is the deeper in 
 colour of the two. The Onyx is made up of white and 
 brownish red in parallel layers. The Amethyst is of the 
 colour of wine. A handsome stone too is the Agate, brought 
 from the river Achates in Sicily, and is sold at a high price. 
 At Lampsacus there was once discovered in the gold-mines 
 an extraordinary kind of stone, out of which, when taken k> 
 Tyre, a signet gem was engraved, and sent as a present to 
 the king (Alexander) on account of its singularity. These 
 gems, in addition to their beauty, possess the recommenda- 
 tion of rarity ; but those coming out of Greece itself are 
 much less valuable, such as the Anthracium (Carbuncle) from 
 Orchomenos in Arcadia. This is darker than the Chian sort, 
 and mirrors are made out of it. 1 And also the Troazenian ; 
 this last is variegated partly with red, partly with white 
 patches. The Corinthian also is variegated with the same 
 colours, excepting that the stone itself is somewhat greener. 
 And, generally, stones of this kind are common enough ; but 
 the first-class gems are rare, and come from but few places, 
 such as Carthage, and the neighbourhood of Marseilles, and 
 from Egypt near the Cataracts, from Syene close to the town 
 of Elephantina, and from the district called Psepho ; and 
 from Cyprus the Emerald and Jasper. But those that are 
 used for setting in ornamental metal- work come from Bactria, 
 close to the desert. They are collected by horsemen, who go 
 out there at the time when the Etesian winds prevail ; for 
 then they come to sight, the sand being removed by the 
 violence of the winds. They are however small, and never 
 of large size." This last gem is probably the Turquois, so 
 much used by the Persians of all ages for setting in their 
 
 1 The flat surface of a dark garnet will reflect objects with tolerable 
 distinctness.
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 SARDS. 
 
 arms and ornaments. The locality named by Theophrastus, 
 and the small size of the stone, particularised by him, arc 
 also arguments in favour of the correctness of this sup- 
 position. 
 
 Male and Female C 
 
 S A E D S. 
 
 The Carnelian, and its superior variety the Sard, may 
 justly claim the first place in this list of stones employed by 
 the ancient engravers, as they alone present us with as many 
 intagli cut upon them as all the other species of gems put 
 together. The Carnelian is a semi-transparent quartz of a 
 dull red colour, arranged often in different shades, and is 
 found in great abundance in many parts of Europe; for 
 instance, on every coast where the beach is composed of 
 rolled flint shingle, as on the Chessil Bank, Wey mouth, the 
 coast of Devonshire, &c. The most ancient intagli, such as 
 the Etruscan and the Egyptian, are usually cut upon this 
 variety. But when the trade with the East was established, 
 after the conquest of Asia by Alexander, a much finer de- 
 scription of this stone, the Sard, came into general use; and 
 on this all the finest works of the most celebrated artists are 
 to be found. And this not without good cause, such is its 
 toughness, facility of working, beauty of colour, and the high 
 polish of which it is susceptible, and which Pliny states that 
 it retains longer than any other gem. The truth of his 
 assertion has been confirmed by the testimony of the seven- 
 teen centuries that have elapsed since he wrote, for antique
 
 6 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Sards are found always retaining their original polish, unless 
 where they have been very roughly used ; whilst harder gems, 
 as Garnets, Jacinths, and Nicoli, have their surfaces greatly 
 scratched and roughened by wear. So true is this, that the 
 existence of a perfect polish in any of the latter class of 
 stones affords in itself a tolerably sure proof that the gem is 
 either modern, or has been retouched in modern times. 
 
 When Pliny wrote, the bright red variety was the most 
 esteemed, the honey-coloured were of less value, but the 
 lowest place of all was assigned to those of the colour of a 
 burnt brick, that is, to the kind we now call Carnelians. The 
 bright red are certainly very fine in hue ; they often equal 
 the Carbuncle, and come near to the Kuby in tint and lustre ; 
 but they are always to be distinguished from these gems by 
 a shade of yellow mixed with the red. This colour in some 
 Sards deepens into that of the Morella cherry ; these were 
 considered the males of the species, for the Komans, following 
 the Greek mineralogists, divided gems into males and females, 
 according to the depth or the lightness of their colour. Upon 
 this bright red variety the best Eoman intagli usually occur. 
 The light yellow sort resembling amber was much in use at 
 an earlier period; on this are frequently found the finest 
 works of the Greek artists, and also those stiffly drawn yet 
 highly finished figures of the most minute execution, sur- 
 rounded with granulated borders, which were formerly termed 
 Etruscan, but now with more reason assigned to the Archaic 
 Greek school. Very meritorious Eoman engravings present 
 themselves upon this kind also, but they usually belong to the 
 times of the Early Empire, the latest I have seen being a 
 very well cut head of Severus. 
 
 On the common red Carnelian we often have very good 
 intagli of the Republican age; and most of the Etruscan 
 scarabei are cut out of this material, of which they got a
 
 SECT. I. CALCEDONY. 7 
 
 plentiful supply from the beds of the Tuscan rivers ; even 
 now the shingle of the brook Mugnone, near Florence, fur- 
 nishes this stone in great abundance. The name Sardius is 
 derived from the fact of the gem being first imported into 
 Greece from Sardis, probably brought thither from the inte- 
 rior of Asia ; for we are informed by Pliny that the best 
 came originally from Babylon. This Babylonian mine had 
 at that time failed ; but the Komans obtained them also from 
 many other countries, especially from Paros and Assos. 
 Those from India were transparent, from Arabia somewhat 
 opaque. One of the three Indian varieties used to be backed 
 with silver foil when set. A gold foil was employed for those 
 found in Epirus and Egypt. Sards retained their polish 
 longer than any other gem, but suifered most from contact 
 with oil. 
 
 CALCEDONY. 
 
 This is a semi-transparent white quartz, slightly tinted with 
 yellow or blue ; the latter kind is sometimes called the 
 Sapphirine, being erroneously considered a pale variety of 
 the Sapphire. This stone was much used at every period 
 of antiquity ; the earliest Babylonian cylinders being formed 
 of it as well as the latest Sassanian stamps. Scarabei of 
 Etruscan work, as well as good Greek and Koman intagli 
 of all ages, occur in this material ; but engraved upon the 
 Sappherine in preference to the other sort ; and justly so, as 
 it is an extremely pretty stone, often approximating to a pale 
 Sapphire in colour, although entirely destitute of brilliancy. 
 The finest Persian cylinder known (engraved with the usual 
 type of the king fighting with the lion) was formed out of 
 this variety ; the signet doubtless that once graced the wrist 
 of some Darius or Artaxerxes of the later days of the Persian 
 monarchy.
 
 8 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Busts and heads, in full relief and of considerable volume, 
 are frequent in Calcedony. When the stone has a bright 
 tinge of yellow, it is named the Opaline, and these heads 
 and busts are therefore sometimes described as made out of 
 Opal ; a material in which it is almost needless to say that 
 none ever existed. 
 
 The most noble work in relief executed on a gem that / 
 myself have ever seen was a three-quarter head of Augustus 
 in a white opaque Calcedony greatly resembling ivory ; it 
 was about three inches in height, and the work the very per- 
 fection of sculpture. 2 It subsequently passed into the Fould 
 Collection. In what way this stone got its present name is a 
 very puzzling question, for the ancient Chalcedonius, so 
 called from the locality where it was obtained in the copper- 
 mines, was a kind of inferior Emerald, " the green in it being 
 mixed with blue, like the feathers of a peacock's tail, or of a 
 pigeon's neck," but of which the supply had failed before the 
 age of Pliny. The modern Calcedony, or White Carnelian, 
 as our lapidaries call it, was probably the Leucachates and 
 the Cerachates, the White and Wax Agate of the ancient 
 mineralogists. 3 
 
 ONYX, SAEDONYX, NICOLO, AGATE. 
 
 Next in point of frequency to the Sards come these stones, 
 all being varieties of the same material, but distinguished by 
 the different colours and arrangement of the layers of which 
 they are composed. The Sardonyx is defined by Pliny as 
 " candor in sarda," that is to say, a white opaque layer super- 
 
 8 The " Chernites " is described of camei, will be found in Calcedony 
 
 as a stone only differing from ivory than in any other stone ; whilst, 
 
 in its superior hardness and density : on the other hand, genuine antique 
 
 the sarcophagus of Darius the Great works in this material are much 
 
 \vas made of it. more unfrequent than on any of tlic 
 
 3 More modern forgeries,espccially other varieties of the quartz family.
 
 SECT. I. ONYX, SAKDONYX, NICOLO, AGATE. 9 
 
 imposed upon a red transparent stratum of the true red Sard ; 
 and no better description can be given of a perfect gem of this 
 species. Such were the Indian Sardonyx stones of his times, 
 whilst the Arabian species retained no vestige of the Sard, 
 but were formed of black or blue strata, covered by one of 
 opaque white, over which again was a third of a vermilion 
 colour. These stones were found in the beds of torrents in 
 India, and were but little valued by the natives ; they were of 
 sufficient size to be worked up into sword-hilts. The Indians 
 also bored holes through them, and wore them as necklaces ; 
 and this perforation was considered by the Eomans as 
 the test of their Indian origin. 4 In certain specimens of 
 this Indian variety the base was of the colour of wax or of 
 horn, then came a white layer sometimes slightly iridescent, 
 and the surface was " redder than the shell \)f a lobster." 
 
 This stone (and, literally, Pliny's definition of it, " candor 
 in Sarda ") was imitated by the ancient as well as by modern 
 lapidaries, by placing a Sard upon a red-hot iron ; this process 
 converted the red surface of the stone into an opaque white 
 layer of the depth required, which forms a good relief to the 
 intagli cut through it into the transparent ground beneath. 
 No doubt this effect of fire upon the Sard was first discovered 
 by accident, and that too at a late period of the Empire, as 
 I have never seen any fine engravings upon such a material, 
 though Gnostic subjects are common enough in it. As might 
 
 4 This fact explains the reason of many collectors have been puzzled 
 
 the fine hole we so frequently notice to account for the purpose served by 
 
 passing through the axis of Sardo- these minute perforations, as well 
 
 nyx cainei ; the stones, having been as the method by which they had 
 
 imported into Europe in the form been drilled through the width of 
 
 of oval beads, were subsequently cut these thin slabs without the risk of 
 
 down into flattened disks to afford fracture. Amongst the Pulsky camei 
 
 the proper disposition of their strata is a perforated Onyx still retaining 
 
 for the working out of the design in within the hole the rusted wire on 
 
 relief. From ignorance of this ori- which it was anciently strung, 
 ginal destination of the material,
 
 10 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 be expected, it was a favourite substance with the Italian and 
 French artists since the Revival, to whom it was recom- 
 mended by the lively contrast of colours afforded by it when 
 engraved upon. 
 
 Under this head some notice may be taken of the famous 
 signet of Polycrates ; the pretended stone of which, a Sard- 
 onyx, and not engraved (intacta illibatd], was shown in 
 Pliny's time set in a golden cornucopia in the Temple of 
 Concord, and there occupying but the last place amongst a 
 multitude of other gems, all deemed of superior value. How 
 came this legend to be affixed to this particular Sardonyx ? 
 For Herodotus expressly calls the signet of Polycrates " an 
 Emerald, the work of Theodoras of Samos :" Clemens Alex- 
 andrinus adds that the device engraved upon it was a lyre. 
 Lessing, in order to support Pliny's tale, endeavours, with 
 the usual " iiberklugheit " of a German critic, to prove that 
 aQpnyis does not necessarily signify an engraved gem, and 
 that the expression " the work of Theodorus of Samos " 
 merely refers to the setting of the stone, because this same 
 artist is celebrated for having executed certain works in 
 metal for King Alyattes. But Herodotus says nothing about 
 the gold ring itself: the ^Emerald signet, valuable both on 
 account of the precious stone and of the intaglio by so famous 
 an artist, was the priceless object the sacrifice of which was 
 supposed to be of sufficient importance to avert the wrath of 
 the offended Nemesis. A few years back an Emerald was 
 shown in Rome (said to have been just discovered in the 
 earth of a vineyard at Aricia), which enthusiastic antiquaries 
 looked upon as this far-famed gem. The stone was of large 
 size and fine quality ; the intaglio a lyre, above which 
 hovered three bees, or, more probably, "cicadae," an insect 
 noted by the poets for its musical powers, and which, though 
 of much greater bulk, somewhat resembles in shape a large
 
 SECT. I. ONYX, SARDONYX, NICOLO, AGATE. 11 
 
 drone. This type of the lyre and cicadse often occurs on an- 
 tique gems ; I have no doubt that it was borrowed from the 
 traditionary description of the signet of Polycrates, and was 
 a favourite device with literary men. 5 
 
 The common Onyx has two opaque layers, of different 
 colours, usually in strong contrast to each other, as black and 
 white, dark red and white, green and white, and many other 
 varieties. In the Oriental Onyx, still a very valuable gem 
 (one the size of a crown-piece selling for 30L at the present 
 day), three layers occur the top one red, blue, or brown ; 
 the middle white, sometimes of a pearly hue ; and the base 
 a jet black or a deep brown. The stone is considered more 
 perfect if the top and the bottom layer be of the same colour. 
 The Onyx of Theophrastus was composed of white and 
 brownish-red in parallel layers ; but, according to Pliny, this 
 variety was distinguished by spots of various colours surrounded 
 by white veins, like so many eyes an exact description of cer- 
 tain Agates. 6 By cutting out a blue spot with a black zone 
 encircling it, the so-called Nicolo is obtained ; a stone named 
 by the Komans JEgyptilla, " Vulgus in nigra radice cffiruleam 
 facit," blue upon a black ground. The name Nicolo is an 
 abbreviation of the Italian " Onicolo," a little Onyx ; and 
 not derived, as is often absurdly stated, from Nicolo, an 
 artist's name. The upper layer of a first-class stone of this 
 kind is of a rich turquois blue, and the base a jet black. 
 On this gem fine Roman intagli occur more frequently than 
 upon any other after the Sard. On the other varieties of the 
 
 5 There are several pretty epi- concentric, whilst in the latter they 
 grams in the Greek Anthology are parallel. Hence in descriptions 
 (especially one by Meleager) ad- of camei the terms are often used in- 
 dressed to the reTTiyg, cicada ; or discrimicately ; the ancients, how- 
 cigala of the modern Italians. ever, seem at first to have restricted 
 
 6 In fact, the Agate and Onyx are the designation of Agate to the stone 
 the same substance, but the layers of black and white strata. 
 
 in the former are wavy and often
 
 12 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Onyx they are not uncommon ; and a good engraving on a 
 fine Oriental Onyx will command a higher price than upon 
 any other gem. And there is good reason for this preference, 
 since the design penetrating through the surface into the 
 next layer is brought out in full relief by the contrast of 
 colour, and thus is conspicuous at a distance, which is not the 
 case with a transparent stone, for it must be held up to the 
 light to show the engraving. 
 
 The use of the Sardonyx was first made fashionable in 
 Borne by Scipio Africanus the elder : the favourite gems of 
 the Emperor Claudius were the Sardonyx and the Emerald. 
 
 We may return to the subject of the precious Onyx to 
 observe that, although the true Oriental kind still retains its 
 value, pieces of large dimensions bringing the high price 
 above mentioned, yet the great majority of the stones so 
 called at present by jewellers are almost worthless. These 
 generally present strong contrasts of red and white, or black 
 and white layers. These colours are produced artificially by 
 boiling the stone, a kind of flint, for several days in honey 
 and water, and then soaking it in sulphuric acid to bring out 
 the black and white, and in nitric to give the red and white 
 layers. They all come from Germany, where the secret was 
 either discovered a few years ago, or, as some assert, intro- 
 duced from Italy. Pliny says that all gems are brightened 
 by boiling them in honey, especially in Corsican (noted for 
 its acridity), although they are injured by all other acids. I 
 have myself seen an antique Agate, which had been reduced 
 by fire to nearly the appearance of chalk, restored to almost 
 its original colour by being treated in this manner for three 
 consecutive days and nights. The antique gems, indeed, par- 
 ticularly the Sards and the several varieties of the Onyx, are 
 incomparably superior to anything of the kind which we 
 meet with in Nature at the present day ; but it would be
 
 SECT. I. ONYX, SARDONYX, NICOLO, AGATE. 1,3 
 
 hazardous to ascribe this excellence to any artificial treatment 
 of the stones by the old lapidaries, as it may have been the 
 consequence of their better and more abundant supply of the 
 material from sources now closed to us. This we know was 
 the case with many antique marbles, such as the Kosso and 
 Giallo Antico, the Yerde and the Cipolliiio, all only known 
 at present as existing in fragments of ancient architecture. 
 Numidia is said to have furnished the Giallo; Laconia the 
 Verde ; Carystus the Cipollino ; but the coast of the Ked Sea 
 was the chief source both of the coloured marbles of anti- 
 quity and also of many of their most valuable gems. 
 
 The enormous dimensions of the pieces of Sardonyx used 
 by the ancient engravers for some of their more important 
 works, as the Onyx of the Sainte-Chapelle, have induced 
 many to believe that they were a production sof art. Veltheim 
 goes so far as to say that they were made by fusing obsidian 
 and sulphur together ; but this experiment, when tried, gave 
 nothing but a black porous glass. De Boot gives a ridiculous 
 receipt for making the Sardonyx by steeping pounded shells 
 in lemon-juice for several days, and with the white cement 
 thus made forming the upper layer upon a Sard or Carnelian. 
 It is curious, however, to notice that the same idea as to the 
 artificial origin of the Sardonyx appears to have prevailed 
 in the days of Theophrastus ; at least, this seems the most 
 natural interpretation of his words (' On Stones,' chap. 61) : 
 " Earthy minerals, these assume all kinds of colours, by reason 
 of the diversity of the subjects and of the influences acting upon 
 them ; of which, some they soften (by fire), others they fuse 
 and pound, and so put together those stones that are brought 
 from Asia." Now we must remember that the Murrhina, 
 and the Gremma of which the huge draught-board (carried in 
 Pompey's triumph) was made, were not known at Eome before 
 the conquest of Asia, long after the age of Theophrastus.
 
 14 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 PLASMA. 
 
 This word, sometimes written Prasma, whence the Frencli 
 name of the stone, Prisme d'Emeraude, is merely the Italian 
 corruption of Prasina Gemma, according to their common 
 vulgarism of interchanging K with L, and vice versa. Thus 
 the Tuscan peasant always says Leopordo for Leopoldo. This 
 gem is merely Calcedony coloured green by some metallic 
 oxide, probably copper or nickel, and is, in fact, a semi-trans- 
 parent green Jasper ; and although it often approximates to 
 the finest Emerald in colour, yet it is never pure, but always 
 interspersed with black spots, or with patches of the dull 
 yellow of the original species, blemishes aptly named by 
 Pliny "sal et pterygmata," grains of salt and bees' wings. 
 But of a pale-green variety pieces do occur quite free from 
 flaws and spots; such, however, are probably rather to be 
 considered as varieties of the Chryoprase. These last are the 
 true Prases of the ancients, so called from their exact resem- 
 blance to the colour of the leek, and some of the best stones 
 of this variety will be found quite equal to the Emerald in 
 tint, though devoid of its lustre. I have also met with the 
 G-rammatias of Pliny " the Prase with a white line running 
 through it" employed as a Gnostic amulet; and also the 
 kind "horrent with spots of blood;" specimens accurately 
 determining the species of gem intended under his designation 
 of Prase. The commonness of the stone when he wrote is 
 clearly shown by his expression " Vilioris est turbae Prasius," 
 the Prase belongs to the vulgar herd. 
 
 The Plasma was a great favourite with the Romans of the 
 Lower Empire, but not of an earlier date, to judge from the 
 circumstance that, although intagli on it are more abundant 
 than on any other stone except the Sard and Carnelian, yet
 
 SECT. I. PLASMA. ir> 
 
 I have never met with any of fine work, and antique, in this 
 material. The subjects also of the intagli occurring in it are 
 usually those chiefly in vogue at a late epoch of Rome, such 
 as the Eagle, Victory, Mercury, Venus, and the Graces. I 
 should conclude from this that the stone was a late importa- 
 tion into the Roman world, else it would certainly have been 
 employed by good artists, both on account of its agreeable 
 colour and of its resemblance to Calcedony in the facility of 
 working. I have often met with camei in this stone, but all 
 apparently of the Renaissance period. Its native country is 
 now unknown, but large masses of it are occasionally dis- 
 covered among the debris of ancient buildings in Rome. 
 Several of the green gems distinguished by Pliny by the 
 names of Tanos, Prasius, and Molochites, are now, to all 
 appearance, included under the appellation of Plasma by 
 collectors. Certainly the great variety of the tints and quali- 
 ties of the stones now called Plasmas indiscriminately would 
 have induced the ancients, whose mineralogical system was 
 entirely based on external peculiarities, to class them under 
 different species. The Molochites (now confounded with the 
 Malachite or carbonate of copper) was quite a different sub- 
 stance, resembling the Emerald, although not transparent, 
 good for making impressions on wax, and worn around chil- 
 dren's necks as an amulet. It perhaps was the clear green 
 Jade in which small figures for suspension are so often found. 
 Prismatical beads 7 of Plasma, as well as of Garnet, are often 
 found in the earth about Rome. They all range nearly 
 about the same size, so that collectors have but little diffi- 
 culty in forming an even row out of many distinct purchases. 
 Here it may be added that our Malachite was the Chrysocolla 
 
 7 This tends to prove that one Jasper beads, as we shall see in the 
 
 species amongst our Plasmas was verses quoted from Naumaclmis. 
 
 the green Jasper of the ancients, Vide Sapphire. 
 who often mention necklaces of
 
 16 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 of the Romans, a name also given to native verdigris, from 
 its use as a solder for gold work. Nero, as patron of the 
 Green Faction, in one of his fits of extravagance caused the 
 Circus to be strewn with the powder of this valuable ore, 
 instead of the ordinary sand. Antique camei in Malachite, 
 though extremely rare compared with the frequency of 
 modern works in this material, nevertheless do exist. 
 Amongst the Pulsky gems is a most lovely bust of a Bac- 
 chante, of the best period of Roman art, still retaining in 
 portions the thin hard patina of brown oxide, with which its 
 surface was entirely encrusted when it came into the hands of 
 the present owner a convincing proof of the ages that must 
 have elapsed since its concealment in the earth. 
 
 Diomede and UlyBBes carrying off the Palladium : Greco-Italian. Agate. 
 
 JASPEES. 
 
 ras /3ovs Kai TOV tacrmv Iftatv nrept X el P' SoK^creis 
 ras (lev avcmvfielv rov8f x\orjKop.efi.v. 
 
 Anthol. ix. 750. 
 
 " You '11 deem this jasper, deftly graved with cows, 
 A grassy mead where breathing cattle browse." 
 
 Of tins stone the green semi-transparent kind 8 was con- 
 sidered the most valuable by the Eomans, and to this sort 
 
 8 This was the " Jasper " properly lucet Jaspis." Pliny goes on to 
 so called in the lapidary's language notice its former high estimation 
 of the times : " Viret et saepe trans- and subsequent neglect.
 
 JASPERS. 17 
 
 refers the pretty epigram of King Polemo (Anthol. ix. 746), 
 ' On a herd of cattle engraved on a green Jasper : ' 
 
 " Seven oxen does this jasper signet bound, 
 All seem alive within its narrow round ; 
 Hence lest they roam beyond the verdant plains, 
 A golden fold the little herd restrains." 
 
 That spotted with red, now called the Bloodstone, anciently 
 bore the name of Heliotrope, or " Sun-turner," from the 
 notion that if immersed in water it reflected an image of the 
 sun as red as blood, " sanguineo repercussu ; " and because, 
 also, "when in the air it might be used as a mirror to observe 
 the eclipses of the same luminary, and the moon passing 
 before and obscuring it." In this kind antique intagli are 
 very rarely to be met with. 9 On the other hand, they are 
 very frequent in a hard green Jasper mottled with brown, 
 a favourite stone with the Gnostics. A dull yellow variety 
 was also much used by them for their talismans, and also by 
 the engravers of the earlier Mithraic representations. The 
 black, a very fine and hard material, presents us with many 
 excellent intagli of every epoch of the art, 10 as does also the 
 dark-green variety above all for Egyptian work. The so- 
 called red Jasper is a softer stone, and of a different species ; 
 it is now often called Haematite, but the ancient Hematites 
 bore no resemblance at all to this substance, for it could be 
 dissolved in water, and was used in medicine, and was, there 
 can be little doubt, nothing more than our Bole Armoniac. 
 
 Of this red Jasper there are two sorts one of a vermilion 
 
 9 It was, however, a great fa- niously availing themselves . of the 
 
 vourite with the early Italian en- red spots on its surface to imitate 
 
 gravers, many of whose works on the issuing blood, 
 
 bloodstone have been sold as pre- 10 A fragment of one of the finest 
 
 cious antiques. They were fond of Greek intagli known, the Medusa's 
 
 using it for representations of the profile of the Mertens-Schaafhausen 
 
 Flagellation, or Martyrdoms : inge- Collection, is on black Jasper. 
 

 
 18 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 colour, the other of a very rich crimson ; the latter is by far 
 the rarest. This stone has always been a favourite with the 
 Romans, from the middle period down to the end of the 
 Empire. We often find in it Imperial portraits of admirable 
 work ; while the rude intagli also, of latest date, appear on 
 this material in an endless abundance. One of the finest 
 intagli in existence, the head of Minerva, after Phidias, the, 
 perhaps, chief treasure in that division of the Vienna Collec- 
 tion, is engraved on red Jasper. It bears the signature of 
 Aspasius, whose works, as Visconti observes, appear exclu- 
 sively upon this stone a singular exception to the usual 
 mediocrity of intagli in this material. Hence we may con- 
 jecture that red Jasper, in the age of this artist, was still 
 rare in Europe ; and that he was captivated by the beautiful 
 opacity and rich colour of the substance, as well as by its 
 close and easily-worked texture, which made it so favourite 
 a ring-stone under the Lower Empire, when the importation 
 of it had so largely increased. At the present day the source 
 of this supply is unknown : the true antique Jasper, ver- 
 milion coloured, is only to be met with in antique examples, 
 and hence the modern engravings, will be always discovered 
 to be executed on a brownish-red variety. This peculiarity, 
 at the first sight of the stone itself, caused me to doubt the 
 authenticity of the Bearded Bacchus, by Aspasius, in the 
 British Museum, the modern origin of which I have since 
 ascertained to be established beyond all dispute. 
 
 Pliny distinguishes several varieties of the Jasper, and says 
 that the best sort had a tinge of purple, the second of rose- 
 colour, and the third of the Emerald. A fourth sort was 
 called by the Greeks Borea, and resembled the sky of an 
 autumnal morning hence must have been of a pale blue. 
 One kind, like an Emerald, and surrounded by a white line 
 passing through its middle, was called the Grammatias, and
 
 SECT. I. JASPERS. 19 
 
 was used in the East as an amulet. I have seen a square 
 gem, exactly answering to this description, engraved on both 
 sides with Gnostic legends. According to Pliny, Jaspers were 
 much imitated by means of pastes ; and a combination of 
 several colours artificially cemented together with Venice 
 turpentine produced a new variety called the Terebinthizusa. 
 To baffle such a fraud the best stones were always set trans- 
 parent, "the edges only of the gem being clasped by the 
 gold." Jaspers were the stones called " Sphragides," seal- 
 stones par eminence, at this period, and held precedence 
 above all others for the purpose of signets, as they made the 
 best impressions of all intagli upon the soft wax then in use. 
 A pale-green variety, of a very fine grain, and quite opaque, 
 sometimes occurs, and often with good engravings upon it : 
 this was the kind so much imitated by the v ancient pastes. 
 There is no doubt that many of the lighter-coloured Plasmas 
 were reckoned among the green Jaspers of ancient times. 
 
 The ancient " Agate " comprehended latterly as many 
 varieties as are classed under that name and that of Jasper 
 in the present day. The different kinds are prettily described 
 by Orpheus (v. 605), who prescribes this stone as an antidote 
 against the bites of serpents : 
 
 ." Drink too the changeful agate in thy wine ; 
 Like different gems its varying colours shine ; 
 Full oft its hue the jasper's green displays, 
 The emerald's light, the blood-red sardian's blaze ; 
 Sometimes vermilion, oft 'tis overspread 
 With the dull copper, or the apple's red. 
 But best of all that sort whereon is spied 
 The tawny colour of the lion's hide. 
 This gem by th' ancient demigods was famed, 
 And from its hue Leontoseres named. 
 All covered o'er with thousand spots 't is seen 
 Some red, some white, some black, some grassy green. 
 
 C 2
 
 20 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 If any, groaning from the scorpion's dart, 
 Should sue to thee to heal the venomed smart, 
 Bind on the wound, or strew the powdered stone, 
 The pain shall vanish and the influence own." 
 
 , 
 ^ 
 
 Medusa : Greek. Black Jasper. 
 
 GAKNETS. 
 
 This gem has borrowed its name from the " Granatici," or 
 red hyacinths of antiquity, so called from their resemblance 
 to the scarlet blossom of the pomegranate. For stones of the 
 same colour were promiscuously classed under the same title 
 by the ignorance of the Middle Ages, whence has arisen the 
 strange interchange of names between ancient and modern 
 precious stones so often to be noticed in these pages. 
 
 Garnets were largely employed by the Eomans and the 
 Persians; though they do not appear to have been much 
 used for engraving upon before a late date, to judge from 
 the fact that splendid stones often occur completely dis- 
 figured by the wretched abortions of intagli cut upon them, 
 evidently the productions of the very decrepitude of the art 
 I have, however, seen a few admirable works of antique skill 
 upon this gem, but they are of excessive rarity, and, in most 
 instances, belong to the Roman school. 1 Portraits of the 
 Sassanian monarchs frequently appear on this gem ; in fact, it 
 
 1 The magnificent Atalanta of the and of the finest Greek work, is an 
 Berlin gallery, on a large Carbuncle, exception to this remark.
 
 SECT. I. GARNETS. 21 
 
 would seem to have been regarded by the later Persians as a 
 royal stone, from the preference they have given it as the 
 bearer of the sovereign's image and superscription. Pliny 
 says that all the varieties of the garnet " Carbunculus " 
 obstinately resist the engraver, and the wax adheres to them 
 in sealing. This remark is quite correct as referring to the 
 soft sealing material used by the ancients, a composition 
 similar to our modelling wax, which is made of beeswax, to 
 which is added a few drops of turpentine, and a little vermilion 
 to give a colour. They also used for sealing a fine pipe-clay 
 called " creta," which still continues the Italian term for 
 plastic clay. 2 
 
 The common Garnet is of the colour of red wine more or 
 less diluted. The Carbuncle, which is always cut en cabochon, 
 i.e. in a form approaching to the hemispherical, is of a deeper 
 and a richer colour. The Vermilion Garnet shows a con- 
 siderable admixture of yellow, and often much resembles the 
 dark Jacinth. The Almandine or Siriam Garnet, so called 
 from the district in Pegue whence it now comes, has a tinge 
 of purple mixed with the red, and exactly corresponds with 
 Pliny's description of the Carbunculi amethystizontes, which 
 were considered the first of all the varieties of that gem ; and 
 this rank it has retained in modern times. It is in truth one 
 of the most beautiful of all the coloured precious stones, and 
 is found in crystals of considerable size. 
 
 Garnets and Carbuncles are now supplied in large quantities 
 from the mines of Zoblitz in Silesia ; yet even now a stone of 
 a certain size, of good rich colour, and free from flaws, is of 
 considerable value, ranging from 81. to 10?. But its estima- 
 tion has greatly fallen since the times of Mary Queen of 
 
 8 Greta is usually rendered Chalk, is probably Marga, and derived from 
 but this substance is unknown in the Gallic name at the time the 
 Italy : the true Latin term for chalk Romans first saw it in Gaul.
 
 22 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Scots ; the pendent Carbuncle to her necklace being valued 
 at 500 crowns an enormous sum in those days. 
 
 The Guarnaccino seems to be a mean between the Kuby 
 and this gem, since it unites the distinctive marks of both, 
 combining the colour of wine with the rosy tint of the former. 
 It is a very splendid stone; fine Koman intagli, and fre- 
 quently imperial portraits, occur upon it. When of the first 
 quality it can with difficulty be distinguished from the Spinel 
 Euby. Modern engravers have seldom employed the Garnet 
 except for works in relievo, and especially for small portrait 
 cameos. The stone is extremely hard to work, and also very 
 brittle difficulties which they cannot overcome ; a circum- 
 stance that affords a much stronger testimony to the skill of 
 the ancient artists, who have left us such highly-finished 
 works in so refractory a material. 
 
 A variety, though rare, is sometimes found of a beautiful 
 rose colour, much resembling the Balais Euby ; on this kind 
 I have also seen good intagli, especially one at Home (in 
 1848), Apollo seated and playing the lyre, of most admirable 
 workmanship, but the gem accidentally broken in two, a 
 misfortune to which all Garnets are peculiarly liable. 
 
 A very similar stone in appearance to this Eose Garnet is 
 produced by roasting the Brazilian Topaz for several hours 
 under hot ashes in a furnace: it thus changes its golden 
 colour into a bright pink, and at the same time acquires 
 additional lustre. 
 
 JACINTH. 
 
 The modern Jacinth derives its name from the yellow 
 variety of the ancient Hyacinthus, with which it was con- 
 founded in the times of barbarism. The greater part, how- 
 ever, of what are now termed Jacinths are only Cinnamon 
 Stones or a reddish-brown kind of Garnet of little beauty or
 
 SECT. I. JACINTH. 23 
 
 value. But the true Jacinth belongs to the Jargoon family, 
 distinguished by having for its base the earth zircon, only 
 found in this class of gems. There can be little doubt that 
 our Jacinth was the ancient Lyncurium, a stone described by 
 Theophrastus as resembling amber in levity, colour, power 
 of refraction, and electrical properties. One kind is of a 
 pale yellow, and extremely brilliant : there is also another 
 of a rich orange brown, very agreeable to the eye. 
 
 The Lyncurium is thus described by Theophrastus (c. 
 28) : " This gem (the Emerald) is indeed extraordinary on 
 account of its singular property of tinging water: and equally 
 so is the Lyncurium ; for out of this also signet-stones are 
 engraved ; and it is very hard, exactly like a real stone ; for 
 it attracts in the same manner as amber, some say not only 
 straws and bits of wood, but even copper and iron, if they be 
 in thin pieces, as Diocles also hath observed. It is highly 
 transparent, and cold to the touch, and that produced by the 
 male lynx is better than that of the female, and that of the 
 wild lynx better than that of the tame, in consequence both 
 of the difference of their food, and the former having plenty 
 of exercise, and the latter none ; hence their secretions are 
 the more limpid. Those experienced in the search find it by 
 digging ; for the animal endeavours to conceal the deposit, 
 and scrapes up earth over it after he has voided it. There is 
 a peculiar and tedious method of working up this substance 
 also, as well as the Smaragdus. " 
 
 The ancients used both sorts very frequently, both for 
 intagli and for camei ; but for the latter purpose they 
 preferred the darker kind, which thus worked is very effective. 
 This deep-coloured gem may have been the Morio, so named 
 from its mulberry colour, which Pliny says was used for 
 engravings in relief " ad ectypas sculpturas faciendas." The 
 style of all engravings on this gem is very peculiar, so as to be
 
 24 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 easily recognised even in the impression from such an intaglio. 
 It is characterised by a kind of fluidity and roundness of all 
 the lines, and a shallowness of engraving, perhaps adopted in 
 order to avoid all risk of fracture in working so porous a stone. 
 This porousness is manifest even to the naked eye ; for a 
 Jacinth held up against a strong light appears like a mass of 
 petrified honey. The difficulty of engraving on the Lyncu- 
 rium is alluded to by Theophrastus in the above passage ; 
 for, after mentioning that signet-stones were engraved out of 
 this substance, he adds, " the working in it is somewhat more 
 tedious " than in other stones : such at least appears to be the 
 
 meaning of his obscure expression, yivsrai Se x<zi xaTsya<rta ns 
 
 IZUTOV 7r\iuv. If this version is correct we have here a distinct 
 allusion to the peculiar style of the engravings in this stone, 
 worked out as they are in a manner composed of flowing 
 and shallow hollows, totally different from that found in other 
 gems belonging to the same period. From the porousness 
 of the stone, intagli cut upon it, in spite of its great hardness, 
 usually have a very worn and scratched surface, so that a 
 Jacinth intaglio, exhibiting a high polish on the exterior, may 
 justly be suspected of being a modern work. Even the 
 interior of the design, unless where protected by the unusual 
 deepness of the cutting, will be found to have suffered in a 
 singular manner from the effects of friction and of time. The 
 finest intaglio in Jacinth at present known is doubtless the 
 full-face portrait called that of Pompey, but more probably that 
 of Ma3cenas, formerly in the Herz Collection, which also derives 
 additional value from the name of the artist AHOAAQNIOY 
 engraved upon it. A fine Jacinth is a splendid ornamental 
 ring-stone, and much superior to the best Topaz, as it has a 
 peculiar golden lustre mixed with its rich orange ; however, it 
 is at present completely out of fashion, and consequently of 
 little value ; such is the unreasoning caprice of the mode.
 
 SECT. T. JACINTH. 25 
 
 Pliny indeed denies the existence of a gem Lyncurium, 3 
 which word, he asserts, is only another name for amber; but 
 the descriptions he quotes of it from Theophrastus and Diocles, 
 who write that it was used for signets, and was of the colour 
 of fiery amber, are quite sufficient to identify it with our 
 Jacinth, a favourite stone with the Greek artists of the age 
 of these two authors. They also distinctly mention its strong 
 attractive property when heated by friction. 
 
 As an ornamental stone the Jacinth may be distinguished 
 from the Cinnamon Stone both by its porous texture, and 
 above all by its electricity, a quality only found in the Dia- 
 mond, Sapphire, Tourmaline, and this class of gems. 
 
 Most probably our Jacinth was also reckoned among the 
 varieties of the Lychnis by Pliny, who makes this one of his 
 classes of the genus Carbunculus. The Lycimis got its name 
 from its supposed property of lighting lamps, " a lucernarum 
 accensu." This wonderful power is mentioned by Orpheus, 
 v. 270 < 
 
 " Dear to the gods, thou canst the sacred blaze, 
 Like to the crystal, on their altars raise." 
 
 It was divided into two sorts, one with a purple, the other 
 with a red tinge. It possessed the property of attracting 
 light objects when rubbed or heated in the sun, and it was 
 imported from India. These particulars would seem to 
 identify this stone with the Ked Tourmaline or Eubellite, 
 which is as electric as amber itself. 4 Both Jacinths and 
 Carbuncles were obtained by the ancients in masses of extra- 
 ordinary bulk ; Callistratus states that the Indians hollowed 
 
 3 So called as being supposed to too soft a stone to answer the an- 
 be formed from the urine of the cient description of the Lychnis, 
 Lynx converted into stone when which was extremely difficult to en- 
 buried in the earth by that beast. grave. See Euby. 
 
 4 Except that the Tourmaline is
 
 26 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Carbunculi into cups holding a sextarius, or nearly one pint. 
 I have myself seen a small antique bowl of the size of a 
 Chinese teacup formed out of a single Garnet, and bearing 
 its owner's name, KOAPOY, engraved on the inside. 
 
 The Lychnis is thus mentioned by Lucian, ' De Syria Dea :' 
 " The goddess wears on her head a gem called Lychnis 
 (lamp-stone), a name derived from its nature. From it a 
 great and shining light is diffused in the night-time, so that 
 the whole temple is thereby lighted up as though by many 
 lamps burning. By day its lustre is more feeble, however it 
 still presents a very fiery appearance." Alardus, a Dutch- 
 man, writing in the year 1539, caps this story with the fol- 
 lowing wonderful description of a similar gem : 
 
 " Amongst other stones of the most precious quality, and 
 therefore beyond all price, and not to be estimated by any 
 equivalent of human riches, the gift of that most noble lady 
 Heldegarde, formerly wife of Theodoric, Count of Holland, 
 which she had caused to be set in a gold tablet of truly in- 
 estimable value, and which she had dedicated to St. Adalbert, 
 the patron of the town of Egniund ; among these gems I say 
 was a Chrysolampis, commonly called an Osculan, which in 
 the night-time so lighted up the entire chapel on all sides that 
 it served instead of lamps for the reading of the Hours late at 
 night, and would have served the same purpose to the pre- 
 sent day had not the hope of gain caused it to be stolen by a 
 runaway Benedictine monk, the most greedy creature that 
 ever went on two legs. He threw it into the sea close by 
 Egmund, for fear of being convicted of sacrilege by the pos- 
 session of such a gem. Some traces of this stone still remain 
 in the upper border of the before-mentioned tablet." 
 
 To this circumstantial narrative we may safely apply the 
 line 
 
 " The talc of the 'jewel' 's a damnable bounce ;"
 
 SECT. I. EMERALDS. 27 
 
 for the property of phosphorescence is possessed by no other 
 gem except the Diamond, and this only retains it for a few 
 minutes after having been exposed to a hot sun and then 
 immediately carried into a dark room. This singular 
 quality must often have attracted the notice of Orientals 
 on entering their gloomy chambers after exposure to their 
 blazing sun, and thus have afforded sufficient foundation 
 to the wonderful tales built upon the simple fact by 
 their luxuriant imaginations. 
 
 Sappho: Archaic Greek. Jacinth. Augur taking the auspices : Etruscan. Jacinth 
 
 EMERALDS. 
 
 It has been frequently asserted by writers on gems that 
 the ancients were not acquainted with the true Emerald, 
 which they pretend was unknown in Europe before the dis- 
 covery of Peru, from whence in the present day the market 
 is exclusively supplied. In spite of the vast numbers of 
 Emeralds occurring in Indian ornaments, both in their native 
 form and rudely cut into pear-drops and " tables," no mines 
 of this gem are known to exist in India ; and Tavernier goes 
 so far as to assert positively that all Emeralds used in that 
 country must have been imported from Peru by the way of 
 the Philippine Isles. But if we carefully consider facts, we 
 shall be led to a very different conclusion, and shall find that 
 the ancients were abundantly supplied not merely with the
 
 28 MATERIALS. SECT. 1. 
 
 true Emerald, but also with the Green Ruby, a much harder 
 and much rarer stone, the Smaragdus Scythicus of Pliny. 
 We find numbers of these gems, often of great size, adorning 
 antique pieces of jewellery made long before the discovery of 
 America a fact in itself sufficient to prove the previous 
 existence of the Emerald in Europe, from whatever other 
 region it might have been procured. Large Emeralds, 
 Rubies, and Sapphires, all uncut, adorn the Iron Crown of 
 Lombardy, presented to the Cathedral of Monza by Queen 
 Theodelinda at the end of the sixth century, and which has 
 never been altered since that period. They also appeared 
 in the crown of King Agilulph, also of the same date, al- 
 though that was probably brought to its latest and more 
 tasteful shape by a famous goldsmith, Anguillotto Braccio- 
 forte, in the 14th century, yet still long before the discovery 
 of Peru. They also appear in the cross of Lotharius, a work 
 of the 9th century, and in the crown of Hungary of the 10th, 
 both of which will be fully described in the course of this 
 work. A good Emerald may also be seen in the tiara of 
 Pope Julius II., who died 32 years before the conquest of 
 Peru : this tiara is preserved among the jewels of the Louvre. 
 Cellini also, speaking of the antique gems which he used to 
 purchase of the country people during his residence at Rome 
 (in which line he boasts of having carried on a very lucrative 
 trade with the cardinals and other wealthy patrons of art of 
 that day), mentions his having thus obtained an Emerald 
 exquisitely engraved with a horse's head. This stone was of 
 such fine quality that when recut " it was sold for many hun- 
 dred crowns." It may here be observed that the horse's head, 
 an attribute of Neptune, would be appropriately engraved 
 upon the sea-coloured stone, and, above all, that the intaglio 
 itself, if of the excellent work described by Cellini, must 
 have been antique, for the art of gem engraving had only
 
 SECT. I. EMERALDS. 29 
 
 been revived in Italy a few years before his own birth, 
 A.D. 1500. 
 
 According to Pliny, the Bactrian and Scythian Emeralds 
 were considered the best of all, on account of their depth of 
 colour and their freedom from flaws" nullis major austeritas 
 aut minus vitii." Their extreme hardness prevented their 
 being engraved. All these characteristics united point out 
 these gents as the Green Ruby still to be met with, though 
 always a rare variety, among the Eubies and Sapphires of 
 Ceylon. In fact, the stone should rather be called a Green 
 Sapphire than a Ruby. I have seen one of large size from 
 the Hope Collection ; its colour was a very dark green, fully 
 agreeing with the term "austeritas," and its freedom from 
 flaws, as contrasted with another true Emerald of the same 
 bulk, was very striking. Hardly any other \gern is so liable 
 to defects as the latter stone ; even the smallest Peruvian 
 Emerald when cut will show one or more flaws in its sub- 
 stance ; indeed the absence of any is of itself sufficient to 
 excite suspicion that the gem is merely a glass imitation, for 
 no precious stone can be more exactly counterfeited by a 
 paste. In consequence of this great liability to defects, no 
 gem varies so much in value as the Emerald, selling at prices 
 varying from 10s. to 3?. per carat, according to its clearness 
 and depth of colour. 
 
 The Romans derived their principal supply of the true 
 Emerald from Egypt, from the mines in the vicinity of 
 Coptos. Extensive traces of these workings are still to be 
 seen on Mount Zahara, from which Sir G. Wilkinson brought 
 away several specimens of the gem in its quartz matrix, some 
 of which are exhibited in the Mineralogical Department of 
 the British Museum. These are indeed of a bad pale colour 
 and full of flaws, yet incontestably true Emeralds ; however, 
 it was not likely that a casual visitor could obtain anything
 
 30 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 but the refuse of the ancient miners, and a further working 
 of the veins might produce stones of better quality, and equal 
 to those Emeralds of Imperial times which we shall presently 
 notice. Some were also obtained by the Romans from the 
 copper-mines of Cyprus : these were the worst of all ; we 
 need not however suppose, with some theoretical mineralo- 
 gists, that they were only pieces of green malachite. Pliny 
 gives a copious list of names for gems of a green colour and 
 of various degrees of value, so we can well afford to confine 
 his name of " Smaragdus " to the Green Euby and the true 
 Emerald. 5 The notion that these Cyprian Emeralds were 
 only malachite is entirely confuted by his description, " that 
 they were of the colour of transparent sea-water," that is, of 
 a light green without any depth of hue. It is said that the 
 tomb of Hermias, a prince of that island, which stood on the 
 coast near the tunny-fishery, was surmounted by a marble 
 lion, the eyes of which were made of these Emeralds, and 
 shot forth such lustre upon the sea as to scare away the fish ; 
 nor could the cause be discovered for a long time, until the 
 gems in the eyes were changed. Curiously enough, a marble 
 lion was brought to England last year from Cos, the pupils of 
 whose eyes were very deeply hollowed out, as if for the recep- 
 tion of some gems of an appropriate colour. The Ethiopian 
 Emeralds were found in a mine three days' journey distant 
 from Coptos ; they were of a brilliant green, but rarely clear 
 or of the same shade throughout, " acriter virides sed non 
 
 5 The remark of Pliny that vercd at the back : its green will 
 " those Emeralds which have a disappear when its plane is brought 
 plane surface reflect objects like a to a particular angle with the ray 
 mirror " is singularly correct, and of light, and it will seem precisely 
 attests his accurate acquaintance like a fragment of a looking-glass 
 with the peculiar properties of this in the same position. This sin- 
 gem. For if a large Emerald be gular change is not observable in 
 held so as to reflect the light, it will any other coloured stone, 
 assume the appearance of being sil-
 
 SECT. I. EMERALDS. 31 
 
 facile puri aut concolores." Those brought from Media were 
 improved in hue by maceration in wine and oil ; they ex- 
 ceeded all others in size. 
 
 I shall now proceed to describe some true Emeralds of un- 
 doubted antiquity, which have at different times come under 
 my own notice. A hollow gold ring, the make of which be- 
 tokened an early date, and which had been found in the 
 island of Milos, was set with an Emerald retaining its native 
 form, a portion of a prism, and rudely polished. The stone 
 was of a beautiful colour, a bluish green, exactly correspond- 
 ing to Pliny's description of the Chalcedonian Emerald, 
 " like the feathers of a peacock or the neck of a pigeon ;" 
 but the stone was very tender and full of flaws. In a very 
 choice cabinet of gems, which afterwards passed into the 
 possession of L. Fould of Paris, were the following antique 
 intagli on true Emeralds, some of considerable size and 
 beauty of colour, and the work of which, as far as my own 
 judgment goes, bears every mark of authenticity : A bull 
 butting with his head, very spirited, the style of the engrav- 
 ing of the Roman period. Busts of Hadrian and Sabina 
 facing each other. 6 A lion's head, full face, crowned with 
 the persea, evidently intended for the type of the Egyptian 
 lion-headed serpent, Chneph, the emblem of the sun, after- 
 wards so favourite a device with the Gnostics. This last 
 
 6 Also an excellent portrait of raid more fashionable at Rome, and 
 
 Hadrian on a very fine Emerald, occasioned a more extended working 
 
 I have lately seen on this gem, and of the mines of Mount Zahara, the 
 
 one of perfect colour, another head, chief source of the supply. An ex- 
 
 apparently of Sabina. It is curious traordinary intaglio of Alexandrian 
 
 so large a proportion of the intagli work of this date, a head of Jupiter, 
 
 upon so rare a material should be- surrounded by various emblems, and 
 
 long to the reign of this emperor : resting on a crocodile, from the Mer- 
 
 perhaps his fondness for Egyptian tens-Schaafhausen Collection, is also 
 
 antiquities and long sojourn in that cut upon a true but pale Emerald 
 
 country may have made the Erne- of considerable size.
 
 MATERIALS. SECT. 1. 
 
 gem was a miracle of the glyptic art ; the head in the im- 
 pression from it stood out in full relief, with gaping jaws, 
 expressive of the utmost spirit ; while the stone was of the 
 finest colour, purity, and lustre, and in itself of considerable 
 value as a first-rate Emerald. 
 
 Among the Herz gems was a bust of Neptune, a full face, 
 on a large pale Emerald with a bluish tinge, with the artist's 
 name, QAOS, at the side. The execution of the engraving 
 is very fine, and quite in the antique manner. It is cut upon 
 the flat section of a large hemispherical stone, which, after a 
 very careful examination, I have some doubt in pronouncing to 
 be an Emerald, for when held up against the light it has a very 
 blue tinge and a peculiar lustre, leading me to consider it as 
 a very fine Aquamarine, a most appropriate stone to bear 
 the impress of the head of Neptune. 
 
 Amongst Hancock's rings, sold Feb. 1858, was a very 
 spirited intaglio, Cupid riding on a dolphin through the 
 waves, the work to all appearance antique, upon a very large 
 pale Emerald, for such the stone was pronounced to be by a 
 jeweller of great experience in the purchase of precious 
 stones. When examined against the light it did not present 
 the peculiar tinge of the Beryl, to which class I was at first 
 disposed to refer it on account of its extraordinary size. It 
 was absurdly described in the catalogue of the sale as a 
 Chrysoprase. 
 
 The huge Smaragdi mentioned by Theophrastus when he 
 speaks of one sent by the King of Babylon to the King of 
 Egypt 4 cubits long by 3 wide, and of an obelisk in the 
 Temple of Jupiter 40 cubits high made out of only 4 
 Emeralds, must have been either certain Green Jaspers, 
 Malachites, or more probably glass. In his own time there 
 was a pillar made out of a single Smaragdus standing in the 
 Temple of Hercules in Tyre. Apion, who lived a little
 
 SECT. I. EMERALDS. 3:5 
 
 before the time of Pliny, had mentioned a colossus of 
 Serapis then standing in the Labyrinth 9 cubits high, made 
 out of Smaragdus. The Alexandrians were always famous 
 for their manufacture of glass, so that these figures and 
 obelisks, although their size is doubtless greatly exaggerated, 
 may have actually existed in some vitreous composition, and 
 been passed off upon the credulous visitor as real Emeralds. 
 Such was the case with the famous Sacro Catino of the 
 Cathedral of S. Giovanni at Genoa, which was said by 
 tradition to have been used by Our Lord at the institution 
 of the Last Supper. It was a large dish of a transparent 
 rich green substance, and believed for many ages to be 
 formed out of a single Emerald of inestimable value, but 
 which the investigating spirit of the French, when masters of 
 the city, speedily tested and proved to be merely glass. 7 
 However, it may here be observed that the antique glass 
 Emeralds possess a degree of lustre, colour, and hardness 
 very superior to those of modern pastes. One I have seen at 
 Rome that had been recut and set in a gold ring, that 
 eclipsed in beauty almost every real stone of the kind. In 
 fact, it is a usual practice there, on finding a fine paste 
 Emerald, to have it recut and facetted for a ring-stone, and 
 as such to obtain a high price for it from the unwary dilettante. 8 
 
 7 Such was doubtless the famous fine Emeralds, which they sell to 
 " Table of Solomon " found by the the " steamboat gentlemans " at 
 Arab conquerors in the Gothic trea- high prices. The Brighton Eme- 
 sury of Spain, which their histo- raids, so largely purchased by 
 rians describe as a table of consider- Cockney visitors, are of similar 
 able size, of one single piece of solid origin : the old glass fragments, 
 Emerald, encircled with three rows thrown into the sea purposely, by 
 of fine pearls, supported by 365 feet the lapidaries of the place, are by 
 of gems and massy gold, and esti- the attrition of the shingle speedily 
 mated at the price of 500,000 pieces converted into the form of real peb- 
 of gold. bles. These ingenious tradesmen 
 
 8 The Cingalese anxiously seek literally thus cast their bread into 
 after the thick bottoms of our wine- the water, and find it again after 
 bottles, out of which they cut very many days. 
 
 D
 
 34 MATERIALS. SECT, I. 
 
 Nero, who was extremely short-sighted, "Neroni oculi 
 hebetes nisi quum ad prope adraota eonniveret," used to view 
 the combats of gladiators in the arena through an Emerald, 
 " Smaragdo spectabat." This stone must have been hol- 
 lowed out at the back, as many antique gems, especially 
 Carbuncles, are still found to be, and thus have acted as a 
 concave lens to assist his sight in watching the distant scene 
 below the emperor's seat in the amphitheatre. But its 
 power must then have been ascribed to the material, not to 
 the form of the stone, for the looking at an Emerald was then 
 considered as extremely beneficial to the sight a notion that 
 prevailed as early as the times of Theophrastus, who notices 
 that people wore Emeralds set in their rings for this very 
 purpose. Gem-engravers were accustomed to refresh their 
 wearied eyes, after the excessive straining of them required in 
 their work, by gazing for some minutes upon an Emerald kept 
 by them for that purpose. Had it not been for this confusion 
 of ideas, the invention of spectacles, at least for myopes, 
 would have been anticipated by more than a thousand years. 
 Some commentators have absurdly supposed that Nero used a 
 flat " table " Emerald as a mirror to reflect the distant view 
 of the combat; such writers could never themselves have 
 suffered from the affliction of short-sightedness, or they would 
 have known that to such an eye a reflection of a distant view 
 would be but doubly obscured obscurity. 9 Any one that has 
 examined the portraits of this emperor on a gem or a well- 
 preserved medal will at once recognise, from the extraordi- 
 nary size and fullness of his eyes, how very short-sighted he 
 must have been. Curiously enough, myopism is still in Italy 
 almost a distinct peculiarity of aristocratic birth. 
 
 9 Had the Emerald been only bat," not merely " smaragdo," which 
 employed on these occasions as a can only mean " by the aid of an 
 mirror, Pliny would have used the Emerald he used to view the corn- 
 expression " in smaragdo specta- bats of gladiators."
 
 SECT. I. EMEKALDS. 35 
 
 The Hindoos of the present day are very fond of the 
 Emerald, especially when formed as a pear, and worn as a 
 drop from the ear. They also wear it much in bracelets, and 
 many a glorious gem of this species have they remorselessly 
 ruined by drilling a hole through it for the purpose of string- 
 ing it as a bead. One of the finest known was thus to be 
 seen martyrized upon the arm of Eunjeet Sing. Such stones, 
 in order to be used in European ornaments, must be cut in 
 two to get rid of the perforation; and thus a gem of matchless 
 magnitude is necessarily reduced into a pair of only ordinary 
 dimensions. One of the largest and finest Sapphires that 
 ever came under my notice had been thus cruelly maltreated 
 in order to make an ear-pendant. 
 
 It may be added that " Smaragdus " is the Greek corrup- 
 tion of the Sanscrit Smarakata, the gem and its name having 
 been imported together from Bactria into Europe by the 
 traders of that race. Pliny's description of the Emerald will 
 form a suitable conclusion to this lengthy dissertation : 
 " After the Diamond and Pearl, the third place is given to 
 the Emerald for many reasons. No other colour is so pleasing 
 to the sight ; for grass and green foliage we view with plea- 
 sure, but Emeralds with so much the greater delight, as 
 nothing whatever compared with them equals them in the 
 intensity of its green. Besides, they are the only gems that 
 fill the eye with their view, but yet do not fatigue it : nay, 
 more, when the sight is wearied by any over-exertion, it is 
 relieved by looking at an Emerald. For gem-engravers no 
 other means of resting the eye is so agreeable ; so effectually, 
 by their mild green lustre, do they refresh the wearied eye." 
 After reading this just panegyric, can any one doubt that 
 Pliny was acquainted with the true Emerald, or suppose that 
 he could have applied such terms of praise to the dull 
 Plasma, Jasper, or Malachite, which many writers on gems 
 
 D 2
 
 36 MATERIALS. SECT. 1. 
 
 have contended that he exclusively meant by the name 
 Smaragdus ? 10 
 
 The Emerald is thus noticed by Theophrastus (On Stones, 
 c. 23) : " Of stones there exist also others out of which they 
 engrave signet-stones ; some for the sake of their beauty 
 alone, such as the Sard, the Jasper, and the Sapphirus : this 
 last is, as it were, spotted with gold-dust. But the Emerald 
 possesses also some peculiar properties, for it assimilates the 
 colour of the water into which it is thrown to its own colour 
 the stone of middling quality tinging a smaller quantity, 
 the best sort all the water, whilst the inferior gem only 
 colours that immediately over and opposite to itself. 1 It is 
 good also for the eyes, for which reason people wear ring- 
 stones made of it, for the sake of looking at them. But it is 
 rare, and small in size, unless we choose to believe the histo- 
 ries about the Egyptian kings, for some assert that one was 
 brought amongst other presents from the King of Babylon 
 four cubits in length by three cubits in width ; and that there 
 now exist, dedicated in the Temple of Jupiter, four obelisks 
 made out of Emerald, forty cubits long, and four wide on one 
 face, and three on the other. But these accounts rest merely 
 on the testimony of their own writers. Of the sort called by 
 many the Bactrian, that at Tyre is the largest, for there is 
 a column of tolerable size in the Temple of Hercules there ; 
 unless, perhaps, it be the spurious Emerald, for there is found 
 such a sort of gem. It exists in localities easily accessible 
 
 10 This, however, is not intended says that it could be used as a 
 
 as a denial that many of the nume- solder for gold. Pliny is speaking 
 
 rous Smaragdi, the list of which for himself in the above laudation 
 
 he has extracted from more early of the beauties of the true gem. 
 writers, were not mere green gems ' The meaning is that it will give 
 
 of different species : for the Cyprian a greenish cast to the water by the 
 
 Smaragdus of Theophrastus is clearly reflection of its own colour, not by 
 
 nothing but our transparent Chry- staining the fluid, as most persons 
 
 socolla, or copper Emerald, for he absurdly understand this passage.
 
 SECT. I. EMERALDS. 37 
 
 and well known, chiefly in two places in Cyprus in the 
 copper-mines, and in the island that lies over against Cal- 
 cedon. In the latter spot they find the more peculiar speci- 
 mens for this species of gem is mined after, like other 
 metals and rods 2 are made of it in Cyprus, quite by itself, 
 and that too in great numbers. But few are met with of 
 sufficient size for a signet-stone, since most of them are too 
 small, for which reason they use it for the soldering of gold, 
 for it solders quite as well as the Chrysocolla ; and some 
 even suspect both to be of the same nature, as they are cer- 
 tainly both exactly alike in colour. Chrysocolla, however, is 
 abundantly found both in gold-mines and still more so in 
 copper-mines, as in those of Stobee. But the Emerald, on 
 the contrary, is rare, as we have observed, and it appears to 
 be produced from the Jasper ; for it is said v that once there 
 was found in Cyprus a stone of which the one half was 
 Emerald, the other half Jasper as being not yet completely 
 transformed by the action of the fluid. There is a peculiar 
 mode of working up this gem so as to give it lustre, for in 
 its native state it has no brilliancy." 
 
 Olympic victor : Etruscan. Emerald. 
 
 2 Probably these are the cylindri pendants so often seen in antique 
 of the Romans, the long and slender works.
 
 MATERIALS. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 r or Palsemon : Greco-Itakau . Beryl. 
 
 BERYL. 
 
 " An Indian beryl erst, great Tryphon's skill 
 Has bent my stubborn nature to his will, 
 And taught me Galatea's form to bear, 
 And spread with gentle hands my flowing hair. 
 Mark how my lips float o'er the watery plain, 
 My swelling breasts the charmed winds constrain ; 
 Freed from the envious gem that yet enslaves, 
 Thou 'It see me sport amid my native waves." 
 
 ADD.EUS, 3 Anthol., ix, 544. 
 
 The Beryl is of little value at the present day, both in con- 
 sequence of its extreme softness and of the abundance in 
 which it is now produced in many p'arts of the world, and 
 that, too, often in masses of enormous magnitude, whose 
 size reminds one of the monstrous Smaragdi spoken of by 
 Theophrastus and Apion. In the British Museum are two 
 Beryls from Acworth, New Hampshire, one of the weight of 
 48 Ibs., the other of 83 Ibs. This stone is of the same che- 
 mical constitution as the Emerald, the basis of both being 
 glucine in almost the same proportion, but it is much softer, 
 and yields to the file. 
 
 3 Addams was an Alexandrian epigram, therefore, fixes the date of 
 poet under the first Ptolemies. This the engraver Tryphon.
 
 SECT. L BERYL. 39 
 
 I have met with but few indubitably antique iutagli in 
 this stone, 4 although it was subsequently a favourite material 
 with the artists of the Kenaissance and later times. Antique 
 engravings on Beryl are almost as rare as on the Emerald : 
 but those on the former stone, as far as my experience goes, 
 all belong to an earlier period, being usually fine works of 
 the Greek school, whilst I have never met with intagli on 
 Emerald which were not clearly of Roman work. Besides 
 the Taras on the Dolphin, already mentioned, one of the most 
 exquisite relics of Magna Grecian art in existence, a Cupid 
 similarly mounted, also on a fine Beryl, is one of the chief 
 ornaments of the Cracherode Collection in the British 
 Museum. This stone was of the same degree of rarity 
 amongst the ancients as the Smaragdus itself, for it was then 
 obtained from India alone. It is the vast supply from Ger- 
 many and America that has so sunk the value of this gem in 
 modern times. It possesses very great lustre, and the lighter 
 variety is often used in jewellery, under the name of Rhine 
 Diamond : and persons have often flattered themselves with 
 being the owners of a true Diamond of enormous value, 
 which, on examination by a skilful lapidary, has proved to 
 be merely one of these comparatively worthless stones. 
 
 This was the only gem facetted by the Romans, who cut it 
 into a sexangular pyramid, as otherwise it had no lustre. 
 Beryls were highly prized at Rome, both for the purpose of 
 ear-drops, and of ornamental, i. e. not engraved, ring-stones. 
 When Cynthia's shade appears to Propertius he remarks 
 that 
 
 " Et solitam digito beryllon adederat ignis." 
 
 4 The finest amongst these few merit. In the same collection are 
 
 is the Taras riding ou a dolphin, of a few more intagli on Beryl of fair 
 
 the Merteus-Schaathausen Collec- Roman work, 
 tion, a Greek work of the highest
 
 40 MATERIALS. SECT. 1. 
 
 " The funeral pile had with its fire defaced 
 The sparkling beryl which her finger graced." 
 
 A line affording a proof, if any were wanted, that the favourite 
 rings of the deceased were burnt together with the corpse ; 
 a fact which fully accounts for the number of fine intagli, 
 partly or wholly calcined, which every collector meets with 
 not unfrequently, and often with the greatest regret at the 
 destruction of some matchless specimen of the skill of the 
 engraver. 
 
 The Indians had the art of tinging crystal so as to pass it 
 off for the Beryl. 5 They also cut this stone into long cylin- 
 drical beads, and wore them strung on elephants' hair, believ- 
 ing that their lustre was heightened by the perforation. But 
 the most perfect in colour were not bored, but used for wear 
 by having each end secured by a gold boss. 
 
 It is a curious fact that Beryllus is the low Latin term for 
 a magnifying glass ; hence the German " Brille," spectacles. 
 Nicolas de Cusa, Bishop of Brixen (who died 1454), gave 
 the name of Beryllus to one of his works, " because by its 
 aid the mind would be able to penetrate into matters which 
 otherwise it would be unable to penetrate." And in his 
 second chapter he says, " The Beryl is a shining, colourless, 
 transparent stone, to which a concave as well as a convex 
 form is given by art ; and, looking through it, one sees what 
 was previously invisible." Probably the first idea of this 
 invention was got by accidentally looking through a double 
 convex and clear Beryl (or one cut en cabochon, a very usual 
 
 5 At present the Indians paint ments are, when taken out, rarely 
 the back of every coloured gem found to be of much value, as all 
 they set to improve the colour, for of high intrinsic value are sold to 
 which reason they never set them the European market, the inferior 
 transparent. From this deceitful samples, when painted, being con- 
 practice of giving a false beauty to sidered good enough for the native 
 the stones, those set in Indian orna- jewellery.
 
 SECT. T. 
 
 AMETHYST. 
 
 41 
 
 form of ancient transparent stones), and thence concluding 
 that a clear piece of glass of the same shape would produce 
 the same effect. Thus the observer by induction was led to 
 apply a similar fact to that of Nero's use of his Emerald 
 lorgnette to the working-out of a most important result ; 
 through the happy thought that the marvellous effect was 
 due not to the material, but to the shape of the stone. 
 
 Apollo : Greek work. Amethyst. 
 
 AMETHYST. 
 
 A* \idos err' dfj.e6v(TTos, e'yco 8'6 TTOTUS 
 77 vTj<pfiv ireurti fi' fj /xa$erco fj-tdvei 
 
 Anih. ix. 748. 
 
 " On wineless gem I toper Bacchus reign; 
 Stone, learn to drink, or teach me to abstain." 
 
 The common Amethyst is only crystal coloured purple by 
 manganese and iron. The deeper the tint, the less brilliant 
 is the stone ; for which reason the ancient engravers preferred 
 the light-coloured variety, which of all gems, next to the 
 Jacinth, possesses the greatest lustre. This pale kind was 
 supposed by Lessing and many others to be the Hyacinthus 
 of Pliny, which, according to him, differs from the Amethyst, 
 " inasmuch as the violet splendour of the Amethyst is diluted 
 in this gem, and, so far from filling the eye, does not even
 
 42 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 reach it, fading away more speedily than the flower of the 
 same name." This flower, it may be observed by the way, 
 was not our hyacinth, a bulb derived from Persia, but the 
 blue iris, or fleur-de-lys, the blossom of which only lasts one 
 day. This appears from Ovid's elegant account of the origin 
 of the plant from the blood of the youth Hyacinthus : 
 
 " Flos oritur formamque capit quam lilia, sinon 
 Purpureus color hie argenteus esset in illis." 
 
 " Formed like the lily, springs a flower to light, 
 But robed in purple, not in silver white." 6 
 
 But we shall prove in the next chapter that the ancient 
 Hyacinthus stone, as described by Solinus, agrees with the 
 modern Sapphire in every particular ; and we have already 
 seen that the stone, now called the Jacinth or Hyacinth e by 
 the French, was the Lyncurium of the ancient lapidaries. 
 
 Pliny mentions the suitableness of the Amethyst for 
 engraving on, " sculpturis faciles," a sufficient proof that no 
 species of this stone was the Hyacinthus, which Solinus calls 
 the hardest of all gems, and only to be touched by the 
 diamond point. 
 
 Intagli of all dates and of every style of work occur on 
 Amethyst, but usually on the light-coloured sort : in fact, an 
 engraving on a dark stone may be suspected of being modern. 
 I have, however, seen a fine Greek intaglio a full-faced head 
 of Pan, the Mask of Terror upon a dark-coloured Amethyst, 
 the antiquity of the work of which could not be called in ques- 
 tion. Scarabei also, both Egyptian and Etruscan, are by no 
 means uncommon in this stone ; and Roman intagli in it are 
 
 * The lilium was probably the to typify, according to the satirical 
 
 white fleur-de-lys, to judge from remark of Dante, the constant civil 
 
 the Italian giglio. The giglio of wars of that State, 
 
 the arms of Florence was first ar- per division fatto vermiglio." 
 gent, but after changed to gules,
 
 SECT. I. AMETHYST. 43 
 
 sufficiently abundant, though not often of good execution. 
 Amongst the finest gems of the Pulsky Collection is the 
 head of a Syrian king upon a large and pale Amethyst, 
 engraved with the artist's name, NEAPKHS. Small heads and 
 busts, in full and half relief, are frequently found executed in 
 this stone, which have probably served to complete statuettes 
 in the precious metals. 
 
 The name (though probably derived from the Indian word 
 for the stone) was by the fanciful Greeks interpreted as if 
 formed from their own language, and thereupon the gem was 
 invested by them with the virtue of acting as an antidote to 
 the effects of wine. Hence the point of the epigram prefixed 
 to this article, and also of another by Asclepiades or Anti- 
 pater of Thessalonica (Anth. ix. 752) : 
 
 V 
 
 " A Bacchante wild, on amethyst I stand, 
 The engraving truly of a skilful hand ; 
 The subject 's foreign to the sober stone, 
 But Cleopatra doth the jewel own ; 
 And on her royal hand all will agree 
 The drunken goddess needs must sober be." 
 
 Even in the last century this stone was still held in high 
 estimation. Queen Charlotte's necklace of well-matched 
 Amethysts, the most perfect in existence, was valued at 
 2000?. ; at present it would not command as many shillings 
 so great has been the importation of late years of German 
 Amethysts and Topazes (purple and yellow crystals of 
 quartz), which are dug up in endless abundance in the Sie- 
 bengeberge on the Khine, where they are cut and polished 
 by steam-power, and despatched into all parts of Europe to 
 be made up into cheap articles of jewellery. They are also 
 found plentifully about Wicklow in Ireland. These occi- 
 dental stones are of a deep, rich hue, but have very little 
 brilliancy : formerly they were largely imported from the
 
 44 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 East Indies, and these were light coloured, but extremely 
 lustrous. In modern usage the Amethyst is the only stone it 
 is deemed allowable to wear in mourning. 7 
 
 We may here mention the true oriental Amethyst, a very 
 rare and valuable stone, being in reality a purple Sapphire, 
 but its purple has little of the redness of that seen in the 
 common Amethyst, but is rather an extremely deep shade of 
 violet. It is a much rarer stone than the ordinary blue 
 Sapphire, but very inferior to it in beauty. English jewellers 
 absurdly call the common Amethyst, if very bright and of 
 two shades of colour, by the name of Oriental ; a stone which 
 in reality few of them in all their experience have ever met 
 with. 
 
 SAPPHIEUS HYACINTHUS. 
 
 That the Sapphirus of the ancients was our Lapis-lazuli is 
 evident from Pliny's description of it, " that it came from 
 Media (whence the entire supply of the latter stone is brought 
 at the present day), that it w r as opaque, and sprinkled with 
 specks of gold, and was of two sorts, a dark and a light blue. 
 It was considered unfit for engraving upon in consequence of 
 its substance being full of hard points," the small spots of 
 yellow pyrites which appear like gold. Nevertheless both 
 intagli and camei of Koman times are frequent in this 
 material, but rarely any works of much merit, though fairly 
 executed Koman intagli in it are not scarce. 8 With Italian 
 
 7 The colour of the Amethyst can a greater or shorter time until they 
 
 be dispelled by a careful roasting in were all brought to the same tint 
 
 hot ashes. Hence, in the last cen- of purple. 
 
 tury, when it was desirable to ob- 8 I have lately seen a very fine 
 
 tain a suite of stones of the same head of Alexander the Great on a 
 
 shade, the jewellers were able to large and fine-coloured Lapis-lazuli, 
 
 obtain this result by subjecting the the reverse of the stone engraved 
 
 several Amethysts to the heat for with full-length figures of Apollo
 
 SECT. L SAPPHIRUS HYACINTHUS. 45 
 
 artists it has been a great favourite, especially for engravings 
 in relief and for busts of statuettes. A serious defect of this 
 substance is that it loses its beautiful azure by exposure to 
 heat and moisture, and assumes a chalky appearance. It has 
 been asserted positively by many modern mineralogists that 
 the Cyanos of Pliny was our Sapphire ; but this opinion is 
 by no means borne out by his description of the former 
 stone : " The Cyanos shall be noticed separately, a favour 
 granted to the blue colour lately mentioned (when speaking 
 of the blue Jasper). The best sort is the Scythian, then the 
 Cyprian, and last of all the Egyptian. It is very largely 
 imitated by staining crystal, and a certain king of Egypt has 
 the credit of having first discovered how to tinge crystal this 
 colour. This also is divided into male and female. There 
 is sometimes gold-dust seen within it, but different from that 
 in the Lapis-lazuli. For in the latter the gold shines in 
 points or specks amidst the azure colour." This mention of 
 the gold-dust visible in the Cyanos, but only occasionally, 
 would lead us to conclude it to have been the clear variety of 
 the Lapis-lazuli, pieces of which sometimes occur entirely free 
 from the golden specks of pyrites. Or it may have been a 
 bright crystal of the sulphate of copper, which is in its native 
 state nearly transparent and of considerable hardness. What- 
 ever it was, it was clearly not the present precious stone the 
 Sapphire. 
 
 What the Cyanus really was may be deduced from the 
 following passage of Theophrastus (c. 55) : "And as there is 
 a Ked Ochre both natural and artificial, so is there a Cyanos, 
 also both produced naturally, and made by art like that 
 
 and Venus with Cupid. The in- middle Roman work, and may have 
 
 taglio was pronounced by the Ger- been the ornament of a lady of the 
 
 man antiquaries to be coeval with family Macriana. 
 Alexander ; to me it rather appears
 
 4(5 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 manufactured in Egypt. Of the Cyanos there are three 
 kinds the Egyptian, the Scythian, and a third the Cyprian. 
 The Egyptian is the best for thick-bodied paints, but the 
 Scythian for those of a diluted kind. The Egyptian is pro- 
 duced artificially, and the writers of the history of their kings 
 mention this also, which of the kings it was who first made a 
 fused Cyanos in imitation of the natural stone ; and that this 
 mineral used to be sent as a present from other regions. 
 From Phenicia, however, it was brought as a fixed tribute, 
 an appointed quantity of Cyanos, so much in its native state 
 and so much calcined. The persons who grind up paints say 
 that the Cyanos produces of itself four different shades of 
 colour ; the first, made from the thinnest pieces, being the 
 lightest ; the second, from the thickest, giving the darkest 
 tint." This artificial substance is the blue enamel so uni- 
 versally used in all Egyptian works in terracotta, and made 
 by fusing together copper filings, powdered flint, and soda, in 
 imitation of the native sulphate of copper, the true Cyanos. 
 This antique invention is still employed by enamellers under 
 the name of Zaffre. 
 
 HYACINTHUS = SAPPHIRE. 
 
 C A <r<ppayls vdicivOos, 'ATroXXwi' 8' fcrrlv ev OVTTJ 
 KO.I Ad<pvr), Trorepov [jLaXXov 6 A.rjroi8as ; 
 
 Anthol. ix. 751. 
 
 " Engraved on Hyacinth fair Daphne shines 
 With Phoebus ; say to which his heart inclines ? " 
 
 That the Hyacinthus of the ancients was the Sapphire of 
 the present day will be clear to every mineralogist who will 
 carefully consider the minute description of the gem given 
 by Solinus : " Amongst those things of which we have 
 spoken (in Ethiopia) is found also the Hyacinthus of a shin-
 
 SECT. I. HYACINTHUS = SAPPHIRE. 47 
 
 ing sky-blue colour ; a precious stone if it be found without 
 blemish, for it is extremely subject to defects. For generally 
 it is either diluted with violet, or clouded with dark shades, or 
 else melts away into a watery hue with too much whiteness. 
 The best colour of the stone is a steady one, neither dulled 
 by too deep a dye nor too clear with excessive transparency, 
 but which draws a sweetly coloured tint (florem) from the 
 double mixture of brightness and purple. This is the gem 
 that feels the air and sympathises with the heavens, and 
 does not shine equally if the sky be cloudy or bright. Be- 
 sides, when put in the mouth it is colder than other stones. 
 For engravings indeed it is by no means adapted, inasmuch 
 as it defies all grinding (attritum respuat) ; it is not however 
 entirely invincible, for it is engraved upon and cut into 
 shape (scribitur et figuratur) by the diamond." In the pre^ 
 ceding passage Solinus has spoken of the production of cin- 
 namon in the same district, which, as the native country of 
 this spice, must have been situated on the Indian Ocean. 
 The importations from India and from Ethiopia vrould 
 naturally be confounded together, since the produce of all 
 these eastern regions came to Alexandria by the way of the 
 Bed Sea. 
 
 We have already noticed Pliny's account of the Hya- 
 cinthus ; it agrees in the main with the above, although his 
 description of the gem is by no means so particular as that of 
 Solinus ; who, to judge from his style, probably flourished two 
 centuries later than the former writer. 9 The great com- 
 mercial intercourse with India, established after the age of 
 Trajan, had by that time made the Romans much better 
 acquainted with the Indian gems. At present all our best 
 Sapphires come from Ceylon ; the only place in Europe 
 
 9 The first author who quotes him is the grammarian Priscianus, in the 
 fifth century.
 
 48 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 where they have been found being a brook near Expailly, in 
 France ; but these are all of a pale colour and small size. 
 The ancients obtained their Hyacinths from the beds of 
 torrents, just as the Cingalese do Sapphires at this day ; for 
 the gem never occurs in the matrix, but always in rolled 
 masses mingled with the gravel. This peculiarity of their 
 origin is elegantly alluded to by Naumachius in his ' Mar- 
 riage Precepts,' v. 58 : 
 
 " Dote not on gold, nor round thy neck so fair 
 The purple hyacinth or green jasper wear ; 
 For gold and silver are but dust and earth, 
 And gems themselves can boast no real worth ; 
 Stones are they, scattered o'er the pebbly coast, 
 Or on the torrent's brink at random toss'd." 
 
 Curiously enough, there is preserved amongst the anti- 
 quities found at Eichborough, now in the library of Trinity 
 College, Cambridge, a portion of a necklace formed of small 
 rough Sapphires, drilled through the middle of each stone 
 and linked together with gold wire, doubtless the very kind 
 of ornament alluded to by Naumachius in the above lines. 
 
 Some of the varieties of the Adamas of Pliny were evi- 
 dently Sapphires, to judge from the terms he uses in de- 
 scribing them : " laterum sexangulo laevore turbinatus in 
 mucronem ;" for this six-sided smooth and pointed crystal is 
 the primitive form of the Sapphire. The steel-colour and 
 great weight 10 which he assigns to the Siderites also prove 
 the same, for no other term could so aptly describe the tint 
 of the unpolished light Sapphire. The " aereus color," 
 also, of his Cyprian adamant is the sky-blue of our best 
 Sapphire, its hue being the exact shade of the "air" or 
 
 10 The specific gravity of the Sapphire is actually one degree greater than 
 that of the Diamond.
 
 SECT. I. HYACINTHUS=SAPPHIRE. 49 
 
 atmosphere in the climate of Rome. 1 It is also stated of 
 this variety that, besides its blue tinge, it could be perforated 
 by means of another Diamond, i. e. of a true Indian stone, 
 to which alone the Sapphire yields in hardness. The light- 
 coloured Sapphires can be rendered entirely colourless by 
 exposure to intense heat for some hours, and acquire also 
 great brilliancy, so as often to be passed off for real Dia- 
 monds. The engravings on Diamond ascribed to Jacopo da 
 Trezzo and other artists of the Renaissance were in reality 
 upon this material, or else on white Topaz. Antique intagli 
 in Sapphire that have come under my inspection are the 
 following : a head of Julius Csesar, the stone an octagon and 
 of the finest deep colour ; a head of Phoabus, full face and 
 surrounded by rays, on a pale stone of nearly hemispherical 
 shape, the work extremely spirited but not of so decidedly 
 antique a character as the first mentioned (from the Herz 
 Collection) ; a magnificent head of Jupiter, inscribed nv, 
 supposed to be the signature of Pyrgoteles himself, but more 
 probably the owner's name, engraved on a pale Sapphire, 
 the back of which was somewhat globose and highly polished. 
 This stone was nearly an inch in diameter, and was disco- 
 vered forming the ornament of the pommel of the handle 
 to a Turkish dagger, the intaglio being entirely concealed 
 by the setting, " the Sapphire being set as a stone cut en 
 cabochm, the flat face downwards." This furnishes an addi- 
 tional proof of its authenticity, and shows that the gem had 
 been picked up by some Oriental who looked to nothing 
 but the value of the material and utterly disregarded the 
 art displayed upon it. This intaglio was, in the opinion of 
 the best judges, one of the finest productions of the Greek 
 school. A head of Alexander as represented on his drachmae, 
 
 " Aeris ecce color turn cum sine riubibus " The colour of the air we view on high ' 
 aer." Ovid, A. A. iii. 174. When not a cloud is seen through all the 
 
 sky." 
 
 E
 
 50 
 
 MATERIALS. 
 
 and of the same size as that coin, on a pale stone streaked 
 with indigo, the execution of the intaglio in a flat, peculiar 
 manner, very similar to that of the gems assigned to the 
 cities of Magna Grecia, and indubitably antique. 2 Of intagli 
 of a later date the Pulsky Collection can boast of a portrait 
 of Pope Paul III., by the famous Alessandro Cesati, on a 
 beautiful Sapphire three-quarters of an inch square, a truly 
 inestimable gem both for the fineness of the stone and the 
 spirit and life of the engraving. 
 
 This stone derived its ancient name Hyacinthus from the 
 resemblance of its colour to the blue fleur-de-lys fabled to 
 have sprung from the blood of Apollo's favourite Hyacinthus, 
 and to bear inscribed on its petals AIAI, the cry of grief of 
 the god, an inscription still to be seen there. This sameness 
 of names, of the boy and of the stone, gave the origin of the 
 epigram at the beginning of this article. 
 
 The modern name of Sapphire is due to its colour ; the 
 
 2 Another very important intaglio 
 of clearly antique Roman work, on 
 a large pale stone, has lately come 
 under my notice. The subject is 
 two actors, the one in front seated, 
 and both bending over a comic mask 
 lying on a low altar (the Thymele) 
 in front of them. The principal 
 figure is wrapped in a toga, and 
 holds in his hand the usual crooked 
 stick, the badge of the comedian. 
 On the back of the chair hangs a 
 huge tragic mask. The intaglio 
 appears of the date of the Middle 
 Empire. In the possession of the 
 same collector is a small Etruscan 
 scarabeus on a very pale stone ; a 
 proof how early that people had at- 
 tained the skill of working in this 
 most difficult material. But the 
 most important antique piece in 
 Sapphire that has ever been dis- 
 
 covered is a cameo (now in the pos- 
 session of Mr. Eastwood), present- 
 ing the well-known subject of Hcbc 
 and the Eagle, cut in half- relief on 
 a heart-shaped stone of fine colour, 
 1| inch long by 1J wide. The work 
 is apparently of the time of Hadrian, 
 and is of considerable merit, though 
 producing but little effect, from the 
 clouded surface of the gem upon 
 which such wonderful patience and 
 skill have been lavished : a circum- 
 stance of itself attesting the late 
 period of its execution. The stone 
 has a hole drilled through its longer 
 axis, evidently done in India, that 
 it might be worn as a bead, before 
 it was purchased by the Roman 
 dealer, and subsequently engraved 
 as a cameo ; for the work in one 
 place has cut down into the per- 
 foration.
 
 SECT. I. HYACINTHUS=SAPPHIRE. 51 
 
 ancient Sapphirus or Lapis-lazuli furnishing the paint ultra- 
 marine, " sapphirinus " came to signify "azure;" and we 
 find the blue varieties of the precious Corundum already 
 called Sapphirini by Camillo Leonardo at the end of the 
 15th century, to distinguish them from the red and yellow 
 varieties (Euby and Oriental Topaz) of the same family. 
 The Hyacinthus of the classic writers is always the blue 
 kind ; but Marbodus, in the llth century, already makes 
 the three divisions above noticed, the blue, red, and yellow, 
 and, with an accuracy surprising for that early period, refers 
 them all to the same family the modern mineralogical clas- 
 sification. 
 
 At the Eenaissance the price of coloured gems of perfect 
 quality far exceeded that of the Diamond; anc^as a curiosity 
 I give Cellini's table of their comparative value, from his 
 ' Orificeria ' 
 
 Ruby (of one carat weight) = 800 gold scudi. 
 
 Emerald 400 
 
 Diamond 100 ,, 
 
 Sapphire 10 ,, 
 
 The gold scudo equalled a half-sovereign in weight, but 
 was of far greater value on account of the difference in the 
 worth of money. This, however, was not so great at the 
 time he wrote (about 1560) in Italy, then the richest country 
 of Europe, as it was in England, where the difference between 
 the value of money then and now is usually computed as 
 fifteen to one. At the present day a perfect Sapphire or 
 Emerald of one carat will sell equally for 3L, a Diamond 
 brilliant-cut for 81. A Ruby of a carat is worth the same as 
 the two first ; but if it should weigh more than two carats 
 and be perfect, its value far exceeds that of the Diamond. 
 I have seen a perfect Ruby, weighing four carats, that had 
 been bought for 300?. ; a Diamond of the same weight would 
 
 E 2
 
 52 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 only have been worth 160?. 3 Vossius mentions a Ruby 
 belonging to the Emperor Rudolph II. as large as a small 
 hen's egg, and valued at 60,000 ducats, or 30,000?. The 
 King of Ava possesses at present one even larger, and quite 
 perfect in colour and in water, set as an ear-drop. Its value 
 is inestimable and far beyond that of a Diamond of similar 
 dimensions. 
 
 EUBY. 
 
 The name of this stone is merely an epithet of its colour, 
 as being the red variety of the Hyacinthus. For the same 
 reason Marbodus calls the same gem " Granaticus," from its 
 resemblance to the vermilion blossom of the pomegranate. 
 This was probably the anthrax 4 of Theophrastus, of which he 
 says that a very small stone used to sell for forty gold staters 
 (about forty guineas), a statement which could not apply, at 
 that period of high civilisation and extensive commerce with 
 all regions, to the Garnet or Carbuncle, a common stone and 
 produced abundantly in many parts of Europe. It must 
 also be included among the numerous species of the Car- 
 bunculus described by Pliny, although he gives the first rank 
 to the Carbunculi Amethystizontes, our Almandines 5 or Gar- 
 nets of Siriam. One of the qualities which he assigns to the 
 Carbunculus, that of not being affected by the fire, whence 
 they were called Acausti, only applies to the Ruby, for the 
 Garnet easily fuses into a dark globule of oxide of iron. 
 
 3 I have been assured by a person Nonius. 
 
 of great experience in precious stones, 4 This name signifies a live coal, 
 that he has inspected a perfect Ruby, because it is red in colour, but held 
 weighing only eleven grains, which against the sun assumes the appear- 
 had been sold for 1100., or 100?. ance of a burning piece of charcoal, 
 per grain ! probably the highest * So called from resembling in 
 rate at which a precious stone has colour the blossom of the almond- 
 been estimated since the times of tree, a purplish pink, 
 the famous Opal of the senator
 
 SECT. I. RUBY. 53 
 
 Henckel relates an experiment in which a Ruby was suffi- 
 ciently softened by means of a powerful burning-glass to 
 receive the impression from a Jasper intaglio without the 
 slightest detriment to its original colour and hardness when 
 it became cold. 
 
 It is almost certain that this gem was the ancient Lychnis 
 already mentioned under "Jacinth." All that Pliny says of 
 it is, " Of the same family of blazing stones is the Lychnis, 
 so called from its lighting up lamps (or, perhaps, lighting up 
 by lamplight, lucernarum accensu), but yet of extraordinary 
 beauty. It is produced near Orthosia and in the whole of 
 Caria and the neighbouring regions ; but the most esteemed 
 in India, which sort some have called a Carbuncle of milder 
 hue. The , second in rank is the Ionia, so called from its 
 similarity to the flower of the same name (the Greek Jov, or 
 red cyclamen). And amongst these sorts I find there is a 
 difference; one kind has a purple lustre, the other a red 
 (cocco) : warmed in the sun or by friction with the fingers, 
 they attract straws and scraps of paper." The description of 
 it given by Solinus is, as before, more definite ; he calls the 
 stone Lychnites, because it shines most by lamplight : it is 
 both of a transparent purple and of a light red, and attracts 
 bits of thread, straws, &c., when rubbed or heated in the 
 sun. It is very difficult to engrave, and then pulls away the 
 wax as if by a bite " velut quodam animalis morsu." Now 
 all these qualities can be found united in no other gem than 
 the Ruby : the best still come from India (though inferior 
 ones are sometimes found in Bohemia). The finest Ruby 
 shines with the red of the cochineal (cocco), the Balais is 
 often quite of a lilac colour (purpura) : they are only sur- 
 passed in hardness by the Sapphire and the Diamond ; in fact, 
 none but Oriental artists ever attempt engraving on them 
 in modern times. I have not yet had an opportunity of
 
 54 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 trying whether the scarlet Kuby is electric; but, from its 
 belonging to the same class as the Sapphire, it probably will 
 be found to possess that property. In my own collection is 
 an antique intaglio, a head of M. Aurelius, cut on a gem 
 exactly answering to this description of the Lychnis : its colour 
 is a curious mixture, a yellowish red, appearing purple or 
 lilac when held against the light, and at a certain angle 
 presenting shades of blood-red : the stone itself is as electric 
 as amber, and apparently of excessive hardness. It was 
 pronounced by a very experienced lapidary to be a Spinelle 
 Ruby, but more probably it should be termed a Balais. 
 
 The Komans experienced the same difficulty as exists at 
 the present day in distinguishing the various sorts of the 
 Carbunculus from each other, in consequence of the practice 
 of jewellers of backing them with various foils so as to 
 improve their colour, "tanta est in illis occasio artis, sub- 
 ditis per quae translucere cogantur." This delusion is espe- 
 cially to be observed in works of the Renaissance, where 
 camei portraits, set in rings, often appear like the finest 
 Rubies, but are in fact only Garnets backed with a ruby 
 foil. It was also believed, in Pliny's time, that the dull- 
 coloured Carbunculi could be made lustrous by maceration in 
 vinegar for the space of fourteen days, and that the effect 
 lasted for the same number of months. These gems were 
 also imitated so well in paste, that the false ones could only 
 be distinguished by their inferior hardness. And this is 
 exactly true, for I have met with an antique paste bearing 
 a splendid intaglio of a Medusa's head, which could with diffi- 
 culty be known not to be a real Carbuncle ; it even showed 
 all the flaws within its substance, which the real stone always 
 presents. 6 
 
 6 These flaws are produced pur- suddenly on its withdrawal from 
 posely, by letting the paste cool the furnace.
 
 SECT. I. RUBY. 55 
 
 True Eubies, and of good colour, uncut, but rudely polished, 
 occur both in ancient jewellery and set in antique rings. In 
 the Herz Collection was a necklace formed of rough Rubies 
 and Emeralds of fine colour of the size of horsebeans, drilled 
 through and linked together with strong twisted gold-wire, 
 in a similar manner (but much more substantially) to the 
 Sapphire necklace from Richborough, already described. 
 The Ruby, though of the same chemical composition as the 
 Sapphire, yields to it in hardness ; but yet antique intagli 
 are even rarer in it than in the former stone. In fact, the 
 experienced Lessing, as well as the Comte de Clarac, alto- 
 gether deny the existence of any really antique intagli in 
 these harder gems, but the instances already adduced under 
 " Emerald " and " Sapphire " sufficiently prove that this 
 dictum, though generally true, yet admits^ of some rare 
 exceptions. It may also be remarked in this place that 
 engravings on any of the precious stones are always to be 
 examined with the greatest suspicion, modern artists en- 
 graving for wealthy patrons having found it their interest to 
 employ such substances as recommended themselves to their 
 purse-proud employers by the mere value of the stone (a thing 
 which at least they could appreciate), as well as by the art 
 thereupon displayed, which was frequently to them but a 
 minor consideration. The ancient artists, on the contrary, 
 chose such stones as were best suited for the execution of 
 the work, and to give the most perfect impression of it when 
 required for use as a signet ; always, for these reasons, pre- 
 ferring the Sard, on which more engravings by the famous 
 artists of antiquity are to be found than upon all the other 
 gems put together. Entirely devoted to the one object, 
 that of attaining to perfection, they entirely disregarded the 
 paltry merit of overcoming obstacles by the fruitless waste of 
 their invaluable time; neither did they seek for glory by
 
 56 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 the preciousness of the material of their work rather than by 
 the excellence of the work itself. 
 
 The following are the only intagli on Ruby that I have 
 met with of apparently indisputable authenticity : A head 
 of Hercules, in the Webb Cabinet, of good bold work, the 
 stone of small size, and bad colour, and full of flaws. A mag- 
 nificent head of Thetis, wearing a helmet formed of a crab's 
 shell, of the finest Greek work as far as the style can guide 
 one's judgment, engraved on a large irregular stone of a 
 beautiful rose-colour: it belonged to the Herz Collection, 
 where, however, it was classed among the Cinque-Cento gems. 
 On a pale Ruby, too, occurred the very finest intaglio I have 
 ever beheld, a full face of a Bacchante crowned with ivy ; 
 the expression of the countenance full of a wild inspiration, 
 and the exquisite treatment of the hair and the flesh beyond 
 all praise, a true masterpiece of the best days of the Greek 
 glyptic school. At the side was the name EAAHN in very 
 minute and elegant characters, a name which was previously 
 known as occurring upon an admirable bust of Harpocrates. 
 This gem was pronounced antique by the best judges in 
 Paris, and is now in the Fould Collection. 
 
 TOPAZ = CHRYSOLITE, CHRYSOPRASE. 
 
 The ancient Topaz 7 was the present Chrysolite or Peridot, 
 as clearly appears from the description of it as being im- 
 ported into Europe from the Red Sea, of a bright greenish- 
 yellow, a colour peculiar to itself (in suo virenti genere), and 
 the softest of all the precious stones, yielding readily to the 
 file. The Peridot is extremely difficult to polish so as to 
 
 7 Pliny oddly derives Topazion " to seek," because the island where 
 from " topazein," which he says in it is found is often lost amidst thick 
 the " Troglodyte " tongue means fogs.
 
 SECT. I. TOPAZ=CHEYSOLITE, CHRYSOPRASE. 57 
 
 bring out all its brilliancy, and this can only be done by a 
 peculiar process, known but to few lapidaries, in which vitriol 
 is employed. 
 
 Theophrastus (c. 27), speaking of the Smaragdus, says, 
 " There is a certain mode of working this stone so as to give 
 it lustre, for in its native state it has no brilliancy." It is 
 very likely that he has the Peridot in view in this passage, 
 for in his age the coast of the Red Sea was the only source of 
 the supply of the true Emerald, as well as of the Peridot or 
 Topazion ; which last, by the way, Pliny classes in his de- 
 scription as next in order to the Smaragdus. It was found 
 in pieces of such size as to allow of a statuette of Queen 
 Arsinoe, in whose time it was first brought to Egypt, to be 
 carved out of a single gem. All these characteristics are 
 combined in our Peridot, a stone on which I have rarely 
 seen antique engravings, although such of modern times are 
 sufficiently abundant. Its extreme softness probably de- 
 terred the ancients from using it for engraving upon, as it 
 soon wears away when carried on the finger. 8 It was highly 
 valued still in Pliny's age, though somewhat fallen in esti- 
 mation from the time of its first discovery, when it was pre- 
 ferred to all other gems. 9 
 
 In compensation for this exchange of names the ancient 
 
 8 I have, however, met with two lustre of the Diamond, and appears 
 Roman intagli, both figures of Mi- of the purest water, its colour not 
 nerva, upon this stone, and now pos- being then discernible. The Chry- 
 sess a Medusa's head, cut in the solite differs from the Peridot in 
 bold, grand style of the period of its being much harder, as well as of a 
 first introduction into Alexandria, yellower tint; for in it the yellow 
 in a large and very globose Peridot : predominates over the green. In 
 an extraordinary gem, both for work- the Peridot green is the prevailing 
 manship and rarity of material. colour, modified by yellow : the 
 
 9 Were it not for its softness this stone, in fact, in the rough, much 
 would be one of the most desirable resembles a rolled pebble of bottle- 
 of all gems as an ornament : by glass or Brighton Emerald, 
 candle-light especially it has all the
 
 58 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Chrysolitlms is the present Topaz. The best kind is a yellow 
 variety of the Ruby, of equal value and hardness with that 
 gem, and very rare ; Dutens values it at a third higher than 
 the Sapphire. But most Topazes come now from Brazil; 
 they are much softer, and of a different chemical composition 
 from the Ruby ; and besides the orange, there are white, red, 
 and blue varieties of this stone, only to be distinguished from 
 the Diamond, Ruby, and Sapphire by their much greater 
 softness. 
 
 The Chrysolithus was the only gem set transparent by the 
 Romans, who seem never to have engraved it. All other 
 stones were foiled with aurichalcum, i. e. a red foil of copper 
 and gold. In confirmation of this remark of Pliny, I may 
 observe that, on taking out a Sard intaglio from the oxidised 
 remains of an antique iron ring, I found it backed by a 
 thin plate of gold of a reddish colour, very different to the 
 fine gold usually employed in ancient jewellery. Both Cel- 
 lini and Winckelman have noticed this ancient practice of 
 backing transparent intagli with a leaf of gold, which in fact 
 shows off the engraving to greater advantage, when in wear, 
 than if the stone according to the modern fashion were set 
 open. Pliny mentions the practice of backing Carbuncles 
 with silver foil, a method still used, and the best if the stone 
 be of good quality. The use of coloured foils is a mere de- 
 ception, and the sole end that the setter lias had in view is 
 to impose upon the unskilful by thus imparting to an in- 
 ferior gem the finest colour of its own class. 
 
 The Chrysoprase is an opaque, apple-green stone of a 
 most agreeable hue, and extremely hard ; its material is cal- 
 cedony coloured by oxide of nickel. It is much of the same 
 nature as the Plasma, but differs from it in the brightness of 
 its tint, in its hardness, and in its opacity. Intagli are some- 
 times met with cut upon a stone which is either the true
 
 SECT. I. TURQUOIS. 59 
 
 Chrysoprase, or else a Plasma very nearly approaching to it 
 in beauty. 10 At present this gem is only found at Kosemiitz 
 
 in Silesia. 
 
 TUKQUOIS. 
 
 This stone agrees pretty well with the description of the 
 ancient Callais : " which grew upon its native rock in shape 
 like an eye, was cut, not ground into shape, set off gold 
 better than any other gem, was spoilt by wetting with oil, 
 grease, or wine, and was the easiest of all to imitate in glass. 
 It was also the most favourite ornament of the Carmanians of 
 that day," an observation equally applicable to the modern 
 Persians, who lavish it in profusion over all their ornaments 
 and weapons. Many supposed antique intagli and camei 
 are shown cut in this gem ; but I suspect the authenticity of 
 all that have come under my inspection. From the rapid 
 decay of this substance when exposed for a few years to the 
 light and to moisture, there can be little doubt that any in- 
 taglio of Eoman times executed in Turquois would long ere 
 this have been reduced to a chalky mass. This actually is 
 the case with such gems set in ornaments but a few centuries 
 old, and which have lain underground for part of that period. 
 The mediaeval notion concerning this change of colour was 
 that the Turquois grew pale on the finger of a sickly person, 
 but recovered its colour when transferred to a healthy hand. 
 Another fancy was that its hue varied with the hour of the 
 day, so that to the careful observer it could serve the purpose 
 of a dial. In Germany it is believed that, when presented as 
 a love-gift, its colour will remain unaltered so long as the 
 giver is faithful, but will grow pale as his affection fades. 
 The "fossil ivory mottled with dark blue and white," of 
 
 10 The true Chrysoprase is some- jewellery, set alternately with bits 
 times found in antique Egyptian of Lapis-lazuli.
 
 60 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Theophrastus, was our Occidental Turquois: in which the 
 osseous structure is plainly discernible to the microscope, and 
 which also is much softer than the true Oriental Turquois, or, 
 as jewellers name it, that " de la vieille roche," which strikes 
 fire with steel, while the Occidental can be scratched by steel. 
 According to Hill, the blue which mottles the white surface 
 of the latter can by means of heat be made to diffuse itself 
 regularly throughout the whole, thus greatly improving its 
 appearance and enabling it to be passed off for the precious 
 variety. It is in this softer material that all the truly an- 
 tique camei that I have seen have been executed, by far the 
 best of which is a laureated head of Augustus among the 
 Pulsky gems, and a Gorgon's head now in the Fould Col- 
 lection. It is hardly necessary to add that the original azure 
 of these gems, due to the oxide of copper, has been converted 
 into a dull green by the action of the earth. 
 
 MAGNET. 
 
 On Magnet, a black compact and hard iron-ore, 1 I have 
 seen rude intagli of the Lower Empire, especially of Gnostic 
 subjects : the mysterious quality of the stone naturally point- 
 ing it out as a fit material for amulets. The Magnet was 
 thought by the Romans capable of imparting knowledge in a 
 case where ignorance is bliss, as appears from Orpheus, 312 : 
 
 " If e'er thou wish thy spouse's truth to prove, 
 If pure she's kept her from adulterous love, 
 Within thy bed unseen this stone bestow, 
 Muttering a soothing spell in whispers low : 
 Though wrapped in slumber sound, if pure and chaste, 
 She '11 seek to fold thee in her fond embrace ; 
 But if polluted by adultery found, 
 Hurled from the couch, she lies upon the ground." 
 
 This is the usual material of the cylinders of the purely Babylonian class.
 
 SECT. I. MAGNET. 61 
 
 Dinochares, the architect of the city of Alexandria, had 
 commenced the building of a temple in honour of Arsinoe, wife 
 of Ptolemy Philadelphus, intended to be constructed entirely 
 of loadstone, with the idea that an iron statue of the queen 
 would, by the counterbalancing attraction of every part of the 
 structure, remain suspended in mid- air; but the plan was 
 never carried out in consequence of the death of Ptolemy. 
 Here we have the origin of the mediaeval fiction of the iron 
 coffin of Mahomet. Claudian, Idyl, v., thus describes a temple 
 containing a statue formed out of loadstone, as actually exist- 
 ing in his own time, the end of the 4th century : 
 
 " A stone there is which people magnet style, 
 Dull, dark of colour, in appearance vile ; 
 Unlike to such as deck the combed-back hair 
 Of princes, or the necks of maidens fair ; 
 Or such as on the golden buckles shine, 
 Which by their clasp the imperial belt confine. 
 Yet such its wondrous force it far outweighs 
 All beauteous ornaments, all jewels' blaze, 
 Or all those treasures which on Eastern shores 
 Th' Indian midst groves of coral red explores. 
 From iron draws its force, 2 from iron lives ; 
 'T is this its food, 't is this its banquet gives ; 
 And hence renews its strength ; borne through its veins 
 The rugged aliment its life maintains. 
 Of this deprived, its frame exhausted lies, 
 Fierce hunger gnaws, and thirst consuming dries. 
 With gilded ceilings decked a temple shines, 
 And two immortals grace two common shrines ; 
 Mars scourging cities with his blood-stained spear, 
 And Venus, solace sweet of human care. 
 
 2 The Roman antiquaries at pre- in a box of iron filings in order " to 
 sent, whenever they meet with a keep up its strength." 
 loadstone intaglio, always preserve it
 
 62 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Different their forms in iron Mars commands ; 
 
 Sculptured in magnet lovely Venus stands. 
 
 Their nuptials high with solemn rites to grace 
 
 The priest prepares, the guardian of the place : 
 
 The blazing flambeaux lead the dancing quire, 
 
 High o'er the gates the myrtle-boughs aspire ; 
 
 With heaped-up roses swells the marriage bed, 
 
 The bridal chamber is with purple spread. 
 
 Behold a marvel ! instant to her arms 
 
 Her eager husband Cythereia charms, 
 
 And, ever mindful of her ancient fires, 
 
 With amorous breath his martial breast inspires. 
 
 Lifts the loved weight, close round his helmet twines 
 
 Her loving arms, and fond embraces joins. 
 
 Drawn by the mystic influence from afar, 
 
 Flies to the wedded gem the god of war : 
 
 The magnet weds the steel, the secret rites 
 
 Nature attends, and th' heavenly pair unites. 
 
 Say from what source to differing metals came 
 
 This hid affinity, this wondrous flame ? 
 
 What mystic concord bends their stubborn minds ? 
 
 The panting stone love's melting influence finds, 
 
 Seeks the loved metal her deep wound to heal, 
 
 Whilst love's mild pleasures tame the cruel steel." 
 
 TOUKMALINE. 
 
 The Tourmaline is a dark olive-green stone, often nearly 
 black and almost opaque. But Brazil, the land of coloured 
 gems, produces also a blue and a bright-green variety, trans- 
 parent and ornamental ring-stones. A red kind, or Eubellite, 
 comes from India ; the specimen in the British Museum is of 
 extraordinary size, and valued at 1000?. This stone is the 
 most electric of all gems ; one end of the crystal attracts, the 
 other repels, light objects, when heated by friction. Some 
 have supposed the Eubellite to be the Lychnis of the Ko-
 
 SECT. I. TOURMALINE AVENTUKINE OBSIDIAN. 03 
 
 mans ; but its inferior hardness, only equal to that of quartz, 
 controverts this theory. On the olive-coloured sort I have 
 met with intagli, but all modern ; in fact, the Tourmaline was 
 not known in Europe before the last century. 
 
 AVENTURINE. 
 
 The Sandaresus, an Arabian stone, classed by Pliny among 
 the Carbunculi, seems to have been our Aventurine, for he 
 describes it as full of golden stars shining through a trans- 
 parent substance, not from the surface, but from within the 
 body of the stone. The true Aventurine, or Goldie-stone, is 
 a brownish semi-transparent quartz, full of specks of yellow 
 mica. It is very hard, and takes a high polish : in the last 
 century it was of considerable value, but now is altogether 
 neglected. The common sort, so often seen in Italian orna- 
 ments, is a composition made by stirring brass filings into 
 melted glass, and is said to have been discovered by accident, 
 " per aventura," whence the name Aventurine. 
 
 Hercules. Obsidian. 
 
 OBSIDIAN. 
 
 Pliny describes the Obsidian as a stone found in ^Ethiopia 
 by a certain Obsidius, who gave it his own name. It was 
 very black, and sometimes transparent. Used as slabs to
 
 64 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 line walls of rooms, it acted as a dark mirror reflecting 
 shadows instead of the objects themselves. " Many persons 
 make ring-stones out of it, and we have seen complete 
 figures of Augustus made of it." That prince was charmed 
 with the deep colour (crassitudine) of the stone, and himself 
 dedicated four elephants of Obsidian in the Temple of Con- 
 cord. An Obsidian statue of Menelaus, found among the 
 property of a former prefect of Egypt, was restored by order 
 of Tiberius to the Heliopolitans, its original destination a 
 fact which proves the ancient use of the stone itself, now so 
 largely imitated in glass. I have met with a few intagli in 
 this stone, which greatly resembles black glass, and is semi- 
 transparent in the thinnest parts ; indeed it can only be dis- 
 tinguished from black glass by its superior hardness, easily 
 scratching the latter substance. I know of a splendid head 
 of Hercules crowned with poplar-leaves in Obsidian, a work 
 apparently of the Augustan age : a gem generally considered 
 by its former owners as nothing better than a modern dark 
 paste. 3 By a curious coincidence this stone was employed by 
 the old Peruvians also for mirrors, as well as for cutting in- 
 struments, specimens of which are often found in their tombs. 
 
 POBPHYBY BASALT. 
 
 The first of these extremely hard stones is easily recog- 
 nised by its deep red colour, thickly dotted with small white 
 spots. 4 It was chiefly employed by the Romans for columns 
 and bas-reliefs, and first introduced by Yitrasius Pollio, who 
 brought from Egypt statues of Claudius on this stone : though 
 
 3 Among the Prann gems 1 ob- stone; and a rare addition, with a 
 
 served a gryllus of the common Gnostic device, of apparently coeval 
 
 type, the cock and masks, cut in a work, upon the reverse, 
 
 very bold deep manner on this 4 Hence called Leptopsephos.
 
 SECT. I. OPALS. 65 
 
 it did not take, at least in Pliny's time, as he adds that no 
 one followed Pollio's example. However, as taste declined, 
 it became under the Lower Empire a favourite building 
 material, magnificent relics of which are still preserved. It 
 was also, probably when still a novelty, used for intagli, on 
 selected pieces of peculiar bright colour, some of which I 
 have noticed of very good work, and of an early imperial 
 date. It was also employed for this purpose by the Italian 
 artists of the Kevival : the Florence Gallery possesses a fine 
 head of Leo X., engraved on a piece of large size, and set in 
 iron, to be used as an official seal. 
 
 On Basalt, a dark, iron-coloured stone of a very fine grain, 
 looking when worked more like metal than a stone, intagli 
 also occur, but usually rude in style, and of the Gnostic class. 
 This stone was largely used for statues, both by the Egyp- 
 tians and the Romans of the Empire. 
 
 OPALS. 
 
 Opals came to the Romans from India ; at present the best 
 are brought from Hungary. The largest known to the an- 
 cients did not exceed the size of a hazel-nut ; this was the 
 famous Opal of Nonius, valued at 20,000 of our money; 
 rather than yield which to M. Antony, he preferred going into 
 exile. The Turks at present esteem the stone almost as highly, 
 and readily give WOOL for a fine and perfect one of the above- 
 named size. Pliny grows quite poetical in his description of 
 the Opal : " Made up of the glories of the most precious 
 gems, to describe them is a matter of inexpressible diffi- 
 culty. For there is amongst them the gentler fire of the 
 Ruby, there is the rich purple of the Amethyst, there is 
 the sea-green of the Emerald, and all shining together in 
 an indescribable union. Others by an excessive heightening 
 
 F
 
 66 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 of their hues equal all the colours of the painter, others the 
 flame of burning brimstone, or of a fire quickened by oil." 
 Yet the mines of Hungary now supply Opals infinitely larger 
 than those known to Pliny, the finest of which are preserved 
 among the Austrian crown-jewels. Although so high a value 
 is set upon this beautiful gem, yet it is but a precarious pos- 
 session, being extremely brittle, sometimes cracking when 
 the hand is held near the fire in cold weather, and losing its 
 beauty completely by wear, after dust and grease have closed 
 up the innumerable cracks of its flinty substance, which pro- 
 duce the brilliant play of colours constituting its only charm. 
 It is said that by roasting an Opal thus spoilt, and so expel- 
 ling the grease from its pores, its former lustre can be restored ; 
 a process which seems to me extremely hazardous. The Opal 
 was counterfeited by the Indians in glass more successfully 
 than any other gem (similitudine indiscreta). The Eomans 
 named it the Psederos, or Cupid, as being the perfection of 
 beauty ; for the same reason it was called, in the Latin and 
 German of the Middle Ages, the Orphanus and the Waise. 
 
 Some rude intagli, but apparently antique, sometimes are 
 found upon bad and opaque Opals. 5 Though Pliny calls 
 India the sole mother of the Opal, yet he can only mean of 
 the best variety, as he afterwards mentions some found in 
 Egypt, Pontus, Galatia, Thasos, and Cyprus : these had less 
 lustre than the Indian, their colours being a mixture of sky- 
 blue and purple, "ex aere et purpura," which wanted the 
 emerald green of the Indian variety. 
 
 8 But there is a fine Opal in the diocre Roman work, and pronounced 
 
 Praun Collection, engraved with antique by the best judges a truly 
 
 heads of Jupiter, Apollo, and Diana, unique gem. 
 surrounded by nine stars, of me-
 
 SECT. I. DIAMOND. 67 
 
 DIAMOND. 
 
 The Diamond, contrary to the usual custom, must, in pur- 
 suance of my plan, occupy the last place in the list of gems, 
 as furnishing no engravings of either ancient or modern 
 artists, and merely supplying an instrument for the execu- 
 tion of their work. 
 
 Under the Komans it was a well-known gem, and then, as 
 now, " the most precious of all possessions." Before the age of 
 Pliny it had been seen only on the hands of kings, and of 
 but a few among them ; but the spread of commerce under 
 the Caesars had by that time made the gem much more 
 common. Six varieties were then known, of which the 
 Indian, " sometimes as large as a hazel-nut kernel," and the 
 Arabian were clearly real diamonds, as is shown by their 
 peculiar form, described by Pliny as that of two whipping- 
 tops united at their broadest ends. Their silvery or steely 
 lustre is also noticed, a striking peculiarity of the stone in 
 its natural state. The Macedonian found in the gold-mines 
 of Philippi was no larger than a cucumber-seed. The Cyprian, 
 of a bluish tinge, "vergens in aereum color em," and the 
 Siderites, of a steel colour and very heavy, were doubtless 
 Sapphires, for they could be drilled by means of another 
 Diamond. Pliny goes on to repeat the jeweller's fiction as 
 to the infrangibility of the Diamond, a thing still believed in 
 by most people, who cannot separate the ideas of hardness 
 and of resistance to violence, and who do not choose to try 
 so costly an experiment on any Diamond in their own pos- 
 session. But in reality, from the fact of this gem being com- 
 posed of thin layers deposited over each other parallel to the 
 original faces of the crystal, it can easily be split by a small 
 blow in the direction of these laminae. This property may 
 be exemplified by the following story. The London jeweller 
 
 F 2
 
 68 
 
 MATEKIALS. 
 
 iu trusted with the re-cutting of the Koh-i-noor 6 was displaying 
 his finished work to a wealthy patron, who accidentally let 
 the slippery and weighty gem slip through his fingers and 
 fall on the ground. The jeweller was on the point of fainting 
 with alarm, and, on recovering himself, reduced the other to 
 the same state by informing him, that, had the stone struck 
 the floor at a particular angle, it would infallibly have split 
 in two, and been irreparably ruined. A few particulars about 
 this famous Diamond will not be out of place here. Taver- 
 nier saw it two centuries ago in the treasury of the Great 
 Mogul, not many years after its discovery. Its weight in the 
 rough, of above 800 carats (according to report), had been 
 reduced to 284 by the bungling Italian lapidary who had 
 
 ' The Hindoos have a superstition 
 that this Diamond brings certain 
 ruin upon the person or the dynasty 
 possessing it. It was turned up by 
 a peasant when ploughing in a field 
 forty miles distant from Golconda, 
 and was in its rough state fully as 
 large as a hen's egg. Its first 
 owner, in the 17th century, was a 
 Hindoo Rajah, from whom it was 
 wrested by Meer Jomlah, who pre- 
 sented it to Aurungzebe. Imme- 
 diately after this fatal gift the Mogul 
 race degenerated, each of his suc- 
 cessors being more vicious and in- 
 capable than his father, until, in 
 1739, the last, Mohammed Shah, 
 was deprived of the unlucky jewel 
 in the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah. 
 The conqueror was assassinated by 
 his generals on his return to Persia, 
 and the Diamond fell into the hands 
 of one of the conspirators, Ahmed 
 Shah Dooranuee, the founder of the 
 Affghan monarchy, the history of 
 which is a perpetual series of crimes 
 and massacres. From the last of 
 this line, Shah Soojah, it was -ex- 
 
 torted by Runjeet Singh (by the 
 means of starving him into a sxir- 
 render of the treasure), when he 
 had fled to the Khalsa Court for re- 
 fuge from Dost Mohammed. Run- 
 jeet, in order to break the spell and 
 avert the fatal influence from his 
 race, bequeathed at his death the 
 stone to the Temple of Juggernaut ; 
 but his successors would not relin- 
 quish the baleful treasure, which in 
 a very few years worked its destined 
 effect the ruin of his family and 
 the subjugation of the Punjaub to 
 the English. Lord Dalhousie pre- 
 sented it to Queen Victoria in 1849 ; 
 within ten years the usual conse- 
 quences of its possession were mani- 
 fested in the Sepoy revolt, and the 
 all but total loss of India to the 
 British crown, in which beams its 
 malignant lustre, lighting up a very 
 inauspicious future for that region, 
 fated apparently ever to be dis- 
 turbed by the measures of ignorant 
 zealots at home and the plots of 
 discontented and overpowerful allies 
 in the country itself.
 
 SECT I. DIAMOND. 69 
 
 brought it to the ugly and unskilful form in which it appeared 
 when brought to this country. This was a rude hemisphere 
 facetted all over, apparently intended for the rose shape. 
 The re-cutting in London was effected by the means of a 
 small steam-engine, under the superintendence of two artists 
 brought expressly from Holland, where alone the business is 
 kept up. This operation cost 8000?., and has brought the 
 stone to the form of a perfect brilliant, with a wonderful 
 augmentation of its beauty and lustre, though with a reduc- 
 tion of the weight to 180 carats. Even now it remains one of 
 the largest Diamonds in Europe Halphen's Star of the South 
 weighing 244 carats ; the great Russian 193 ; the Pitt or 
 Regent of France 136 ; the Austrian, a yellow stone, 139 ; 
 and Hope's blue Diamond, the most beautiful, though least 
 valuable of all, 177. 7 The art of cutting and polishing this 
 gem was only discovered in the fifteenth century by Louis de 
 Berghem, and the first ever cut by him was a large one be- 
 longing to Charles the Bold, and weighing 55 carats. It is 
 now known as the Sancy diamond, which, having been found 
 on his corpse on the field of Granson, was sold for a few 
 francs, and, after passing through innumerable vicissitudes 
 (having once been swallowed by a faithful servant when beset 
 by robbers, and afterwards extracted from his dead body by 
 his master), now reposes amongst the French regalia. Vos- 
 sius says, the largest Diamond known in his time, the end of 
 the sixteenth century, was that bought by Philip II. of Carlo 
 Affetati, of Antwerp, in 1559, for 80,000 crowns. Its weight 
 was but 47i carats. It was then a prevalent opinion that 
 the stone lost its lustre by too much warmth, whence persons 
 
 7 The Rajah of Mattan in Borneo It may, after all, like the famous 
 
 is indeed reported to possess a Dia- Portuguese stone, prove only a white 
 
 mond of the incredible weight of Topaz when examined by an Eu- 
 
 367 carats, but no particulars are ropean connoisseur, 
 given of its water, perfection, &c.
 
 70 MATERIALS. SECT. 1. 
 
 on going to bed used to place their diamond rings on a 
 marble-table, or in a glass of water. 
 
 Hence they were always worn by the Romans in their 
 native form, a fine instance of which is afforded by the clasp 
 of the mantle of Charlemagne set with four large Diamonds, 
 the legacy doubtless of his Imperial predecessors. The Herz 
 Collection also possessed a well-formed octahedral Diamond 
 of about one carat, set open in a massy gold ring of indubit- 
 able antiquity. The largest cabinets of Europe do not, to my 
 knowledge, boast any such specimens, yet I have met with 
 another example in the collection of an acquaintance, where 
 a small pyramidal Diamond, showing distinctly its primitive 
 form and silvery lustre, was set in its original ring of thick 
 gold-wire, to all appearance a work of Roman times. Such 
 
 was the 
 
 " Adamas notissimus et Berenices 
 In digito factus pretiosior " 
 
 that graced the hand of the imperious lady of the days of 
 Juvenal ; the stone being prized, not for its beauty, but for its 
 rarity and extraordinary virtues as an amulet. 
 
 It is said that the Austrian Diamond was originally bought 
 for a mere trifle at a curiosity-shop at Florence, being consi- 
 dered merely a yellow crystal. Brazil furnishes a vast supply 
 of these yellow stones, the most unpleasing of all the tints 
 the Diamond assumes, for to my taste the pink and blue 
 varieties are much superior in beauty to the colourless. 
 
 The ancient Indian mines of Golconda and Cooloun (where 
 at the time of Ta vernier's visit more than 60,000 men, wo- 
 men, and children were employed in the various operations 
 of the search), in the Madras Presidency, have long since 
 been exhausted ; the only source of the supply at present is 
 Brazil, and even there the tract containing the gravel (cas- 
 calhao) in which they are found is nearly worked out. But
 
 SECT. I. DIAMOND. 71 
 
 I have little doubt that in a short time the market will be 
 flooded with an importation of this gem from Australia, even 
 greater than that which took place on the first discovery of 
 the Brazilian mines. As in that region they were accident- 
 ally discovered in the search for gold, so in Australia a few 
 have already made their appearance under similar circum- 
 stances ; one of which, as well as a Sapphire from the same 
 locality, has been deposited in the Museum of Geology, 
 Jermyn-street. And this important discovery will doubtless 
 take place when the gravel of the Australian diggings comes 
 to be turned over by persons having eyes for other things 
 besides gold flakes and nuggets. 8 The observation made of 
 old by Pliny, that the diamond always accompanies gold, has 
 been fully borne out by the experience of succeeding ages, 9 
 for in most deposits of alluvial gold have they been found in 
 greater or less abundance, even in Wicklow and in Cornwall. 
 This stone is highly electric, attracting light substances 
 when heated by friction, and, as we have already noticed, 
 has the peculiarity of becoming phosphorescent in the dark 
 after long exposure to the rays of the sun. The ancients 
 also ascribed magnetic powers to the Diamond in even a 
 greater degree than to the loadstone, so much so that they 
 believed the latter was totally deprived of this quality in the 
 presence of the Diamond ; but this notion is quite ungrounded. 
 Their sole idea of magnetism was the property of attraction ; 
 therefore, seeing that the Diamond possessed this for light 
 objects, the step to ascribing to it a superiority in this as 
 in all other respects over the loadstone was an easy one for 
 their lively imaginations. 
 
 8 A letter has appeared this sum- possession. 
 
 mer (1859) from a miner, speaking 9 In the British Museum, among 
 
 of the vast quantity of small Rubies the native Diamonds, is " an octa- 
 
 found in washing the " dirt," some hedral Diamond attached to alluvial 
 
 hundreds of which were in his own gold."
 
 72 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 PASTES. 
 
 Pastes are imitations of precious stones and of engraved 
 gems, both camei and intagli, transparent and opaque, in 
 coloured glass, and are manufactured in the following man- 
 ner : A small iron case of the required size is filled with 
 fine tripoli mixed with pipeclay, and moistened, on the sur- 
 face of which an impression is made of the gem to be copied. 
 This matrix is next carefully dried, and a piece of glass of the 
 proper colour is placed upon it. If a stone composed of va- 
 rious strata is to be imitated, the proper number of layers of 
 coloured glass are piled upon each other. The whole is then 
 carefully placed in a furnace and watched until the glass 
 begins to melt, when it is closely pressed down upon the 
 mould by means of a flat iron, coated with French chalk in 
 order to prevent the glass from adhering to it. It is then 
 taken out of the furnace and cooled gradually, when the 
 glass will be found to have received an exact hollow impres- 
 sion of the design first made in relief upon the tripoli. If 
 it is required to imitate a gem full of flaws, as a Carbuncle 
 or Emerald, the effect is produced by throwing the paste, 
 when still hot, into cold water. This was, doubtless, the 
 method followed by the ancients, except that they used a 
 coarser material for their moulds, perhaps those terracotta 
 impressions of intagli hereafter to be noticed, for antique 
 pastes have a much rougher surface than the modern, and 
 are full of air-bubbles. A curious fact, however, concerning 
 them is that they are much harder than our common win- 
 dow-glass, and will scratch it in the same way as a splinter 
 of flint does, whereas all modern coloured glass is softer than 
 the transparent kind. This was due to the composition of the 
 substance ; for at present the German glass, which is made with 
 soda, is greatly superior in hardness to the English, into which 
 a large quantity of lead enters. Besides this superior hard-
 
 SECT. I. PASTES. 73 
 
 ness, other supposed marks of an antique paste are the beau- 
 tiful iridescence with which its surface is often coated, owing 
 to the oxidation of the glass by the action of the acids of the 
 earth in which it has lain, as well as the bubbly and porous 
 texture, not merely of the whole exterior, but also of the 
 entire substance itself. This last peculiarity distinguishes 
 the antique from the modern glass-pastes, which, when they 
 imitate the transparent gems, are usually clear and homo- 
 geneous throughout, being, in fact, made out of pieces of what 
 glass-painters call " pot-metal," or stained glass of one colour 
 selected for the purpose ; and these, from the greater fusi- 
 bility of the material, usually show an even interior within 
 the intaglio with difficulty to be detected from the work on 
 a real gem. But it may be remarked that this superior 
 hardness may be found in pastes of the modern fabrique, if 
 manufactured out of fragments of ancient glass, whilst the 
 porousness and roughness of the cast will depend upon the 
 coarseness of the sand or clay used in forming the matrix, 
 and also upon the regulation of the cooling of the paste 
 after the fragment of glass has been fused down upon the 
 impression. Thus, at present, false Carbuncles and Emeralds 
 are made to show all the flaws and " feathers " of the true 
 stones by cooling them suddenly when removed from the fur- 
 nace. As for the iridescence so much valued by collectors, 
 I strongly suspect that it is often produced by artificial 
 means, by the use of acids ; for bits of window-glass, after a 
 few years' exposure in a garden-bed, will be found with a 
 surface as much corroded and as iridescent as that of the 
 finest antique pastes. 
 
 We have already remarked, under "Emerald," the high 
 perfection to which the Komans had carried the art of 
 making false gems, and the difficulty of distinguishing such 
 from the true is frequently alluded to by Pliny. He also
 
 74 MATERIALS. SECT. 1. 
 
 enumerates the following kinds of coloured glass as employed 
 for drinking-vessels : "Glass like Obsidian is made for 
 dishes (' escaria vasa '), and an entirely red, opaque sort, 
 called Hsematinon. An opaque white is also made, and imi- 
 ' tations of Agates, Sapphires, and Lapis-lazuli ; and all other 
 colours." Specimens of all these kinds are continually met 
 with among the fragments of vessels found in company with 
 Eoman remains; more especially those imitations of the 
 Sapphire here mentioned, a semi-transparent glass of the 
 richest blue. 10 Probably the finest paste in existence is an 
 exact imitation of Lapis-lazuli, now preserved amongst the 
 antique glass in the British Museum, on which is a three- 
 quarter figure, in half-relief, of Bonus Eventus, a naked 
 youth holding a cornucopia. The slab is of considerable 
 size, and has been worked all over with the wheel, or some 
 similar instrument, after the manner of a gem cameo, and 
 not simply cast, as is usually the case with antique pastes. 
 Hadrian sent his friend Servian as a present from Alexan- 
 dria (Vopiscus, Vita Saturnini) two cups of opalescent glass 
 (" calices allassontes versicolores ") given him by the priest 
 of the Temple of Serapis, probably as a choice specimen of 
 a national manufacture for which that city had been long 
 celebrated. 1 Pliny also speaks of draughtmen made of 
 
 10 These fragments are collected ' The Egyptian glass-workers also 
 by the Roman lapidaries, cut and produced small mosaics of the most 
 polished and set in bracelets and minute and delicate finish, and suffi- 
 brooches, where they show like ciently small to be worn in rings, 
 Agates of the most novel and beau- and as pendants to necklaces, in the 
 tiful varieties, variegated with bril- following ingenious manner. A 
 liant colours, arranged in wavy pat- number of fine glass rods, of the 
 terns. Blue with white stripes colours required, were arranged to- 
 passing through its substance, and gether in a bundle, in such a way 
 green similarly marked with red, that their ends represented the out- 
 were favourites of the antique glass- line and shades of the object to be 
 workers, judging from the frequency depicted, as a bird or a flower, 
 of such fragments. exactly as is practised at present in
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 PASTES. 
 
 75 
 
 coloured glass of several varying tints, " pluribus modis versi- 
 colores." 
 
 The art of making paste intagli was rediscovered by the 
 Italians of the Kenaissance, and afterwards brought to per- 
 fection by the Regent Orleans, under whose patronage the 
 manufacture attained the greatest celebrity, and far sur- 
 passed any productions of the ancients in the same line. 
 
 Clarac gives the following notice of the origin of the Orleans 
 pastes: "Having engaged (1691-1715) the services of the 
 celebrated chemist Homberg, and assisting him with his own 
 hands in his operations (in a laboratory established in the 
 Palais Eoyal), the Eegent made him reproduce in glass- 
 pastes all the gems that he himself had collected, and also 
 a large number selected from the royal cabinet. It is said 
 that he manufactured six complete sets of these pastes, one 
 of which Clarac himself possessed, the bequest of M. Gosselin 
 of the Academie. It had been in his hands for many years, 
 and was always regarded as one of the original six sets 
 coming from the Regent's own laboratory. It had, however, 
 
 the manufacture of Tunbridge-ware. 
 This bundle was next enclosed in a 
 coating of glass of a single colour, 
 usually an opaque blue : then the 
 whole mass, being fused together, 
 sufficiently to unite all the rods into 
 one compact body, was drawn out 
 to the proper diameter. Thus the 
 rods all became equally attenuated 
 without losing their relative posi- 
 tions, and the surrounding case of 
 glass, when the whole mass was cut 
 through at certain intervals, formed 
 the ground of a miniature mosaic, 
 apparently composed of the minutest 
 tessara, put together with incon- 
 ceivable dexterity and niceness of 
 touch. Each slice of the finished 
 mass necessarily produced the same 
 pattern, without the slightest varia- 
 
 tion. The most beautiful specimen 
 of this elegant art in existence is to 
 be seen amongst the gems of the 
 British Museum. It is a square of 
 one inch, the ground a brilliant blue, 
 enclosing a kneeling figure of a 
 winged goddess, Sate, in which the 
 union of the pieces defies the closest 
 scrutiny, and gives the effect of a 
 miniature painted by the finest 
 pencil, and in the most brilliant 
 colours, which are brought out by 
 the high polish given to the surface 
 of the slab. The back, left un- 
 polished, clearly shows the process 
 of the manufacture. It formerly 
 belonged to the Duchess of Devon- 
 shire, and was deemed one of the 
 choicest treasures of her collection.
 
 76 MATERIALS. SKCT. I. 
 
 been increased by the addition of several other pastes, pro- 
 bably made by Clachant and Mdlle. Falloix, who had been 
 instructed by Homberg in this art, and became dealers in 
 its productions. These pastes of the Eegent are of very 
 fine glass, or of enamel, and exactly reproduce the colours 
 of the original gems. It is plain that they were produced 
 with the utmost care ; the material is very dense and free 
 from flaws and air-bubbles; the intagli in them are clean, 
 polished, and lustrous in the interior, a result extremely 
 difficult to obtain. When held against the light, those 
 which are transparent produce, by the richness of their tints, 
 precisely the effects of the real stones. Some of them, 
 however, particularly the Sardonyx, have been better imi- 
 tated subsequently as far as the tone of the colour is con- 
 cerned; but nevertheless, in spite of the recent advances 
 in the art of glass-making, and in enamels, as well as in 
 chemistry, it is very much to be doubted if finer pastes than 
 these of the Regent could be produced in our times." 
 
 The new process was soon spread throughout Europe ; and 
 when Goethe visited Eome, in the last quarter of the past 
 century, the making these glass pastes was a favourite occu- 
 pation of the dilettanti residing there. At present the Eomans 
 display the very greatest skill in this art : I have seen some 
 of their pastes, especially of the opaque kind, such as onyxes, 
 that could not be distinguished from the real stone except 
 by the file. To baffle this mode of detection, the dealers 
 use the ingenious contrivance of backing the paste with a 
 slice of real stone of the same colour ; this being set in a 
 ring, the junction is concealed, and when tested by the file 
 enables the whole to pass for the real gem adorned with a 
 valuable engraving. 2 The same method is adopted for 
 
 2 Clarac mentions his having been Marchant, and still retaining traces 
 shown a paste from an intaglio by of his signature, which, having been
 
 SECT. 1. PASTES. 77 
 
 forging all the precious coloured stones, the Kuby, Emerald, 
 and Sapphire : a paste of proper colour is backed by a piece 
 of rock crystal facetted in order to give the requisite bril- 
 liancy, and then sold to the unwary as a gem of the first 
 class ; nor is the deception detected until the wear of some 
 time begins to act upon the soft surface of the upper vitreous 
 layer. Pliny mentions a somewhat similar device of the 
 Eoman lapidaries in the case of the Jaspis Terebinthizusa, 
 the three several strata being made up of three separate 
 stones of the best colours respectively, cemented together 
 with Venice turpentine, which is still used for the purpose on 
 account of its perfect transparency. 
 
 I have seen tolerable antique pastes set in old bronze 
 rings, and evidently genuine, but hardly ever in rings of 
 the precious metals ; as might have been expected, for such 
 base imitations were only worn by people of the lowest class 
 or slaves. Pliny mentions expressly " the glass gems of the 
 rings of the populace," which, when ground up with pipeclay, 
 produced the paint called " annulare." A paste cameo of a 
 sphinx seated, an imitation of the Sardonyx and very well 
 executed, set in a massy antique gold ring, once came 
 under my notice ; but without doubt this cameo had been 
 passed off upon the ancient owner as the real gem of which 
 it was so admirable a counterfeit. This antique fraud re- 
 minds one of the jocular punishment inflicted by Gallienus 
 upon the jeweller who had taken in the Empress Salonina 
 with some false gems. She demanded that an example 
 should be made of him, and the emperor ordered that he 
 should be exposed to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. 
 The poor wretch was thrown naked into the arena, the door 
 
 manufactured into an antique Sard had been sold at an enormous price 
 in this manner, and vouched to have to a Neapolitan duke, an enthusiastic 
 been recently dug up at Otranto, amateur of gems.
 
 78 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 of the den thrown open, when out strutted a cock, and the 
 culprit got off with the fright, Gallienus saying that it was 
 just that he who had cheated others should himself be 
 cheated. Antique glass rings also occur, with the shank 
 of a twisted pattern, and in colour imitating the Agate, 
 the head bearing a comic mask, in relief, in opaque paste 
 of green or some different colour from the ring, copies, no 
 doubt, of the cameo masks in Emerald, and Plasma, and 
 Amethyst so often met with in collections. I once bought 
 one at Rome, the very fac-simile of that given by Caylus (II. 
 Ixxxix.). These, from the fragility of the material, are 
 naturally of extreme rarity when perfect. 
 
 I shall now hazard a remark that will greatly shock the 
 faith of most collectors, to this effect, that, of the pastes sold 
 as antique in such abundance, hardly one in a hundred is 
 genuine. In the handfuls of stones brought to the dealers 
 at Rome by the peasants, just as they are found in turning 
 over the ground of their vineyards and gardens in the neigh- 
 bourhood, pastes never occur without some portion of the 
 old bronze mounting still adhering to them : the loose intagli 
 are always cut on stones, even though most of them are 
 engraved in the rudest manner, and evidently for the wear 
 of the poorest classes. Besides, as these valueless glass gems 
 were never worn by people who could afford rings of gold 
 or silver, there was no probability that they were taken out 
 of the settings and thrown away when the ring was melted 
 down for the sake of the metal, as was the case with the 
 real gems in the times of barbarism. Again, every one who 
 has ever seen a paste in its original bronze ring will be 
 convinced of the all but impossibility of its being extracted 
 from the metal without being broken into fragments. Had 
 pastes been as abundant in antiquity as they are in collec- 
 tions, they would form the majority of the intagli turned up
 
 SECT. I. PASTES. 70 
 
 in the ground about Rome, whereas the direct contrary is 
 the case; whence we may fairly conclude that any paste 
 appearing never to have had a setting may be looked upon 
 with the utmost suspicion. One of the best antique pastes 
 I have ever met with was one found near Rome in the spring 
 of 1850 : the intaglio representing the town of Troy upon an 
 excellent imitation of a black and white Agate, and still set in 
 its massy bronze ring, which was almost entire. Many pastes 
 are produced as antiques which still retain the projecting 
 edges of the superfluous piece of glass, forming, as it were, 
 a thin frame around the back, which clearly shows that they 
 have never been set at all or intended for setting : all such 
 may be put down, without hesitation, to the account of the 
 fabrique of the amateurs of the last century. 
 
 Some early pastes of the Renaissance are Occasionally to 
 be met with in settings of the time, which fixes the date of 
 their manufacture : they are very rude and cast out of " pot- 
 metal," to imitate the Sapphire. But the pastes of the 
 flourishing period of the same school are often very minute 
 and carefully finished productions, containing elaborate groups, 
 and finished up by means of the wheel : and such have often 
 passed for true antique intagli. One in particular, a group 
 on an imitation of Garnet in an enamelled gold ring of the 
 period, was quite a masterpiece of imitative art. 
 
 The abundance of pastes, all styled antique, but due in 
 great part to the ateliers of the dilettanti of the last century, 
 that now fill the English collections, is perfectly amazing, 
 and furnishes another and a most amusing proof of Ovid's 
 remark, that to believe 
 
 " quod volumus credula turba sumus." 
 
 Many amateurs possess several hundreds of them at once, 
 and must believe, therefore, that the ancient glass-workers
 
 80 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 passed all their days in making these fac-similes of gems for 
 the mere purpose of sowing them broadcast in the earth for 
 the delectation of future ages. 
 
 At some of the sales of collections of gems in London I 
 have seen cards full of pastes sold at the rate of two shillings 
 and sixpence the dozen pieces, many being as good and as 
 genuine as such generally are. It was therefore an amusing 
 proof of the influence of a name in this branch of art, as in 
 every other, to see at the sale of the Herz Collection the 
 ignorant dealers in antiquities bidding high prices, often 
 some pounds per lot, for the worthless pastes forming so 
 large a portion of its numbers, and which the astute old 
 diamond-merchant, the first possessor, had purchased in 
 former years at the rate of a shilling for every pound 
 realised at the sale. 
 
 I have lately examined a large quantity, perhaps above 
 200 lumps, of coloured antique glass, of the size and shape 
 of the various kinds of gooseberries, some much larger than 
 others, but all cast as much as possible to the same form, 
 and evidently intended to receive an impression from the 
 proper matrix after a semi-fusion in the manner above de- 
 scribed. Some of these lumps were of very fine colours, and 
 a few were observable composed of two different layers, 
 designed to imitate the Sardonyx. Although many were of 
 a pure kind of pot-metal, the greatest part exhibited that 
 porous, bubbly texture so generally found in antique pastes. 
 This entire stock, including a few finished works (one a 
 remarkably fine cameo bust of Jupiter in green glass) as 
 well as a few rude intagli in Sards and Garnets, was stated 
 to have been discovered in one deposit near Naples. Unfor- 
 tunately no dependence whatever can be placed upon these 
 accounts as to the discovery of antique gems imported from 
 Italy, the dealers having always a well-authenticated and
 
 SECT. I. IMPRESSIONS OF INTAGLT IN TERRA-COTTA. bl 
 
 circumstantial story at their fingers' ends to give a false 
 value to whatever they may have to dispose of: these em- 
 bryo pastes, therefore, may either have been collected singly, 
 if antique, or else recently made to order for the antiquity 
 market by some glass-worker ; but supposing this statement 
 as to the provenance of the hoard to be essentially true, we 
 should have here a very interesting example of the first 
 processes of this curious manufacture. Many years ago a 
 specimen, beyond all suspicion of forgery, of a globule of 
 paste prepared for the matrix came under my notice, though 
 at the time its object was unexplained ; a lenticular piece of 
 dark-blue glass, rough as when cast, and looking like a dark 
 flat pebble, was found, together with a large Carnelian, cut 
 ready for setting but unengraved, and a silver ring set with 
 a rude intaglio of Mars in red Jasper, all deposited beneath 
 a large stone in the ruins of a Roman building in the Broad- 
 way, Caerleon. 
 
 Seals of Sennacherib and Sabaco II, 
 
 IMPKESSIONS OF INTAGLI IN TERRA-COTTA. 
 
 Impressions of intagli on small pieces of burnt clay of the 
 same form as the gems are not unfrequent in collections. 
 Those discovered so abundantly amongst Assyrian remains, 
 bearing the impress of the royal seal (and in one most inte- 
 resting case given by Layard, that of the cotemporary king of
 
 82 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Egypt), were deposited in the places whence they have been 
 exhumed (ancient archive-offices) when attached by a string 
 to documents, as is clearly proved by certain papyri still 
 extant with similar clay seals appended. Others of later 
 date, I have little doubt, served as moulds for making the 
 pastes described above, and the coarseness of the material 
 will account for that roughness of surface which so dis- 
 tinguishes the antique from the modern productions. This 
 view is confirmed by the fact that the moulds used for 
 the issue of the extensive base silver forgeries of the Lower 
 Empire are also made of the same material and in a 
 very similar manner; these coin-moulds have been found 
 abundantly in Somersetshire, Yorkshire, and in France at 
 Aries and Lyons. 3 Many of the clay impressions of intagli 
 come from Syria, a country always famed in ancient times for 
 its glass manufactures. Some, however, have taken these 
 stamped pieces of terra-cotta for " tesserae hospitales," or cre- 
 dentials carried by travellers as means of introduction from 
 one friend to another at a distant city. In the ' Pseudolus ' 
 of Plautus the Macedonian soldier leaves an impression of his 
 signet, his own portrait, in the hands of the slave-dealer, with 
 a part of the purchase-money of the girl whom he has bar- 
 gained for, and subsequently sends his servant Harpax with 
 the remainder of the sum, who, to authenticate his mission, 
 brings with him another impression of the same signet. This 
 Plautus styles Symbolum ; and the various counters still 
 preserved so abundantly in lead, ivory, and clay, are supposed 
 to have been intended for similar purposes. The famous 
 courtezan Glycera, amongst her other witticisms recorded by 
 Athenaeus, on receiving the clay impression of her lover's 
 
 3 Hence it is certainly allowable analogous process of manufacturing 
 to conclude that moulds of the same the cheap paste gems so much in 
 material would be employed for the demand at the same period.
 
 SECT. I. MURRHINA. 83 
 
 signet, a pre-arranged signal that she was to visit him, 
 replies to the messenger, " Tell him I cannot come, for it is 
 muddy (or mud)," the Greek word admitting both meanings ; 
 hence the joke. That too enthusiastic collector, Yerres, has 
 it laid to his charge by Cicero as a most heinous crime, that, 
 having been greatly pleased with the seal on a letter, he 
 sent for the signet itself, and never returned it to the owner, 
 a proceeding which would be reprobated and imitated by 
 many antiquarians of the present day. 
 
 MUKEHINA. 
 
 To treat of gems and to omit the Murrhiiie would be like 
 writing a history of this century which should contain no 
 mention of Napoleon, so fierce a war has been waged by 
 theoretical archasologists with one another about the real 
 nature of this substance. Some have absurdly supposed it to 
 be Chinese porcelain, basing this theory entirely upon the 
 line of Propertius 
 
 " Murrheaque in Parthis pocula cocta focis." 
 
 " And murrhine goblets baked in Parthian fires." 
 
 A mode of expression which is nothing more than one of his 
 favourite poetical conceits for conveying the same idea as 
 Pliny, when he says " Some consider it to be a liquid substance 
 solidified by subterranean heat." This, by the way, is a strange 
 anticipation of the modern theory ascribing the production of 
 Agates and Jaspers to igneous action. One consideration 
 alone suffices to show the utter absurdity of the porcelain 
 hypothesis, as though Pliny, a man so skilled in the arts, 
 could ever have mistaken the Chinese painting of figures, 
 animals, or flowers, on their porcelain ware, for natural spots 
 aud colours on a real stone. Besides, the material itself was 
 
 G 2
 
 84 MATERIALS. SECT. T. 
 
 brought to Rome in the rough, and there wrought up into 
 dishes and flat bowls, for which purpose alone it was suited, 
 in consequence of the want of thickness of the strata, Pieces 
 however were obtained of considerable superficial extent ; 
 for, amongst the valuable objects displayed at Pompey's 
 triumph, was a draught-board four feet long by three wide, 
 formed out of only two slabs. This was the first occa- 
 sion on which the stone was introduced into Rome, and 
 Pompey dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus the unworked 
 pieces (lapides) and the vases borne in procession during 
 the triumph. 4 
 
 The dimensions of a slab were never beyond those required 
 for a dish (abaci escarii) ; and the trulla, especially particu- 
 larised as usually made of this stone, was precisely of the 
 form and size of a modern breakfast-saucer. These Murrhine 
 vessels were, in spite of their high price, accumulated in 
 large numbers by the wealthy Romans ; those belonging to a 
 single senator, and which, on the owner's death, Nero seized 
 for himself, were sufficient, when set out as a spectacle to 
 the public, to fill a theatre in the Palace-gardens of con- 
 siderable capacity. They are mentioned by various ancient 
 authors as Jbeing in use down to the close of the empire ; 
 and legal writers especially distinguish Murrhina from vessels 
 of glass or of the precious metals. Heliogabalus is recorded 
 to have employed Murrhine vases, as well as those of Onyx, 
 for the basest purposes, 5 which seems to have been regarded 
 as the very extreme of licentious extravagance. As the 
 material was indestructible, we should expect to find these 
 
 4 This was his third triumph to Albania, Iberia, Crete, the Basterni, 
 celebrate his victories over the Cili- and the kings Mithridates and Ti- 
 cian pirates, Pontus, Armenia, Cap- granes. 
 
 padocia, PaphlagOnia, Syria, Judaea, "In niurrhlnisetonychintsmln.\it." 
 
 Treb. Pollio.
 
 SECT. I. MURRHINA. 85 
 
 vases, either whole or in fragments, amongst ancient remains, 
 on the axiom that whatever cannot be annihilated must 
 exist in some place or another,, and the only vases we do 
 meet with under circumstances fulfilling all the requirements 
 of the case, are of Agate, fragments of which I have seen 
 at Rome belonging to bowls of extraordinary diameter, fully 
 accounting for the vast sums paid by the luxurious for the 
 rarities amongst this -class. For instance, Petronius pos- 
 sessed a trulla valued at 3000 talents, which, immediately 
 before killing himself, he broke to pieces, in order to disap- 
 point the expectations of Nero, who himself is said to have 
 afterwards paid the same sum for a sfcialler vase. These 
 fragments even now are found so abundantly at Rome as to 
 prove the extensive use of these Agate vessels in ancient 
 times : they are now cut up into brooch-stones, if not large 
 enough to be preserved as curiosities for their own sake. 
 Perfect vessels, as may be supposed, are of the greatest 
 rarity. 6 
 
 Pliny describes the Murrhine as a stone covered with spots 
 varying from white to purple, which last colour at that time 
 included all shades from dark-red to indigo. The substance 
 also exhibited a mixture of tints, the purple passing into a 
 flame-colour, and the milky shades turning to a red. Such 
 changes I have myself witnessed in an Agate trulla be- 
 longing to an acquaintance, the colours of which are a 
 nearly transparent white, milky in parts, and a reddish- 
 brown, going through many curious changes of hue as the 
 light is allowed to pass through the vessel at different 
 angles. Agates present all possible varieties of colour : they 
 occur with shades of Sapphire, blue mixed with the white, 
 
 a The splendid Agate vase of the Museo Borbonico was purchased for 
 the sum of 10,000 ducati, or 1500?.
 
 86 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 with well-defined stripes of the brightest opaque colours, and 
 the China Agate has a milk-white ground, in parts semi- 
 transparent, variegated with a dark-red ; and this last seems 
 to come nearer to Pliny's poetical but somewhat obscure 
 description than any other stone. "Murrhine vases have a 
 lustre without any strength, or more properly a polish than 
 a lustre. But their value lies in their variety of colours, 
 the spots occasionally turning themselves into purple and 
 white, and a third made up of both ; the purple, by as it were 
 a transition of colour, becoming fiery, or the milky hue 
 turning red. Some especially admire the edges of these 
 spots, and a kind of play of colours such as is seen in the 
 rainbow. Opaque spots are most esteemed ; any part trans- 
 parent or pale is a defect, as are also flaws and warts not 
 projecting from the surface, but as if implanted within the 
 substance itself. There is some recommendation also in 
 their agreeable smell." This description exactly agrees with 
 that of a polished Agate : the absence of lustre, the infinite 
 variety of shades, and even the defects noticed, can be 
 observed in no other material of sufficient size for the pur- 
 poses to which the Murrhine was employed. It has been 
 supposed that this stone was Fluor Spar, the Blue John of 
 Derbyshire ; but, besides the fact that this is almost peculiar 
 to England, I do not believe that fragments of it have ever 
 been found amongst Koman remains. Even granting that 
 a few fragments of the fluor spar of undoubted antiquity did 
 occur, the great frequency of the pieces of Agate vases is a 
 sufficient proof that they once constituted the class of vessels 
 so abundant under the Empire. For, if the whole vessels of 
 an imperishable substance were so plentiful at a former 
 period, it is a logical consequence that at least their frag- 
 ments must be as abundant at the present day, as no pos- 
 sible circumstance could have swept them out of existence.
 
 SECT. I. MURRHINA. 87 
 
 Another corroboration of this opinion is the fact of many 
 glass vessels being found, both entire and broken, which are 
 very good imitations of striped Agates ; and Pliny expressly 
 mentions, amongst the varieties of coloured glass made in his 
 day, one imitating the Murrhine. 
 
 The most splendid Agate vase in existence is the two- 
 handled cup, carchesium, of the capacity of a sextarius (above 
 a pint), and covered with Bacchanalian subjects, presented by 
 Charles the Bald, in the 9th century, to the Abbey of St. 
 Denis, and which was always used to hold the wine at the 
 coronation of the kings of France. In this case, then, we 
 trace a Murrhine cup almost up to the days of the Eoman 
 Empire ; and, from the style of art displayed upon it, the 
 vase might, without hazard, be ascribed to the epoch of Nero 
 himself. 7 We may conclude, from Pliny's mode of expression, 
 that, although flat saucers . of Murrhine were not uncommon, 
 the thinness of the slabs of the stone made a scyphus, or deep 
 hemispherical bowl, an extraordinary rarity ; for, among the 
 show of Nero's vases in the Palace-garden theatre " were the 
 broken fragments of one scyphus preserved in a case with as 
 much care as the corpse of Alexander the Great, and exhibited 
 to the public to excite, I suppose, the grief of the age, and to 
 cast odium upon fortune !" 
 
 At the present day we might still say with Pliny, " The 
 East sends us Murrhine vases." Collections of Agate vases 
 formed in India frequently occur in the auctions of articles 
 of virtu in London, where they still fetch high prices, though 
 
 7 This cup bore upon its setting gold enriched with precious stones 
 
 the legend added at the time of its melted down by the thieves ; but 
 
 donation to the abbey by Charles : the vase itself was fortunately re- 
 
 " HOC vas Christe tibi devota mente dicavit covered undamaged, and has been 
 
 Tertius in Franco subiimis regmine Carius." remounted in an elegant style by 
 
 It was stolen in Feb. 1804 from the Delafontaine. 
 Museum, and the ancient setting of
 
 88 MATERIALS. 
 
 by no means equal to those paid for them in their native 
 country. It was grievous to read of the amount of skill, 
 labour, and value, annihilated in a moment, when, at the 
 recent sack of the palace of Delhi, our soldiers, with the brutal 
 love of destruction that characterises John Bull, smashed 
 chests upon chests full of these elegant productions. Had 
 they been preserved and sent to England they would have 
 added largely to the amount of prize-money, being worth 
 considerably more than their weight in gold. 
 
 ALABASTER. 
 
 This stone was originally known as the Onyx, a name 
 afterwards exclusively appropriated to the gem still called 
 by that name. From the description of it given by Pliny 
 it must have been the stone now known as the Oriental 
 Alabaster, "being of the colour of honey, variegated with 
 spiral spots, and opaque." It came from Arabia and Egypt, 
 but the best sort of it from Carmania. It was at first only 
 used for making drinking-cups, but soon became so plentiful 
 at Eome that Pliny mentions columns thirty-two feet long 
 formed of it, and also a dining-room of Callistus (a freedman 
 of Claudius) adorned with more than thirty such pillars. 
 The columns and pilasters presented by Mahomet Ali to the 
 building of the church of S. Paolo-fuori-le-Mura at Eome 
 are above forty feet in length, of a single block each, and of 
 the most beautiful quality. This stone is often of a rich 
 brown mixed with lemon-colour; and this kind is quarried 
 to a large extent at Volterra, where it is worked up into 
 those elegant vases of colossal size now often to be seen in 
 the London shops. Pliny says that it received the name of 
 Alabaster from its being used to make the little jars for 
 holding perfumes, which were called alabastra as being
 
 SECT. I. ALABASTER. 89 
 
 shaped like an amphora without handles ; hence the stone of 
 which they were commonly made got the designation of 
 Lapis Alabastrites. These perfume-jars are of common occur- 
 rence and of all sizes, both in this material and also in glass 
 and pottery, but those of stone were thought to preserve the 
 perfume better. Hence we see that St. Mark's "alabastrum 
 unguenti nardi spicati " and the " nardi parvus onyx " of 
 Horace meant the same thing. The " box of ointment " of 
 the Jacobean translators gives an incorrect idea of the passage, 
 an error due to their notions being biassed by the usages of 
 their own times, when ointments, as at present, were solid 
 compounds of lard, and necessarily kept in boxes for use ; a 
 mistranslation the more absurd when we consider the epoch 
 and the country where the event recorded by the evangelist 
 took place. But the unguenta of the ancients were merely 
 scented oils obtained by macerating spices or flowers in olive 
 oil, and thus obtaining their essence by pressure. The neck 
 of the Alabaster vessel was broken off when its contents were 
 required, as it had been hermetically sealed by the maker 
 to prevent the evaporation of the scent. In the museum at 
 Naples are shown some large Alabaster jars from Pompeii 
 still retaining a strong perfume from their former contents, 
 at which fact the Emperor Nicolas, on his visit, "rimase 
 sorpreso," as well he might ; at least so says the custode of 
 the gallery. We find a large number of canopi, or sacred 
 Egyptian vases, with a cover shaped like the head of a 
 mummy, made of this stone. The commoner variety used 
 for these little vessels is exactly like that of Derbyshire 
 worked up into similar forms at the present day. This stone 
 deserves the name of Onyx much better than the gem to 
 which, at a later period, the term was exclusively confined, 
 for it is of the exact colour of the finger-nail, and shaded in 
 the same manner. The Onyx vases already mentioned as
 
 90 MATERIALS, SECT. I. 
 
 having, as well as Murrhine, been so degraded by Helioga- 
 balus, must have been some elegant drinking-vesscls of the 
 Oriental Alabaster designed to adorn the tables of his more 
 tasteful predecessors. 
 
 KOCK-CEYSTAL. 
 
 The Murrhine Vases naturally introduce the subject of 
 those of Crystal, which were as much in fashion among the 
 Romans as with their imitators, the wealthy Italians of the 
 Cinque-Cento period. The ancients had a notion that this 
 stone was only hardened ice, and hence its name, the Greek 
 word for ice. This theory was supposed to be confirmed by the 
 circumstance that their chief supply of Crystal was obtained 
 from the Alps, where it still abounds in the moraine, or de'bris 
 left by the glaciers. The Eomans used it almost exclusively 
 for making cups and vases. I have met with hardly any 
 antique intagli in Crystal ; no doubt its want of colour operated 
 against its use as a ring-stone. The engravers of the Re- 
 vival, on the other hand, often employed it for intagli, and 
 executed some of their best works in this stone. Vasari espe- 
 cially praises the Crystals of Giovanni del Castel Bolognese, 8 
 the most eminent of those early artists. Their engravings 
 were not so much intended for signets as for personal orna- 
 ments, and to adorn articles of plate, where largeness of 
 extent and transparency were rather recommendations than 
 otherwise. Pliny mentions the lucrative fraud then common 
 of staining Crystal so as to imitate Emeralds, Amethysts, and 
 other coloured gems, but forbears to give the process, because 
 even luxury, as he says, ought to be protected against imposi- 
 tion. Dutens, however, is less scrupulous ; he asserts that a 
 
 8 Vasari names in particular the Tityus and the Ganymede engraved 
 by him for Ippolito dei Medici.
 
 SECT. I. KOCK-CRYSTAL. 91 
 
 Crystal heated and plunged into the tincture of cochineal, be- 
 comes a Euby ; into a mixture of turnesole and saffron, a 
 Sapphire ; and so on for the rest, always assuming the colour 
 of the tincture into which it is plunged. Or the same end 
 may be obtained by macerating the crystal for some months 
 in spirits of turpentine, saturated with a metallic oxide of the 
 required tint. I believe it much more probable that the 
 ancients employed the more simple method now so much in 
 use, and to which most of the Carbuncles of the London shops 
 are due, and that is to cut the crystal to the proper form, and 
 painting its back the required colour, so to set it in the piece 
 of jewellery. The fact that ancient gems were usually set 
 with a back to them, would greatly favour the execution of 
 this fraud, to baffle which, in the case of the Chrysolitlms for 
 instance, Pliny expressly mentions that the stone was set 
 open. Although the Roman jewellers made false Jaspers of 
 three colours by cementing as many slices of different stones 
 together, and hence its name Terebinthizusa, they do not 
 seem to have been acquainted with doublets, the favourite 
 device of the modern trade, by which a thin slice of real 
 stone is backed by a facetted Crystal, and then so set as to 
 conceal the junction. The ancient frauds in coloured stones 
 were entirely confined to the substitution of pastes for the true, 
 to detect which Pliny lays down many rules, some fanciful 
 enough, but containing one that is infallible, that by means 
 of a splinter of Obsidian a paste may be scratched, but not a 
 real stone. We may as well conclude the subject of false 
 gems, which falls appropriately under the head of the Crystal, 
 so much used in their fabrication, by quoting the curious 
 observations of Camillo Leonardo, of Pesaro, on the various 
 frauds practised by the jewellers of his own times, 1502. 
 Many of these are extremely ingenious, and the recipes for 
 them doubtless handed down by tradition from remote ages.
 
 92 MATERIALS. 
 
 Besides pastes of Smalto, which exactly counterfeited the 
 true gems, they converted common stones into others of a 
 more precious quality by various curious processes. Thus a 
 Garnet cut very thin and backed with Crystal, was sold as a 
 Euby ; an Amethyst hollowed out and filled with a coloured 
 tincture imitated the Balais, which gem was likewise counter- 
 feited by a thin tablet of Amethyst laid upon a ruby-coloured 
 foil. Diamonds were forged by cutting a pale Sapphire or 
 a Beryl to the right shape, and then backing it with the 
 proper tincture. To understand this, it must be observed, 
 that until quite lately Diamonds were always set upon a 
 black ground, to give them lustre : on the proper preparation 
 of which Cellini treats at great length in his ' Oreficeria,' as 
 being of the utmost importance to the effect of the stone. 
 To baffle the test of the file, which no paste can resist, the 
 forgers of the time of Camillo Leonardo chiefly imitated the 
 Emerald and the Peridot, as these gems are in reality but 
 little harder than glass, and yield to the file almost as easily 
 as their counterfeits in paste ; so that the sole means of detec- 
 tion remaining, was to examine them by the light of a candle, 
 when the colour of the false gems would be found to fade 
 away the more intently they were viewed. 
 
 The annexed epigram is entitled in the Anthology, " Upon 
 an Engraved Crystal," in which case it would give us the 
 name of another ancient engraver of the Greek period ; but 
 the expressions of the epigram itself would rather make me 
 conclude that the portrait was painted in gold on the back of 
 a piece of glass, which was covered by another piece fused 
 upon it, so that the painting appeared enclosed in the sub- 
 stance of the glass, of which art some beautiful specimens are 
 still preserved. 9 
 
 9 The finest probably of these is perty of Dr. Conyers Middle-ton, and 
 the portrait of a child, once the pro- now iu the British Museum.
 
 SECT. I. ROCK-CRYSTAL. 03 
 
 DIODOB.US, Anthol. ix. 770. 
 
 " The art and colour well might Zeuxis claim, 
 But Satyreius is my author's name, 
 Who on the tiny crystal drew the face, 
 Arsinoe's portrait full of living grace ; 
 An offering to his queen, though small in size, 
 No larger work with me in merit vies." 
 
 Renaissance Crystal intagli are sometimes found in jewellery 
 of that period, set with the engraved side downwards upon a 
 gold or azure foil. The effect thus produced is very singular, 
 the figures appearing as though cut in relief in a transparent 
 gem, a Topaz or Sapphire, and the deception is so perfect as 
 only to be detected by the touch. A veiled bust of the Ma- 
 donna, thus treated and set in a ring, the first instance of this 
 ingenious device that came under my notice, v puzzled me for 
 some time, by the apparent relief of the work upon an actually 
 plain surface. This style of work iii Crystal is also men- 
 tioned by Mariette, in whose time several had been circulated 
 amongst the Parisian connoisseurs as antiques of the Roman 
 period. 
 
 The Romans used to give fabulous prices for vessels in 
 this material. Pliny mentions a lady, and one too by no 
 means wealthy, who bought a Crystal trulla for a sum equal 
 to 1500?. of our money ; and Nero, to avenge himself upon 
 the world, when informed of his deposition by the Senate, 
 threw down and smashed two crystal bowls, scyphi, engraved 
 with subjects from Homer. 
 
 Crystal is found in very large masses ; the largest known 
 to the Romans weighed 50 pounds, and was dedicated by 
 Livia in the Capitol ; and a bowl is mentioned which held 
 four sextarii, or about two quarts. I myself have seen a rolled 
 Crystal more than a foot in length, of a perfect egg-shape, 
 and of admirable transparency. It had formed a part of
 
 94 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 the plunder of Delhi, and was intended to be cut into a 
 vase, the capacity of which would doubtless approach to that 
 recorded by Pliny. 
 
 The balls of Crystal occasionally found amongst ancient 
 remains were used as burning-glasses. 10 That they were thus 
 employed by surgeons appears from the passage of Pliny : 
 " I find it asserted by physicians, that when any part of the 
 body requires to be cauterized, it cannot be better done than 
 by means of a crystal-ball held up against the sun's rays." 
 Orpheus (170) recommends their employment to kindle 
 the sacrificial fire : 
 
 " Take in thy pious hand the Crystal bright, 
 Translucent image of the Eternal Light. 
 Pleased with its lustre, every power divine 
 Shall grant thy vows presented at their shrine. 
 But how to prove the virtue of the stone, 
 A certain mode I will to thee make known : 
 To kindle without fire the sacred blaze, 
 This wondrous gem on splintered pine-wood place, 
 Forthwith, reflecting the bright orb of day, 
 Upon the wood it shoots a slender ray. 
 Caught by the unctuous fuel this will raise 
 First smoke, then sparkles, then a mighty blaze. 
 Such we the fire of ancient Vesta name, 
 Loved by th' immortals all, a holy flame. 
 No other fire with such grateful fumes 
 The fatted victim on their hearths consumes ; 
 Yet though of flame the cause, strange to be told, 
 The stone snatched from the blaze is icy cold." 
 
 The Cairngorum, so much in fashion at the beginning of 
 this century, that Mawe (1804) speaks of ten guineas being 
 the usual price of a seal-stone, is only a Crystal coloured a 
 
 10 They were also held in the hand ness during the fiery heat of the 
 for the sake of their refreshing cool- southern summers.
 
 SECT. I. ROCK-CRYSTAL. 95 
 
 dark orange or deep brown by some metallic oxide. Some 
 of them are certainly very beautiful, much resembling the 
 Jacinth, and are .by far superior in lustre to the German 
 Topaz, a stone of the same kind, and now imported in such 
 large quantities. 
 
 Crystals and Agates are not uncommon in collections, con- 
 taining a small quantity of water in a cavity left within 
 them at the time of their formation. I am informed that in 
 California the miners often meet with large nodules of quartz 
 thus filled, and are often killed by drinking the liquid con- 
 tained therein, so strongly impregnated is it with silica. 
 This is the Enhydros of Pliny and the Mediaeval miner- 
 alogists, who looked upon it as a most wonderful miracle of 
 nature, to judge from the numerous epigrams, of which it has 
 been thought worthy by Claudian and other pqets : 
 
 EPIGRAM VIII. et seq. 
 
 " When the Alpine ice, frost-hardened into stone, 
 First braved the sun, and as a jewel shone, 
 Not all its substance could the gem assume ; 
 Some tell-tale drops still linger in its womb. 
 Hence with augmented fame its wonders grow, 
 And charms the soul the stone's mysterious flow, 
 Whilst stored within it from Creation's birth, 
 The treasured waters add a double worth. 
 
 Mark where extended a translucent vein 
 Of brighter crystal tracks the glittering plain. 
 No Boreas fierce, no nipping winter knows 
 The hidden spring, but ever ebbs and flows ; 
 No frosts congeal it, and no Dog-star dries, 
 E'en all-consuming Time its youth defies. 
 
 A stream unfettered pent in crystal round, 
 A truant fount by hardened waters bound, 
 .Mark how the gem with native sources foams, 
 How the live spring in refluent eddies roams .'
 
 96 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 How the bright rainbow paints the opposing ray 
 As with the imprisoned winter fights the day I 
 Strange nymph ! above all rivers' fame supreme, 
 Gem yet no gem ; a stone, yet flowing stream. 
 
 Erst, while the boy, pleased with its polish clear, 
 With gentle finger twirled the icy sphere, 
 He marked the drops pent in its stony hold, 
 Spared by the rigour of the wintry cold ; 
 With thirsty lips th' unmoistened ball he tries, 
 And the loved draught with fruitless kisses plies. 
 
 Streams which a stream in kindred prison chain, 
 Which water icere and water still remain, 
 What art hath bound ye, by what wondrous force 
 Hath ice to stone congealed the limpid source ? 
 What heat the captive saves from winter hoar, 
 Or what warm zephyr thaws the frozen core ? 
 Say in what hid recess of inmost earth, 
 Prison of fleeting tides, thou hadst thy birth ? 
 What power thy substance fixed with icy spell, 
 Then loosed the prisoner in his crystal cell ? 
 
 Hercules Mad : Etrus 
 
 I have read of one of these pregnant crystals exploding 
 when held in a person's mouth, in consequence of the expan- 
 sion of the inclosed fluid, and lacerating his palate very dan- 
 gerously. Whether the water was inclosed within the stone 
 at the time of its formation, as the ancients supposed, or 
 afterwards infiltrated through its pores in the lapse of ages, 
 is still a matter of dispute. I have myself seen the hollow 
 spherical portions of the stems of Venice glasses nearly filled 
 with water, which has penetrated either through their sub-
 
 SECT. I. JADE. 97 
 
 stance, or else through some imperceptible fissures in the 
 soldering, during the few centuries they have lain under 
 ground ; and curiously enough the marks made by the suc- 
 cessive deposits of the rising liquid on the interior of the 
 glass exactly imitate the natural layers of an Agate. At the 
 sale of Barbetti's collection of Phoenician antiquities, some 
 hollow rims of glass sepulchral urns filled with water, which 
 had doubtless penetrated in the same manner as in the sphe- 
 rical bosses above mentioned, were bought at high prices by 
 credulous antiquaries, who took for granted the truth of the 
 wily Italian's assertion, that they contained a wonderful per- 
 fume with which they had been filled at the time of their 
 manufacture. And to increase the prodigy, he pretended that 
 this liquid was of so powerful an odour, that one of these 
 rims having been broken by accident in a roo~m in Paris, all 
 the persons present were immediately driven out by its 
 
 strength ! 
 
 JADE. 
 
 Jade is a semi-opaque stone of a soapy appearance, and 
 varying in colour from a dirty white to a dull olive. Amulets 
 made of it were believed in the Middle Ages to prevent all 
 diseases of the kidneys ; hence the name of the stone from 
 Hijada, the Spanish for " kidney," and its scientific title of 
 Nephrite. Many vases and figures in this material are to be 
 seen in collections, but few of them probably are antique. 
 The sole merit of these works lies in the extreme difficulty 
 of their execution on account of the excessive hardness of 
 the stone, which circumstance greatly recommends it to the 
 Chinese and to their brethren in taste, certain amongst the 
 rich and curiosity-loving of the English collectors. I scarcely 
 believe the stone to have been known to the ancients, from 
 the fact that its popular name is due to the Spaniards or 
 
 H
 
 98 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 Portuguese, who first imported it from the East ; for if com- 
 monly employed in ancient art, 1 we should have expected to 
 find it still designated by some Italian corruption of its 
 Latin synonym. Pliny mentions a Syrian stone, the Adadu- 
 nephros, or " kidney of Adonis ;" but as there was also the 
 "eye" and the "finger" of the same personage represented 
 by gems, we may conclude they all owed their names merely 
 to their similarity in form to those parts of the human body. 
 Even had the Jade been known at an earlier period, the 
 ancient love of the beautiful and their correct taste would 
 have prevented their throwing away their labour and time 
 upon so ugly and refractory a material. 
 
 JET. 
 
 This name is a corruption of Gagates, its ancient appella- 
 tion ; but it was then chiefly used in medicine and in magic, 
 as a means of fumigation. It was also employed for staining 
 pottery an idelible black : " fictilia ex eo inscripta non de- 
 lentur." Anklets and bracelets are found turned out of it, as 
 well as of the similar substance, Kirnmeridge coal, the works 
 of the Eoman-British inhabitants of our coasts ; 2 but the in- 
 tagli in Jet palmed off upon antiquarians so abundantly within 
 these few years, are known now to be recent forgeries. 
 
 1 I have, however, met with one rings, a half-crotalon with the head 
 or two intagli of the Gnostic class of Medusa, in all 26 articles, were 
 upon either this stone or else a bad discovered in two stone-coffins, de- 
 plasma, not to be distinguished from posited under the chief entrance of 
 it by the eye. Saint Gere'on, Cologne, at the time 
 
 2 A complete suite of Jet orna- of the repairs of that church in 1848. 
 ments, comprising two hair-pins They are supposed to have been the 
 with heads composed of pine-cones, ornaments of some priestesses of 
 almonds, and trefoils, bracelets, Cybele.
 
 SECT. I. FORMS OF ANTIQUE GEMS. 99 
 
 THE FORMS OF ANTIQUE GEMS. 
 
 In the age of Pliny the favourite form was, he says, the 
 oblong, meaning thereby the very long oval in which an- 
 tique gems are so often to be found. In the next degree of 
 favour stood the lentile-shaped, or a sphere much flattened 
 on both sides, now called a " stone cut en cabochon," or in 
 jewellers' phrase " tallow drop." Lessing has some ingenious 
 speculations as to the general adoption of this form, which is 
 to be seen in fully half the number of intagli existing. He 
 endeavours to show that it facilitated the" engraving of the 
 design, and assisted the perspective by bringing the various 
 depths of the intaglio into the same plane. But the most 
 probable motive was, that the projecting surface of the gem 
 forming a corresponding depression in the wax might serve 
 to protect from defacement the impression of the intaglio in 
 that soft material. 3 
 
 Next in favour came the cycloidal or elliptic shape, a very 
 common one in the intagli of the preceding century ; and last 
 of all the circular. Angular stones were disliked, and indeed 
 we never meet with fine intagli cut upon such, for whenever 
 gems of this shape do occur, which is but seldom, they present 
 engravings belonging to the latest ages of the Empire ; and 
 such are also octangular. A square antique intaglio I have 
 never met with. Gems with a hollow or irregularly projecting 
 surface were naturally regarded as inferior to those of a flat 
 and even exterior. To understand this remark, it is necessary 
 to have seen in what manner the Komans employed the harder 
 precious stones, as Rubies and Sapphires, and we find that they 
 never attempted to reduce them to any regular shape, but set 
 them retaining their natural form, to which the lapidary had 
 
 3 Besides, the protuberant form of ornamental and showy when worn 
 the coloured gem rendered it more on the finger. 
 
 H 2
 
 100 MATERIALS. SECT. I. 
 
 contrived to give a certain degree of polish. Hence such a 
 stone, if naturally presenting a regular shape, or that of the ori- 
 ginal crystal, was much more ornamental than those occurring, 
 as is most usual, in the ungainly form of irregularly rolled 
 pebbles. The most valuable coloured gems, almost as rude 
 (with the exception of a slight polish) as when picked up 
 amongst the gravel of the Indian torrent, may be seen adorn- 
 ing, more by their intrinsic value than by their beauty, the 
 most precious treasures of antiquity, as the Iron Crown, that 
 of Hungary, and the five coronets of the Gothic kings of Spain 
 now deposited in the Hotel de Cluny. 
 
 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GEMS. 
 
 Diamond: pure Carbon. Specific gravity, 3.50; hardness =10. 
 Sapphire : nearly pure Alumina. Sp.gr., 4; hardness = 10 nearly. 
 Ruby : the same, but slightly less hard. 
 Emerald: Glucine, 12.5; Silica, 68.5; Alumina, 15.75; Oxide 
 
 of Chromium, 0.3 ; Oxide of Iron, 1 ; Lime, 0.25. Sp. gr., 2.7 ; 
 
 hardness = 7.5 to 8. 
 Jacinth : Zircon, 70 ; Silica, 25 ; Oxide of Iron, 0.5. Sp. gr., 4.5 
 
 to 4.7 ; hardness = 7.5. 
 Garnet: Silica, 33.75; Alumina, 27.25; Oxide of Iron, 36; 
 
 Oxide of Manganese, 0.25. Sp. gr., 4.2 ; hardness = 6 to 7. 
 Amethyst or Coloured Quartz : Silica, 97.5 ; Oxide of Iron, 0.75 ; 
 
 Alumina, 0.25. Sp. gr., 2.6 ; hardness = 7. 
 Turquoise : Alumina, 73 ; Oxide of Copper, 4.5 ; Oxide of Iron, 
 
 4; Water, 18. Sp. gr., 2.8; hardness = 5. 
 Lapis-lazuli: Silica, 49; Alumina, 11; Lime, 16; Soda, 8 ; 
 
 Oxide of Iron, 4; Magnesia, 2; Sulphuric Acid, 2. Sp.gr., 
 
 2.95 ; hardness, scratches glass. 
 
 Cakedony (including Carnelian, Onyx, Plasma) : Silica, 84 ; Alu- 
 mina, 16. Sp. gr., 2.6 ; hardness, somewhat greater than 
 
 Flint.
 
 SECT. 11. TESTS OF ANTIQUITY. 101 
 
 SECTION II. ART, STYLES OF. 
 
 Horses of Achilles mourning over the slain Patroclus Gt-eek. Yellow Sard. 
 
 ON THE TESTS OF ANTIQUITY IN GEMS, 
 
 V 
 AND ON 
 
 THE INSTRUMENTS USED BY THE ANCIENT ENGRAVERS. 
 
 ON commencing the Second Section of this work, which treats 
 of the Intagli and Camei considered in themselves, it will be 
 a most suitable introduction to the subject, to make a few ob- 
 servations on the two points, forming the title of this chapter, 
 so intimately connected with each other. No definite rules 
 can indeed be given, as nothing but long experience, and the 
 careful examination of large numbers of gems belonging to 
 every period, can supply that almost intuitive perception in 
 the art, so impossible to be acquired in any other manner. 
 The remarks that follow are the result of much thought, and 
 of many years study of antique gems, and of the careful 
 examination of some of the principal European collections. 
 
 If we consider the purpose to which intagli were almost ex- 
 clusively applied, at the time of their execution, namely, that 
 of signets, to be worn set in rings, we shall naturally look with 
 suspicion upon any engraved gems the dimensions of which
 
 102 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 exceed those of an ordinary ring-stone ; and it will be found, 
 by observation, that this rule has but very few exceptions, 
 and that almost all intagli of a large size are of a period 
 subsequent to the revival of the art. Of course we except 
 from this rule the large gnostic gems which were intended to 
 be worn on the dress, or to be carried on the person as 
 amulets, and not to be employed as signet-rings. For pur- 
 poses of ornament to dresses, plate, and jewellery, the Romans 
 preferred precious stones the beauty and value of which con- 
 sisted in their colour alone, and which were employed uncut ; 
 or else camei which their size and style of work rendered 
 effective when viewed from a distance, whereas intagli make 
 no show unless upon a close examination. The finest antique 
 cameo that ever delighted my eyes was a large profile head 
 of Jupiter Dodonaeus on Sardonyx, still enclosed in the 
 oxidised iron-setting that had formerly served to fix it upon 
 the cuirass of some Roman general. This custom explains 
 the use of the fine perforation running through the whole 
 width of the stone, so often to ; be observed in really antique 
 camei, and which is merely of sufficient size to admit a thread 
 for the purpose of affixing the cameo to the dress. But to 
 return to the point noticed at starting. The small size of 
 antique intagli, so observable on looking over any collection, 
 will of itself prove what a striking difference this peculiarity 
 alone makes between them and the works executed after 
 the revival of gem-engraving. Ever since that period, the 
 artists have always preferred stones of considerable magni- 
 tude ; and their best works are to be seen on gems of larger 
 size than those used for their less important compositions, 
 which is exactly the reverse of the antique practice. Groups 
 of several figures, and representations of well-known historical 
 events, are an almost certain mark of modern work ; whilst 
 the drawing of the earlier Cinque-Cento engravers, has all
 
 SECT. II. TESTS OF ANTIQUITY. 103 
 
 the quaint and exaggerated character to be found in the 
 paintings on the Majolica of the same period. 
 
 Again, antique gems are often of a very irregular form on 
 the back, in fact retaining their natural shape, the edge being 
 merely rounded off for the convenience of setting. This was 
 done to increase the depth of colour of the gem, which would 
 have been lowered had its thickness been diminished. The 
 back of the gem also, although highly polished, will often 
 show traces of deep parallel scratches, occasioned by its 
 having been first rubbed down into shape on a slab of emery, 
 and afterwards brought to a lustrous surface by some peculiar 
 process ; whereas modern stones are ground down and 
 polished at once upon the same instrument, a revolving disk 
 of copper moistened with oil, and emery powder, which gives 
 them a perfectly smooth and even surface. 
 
 A high degree of polish on the face of the gem, although in 
 itself a suspicious circumstance, does not however infallibly 
 stamp the intaglio as a work of modern times, for it has been 
 the unfortunate practice with jewellers to repolish the surface 
 of a good antique intaglio, in order to remove the scratches 
 and traces of friction which true antiques usually present, so 
 as to make the stone look better as a mere ornament when 
 mounted. This is a most ruinous operation ; for besides 
 making the intaglio itself appear of dubious antiquity, it also 
 destroys the perfect outline of the design, by lowering the 
 surface of the stone ; and many lamentable instances present 
 themselves of admirable engravings almost entirely spoiled in 
 this way, for the sake of a little outward improvement. On 
 the other hand, a rough and worn surface must not be relied 
 on as an infallible proof of antiquity, for Italian ingenuity has 
 long ago discovered that a handful of new-made gems crammed 
 down a turkey's throat will in a few days, by the trituration 
 of the gizzard, assume a roughness of exterior apparently
 
 104 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 produced by the wear of many centuries. 1 Hence, if a stone 
 has too rough a surface, it requires to be examined still more 
 carefully, as affording good grounds for suspicion by its exag- 
 gerated ostentation of antiquity. In a word, though Faith 
 may be the cardinal virtue of the theologian, Distrust ought 
 to be that of every gem-collecter ; so beset is he, at every 
 step, by the most ingenious frauds, devised and carried out by 
 the roguery and dexterity of three centuries. 
 
 Again, though the stone itself may be antique, yet it may 
 have been used as the vehicle of another species of deception, 
 and that the most difficult to guard against of any that I know. 
 It is a common practice of Italian engravers to get antique 
 gems bearing inferior intagli upon them, and to retouch, or 
 sometimes to work over again entirely, the whole design ; thus 
 producing an apparently antique intaglio of a good style, upon 
 a stone the appearance of which lulls to sleep all suspicion. 
 This is the most common fraud of modern times, and one 
 against which the only safeguard is the careful examination, 
 with a lens, of the entire intaglio ; when, if some portions of 
 the work bear a fresher and higher polish than others, and, 
 above all, if they are sunk deeper into the stone than is 
 required by the exigencies of the design, a shrewd guess 
 may be hazarded that this deception has been practised. 
 
 Dealers, for their own purposes, foster a belief in their 
 customers, that a high polish in the interior of the intaglio is 
 a sure proof of its antiquity ; but this doctrine is altogether 
 false, for all the good Italian engravers give to their works 
 an internal polish fully equal to that of the antique. It 
 merely requires the expenditure of a little extra time and 
 labour in working over the interior of the cutting with a 
 
 1 The effects of this treatment are very observable in many of the 
 Foniatowski gems.
 
 SECT. II. TESTS OF ANTIQUITY. 105 
 
 leaden point charged with fine diamond powder. Another 
 popular notion is, that soft wax will not adhere so readily 
 to antique as to modern intagli, but this circumstance merely 
 depends upon the relative degree of polish of the stones. 
 The truest test of antiquity (leaving out the question of art 
 for a subsequent discussion), appears to me to be a certain 
 degree of dulness, like the mist produced by breathing on a 
 polished surface, which the lapse of ages has always cast upon 
 the high lustre of the interior of the intaglio. This appearance 
 is not to be imitated by any contrivance of the modern forger, 
 and, when once remarked, is so peculiar in itself, as to be 
 easily recognized ever afterwards. So constant is this 
 peculiarity in works of genuine antiquity, that its absence is 
 always to be regarded as very unfavourable to the authen- 
 ticity of any intaglio. The effect also of the real wear and 
 tear of time upon the surface of the stone, is rather a fine 
 roughness, like that of ground-glass, than the deep scratches 
 and indentations produced by the violent methods of the 
 dealers, or, as they are justly styled by Pliny, "mangones 
 gemmarum," personages whose reputation for honesty was 
 precisely the same in his time as it is at the present day. 
 Again, a very satisfactory proof of antiquity is found when 
 the engraving appears to have been executed almost entirely 
 with the diamond-point ; that is to say, when all the hollows 
 seem cut into the stone by a succession of little scratches 
 repeated one upon the other, while the deeper parts of the 
 design show that they have been sunk by means of the drill, 
 a tool with a blunt and rounded point, producing a succession 
 of hemispherical hollows of various dimensions. Some intagli 
 even occur, entirely scratched into the stone by means of the 
 diamond-point alone, especially the works in shallow relief 
 of the Etruscan and early Greek epoch ; and, as a general 
 rule, according to the observation of the famous gem-engraver
 
 106 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 Natter, the extensive use of the diamond-point is the great 
 distinction between the antique and the modem art. The 
 word itself, scalpere, used by the Komans to express the 
 process of engraving on gems, signifies to scratch, and, in 
 itself, supplies a proof of the manner in which the work was 
 carried on when first introduced to their notice ; and the 
 Greek technical term yXa$eu/ has the same primary significa- 
 tion. The use of the diamond-point is particularly observ- 
 able in the execution of the hair of portraits, when of good 
 work of almost every epoch of antiquity, where it produces an 
 admirable and natural effect which cannot be given by the 
 modern instruments. Of these latter it may be proper to say 
 a few words in this place. The principal among them, by 
 means of which all the above named operations, both of pro- 
 ducing lines and hollowing out depressions in the design, are 
 carried out, is the Wheel, a minute disk of copper fixed on 
 the end of a spindle, which is put into rapid motion by a kind 
 of lathe. The fine edge of this tool, moistened with oil and 
 emery or diamond dust, speedily cuts into the hardest gems, 
 and by repeating and prolonging the lines thus produced, the 
 minuter portions of the design are executed. The larger and 
 deeper hollows are still sunk by means of a round pointed 
 drill, substituted for the cutting disk, and acting just as the 
 ancient drill, which last, however, appears to have been 
 always worked by the hand, by means of a bow, in the same 
 way as the similar tool still used by jewellers. The modern 
 method, though greatly expediting the operation for 
 Mariette speaks of Smart, a celebrated English engraver of 
 the last century, finishing several good portraits in one day 
 yet renders the operation more mechanical and stiff, 
 whereas the ancient scalptor, working with his diamond-point, 
 like the etcher with his needle, had all the freedom of hand 
 and boldness of the latter artist.
 
 SECT. II. ENGRAVERS' INSTRUMENTS. 107 
 
 These diamond-points, so often alluded to, were produced 
 by splintering a diamond by the blow of a heavy hammer. 
 Pliny adds a jeweller's story (probably invented to keep up 
 the mystery of the business), that it was necessary first to 
 macerate the stone in goat's blood, and that even then it often 
 split both the anvil and the hammer. These little splinters 
 were then fixed into the end of an iron tool (pretty much as 
 a glazier's diamond is at present), and cut with ease into 
 the hardest of the coloured gems, "nullam non duritiem 
 ex facili cavantes." The Naxian stone, also used by the 
 ancients, both in cutting and in polishing gems, was our 
 Emery, a combination of corundum and iron, and which is 
 still exported for the same purposes from that island. To 
 the present day the sole means employed by the Hindoos for 
 polishing the hardest stones, even the diamond, is by rubbing 
 them by hand upon an iron slab, covered with corundum- 
 powder and oil, which explains the uneven manner in which 
 the facets on Indian gems are always cut. The terebrarum 
 fervor, or the rapidly-revolving drill, was of the greatest 
 service to the ancient engraver; and this observation of 
 Pliny's is fully borne out by the appearance of many intagli, 
 especially of the majority of the figures upon the Etruscan 
 scarabs, which were evidently produced by means of a blunt 
 drill and emery-powder exclusively. In these, the whole 
 design is carried out by the juxtaposition of a number of 
 hemispherical hollows of various extent, touching and over- 
 laying each other, by which inartificial method such extra- 
 ordinary caricatures of man and beast were produced by the 
 Etruscan artist. And their failure in the art of intaglio- 
 cutting strikes us the more, and must, with the greater con- 
 fidence, be ascribed to the imperfect mechanical means at 
 their command, when we observe that the very rudest 
 intagli, and those evidently the very first essays of the art,
 
 108 ART, STYLES OF. 
 
 appear on the base of scarabs, which are themselves cut out 
 of the stone with the greatest skill and the most elaborate 
 finish ; often, also, set in jeweller's work, displaying the 
 greatest taste and most perfect workmanship ; all circum- 
 stances pointing out the scarab as the property of a person 
 able to command the utmost efforts of the artistic skill of his 
 period. 
 
 Some writers quote the Ostracias as being named by Pliny 
 as employed in gem-engraving, and they still more absurdly 
 suppose it to have been the bone of the cuttle-fish ; but his 
 words only imply that it was hard enough to scratch other 
 gems, a circumstance the more remarkable, as it was only a 
 species of sea-shell. Lippert, himself a gem-engraver, was 
 of opinion that the instrument used by the ancients both cut 
 and polished the stone at the same time, inferring this from 
 the circumstance of so many rude and apparently unfinished 
 intagli being as highly polished in the interior, as those 
 completed in the most minute details, and of the most 
 elaborate style of workmanship ; but this argument does not 
 seem to me altogether conclusive. It might have been that 
 the ancients possessed some mode of polishing the intaglio, 
 with very little trouble, by a merely mechanical process, 
 which the lowest class of engravers, who worked entirely for 
 the populace, were equally able to impart to their work, as 
 the most skilful artists. In Pliny's time 2 the wheel does not 
 appear to have been in use, otherwise he would certainly 
 have mentioned so important an innovation, which, when 
 once introduced, speedily drove all other means of engraving 
 out of the lapidary's workshop, in consequence of the extreme 
 facility and rapidity of its operation. Of the use of this 
 
 * Pietramari, an old Roman dealer opinion that the wheel began to be 
 in gems, of great experience, was of first used under Domitian.
 
 SECT. II. ENGEAVERS' INSTRUMENTS. 109 
 
 instrument we see abundant marks in the intagli of the 
 Lower Empire ; more especially are its effects observable in 
 the letters occurring upon the gnostic amulets, where we find 
 the square form of the characters usually employed, on account 
 of the difficulty of cutting curved lines by an instrument re- 
 volving in a vertical plane, and consequently working forward 
 on the surface presented to it, and in a straight direction. 
 The rude Sassanian intagli (to be hereafter noticed) appear 
 to have been universally cut by the wheel ; and the artist 
 must have employed but a single disk for the whole of his 
 work, to judge from the fact, that all the lines composing his 
 figures are precisely of the same thickness, and that usually 
 very coarse. The wheel was probably introduced into Europe 
 from the East, when the commerce in gems began to attain 
 such considerable extent as we find it had done even in the 
 time of Pliny ; and the Persian conquests of Trajan, in the 
 next century, must have greatly widened the relations 
 between the two universal empires of Koine and Parthia. 
 Down to the fall of the Empire, and even later, as we shall 
 see (Cross of Lotharius), this instrument remained the sole 
 means of engraving the barbarous productions 'of expiring 
 taste. In the East, the mechanical processes have always 
 been kept up in full perfection, from the Mahometan custom 
 of wearing signets engraved on gems, often the hardest and 
 the most precious that could be procured. I have seen 
 Persian legends admirably cut on the finest Sapphire and the 
 Kuby ; and these long inscriptions formed in beautiful flowing 
 curves, united in the most intricate cyphers, and adorned 
 with flowers and stars, required as much taste and skill in 
 their execution as the classical designs of the European artist. 
 At the period of the Revival, the instrument, together with 
 the art of gem-engraving, was again brought into Italy from 
 the East, probably not before the time of Lorenzo de' Medici,
 
 110 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 under whose patronage flourished Giovanni delle Carniole, 
 the earliest gem-engraver of whom any trace can be found. 
 
 But to make one concluding remark on the antique method, 
 it is my firm conviction, deduced from the appearance of the 
 best and truly genuine intagli, that the artist having hollowed 
 out his design to the requisite depth by means of the drill, and 
 having completed all the details with the aid of the diamond- 
 point, afterwards disguised all traces of the instruments em- 
 ployed, by the high polish which he gave to the interior of 
 his work ; thereby producing that appearance so characteristic 
 of true antique intagli, that soft and flowing outline, which 
 leaves nothing angular or sharply defined, but rather makes 
 the whole design appear to have been modelled by the most 
 delicate touch in a soft and yielding material. So true is 
 this, that one is frequently inclined to view an excellent 
 antique work with suspicion as a modern paste, until the 
 reality of the gem is tested by the file, so stronga na ppear- 
 ance does it bear of having been produced at once by casting 
 in a fused material, rather than of a design cut out by patient 
 labour on the hardest and most refractory of substances. 
 
 On account of the extreme minuteness of detail observable 
 in many antique intagli, some writers on this subject have 
 boldly asserted that the artists who executed them must have 
 had some means of assisting the eye equivalent to our mag- 
 nifying-glasses. In confirmation of this theory, a story is 
 told of certain intagli found at Pompeii in company with a 
 crystal lens, and they at once jump to the conclusion that 
 this lens had been employed in the engraving of these parti- 
 cular gems. But it is most probable that the supposed lens 
 was nothing more than a crystal or pale amethyst, cut en ca- 
 bochon, and prepared itself to be engraved on, a form of which 
 innumerable instances occur among transparent stones both 
 with intagli upon them and plain. A large pale amethyst
 
 SECT. II. ENGRAVERS' INSTRUMENTS. Ill 
 
 in my collection of a very spherical form, and in which the 
 intaglio, a hippocampus, occupies but a small portion of the 
 surface, acts, when properly applied, as a magnifying lens of 
 great power, a quality which one cannot but suppose must in 
 similar cases have attracted the notice of some of the ancient 
 possessors of gems of this form. I have also seen an antique 
 Greek ring set with a crystal or white paste, of a perfect 
 lenticular*form, which certainly, if found by itself, might very 
 well have passed for an ordinary magnifying-glass. But Pliny, 
 who mentions so carefully the various instruments of the 
 engraver's art, and who possessed much more than a merely 
 theoretical knowledge of the subject, would never have 
 omitted this most important auxiliary both to the artist and 
 the amateur, especially where he actually mentions that " the 
 engravers, when their sight was fatigued by the excessive strain 
 required in their work, refreshed their wearied eyes by look- 
 ing at an emerald." Seneca, indeed, says (Xat. Quaest. i. 6), 
 that glass globes filled with water make small and obscure 
 letters seen through them appear quite legible and distinct ; 
 but he ascribes the magnifying power to the nature of the 
 water, and gives no hint that this discovery had been applied 
 to any useful purpose in his day. It has been thought that the 
 ancient engravers directed the light from a small window, or 
 from a lamp, so as to pass through one of these globes, and fall 
 in a concentrated spot upon their work, in the same manner as 
 is still practised by jewellers when working upon minute objects 
 by lamp-light ; and as the custom can be traced back for many 
 centuries, there is a possibility of its having been handed down 
 by the traditions of the trade from remote antiquity. 
 
 Engravers, however, actually execute their work with but 
 little assistance from the magnifier, the chief use of which is 
 to ascertain the progress made in the cutting of the design, 
 and the sinking of the intaglio into the stone, by repeated
 
 112 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 examinations of the impression taken at short intervals in 
 soft wax. For by the very nature of the operation, in -which 
 the stone is held, cemented upon a handle, against the edge 
 of a rapidly-revolving disk smeared with oil and diamond- 
 dust or emery-powder, the work itself is concealed from the 
 eye of the artist, who regulates the cutting of the design 
 more by the feel and by the instinct derived from long prac- 
 tice, than by his actual observation ; whilst he keeps a check 
 upon the destructive power of the instrument by the repeated 
 application of the lens to the stone and to the wax impres- 
 sion. Again, the dust and oil combined fill up the lines as 
 the work proceeds, so that the actual view of the cutting 
 itself is rendered practically impossible. Even in intagli exe- 
 cuted by the diamond-point alone, the same inconvenience 
 existed, if we suppose the ancient engravers employed this 
 tool in the same manner as the Italians in Yettori's time, 
 " who fixed a diamond splinter in the end of an iron-pencil a 
 span in length, and rubbed it to and fro over the lines to be 
 traced on the stone, dropping upon the place occasionally 
 emery-dust and oil." Such being the case, the whole seeming 
 difficulty is at once removed, for the impressions of the most 
 minute intagli, the early Greek, are easily distinguishable in 
 every detail to an eye practised in the examination of such 
 objects ; whilst the works of Roman date, from the bolder and 
 less delicate nature of their finish, offer no difficulty whatever 
 to the ordinary sight, which is able to catch every particular 
 of the design without any artificial assistance. As for really 
 antique Camei, the work in them is so bold, or if we may use 
 the term, of so unfinished a character, their sole purpose 
 being to produce effect at a distance, that the artist could 
 have experienced scarcely more difficulty in working them 
 out of the Sardonyx with his unassisted eye, than in the exe- 
 cution of a small bas-relief in any other hard material.
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 EGYPTIAN INTAGLI. 
 
 113 
 
 Sacred Hawk. Garnet. 
 
 acred Animals. Green Jasper 
 
 EGYPTIAN INTAGLI. 
 
 We cannot more appropriately enter upon the considera- 
 tion of the engravings on the gems themselves, and of the 
 various styles of art characterising their respective countries 
 and ages, than by a notice of the Egyptian Scarabei, or as 
 the Germans call them " Beetle- stones," which are without 
 dispute the earliest monuments of the glyptic art in exist- 
 ence. The beetles themselves are cut out of Basalt, Carrie- 
 lian, Agate, Lapis-lazuli, and other hard stones ; but are quite 
 as frequently made of a soft limestone 3 resembling chalk, or 
 of a vitrified clay. Though the figure of the insect is often 
 very well formed, yet they are not equal to the Etruscan in 
 this respect ; there is also a difference in shape which dis- 
 tinguishes the scarabs of each nation from one another. The 
 back of the wing-cases in the Egyptian beetle is flat, whilst in 
 the Etruscan there is usually a raised ridge running along 
 their junction. The harder stones appear to have been filed 
 
 3 In fact the largest proportion 
 will be found to be cut out of 
 Steatite and a calcareous schist of 
 different colours, blue, green, dark, 
 and white. Some are found in co- 
 loured glass, but these are among 
 the rarest. Very few of the earliest 
 
 scarabs or tablets are formed out 01 
 the harder kinds of gems : the scarabs 
 in these are probably almost all of 
 the time of the Ptolemies, when the 
 Greek processes of engraving had 
 been introduced into Egypt.
 
 114 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 into shape by means of a piece of emery, probably the " lima 
 Thynica" of Maecenas, in his lines 
 
 " Nee quos Thynica linia perpolivit 
 Anellos nee Jaspidas lapillos." 
 
 The softer substances were probably fashioned into the 
 beetles, and then engraved upon their bases with a splinter 
 of flint. 4 Herodotus speaks of the Ethiopian arrows as being 
 headed with the stone "by means of which they engrave 
 their signets," and of the use of an Ethiopian stone to make 
 the first incision in the corpse preparatory to embalment. 
 That this stone was flint, is abundantly proved by the arrow- 
 heads found in Egypt, as well as on the plains of Marathon, 
 where the warriors spoken of by Herodotus emptied their 
 quivers. 
 
 But these Egyptian intagli are all extremely rude, and 
 only attempt the representation of hieroglyphics 5 until we 
 arrive at the epoch of the Ptolemies, which has presented us 
 with some splendid examples of Greco-Egyptian art, such as 
 
 4 Even the scarabs and tablets in loved of Amon Ra;" " Beloved of 
 porcelain all appear to have been Athor, the Lady of Lower Egypt ;" 
 cut by hand upon the material in " Sou of the Sun ;" " At peace 
 its dry state, and then burnt and through Truth," &c. Others bear 
 covered over by a blue or green figures of deities with invocations ; 
 vitrified glaze. Many of these small as the Sacred Serpent and " Living 
 works are probably composed of a Lord of the World ;" a Hawk, " The 
 stone that woiild stand the fire, and Good God;" "Osiris the Li vino; 
 admit of being glazed as well as the Lord ;" " The Sun, Disposer of the 
 clay so often employed. This pecu- Lower Country ;" and others of the 
 liarity of manufacture supplies a same nature, and which we shall see 
 means of detecting the false Egyp- reappear in the intagli of lioman- 
 tian works in glazed clay, now so Egyptian date. Others, again, have 
 extensively manufactured in Eng- the names of private persons and 
 land, and exported to Alexandria their offices, as " The Bard of 
 for the benefit of travellers up the Thoth ;" or qualities of the owner, 
 Nile. as " Truth ;" or good wishes, " A 
 
 5 These legends, when interpreted, happy life ;" " May your name en- 
 are found to consist of the names of dure and your being be renewed." 
 the kings, with their titles of " Be-
 
 SECT. II. EGYPTIAN INTAGLI. 
 
 115 
 
 the famous front face of a monarch, very deeply cut on a 
 brown Sard, one of the chiefest stars of the Herz Collection, 
 and which brought at the sale the high price (for these days) 
 of 401. Ws. 
 
 Portrait of a Ptolemy : Giaeco-Egyptian. Dark Sard. 
 
 This magnificent intaglio is a portrait of one of the Ptole- 
 mies, probably the Fifth of that name, for the face is that of 
 a young person. It is represented in the same manner as 
 the well-known Bust of Memnon, the received mode of de- 
 picting then* regal divinities ; but the life-like fidelity of the 
 Grecian portraits is combined with admirable skill with the 
 majestic repose distinguishing the conventional type of the 
 Egyptian godhead. Its expression is absolutely marvellous, 
 and to the attentive gaze produces the same effect as the 
 original colossal statue. In the British Museum there is a 
 large bust, with features much resembling this, of a prince 
 of the same dynasty, admirably sculptured according to 
 this established type of the Egyptian School. Another fine 
 example is the Sacred Hawk of the Berlin Cabinet, a 
 large intaglio sunk in flat relief, but with uncommon force 
 and spirit ; and among the British Museum gems is another 
 on Sard exactly similar, but of smaller dimensions. In 
 the Webb Catalogue, No. 2, was a Sard, engraved with a 
 priestess adoring Osiris and Isis, represented as terminal 
 figures. This intaglio, from its precise correspondence with 
 the type of some of the autonomous coins of Malta, was 
 doubtless contemporary with their issue, and therefore be- 
 
 i 2
 
 116 ART, STYLES OF. SECT II. 
 
 longing to this period. Among the Uzielli gems are two 
 very interesting Camei of the Egyptian School, but perhaps 
 to be assigned to the times of Koman domination. One, a 
 bust of Cleopatra, given in exact accordance with the pre- 
 scribed type of the Queen, as seen on the oldest monuments, 
 adorned with a profusion of small curls and many rows of 
 necklaces, but worked out with extreme delicacy in the black 
 layer of an Onyx in very flat relief ; the other, a most curious 
 representation of a fight between a hippopotamus and cro- 
 codile, executed with great truth to nature on an extremely 
 small green and white stone. 
 
 When the Egyptian religion again revived under Hadrian 
 some good intagli were executed in the ancient style, amongst 
 which I have seen a cylinder in Plasma, with two rows of 
 figures of deities engraved round it in a neat manner ; but 
 t his brings us down nearly to the date of the Alexandrian 
 class of Abraxas gems, to be hereafter more fully discussed. 
 Although we have already remarked that many of the early 
 scarabei used for signets are formed of a soft calcareous 
 stone, or of a vitrified clay, yet we find many, especially of 
 the larger kind, sculptured in Basalt, one of the hardest stones 
 known. The lines of hieroglyphics, usually covering the flat 
 surface of the bases of these scarabs, form by the rudeness of 
 their execution a striking contrast to the perfect finish of the 
 beetle-figure itself. They usually present a rough irregular 
 outline, as if scratched into the surface of the stone by the 
 point of some harder substance, the management of which 
 was somewhat difficult to the hand of the engraver. The 
 interior therefore of the figures and the lines are extremely 
 uneven and ill-defined, very different from the neat finish of 
 similar works executed under the Greek and Roman rulers 
 of that country. The same remark applies to the hiero- 
 glyphics cut on the larger monuments, which from their
 
 SECT. II. EGYPTIAN 1NTAGLI. 117 
 
 broken outline appear rather to have been hammered into 
 the stone than cut out by a sharp instrument. The smaller 
 engravings, I have little doubt, were scratched in with a piece 
 of emery ; the execution of the larger as well as the mode in 
 which such immense masses of the hardest rocks were worked 
 with such facility, will doubtless ever remain a mystery. For 
 there is no doubt that the sculptors used only bronze chisels, 
 which indeed are often discovered among the debris of their 
 .work ; and that too for cutting granite and basalt, which now 
 spoil the best steel instruments after a few strokes. Sir CI. 
 Wilkinson supposes that the workman used emery powder 
 laid upon the part to be cut, and drove it into the stone with 
 his soft chisel, by which process the powder itself formed a 
 continually renewed edge to the tool, capable of subduing 
 the most impenetrable substances. I do not know whether 
 this be a mere theory, or if the experiment^ has been actually 
 tried. It rather seems to me that some means must have 
 been known of softening the stone to a certain extent, and 
 this, together with an unbounded supply of forced labour, 
 affords the only satisfactory solution of the difficulty. 
 
 Cicognetti, a Eoman architect, who erected an altar in 
 Cardinal Tosti's chapel in S. Maria Maggiore, the upper part 
 of which was decorated with small columns of red Porphyry, 
 informed me that the only way now known of cutting that 
 stone is to steep it for several weeks in urine, and that even 
 then it was worked with the greatest difficulty. It occupied 
 the French workmen with the best modern tools the space 
 of six weeks to cut a small groove around the base of 
 the obelisk of Luxor, before removing it from its pedestal. 
 And yet, besides these Egyptian relics so profusely covered 
 with sculptures, huge columns, as well as statues and bas- 
 reliefs of Porphyry, continued to be made in great profusion 
 by the Romans quite to the close of the Empire. Magnificent
 
 118 
 
 AKT, STYLES OF. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 examples of this still remain in the tombs of the Empress 
 Helena, and of her grand-daughter Constantia, sculptured 
 from enormous blocks of that stone, and adorned with busts 
 and groups in alto-relievo, the mere repolishing and restora- 
 tion of which, on their removal to the museum of the Vatican, 
 occupied several workmen for the space of seven years. 
 
 Signet of Sabaco II. 
 
 GREEK, ETRUSCAN, AND SARDINIAN. 
 
 These classes of intagli are treated of here under the same 
 head, because it is as difficult to distinguish those belonging 
 to the archaic period of Greek art from the Etruscan, as it is 
 to decide the long-agitated question, whether the majority of 
 painted vases are of Greek or Etruscan origin. 6 There is one 
 remarkable peculiarity in these intagli, that no middle class 
 of works presents itself between the extremely rude designs 
 almost entirely executed by the drill, and engravings of the 
 nicest finish in low relief, almost entirely scratched into the 
 stone with the diamond point. While the first class offer 
 caricatures of men and animals, the favourite subjects being 
 
 8 Pythagoras is said by Hermippus the Etruscans, and that it had already 
 
 to have been the son of Mnesarchus, constituted a distinct profession at 
 
 a gem-engraver and an Etruscan this very remote period, nearly six 
 
 according to Aristotle. This shows centuries before our era. 
 the high antiquity of the art among
 
 SECT. II. GREEK, ETRUSCAN, SARDINIAN INTAGLI. 
 
 119 
 
 figures throwing the discus, fauns with amphora), cows with 
 sucking calves, or the latter alone ; the second gives us subjects 
 from the Greek mythology, especially scenes from Homer 
 and the Tragedians, among which the stories of Philoctetes 
 and Bellerophon occur with remarkable frequency. The 
 usual finish to all these designs is a border, in most cases 
 simply milled like the edge of a coin, but sometimes very 
 carefully worked in the pattern, called the guilloche? resem- 
 
 bling a wide-linked chain, or a loosely-twisted cable. From 
 this striking contrast between the style of the two classes of 
 gems, and as no traces are to be discovered of a transition 
 from one to the other, a thing so observable in the various 
 gradations of Roman art, it is certainly allowable to con- 
 jecture that the fine are of Greek, the barbarous of Etruscan 
 manufacture. Their being found abundantly in the Etrurian 
 
 7 This guilloche border is often 
 found enclosing the types upon the 
 large flat didrachms of certain cities 
 of Magna Grecia, as Metapontum 
 and Sybaris. The figure of the bull- 
 headed river-god, the Achelous, on 
 the former coins, and the long-horned 
 ox regardant, resembling an ante- 
 lope, upon the latter, are executed 
 in a flat stiff manner, but highly 
 finished, and very similar to the 
 work on many of these geins, with 
 which there can be no doubt they 
 were coeval. This confirms my 
 
 opinion that the best of these intagli 
 are not of Etruscan origin, but that 
 the idea was taken from that people, 
 and improved upon by the Greek 
 colonists of the south of Italy. As 
 the city of Sybaris was utterly de- 
 stroyed B.C. 510, and never restored, 
 all the extant coins must have been 
 issued during the two centuries be- 
 fore that date ; and hence we can 
 form a notion as to the actual epoch 
 of the intagli corresponding with 
 these in style and workmanship.
 
 120 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 soil is no proof of their native origin, for in the flourishing 
 times of the Etruscans before the ruin of their power by the 
 Gallic invasion, they carried on an extensive commerce with 
 the Grecian states. 8 And it is a circumstance somewhat at 
 variance with our notions of Greek pre-eminence in art in 
 every age, that Etruria supplied even the Athenians with 
 every kind of ornamental article in bronze, as vases, lamps, 
 &c., which is proved by the lines of Critias, (Atheuseus, 
 i. 50) : 
 
 TvpcnjVT) 8e Kparei xpvcroTVTros 
 KOI iras x a ^- KOS OTIS Kocr/xei 8opLov ev TIVI 
 
 " Etruria bears the palm for gold-wrought bowls, 
 And all the bronze that decorates our dwellings." 
 
 It was not until after the age of Alexander that the Greek 
 works in bronze became celebrated. All the masterpieces 
 of the early Athenian sculptors were executed in marble, 
 wood, or ivoiy. The Etruscans were naturally led to per- 
 fection in this manufacture, like the Florentines of the 
 Cinque-Cento period, from the inexhaustible supply of the 
 metal which they derived from Monte-Catino, near Leghorn, 
 still a source of great wealth to the company working the 
 mine. 
 
 But to return to our gems. Those assigned above to the 
 Greeks are usually the light amber-coloured Sards, which 
 seem always to have been a favourite with that people. Many 
 of these gems have evidently been sawn off from scarabs, 
 even in ancient times, for the purpose of being set in rings, 
 when the wearing of the beetle-stones, had gone out of 
 fashion as soon as the religious motive became obsolete 
 which had made this figure so popular with the Egyptians 
 
 8 At the moment of the accession a fleet of Tuscan pirates was plun- 
 of Alexander the Great to the throne, dering the sea-coast of Macedonia.
 
 SECT. II. GREEK, ETRUSCAN, SARDINIAN INTAGLT. 121 
 
 and their disciples, the Etruscans. For to all appearance 
 they had derived from Egypt their entire religions system, as 
 is shown by the existence of a sacerdotal caste, the institution 
 of mysteries, and the extraordinary care lavished upon the 
 construction and decoration of their sepulchres. 
 
 I have seen scarabs in all possible materials from emerald 
 to amber, and glass pastes (the latter the rarest of all) ; but 
 by far the greatest number are formed of the common red 
 Carnelian, supplied by the beds of their torrents, and they 
 are usually very much of the same size. Few will be found 
 to exceed an inch in length, and in this particular they 
 contrast strongly with the Egyptian, which vary from the 
 colossal beetle of some feet across the back, to the tiny pen- 
 dant no larger than a fly. 
 
 This is the proper place briefly to notice the manner in 
 which they were worn as ornaments by their ancient owners. 
 The earliest method was that of simply stringing them, in- 
 termixed with other beads, and thus wearing them as a neck- 
 lace, the engraved base of the scarab serving at the same 
 time the purpose of a signet. Sometimes, however, they 
 seem to have been introduced into these necklaces merely as 
 ornaments, as in the famous one found in Tuscany in 1852, 
 and which merits a particular description. It is composed of 
 a chain woven of the finest gold wire, inch in diameter, 
 and 11 inches long; each end terminating in bands of scroll- 
 work with loops attached. From this chain descend 32 
 others, 1 J inch long, of a curb-pattern, the alternate links to 
 the left and to the right forming a diamond-pattern. Be- 
 tween these chains, and attached to the broad chain, are 16 
 full-faced bearded heads of Bacchus. In the centre of each 
 diamond formed by the smaller chains, are alternately 6 full- 
 faced harpies in a seated posture, and 7 diota-shaped orna- 
 ments ; between these comes another row of escallopcd forms,
 
 122 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 14 in number. At the point of each alternate diamond 
 formed by the small chains are suspended scarabei of onyx 
 and amber mounted in a border of fine wire-work ; the other 
 points having full-faced harpies, the wings curving gracefully 
 above the shoulders. 
 
 This unique specimen of ancient jewellery was sold for 
 160/., by Sotheby and Wilkinson in 1856. At the same sale, 
 the finest Etruscan ring known, once belonging to the Prince 
 di Canino, and engraved in Micali's ' Atlas of Plates,' was 
 also disposed of for the small sum of 271. Subjoined is the 
 accurate description of it given in the catalogue. "It is 
 formed on each side of a lion, their heads facing, and the 
 front paws of each supporting a border of fine grain-work, in 
 which is set a scarabeus of Sardonyx, engraved with a lion, 
 his head turned back to the left." But the usual mode of 
 mounting the scarab, as a finger-ring, was the swivel, a wire, 
 as a pivot, passing through the longitudinal perforation of the 
 stone (the edge of which was generally protected by a gold 
 rim), and then brought through holes in each end of a bar of 
 gold ; or else of a broad flat band of plaited wire, and bent 
 into a loop of sufficient size to admit the finger, which was 
 usually the fore-finger of the left hand. For the sake of 
 security, the ends of the loop were formed into small disks, 
 touching each extremity of the scarabeus. This loop, or 
 ring-shank, as it may be considered, was treated in a great 
 variety of fashions, and sometimes was made extremely 
 ornamental. One that I have seen terminated in ram's 
 heads, the pivot entering the mouth of each ; in another, the 
 shank was formed as a serpent, the head of which was one of 
 the supporting points, and the tail, tied into a knot, the 
 other. Occasionally, the form of the shank was varied by 
 bending the bar upon itself, so as to form a bow in tho middle 
 of its length ; the ends were then beaten to a point, which,
 
 SECT. II. GREEK, ETRUSCAN, SARDINIAN INTAGLT. 123 
 
 being twisted inwards, passed into the opposite holes of the 
 stone, and thus formed a handle to the signet. This last 
 manner of mounting the scarabeus was often used by the 
 Egyptians, the shank being made of every kind of metal : it 
 was also the common setting of the Phoenician stones of this 
 form. These last are found abundantly in Sardinia. An ex- 
 tensive collection of them, from the cemeteries of Tharros, a 
 Phoenician colony, was brought to London, by the Com- 
 mandante Barbetti, in 1857, and afterwards sold at Christie 
 and Manson's. These differed from the other classes of 
 beetle-stones, both in the material the greatest part of them 
 being made of a dark-green Jasper, instead of Carnelian and 
 also in the style of the intagli engraved upon them ; which 
 closely resembled, in their treatment, the engravings on the 
 best executed Persian cylinders, and were, in many cases, 
 very neatly finished, certainly superior to the majority of the 
 Etruscan class. The cutting of the figures was deep and 
 carefully finished, although rather stiff, which latter character 
 seems to be inseparable from all the productions of Oriental 
 art ; but some of the animals engraved upon them, especially 
 the antelopes, displayed an extraordinary degree of spirit and 
 freedom of execution. 
 
 Beetles, in coloured marble, and of considerable bulk, may 
 be assigned (as their Eoman style points out) to the revival 
 of the Egyptian religion in the days of Hadrian. Early 
 scarabs of that nation also occur with Gnostic devices en- 
 graved upon their bases, but the disparity of work in the 
 beetles, and in the intagli upon them, proves the latter to 
 have been an addition of the times of incipient barbarism. 
 We may conclude this subject, by noticing a very rare 
 peculiarity of some early Etruscan scarabei, where the back 
 of the beetle is formed into a full front mask, apparently of 
 the same date as the rest of the composition. Of this un-
 
 124 
 
 ART, STYLES OF. 
 
 SKCT. IT. 
 
 accountable variation only two instances have come to my 
 knowledge. 9 
 
 Scarab with Mask. 
 
 A curious kind of natural signet was used by the Athe- 
 nians of the time of Aristophanes, the invention of which he 
 jocosely ascribes to the subtle genius of the misogynist Euri- 
 pides. As it was found that the wives were able to get them- 
 selves a fac-simile of their husband's signet for half a drachma, 
 and thus to open, without fear of detection, all the stores 
 sealed up by their lords, Euripides had taught the latter to 
 seal the wax or clay securing the doors with bits of worm- 
 eaten wood, Opnrrj&eo-Ta <npayi8ia, (Thesmoph. 425). The 
 curious windings and intricate curves traced on the surface of 
 the wood by the " fairies' coach-maker," were quite beyond all 
 
 9 1 have lately seen two additional 
 and very extraordinary examples of 
 this ornament to the scarabeus. The 
 first was a large one in black and 
 white Agate, the beetle itself formed 
 with astonishing truth to nature, 
 and the cameo-mask cut out of the 
 white stratum of the stone upon the 
 lower part of the wing-cases of the 
 insect. I extract the description of 
 it from the M.-S. catalogue : " No. 
 171. Scarabens. Jupiter, nude, dart- 
 ing the thunderbolt with the left 
 hand ; in the field a bust of Ehea 
 with a crown of towers. The back 
 of the scarab has been cut in relief, 
 
 and forms a bare head, of which the 
 chin and beard consist of the lower 
 body and of the wings of an insect. 
 The figure of Jupiter has a foreign 
 character, somewhat in the Phoe- 
 nician style. Onyx." The second, 
 and I believe an unique example, is 
 an Egyptian scarab of vitrified clay, 
 the base filled with well-formed 
 hieroglyphics, and the back adorned 
 with a large full-faced mask. It is 
 very possible that these cameo-heads 
 are the additions to the original 
 stone, of a later but still antique 
 period.
 
 SECT. II. ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN CYLINDERS. 125 
 
 imitation, and thus supplied a signet that could not be counter- 
 feited. Caylus gives an intaglio, the design a mere pattern 
 of wavy lines curiously entwined, which he takes, and pro- 
 bably -with reason, for an imitation of one of these natural 
 seals. 
 
 ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN CYLINDERS. 
 
 These are composed of different species of hard stone, 
 Jasper, and Calcedony for the greatest part, but also of 
 Carnelian, Agate, Loadstone, and Lapis-lazuli. They are 
 of a cylindrical form, 10 usually from one to two inches 
 in length, and half as much in thickness, with a large 
 hole passing through their length, for a string, and in 
 this manner were worn tied round the wrist as a bracelet. 
 This custom accounts for their hardly ever being found, 
 with metal mountings, among Assyrian remains ; the few 
 that do occur, set in massy gold swivel-rmgs, prove, by the 
 hieroglyphical engravings they bear, that they were used by 
 Egyptians during the time that country was subject to the 
 Persian rule. The subjects they usually present are sacrifices 
 or combats between a man arid a monstrous beast, probably 
 typifying the contest of the Good and Evil Principles, the 
 fundamental doctrine of the Persian religion. The following 
 are types of frequent occurrence upon these cylinders. 1 Two 
 figures, half-bull half-man, fighting with two lions : between 
 each group are cuneiform inscriptions, arranged in vertical 
 lines. Four human figures : beneath the second of them is 
 a plant, between the third and fourth an animal, under 
 which are placed three balls. A figure, in a long robe, hold- 
 ing at arm's length, by their horns, two antelopes. 2 Four 
 
 10 Some are barrel-shaped, others Collection. 
 
 have the sides slightly concave. 2 This is a very common type on 
 
 1 All in the Mertens-Scbaafhausen both seals and cylinders.
 
 FIRST PERIOD : ASSYRIAN CYLINDERS. 
 
 No. 6 inscribed with Pbenician characters. 
 
 3. Triumph of king.
 
 SECT. II. ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN CYLINDERS. 127 
 
 figures: one with bull's feet and tail (the prototype of 
 the modern devil), is fighting with a man; the third, with 
 hands raised, appears praying to the fourth, who stands 
 motionless. Two men, one of whom has his hands raised : 
 between the two is a tree ; the other figure holds a sceptre ; 
 on the other side are three vertical lines of cuneiform letters. 
 Two tall figures : a shorter one and two lines of cuneiform 
 letters between them. Two figures standing erect, a plant 
 and a staff between them : two lines of characters, mixed 
 with animals, on the other side. Hieroglyphics entirely 
 surrounding the cylinder, which is probably of Egypto- 
 Persian date. 
 
 Layard divides cylinders into four classes the Early and 
 Lower Assyrian, the purely Babylonian, and the Persian. 
 The Early Assyrian are usually of Serpentine, rudely en- 
 graved, and agreeing, in their subjects and style, with the 
 most ancient bas-reliefs of Nimroud, such v as the king in his 
 chariot, discharging his arrows at the lion or wild bull ; war- 
 riors in battle ; the king or priest adoring the emblem of the 
 deity ; the eagle-headed god ; winged bulls and lions ; all 
 accompanied by the common Assyrian symbols, the sun, 
 moon, seven stars, the sacred tree, winged globe, and the 
 wedge. Next in date are the Lower Assyrian, of the time of 
 Sargon (Shalmaneser) and his successors. These are found 
 in Agate, Jasper, Quartz, and Syenite, and other hard stones. 3 
 
 3 This proves that the discovery upon metal, like those Royal Seals 
 of the process of cutting intagli upon still preserved in gold. This is con- 
 the harder gems, known technically firmed by the impression of the sig- 
 as "Hard Stones," is due to the As- net of Sabaco II., stamped on the 
 Syrian engravers of the early times same clay seal as that of Senna- 
 of Nineveh, for the contemporary cherib ; the former being evidently 
 Egyptian signets are, perhaps with- produced from an engraving cut 
 out exception, merely cut upon such on metal, the latter from a gem- 
 soft materials as Steaschists, or else intaglio.
 
 SECOND PERIOD : PTRK BABYLONIAN. 
 
 2. Hercules. 
 
 3. Dagor 
 
 4. Mithras, Athor, Bel.
 
 SECT. II. ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN CYLINDERS. 129 
 
 That ascribed to Sennacherib is of Amazon-stone ; the intaglio 
 being of the finest and most minute execution. The usual 
 subjects of this class are the various gods and their wor- 
 shippers ; thus, one (5) presents the figure of Astarte, backed 
 by ten stars, the crescent over her head and a seated dog in 
 front ; the worshipper is a female, behind whom is a tree 
 and an antelope rampant. 
 
 The purely Babylonian are more common in European 
 collections than the two former classes. For these Hema- 
 tite, or rather Loadstone, is the favourite material, but Agates 
 and Jaspers also occur. They bear the sacred figures, but 
 are distinguished by legends in the Babylonian cuneiform 
 character, containing the name of the owner and his patron 
 god. Many of these exhibit excellent workmanship : one (2) 
 in green Jasper the Assyrian Hercules wrestling with a 
 buffalo, and a horned human figure, having bull's legs, with 
 a lion is remarkable for the depth of the intaglio and the 
 spirit of the design. 
 
 The latest of all, the Persian, are found in all the varieties 
 of hard stones, Onyx, Calcedony, Crystal, Carnelian, &c. 
 They often bear legends in the Achsemenian cuneiform : thus 
 the signet of Darius, of green Calcedony, now in the British 
 Museum, represents him in his car, accompanied by his name 
 and patronymic. Another is engraved with the name of a 
 certain Arsaces, the chamberlain. The Persian work is easily 
 recognised by the draperies of the figures gathered up into 
 narrow folds, as in the sculptures of the Acha3menian dynasty, 
 a peculiarity never found on pure Assyrian or Babylonian 
 monuments. Another mark of distinction is the crown worn 
 by the royal personage, the figure of Ormuzd, now first intro- 
 duced, and the fantastic monsters, agreeing in design with 
 those of Persepolis. A cylinder of Crystal belonging to this 
 period, representing Ormuzd raised aloft by two human- 
 it
 
 130 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 headed winged bulls above an oval containing the royal por- 
 trait, is a work of extraordinary delicacy and minuteness. 
 
 Cylinders went out of use on the Macedonian conquest, 
 and do not reappear under either the Arsacid* or the Sassa- 
 nians. A few, Assyrian in character, are inscribed with 
 Semitic letters resembling the Phenician. They belong to 
 various periods, from the time of the lower Assyrian dynasty 
 to the Persian occupation of Babylonia. To the first Layard 
 assigns one (6) with two human-headed bulls raising the 
 emblem of the deity above the sacred tree, flanked by a 
 priest bearing a goat and by the worshipper, behind whom is 
 the legend, placed vertically. Of Persian date is another (3), 
 the king contending with a bull and griffin ; above him soars 
 Ormuzd. The legend, in four lines, reads, " the seal of " 
 a name and patronymic undeciphered. 
 
 These cylinders are found in great abundance among the 
 ruins of all ancient Assyrian cities, verifying the assertion of 
 Herodotus, that every man of that nation carried a signet of 
 his own. As for their style of work, it is generally very rude, 
 the figures seeming to have been ground out of the solid 
 surface by rubbing and filing with a piece of emery ; they are 
 also often much worn and defaced by use, so as to be almost 
 unintelligible. Very few indeed display any finish of execu- 
 tion ; and such, especially the beautiful one in Sapphirine 
 (before mentioned under " Calcedony "), I am disposed to 
 assign to the skill of some Greek engraver in the service of 
 the later kings of Persia. Their court was an asylum for all 
 adventurers of the Hellenic race, just as that of the Great 
 Mogul was in the 17th century for Italian jewellers and 
 architects, and as that of the Sultan is for Frank pretenders 
 at the present day. 
 
 The impression of these signets, when required for use, 
 was taken by rolling them over a lump of tempered clay, laid
 
 SECT. II. ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN CYLINDERS. 
 
 131 
 
 THIRD PERIOD: PERSIAN. 
 
 No. 3 with a legend in Phenician character? 
 
 upon the object to be secured by the seal ; and this is the 
 source of the comparison in Job, where "the heavens are 
 turned as clay to the seal," by which he poetically likens the 
 concave vault, studded with the constellations, represented to 
 his mind by numerous fanciful figures, to the surface of the 
 clay spread out in a hollow plain adorned with the mytho- 
 logical devices impressed upon it by the revolution of the 
 cylinder. Some stones of this form we have already noticed 
 as evidently dating from Roman times, like that in Plasma 
 previously described, but they are very uncommon, and 
 merely due to the superstitious revival of an ancient usage. 
 
 Whenever signets are mentioned in the Old Testament, it 
 is always as being borne on the hand, and never on the finger. 
 Thus, in Gen. xxxviii. 18, Tamar demands the seal and the 
 
 K 2
 
 132 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 twisted cord (Chotam and Phetil), usually rendered "ring," 
 "signet," or "bracelet." Again, Pharaoh takes the signet 
 off his own hand and puts it upon that of Joseph. " The 
 signet upon my right hand " (Jer. xxii. 24) ; and " Zorobabel, 
 even he was as a signet on the right hand" (Eccus. xlix. 11), 
 with many other similar allusions, all go to prove the same 
 thing. Thus (2 Kings i. 10) the young Amalekite brings to 
 David, as the ensigns of royalty, the diadem and the bracelet 
 taken from the corpse of Saul, apparently because the latter 
 contained the royal signet, the only mode of authenticating 
 the edicts of the sovereign. In the list of the articles con- 
 tained in the treasury of the Acropolis, engraved on marble 
 about the tune of the Peloponnesian War, and published in 
 Chandler (Part II., No. iv., 2), are enumerated " two glass 
 signets of various colours, set in gold, and having gold chains 
 to them." Pliny also expressly asserts (xxxiii. 4) that " the 
 use of finger-rings was of no very great antiquity ; " although 
 we find signets mentioned in the most ancient of all historical 
 records. On a painted vase, figured by Visconti (Opere 
 Varie, ii. 1), Jupiter appears seated in the heavens, holding 
 his eagle-topped sceptre, and wearing on his wrist a large 
 oval gem, apparently intended for a scarabeus, threaded 
 upon a very fine line ; a manner of wearing a stone of 
 so convex a form much more convenient than the later 
 fashion of setting it in a swivel-ring, and where, by having 
 the engraved face next to the skin of the arm, it was much 
 less exposed to injury than when borne upon the finger. 
 The very large relative diameter of the perforation through 
 the axis of the Babylonian cylinders, proves conclusively 
 that they were intended for the reception of a thick cord, 
 such as might be fastened round the arm without incon- 
 venience, and which, if dyed of a bright colour, might also 
 serve as an ornamental bracelet. Thus we find that the
 
 SHOT. II. ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN CYLINDERS. 133 
 
 Amethyst lynx of the sorceress Nico (which I strongly sus- 
 pect was an Oriental cylinder), is strung upon a fleece of 
 purple lamb's wool, when dedicated to Venus. That the 
 Babylonian cylinders were rarely mounted in metal is evident 
 from the extreme rarity of any that retain traces of such 
 mounting amongst the hundreds continually brought to this 
 country. I have noticed the almost unique instances that 
 have come under my notice, as being mounted in gold-swivels 
 in the Egyptian manner ; and one of Herz's still retained the 
 bronze pin or axis rusted away into the perforation. Had the 
 custom of having them thus mounted been prevalent in As- 
 syria, they would be discovered retaining their swivels, at 
 least those made of the baser metals, quite as frequently as 
 the Egyptian scarabei. Again, all such gems, either Egyp- 
 tian or Etruscan, originally intended to revolve on a metal 
 wire, are bored with a very fine hole ; whereas the cylinders, 
 even when of the smallest size and less than one inch in 
 length, have so large a perforation as to reduce them almost 
 to the form of the section of a tube ; so that, unless the 
 substance passed through this cavity were of a soft and 
 yielding nature, they would have been extremely liable to 
 split when used. The later Persian conical seals were 
 probably worn in the same manner. Their flat and broad 
 bases were adapted to sit firmly upon the wrist, and the 
 convex part would form an ornament after the manner of 
 the embossed disk, invariably appearing as the centre of the 
 bracelets worn by the ancient Assyrian kings. The later 
 Persians adopted the shape of the signet-stones of their 
 Macedonian rulers ; but even here retained their preference 
 for the conical form, for these Sassanian ring-stones are 
 almost invariably cut en cabochon, and with a degree of 
 convexity rarely met with in those of European origin.
 
 134 ART, STYLES OF. RKCT. IF. 
 
 HIGH PEIEST'S BEEAST-PLATE. 
 
 Here some notice may be taken of the breast-plate, or 
 Rationale, worn by the Jewish High Priest ; the earliest in- 
 stance on record of the art of the gem-engraver. The first idea 
 of it was doubtless taken from the vitrified tablets worn on 
 their breasts by the Egyptian priests when engaged in their 
 sacred functions, and which represent a deity in a shrine, 
 surrounded by various emblems. We are also told by ^Elian 
 (xiv. 34), that the chief-priest of the Egyptians, who was also 
 the supreme judge, wore round his neck an image of truth, 
 made of Lapis-lazuli (Sapphirus) ; and it is a curious coin- 
 cidence, that the above-named tablets are formed of a vitrified 
 composition of a bright blue colour. 
 
 The ancient tradition of the Greeks, as to the origin of the 
 Jewish nation, recorded by Diodorus Siculus, is, that they 
 were a colony despatched from Egypt into Syria, at the same 
 time that Danaus set out for Greece ; and the striking 
 analogy of their customs and laws with those of Egypt, as 
 given by this author, strongly supports this tradition. The 
 Jews themselves appear, from their own chronicles, always to 
 have retained a strong attachment to the parent state. In 
 all their political distresses, when menaced by their Syrian 
 neighbours, the idea of a return to Egypt continually sug- 
 gests itself to their minds, although strongly opposed by the 
 sacerdotal caste. The famous letter of Areius, king of the 
 Lacedaemonians, to the High Priest Onias (Josephus, xii. 5), 
 in which he speaks of the common descent of both nations 
 from Abraham ! though probably a Jewish forgery, yet 
 sufficiently proves the general belief, at that early period, of 
 the original unity of the races, as colonists from the same 
 mother country. Diodorus (i. 24) speaks of the Egyptian 
 Hercules travelling all over the world, before erecting the
 
 SECT. II. HIGH PRIEST'S BREAST-PLATE. 135 
 
 celebrated Pillars. Again, the Grecian Hercules, the pro- 
 genitor of the Spartan royal house, was a native of Argos, 
 the first Egyptian colony planted in Europe. From the same 
 tradition of their common origin, the Spartans style the 
 Jews " their brethren," in their letter of congratulation to 
 Simon Maccabaeus. Intimate relations seem to have been 
 kept up, until a late period, between Jerusalem and Sparta ; 
 it was a noble Spartan, Eurycles, who became the minister 
 of Herod the Great, and by his pernicious counsels brought 
 about the ruin of his family. 
 
 The gems set in the breast-plate were engraved with the 
 names of the tribes, probably in hieroglyphics, and arranged 
 thus, if we follow the Vulgate (which also coincides with 
 Josephus), an authority to be respected in this point, the 
 version having been made at a time the 5th century when 
 the knowledge of precious stones, and of their ancient names, 
 still flourished. 
 
 1st Row. Sardius, red. Topazion, yellowish green. ISmaragdus, 
 
 bright green. 
 2nd Row. Carbunculus, dark red. Sapphirus, dark blue. Jaspis, 
 
 dark green. 
 '3rd Row. Ligurius, or Lyncurium, orange. Achates (perhaps), 
 
 black and white. Amethyst, purple. 
 4th Raw. Chrysolithus, bright yellow. Onyx, blue and black. 
 
 Beryl, light green. 
 
 Our version gives the same stones in different order, but 
 substitutes a Diamond for the Chrysolite, a most absurd 
 exchange, as it would baffle all engravers, both of ancient and 
 modern times, to cut an inscription upon this invincible gem ; 
 add to which, one of a size to match the rest of the stones in 
 the breast-plate, would have been equal in magnitude to the 
 Koh-i-Noor. Josephus says, that the stones were conspicuous 
 for their largeness and beauty, and of incomparable value. The
 
 136 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 names of the tribes were engraved in the " national character," 
 but the breast-plate seen by him must have been only a copy 
 by tradition of the first one made by order of Moses. Being 
 a square of a span, i. e., of 8 inches each side, and having the 
 gems arranged in four rows of three each, it follows that each 
 gem, with its setting, occupied a space of 2 inches long by 
 2 deep ; and that, therefore, they were cut in the form of 
 long ovals, or rather ellipses, like the cartouches containing 
 the proper names in hieroglyphic inscriptions. It will sound 
 incredible to the ear of the uninitiated, but every one con- 
 versant with the nature of gems will admit, that these most 
 venerable productions of the glyptic art must still be in 
 existence. No lapse of time produces any sensible effect 
 upon these monuments, as is testified by the numerous seals, 
 even in a softer material, vitrified clay, bearing the name of 
 Thothmes III., the contemporary of Moses himself. Their 
 intrinsic value also, as the finest gems that could be procured 
 by the zeal of a race trafficking all over the world, must 
 have rendered them objects of care to all the conquerors 
 into whose hands they fell ; and though removed from their 
 original arrangement, and re-set in various ornaments, they 
 must always have ranked amongst the most precious state- 
 jewels of the captor of the Holy City. This doubtless was 
 the cause that the breast-plate belonging to the first Temple 
 is not mentioned in the list of the sacred articles sent back by 
 Cyrus to Jerusalem ; the rest of the consecrated vessels and 
 ornaments appear to have been easily identified as having been 
 deposited, as trophies, at the tune of their capture, in the 
 various temples of Babylon. The breast-plate in use after 
 the Captivity, when worn by the High Priest, shot forth, 
 according to Josephus, brilliant rays of fire, that manifested 
 the immediate presence of the Deity. He, however, 
 prudently adds, that this miraculous property had become
 
 SECT. If. 
 
 SASSANIAM SEALS. 
 
 137 
 
 extinct, in consequence of the impiety of the nation, 200 
 years before the time at which he was writing. 
 
 This invaluable trophy was carried to Borne, together with 
 the other spoils of the Temple. Of the subsequent fate of 
 these treasures there are two opposite accounts; one, that 
 they were conveyed by Genseric, after his sack of Rome, to 
 Carthage, but that the ship containing them was lost on the 
 voyage ; the other, and the more probable one, that they had 
 been transferred, long before that time, to Constantinople, 
 and had been deposited by Justinian in the sacristy of Santa 
 Sophia. Hence there is a chance of the gems at least 
 emerging from oblivion, at no distant day, when the dark 
 recesses of the Sultan's treasury shall be rummaged by the 
 Russian heir of the " sick man," whilst he 
 
 " Jam circmn loculos et claves Isettts ovansque 
 
 Currit." 
 
 v 
 
 " Joyous the long-expected wealth to seize, 
 Bustles about the money-chests and keys." 
 
 What a day of rejoicing, both to archaeologists and to the reli- 
 gious world, will the identification of one of these sacred monu- 
 ments occasion ; a contingency by no means to be thought chi- 
 merical in an age which has witnessed the resuscitation of Sen- 
 nacherib's signet, of his drinking cup, and of his wife's portrait. 
 
 Assyrian Seal. 
 
 net of Sennacherib : Amazon-stone. 
 
 SASSANIAN SEALS. 
 
 The consideration of the Babylonian cylinders naturally 
 introduces the subject of the Sassanian seals, or stamps, still
 
 138 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. 11. 
 
 found in large numbers about Bassora and Bagdad, which 
 gradually superseded that most ancient form of the 
 Oriental signet. They are termed Sassanian, from the cir- 
 cumstance of their having come into general use under the 
 revived dynasty of the ancient Acheemenian race, commencing 
 with Ardeschir in the 3rd, and closing with Yezdigerd III. 
 in the 7th century of our era sovereigns styled Sassanidae, 
 from Saasaan, the Eoman mode of spelling Shaahshaan, 
 "King of Kings," the title in all times assumed by the 
 Persian monarchs, and not, as is absurdly repeated, a family 
 name derived from an imaginary ancestor Sasan. 
 
 These seals are conical blocks of the same kinds of stone 
 as those the cylinders are made of, Calcedony and Agate being 
 by far the most usual material, having a hole drilled through 
 the apex for the purpose of suspension round the neck or 
 wrist. Sometimes they are of a spherical shape, often with 
 flattened sides, and perforated through the diameter ; with 
 about a third of the circumference ground down so as to pre- 
 sent a flattened tablet for the reception of the intaglio. It 
 will be noticed, on examination of a collection of these stamps, 
 that the earliest among them, on which the designs are often 
 cut in a very neat but very stiff and archaic style, are generally 
 in the form of cones with angular sides. These are assigned 
 to the date of the Assyrian and first Persian monarchy, before 
 the conquest of Alexander. A fanciful antiquary may be 
 inclined to suggest that the form of the cone was adopted as 
 being the universally received symbol of the solar ray. Thus 
 we find the conical stone of Emesa, of which Heliogabalus was 
 the priest, occurring on the coins of that emperor, with the 
 legend " Sacerdos dei Solis Elagabalus ; " and the Egyptian 
 obelisk has always been interpreted as a representation of 
 the rays of that luminary. The spherical stamps, on the 
 contrary, are exclusively of Sassanian date, and many of
 
 SECT. II. SASSANIAN SEALS. 139 
 
 them doubtless belong to the centuries immediately preceding 
 the Mohammedan conquest of Persia. The most interesting 
 of the early conical seals that I have ever seen bears a figure 
 of Mercury, identified by his caduceus and talaria, but closely 
 draped, and wearing a Phiygian bonnet, a singular Oriental 
 rendering of the representation of a Hellenic deity. The 
 stone is a very fine Sapphirine Calcedony, and the form of the 
 cone itself octangular. But the great majority of the intagli 
 seen upon the tablets or bases of these cones and spheres are 
 of an utterly rude character, and evidently cut by means of a 
 very coarse wheel, all the lines being thick, and the design 
 entirely executed by their repetition, assisted occasionally by 
 a blunt- pointed drill. No traces are visible of the use of the 
 diamond-point, or of that high polish which is so marked a 
 peculiarity of the Greek and Roman intaglio. I subjoin a 
 list of the most usual types occurring upon them, first pre- 
 mising that the whole-length figures or busts of royal 
 personages form a large proportion of the designs to be seen 
 upon the bases of these stamps. A priest praying before an 
 altar ; a priest sacrificing at a fire-altar ; a winged figure 
 walking, and holding a plant in his hand ; a Avinged qua- 
 druped, with human head, a plant in front, a star above ; 
 a bird, with human head and scorpion's tail ; a lion, with 
 scorpion's nippers and a serpent's tail, behind him a tree, 
 above, Capricorn and a star ; a gazelle, surrounded by a 
 legend ; bust of a horned animal supported on two large 
 wings ; a priest in front of an altar, behind him an inscrip- 
 tion on one side of the cone are engraved two figures, one 
 of them with a bull's head, engaged in combat. The fantastic 
 animals which will be found represented on more than half 
 the number of these seals, are executed, for the most part, in 
 a truly Chinese style of drawing. And there is a most 
 wonderful similarity between the mode of the design of some
 
 140 
 
 A11T, STYLES OF. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 of these delineations of various beasts, and those of the same 
 subjects upon the Gallic and British coins. For instance, a 
 Carnelian stamp, engraved with a horse, a wild boar in the 
 field beneath (in the collection of Mr. Litchfield of Cam- 
 bridge), from its exact identity with the well-known potin 
 coins of the Channel Islands, caused me for a long time to 
 natter myself with having made the discovery of a unique 
 intaglio, the work of a Gallic gem-engraver as yet unin- 
 fluenced by Roman instruction in his art. 
 
 Persian Seal with Pbeuician legend. Calcedony. 
 
 We however frequently meet with Sassauian gems, cut 
 in the form of ring-stones, and these sometimes of very good 
 workmanship. They appear to be, invariably, portraits of 
 the reigning prince, or of members of his family, and occur 
 in considerable numbers ; often on the Garnet, and of very 
 fair execution, especially if we consider the lateness of their 
 date, yet still, in most instances, do they betray traces of the 
 heavy and coarse hand of the workman, which so strongly 
 mark this class of intagli. Although gems of the Sassanian 
 dynasty are plentiful enough, yet works that can be certainly 
 ascribed to the times of the Arsacidse, their immediate pre- 
 decessors, are extremely rare ; still more so are such as 
 belong to the first race of Persian kings, who ruled over all 
 Asia prior to the Macedonian conquest: and the small 
 number of examples of these liighly interesting classes that
 
 SECT. II. SASSAXIAX SEALS. 141 
 
 have come under my own notice shall be described farther 
 on. A few indeed among the indisputable Sassanian por- 
 traits are of such good and careful execution, that, in spite of 
 the Pehlevi legends they bear, and which authenticate their 
 date, we have some difficulty in regarding them as the pro- 
 ductions of that late epoch, the 3rd century, when that race 
 regained the throne of Persia ; so great is their superiority 
 to any works executed by contemporary gem-engravers of 
 the Roman school. But it is true, that with the restoration 
 of the ancient religion and dynasty under Ardeschir the 
 Blacksmith, A.D. 226, all the arts appear to have simultane- 
 ously revived in Persia ; the coinage of this patriot prince 
 and that of his next successors, being vastly superior in all 
 respects, as regards both design and execution, to that of the 
 last Parthian sovereigns. 
 
 These ring-stones are usually gems with a very convex 
 surface, probably the reason of the so frequent choice of the 
 carbuncle for this purpose. Even when Sards and Nicoli 
 have been employed, they are generally cut into a pointed 
 shape, with a small flat surface left to receive the intaglio 
 and the inscription. These legends are always in the Pehlevi 
 character, which only appears after the restoration of the 
 ancient Persian monarchy at the period just mentioned ; the 
 ArsacidaB or Parthian kings having invariably employed, on 
 their monuments, the Greek language, and probably Greek 
 artists, as is shown by the legends and style of their medals ; 
 probably from a wish to be regarded as the legitimate suc- 
 cessors of the Macedonian line. The early Pehlevi is nearly 
 identical with the rabbinical Hebrew character, of which it 
 was, to all appearance, the parent ; but upon the coins of the 
 later kings it assumes the form of the Pehlevi used in the 
 religious writings of the modern Parsees. Some of the 
 legends on this class of coins, like one set of the trilingual
 
 142 
 
 ART, STYLES OF. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 inscriptions on the rock-sculptures at Nakschi-Roustam, are 
 written in the Persepolitan alphabet ; but all the gems that 
 I have examined present the same shaped letters as those 
 used upon the medals of the commencement of the series ; 
 and particularly agreeing in form with the characters of the 
 inscriptions at Kirmanshah in commemoration of Sapor I. 
 and Bahran, given by De Sacy in his 'Antiquit?s de la 
 Perse.' This eminent Orientalist, who was the first to de- 
 cipher this previously inexplicable alphabet, confesses that, 
 as regards our gems, though the letters on them bear a strik- 
 ing analogy with those of the medals and of the inscriptions, 
 he had been able to make out but one of them, which lie 
 attributes to the language in which they are couched being 
 the Pehlevi dialect, and not the Zend. This single one he 
 reads : " Artaschetran-Rami-Minochetri-Rami," " Son of Arta- 
 xerxes, of the divine race." The medals of Sapor, for in- 
 stance, read thus : " Mazdiesn beh Shapouhr malcan malca 
 Iran Minochetri." "The servant of Ormuzd, the excellent 
 Sapor, king of kings of Iran, of the divine race." And this 
 style will serve as a guide in the attempt to elucidate the 
 titles figuring around the gem-portraits. 
 
 Pirouzi Shabpouhrl (Sapor II.). Varanes. Nicolo, perforated. 
 
 Sardonyx. 
 
 The numerous variations in the forms of the same letter 
 appear to arise merely from the carelessness of the die-sinker 
 in not expressing their angular parts, but turning them off
 
 SECT.;!!. SASSANIAN SEALS. 143 
 
 into a curve in order to save trouble, exactly as one would 
 do for expedition's sake in writing them with a pen. Simi- 
 larly, in the gems, some of the inscriptions are cut in the 
 neatest and clearest character that could be produced by the 
 tool, and such will usually be found on the Garnets and 
 other precious stones, in which a superior artist of the times 
 has displayed his skill, whilst, on the coarse Calcedony seals, 
 the signets of the lower sort, the same letters offer a series of 
 seemingly arbitrary curves, with hardly any distinction of 
 shape between them. It seems, however, to me, that, on a 
 careful comparison of the inscriptions, even of those most 
 carefully finished, a marked difference will be observed be- 
 tween them, whether due, as in those of Nakschi-Roustam, 
 to their being expressed in two different dialects, or from 
 the introduction of combined letters or " nexus " into some, 
 and not into others. 4 I shall now particularise the most 
 important gems of this interesting class that I myself have 
 had an opportunity of examining; and the inscriptions on 
 which I have, in some instances, been able to decipher in a 
 satisfactory manner. The list must be headed by the magni- 
 ficent Amethyst, one of the chief treasures of the Devonshire 
 Collection ; a profile portrait wearing the tiara, a work of 
 extraordinary boldness, though of little finish; the head of 
 Sapor I., surrounded by an inscription, in two lines, of large 
 and well-formed Pehlevi letters. This stone now forms the 
 centre ornament of the comb, in the parure of antique gems, 
 lately combined and set with such exquisite taste by Mr. 
 Hancock, the Duke's jeweller. A Nicolo, now in the Fould 
 
 4 This series closes with the rude stoiie. I have a Nicolo of this class, 
 
 intagli, of extreme rarity, with a engraved with two figures joining 
 
 design similar to some of those hands, two stars between them ; 
 
 above enumerated in the field, and and the British Museum Collection 
 
 an ill-cut Cuphic legend running has a curious Calcedony, hereafter 
 
 around the sloping sides of the noticed.
 
 144 AKT, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 Collection, engraved with the bust of a queen, executed in the 
 manner of the best Roman portraits, and surrounded by a 
 legend in very delicately-formed and minute letters. Amongst 
 the Mertens-Schaafhausen Persian stones, No. 52 is a well- 
 executed bust of Sapor II. on Sard, with the legend " Pirouzi 
 . . . Shapouhri," " the Victorious Sapor." But a still more 
 interesting portrait of the same king, though of inferior 
 workmanship, is that on a Carbuncle in my own collection, 
 where his bust is supported on four wings, the usual Oriental 
 symbol of divinity, and between the sun and moon ; at once 
 recalling to our recollection the arrogant style assumed by 
 this same prince in his Epistle to Constantius, given by 
 Ammian (xvii. 5), "Kex regum Sapor, particeps siderum, 
 frater Solis et Lunae, Constantio Caesari, fratri meo, salutem 
 plurimam dico." The inscription, very neatly cut, reads 
 distinctly " Pirouz Shahpouhri ; " an interesting corrobora- 
 tion of a circumstance noted by Ammian in his most graphic 
 account of the siege of Amida, conducted by Sapor in person, 
 that the Persian host, investing that city, chaunted through- 
 out the night the name of Sapor, Avith the titles of "Pyroses " 
 and " Saansaan," that is to say, " Victor," and " King of 
 Kings." A beautiful Guarnaccino, in the Pulsky Collection, 
 has the legend unfortunately defective, but apparently read- 
 ing " Karachi Sha ; " the portrait is much like that of the 
 king of that name, and of very fine work. It is not wonderful 
 that both the medals and gems of the second Sapor should so 
 abound, for the duration of his reign and life were commen- 
 surate, extending to seventy -two years. Although the portraits 
 on the medals are invariably depicted with the tiara, a balloon- 
 shaped turban rising out of a mural crown, from which depend 
 long and streaming ribbons, yet on the gems they usually 
 appear bare-headed. I have met with but two instances on 
 which the tiara occurs : the famous Devonshire Amethyst, and
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 EAELY PERSIAN GEMS. 
 
 145 
 
 a front face, apparently of Chosroes, of late work, on Calcedony. 
 The gem figured by De Sacy has also the tiara. It is singular 
 that these princes should appear so often on the gems without 
 this distinctive badge of sovereignty, especially as the en- 
 gravers always seem to have had much difficulty in rendering 
 the curly locks, the cherished distinction of the Aclisemenian 
 race, which they for the most part attempt to represent by a 
 series of drill-holes set close together. 
 
 I have dwelt at some length upon this part of my subject, 
 as being one, so far as my researches extend, hitherto un- 
 touched ; and yet containing a most valuable series of por- 
 traits, authenticated by their inscriptions, of those very 
 princes who make so prominent a figure in the history of 
 the later Roman empire. In the point of view of art they 
 have an additional value from the fact, that they supply the 
 only intagli, with the rarest exceptions, capable of serving as 
 historical evidences, that are to be met with subsequent to the 
 age of Constantine. 
 
 Assyrian and Persian Seals in Aate and Calcedony. 
 
 EAELY PEESIAN GEMS. 
 
 Two indubitable intagli of the date of the early Persian 
 monarchy have been examined by me with the greatest 
 interest. One, on striated Onyx, represented a Persian king 
 seated on a throne supported by sphinxes, and engraved in 
 a good but very archaic style. This most valuable gem had 
 been nearly ruined by the folly of the owner in having its 
 surface polished down in order to remove a superficial frac- 
 
 L
 
 146 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 ture, thereby destroying the original outline of the figure ; 
 otherwise, this intaglio would have ranked amongst the most 
 interesting known. The other was the bust of a Persian, 
 upon a Sard, of ordinary work similar to the better-executed 
 Sassanian gems, but in the field of the design was engraved 
 a ram's head and a doubled cross, precisely as on the coins 
 of Salamis in Cyprus, thus indubitably marking the portrait 
 as that of a Persian satrap of that island, at some period 
 before the age of Alexander, after whose time the Persian 
 dominion over the Greek islands had entirely ceased. I 
 have also seen a Roman imperial portrait, a laureated bust, 
 somewhat resembling Caracalla, engraved on Nicolo, accom- 
 panied by a Pehlevi legend ; a unique instance and very 
 difficult of explanation. It will be observed on the examina- 
 tion of many of these Oriental portraits, that a larger pro- 
 portion, especially of the best executed, are found on Garnet 
 and Guarnacino than is the case with the intagli of the 
 Koman school, in which good work occurring upon a Garnet 
 is quite the exception to the general rule. In fact, as long 
 as the palmy days of the art lasted, the Sard was preferred 
 to all other stones by both Greek and Italian engravers; 
 the first employing by choice the bright yellow variety, the 
 inhabitants of Magna Grecia and the Etruscans usually 
 contenting themselves with the common European Carnelian, 
 whilst the Romans were supplied by their Indian commerce 
 with the various splendid coloured sorts of the stone, some 
 emulating the Carbuncle, others the deep orange of the 
 Jacinth. A full-length portrait of a Parthian king, 5 on a 
 large Oriental Onyx of the finest quality, the three strata 
 of the stone being perfect in colour and distinctness, brings 
 to our mind an interesting letter of Pliny the Younger when 
 
 s Now in the possession of Mr. Uzielli.
 
 SECT. II. EARLY PERSIAN GEMS. 147 
 
 Governor of Bithynia, addressed to the Emperor Trajan, in 
 which he mentions a similar intaglio. " Apuleius, the 
 officer stationed at Xicomedia, has written to rne that a 
 person named Callidromus having been forcibly detained by 
 the bakers Maxirnus and Dionysius, to whom he had hired 
 himself, had fled for refuge to your statue ; and when 
 brought before the magistrates made the following declara- 
 tion : That he had been slave formerly to Laberius Maximus, 
 and been taken prisoner by Susagus in Moasia, and thence 
 sent as a present by Decebalus to Pacorus, king of Parthia, 
 in whose service he had remained many years, but after- 
 wards had made his escape and got to Nicomedia. He was 
 brought before me, and, persisting in the same story, I 
 judged that he ought to be sent to you for examination. 
 This I have been somewhat delayed in doing in conse- 
 quence of having instituted a search for a gem engraved 
 with the portrait of Pacorus and the ensign^ of royalty which 
 he was accustomed to wear, which gem he had informed me 
 had been stolen from him. For I was anxious to send it to 
 you, if it could possibly be found, at the same time with 
 the man himself, as I have actually done with this piece of 
 ore which he asserts that he brought with him from a 
 Parthian mine. It is sealed with my own signet, the impres- 
 sion of which is a four-horse car." 
 
 This letter appears to give a satisfactory explanation of 
 the great number of Persian seals occurring engraved with 
 royal portraits, and often of such rude work and coarse 
 materials that they could only have belonged to the nu- 
 merous officials and menials of the royal household. Thus 
 an almost equally numerous class, engraved with figures of 
 priests and fire-altars, were probably the private signets of 
 the Magi, a powerful and extensive body which flourished 
 down to the fall of the monarchy in the 7th century. It 
 
 L 2
 
 148 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 is a curious fact, that but a few years before the utter ruin 
 of their empire and religion, and at the time when Mahomet 
 delivered his famous prophecy of their coming fall in the 
 chapter of the Koran entitled " The Persians," which begins 
 thus: "The Persians have conquered the Greeks in the 
 uttermost parts of the earth ; but before seven years," &c., 
 at this very time Chosroes had restored the ancient limits 
 of the Persian rule under Xerxes, and was master of all 
 Egypt, Asia, and the north of Africa. Similarly, under 
 Theodosius the Great, the Roman Empire had attained its 
 extreme extent, only to crumble into fragments in the feeble 
 hands of his sons. For after their reign the Western Em- 
 perors were but the puppets of the Frank or Herulian 
 general, who was only deterred by the shame of his bar- 
 barian origin from mounting the imperial throne. One point 
 more in this letter may be observed : " the piece of ore " 
 thought worthy of being forwarded for Trajan's inspection. 
 This was probably a specimen from a silver mine, of which 
 metal the Persians must have possessed an abundance. Vast 
 quantities are still supplied by Thibet, then tributary to 
 them. Both the Parthian and Sassanian currency consisted 
 exclusively of silver; coins of gold or copper of either 
 dynasty are almost unknown. Procopius, with the laugh- 
 able vanity of a Byzantine historian, asserts that the Sassa- 
 nian kings did not dare to coin gold, that being the exclusive 
 privilege of the Koman emperors ; a somewhat unsatisfactory 
 solution of the difficulty when we consider the supreme con- 
 tempt justly entertained by Chosroes for Justinian, his super- 
 stition, and his power. 6 In all times, however, the Orientals 
 
 6 He subjoins, however, the true meaning thereby that the Roman 
 
 reason, " that even if the Persian gold was the universal currency of 
 
 kings coined gold, none of the na- the world, which is perfectly cor- 
 
 tions with whom they had com- rect. 
 mercial intercourse would take it :"
 
 SECT. II. INDIAN ENGRAVED GEMS. 
 
 149 
 
 have preferred silver for a circulating medium ; all gold coin 
 that gets into their hands being immediately melted for con- 
 version into ornaments, or else into ingots for the purpose of 
 concealment. 
 
 INDIAN ENGRAVED GEMS. 
 
 It is universally acknowledged that the inhabitants of the 
 Indian Peninsula derived the use of coined money from the 
 Greek sovereigns of Bactria, and that the types of the 
 earliest Hindoo pieces show evident traces of being imita- 
 tions of increasing rudeness, as more remote in date of 
 the Graeco-Bactrian currency. And this is equally true of 
 those few engraved gems, the types on which prove to a 
 certainty their Indian origin, sometimes found, but only in 
 small numbers, deposited, together with other jewels and 
 gold coin, in the Buddhist topes or relic-shrines of Cabul. 
 It is certainly to be reckoned among the numerous unac- 
 countable inconsistencies of the Hindoo race, that, although 
 the earliest of mankind to attain mechanical perfection and 
 facility in the sculpture of the hardest stones, as Granite, 
 Jade, Agates, &c., into ornamental vessels and other repre- 
 sentations, and also in the shaping and polishing of all gems 
 (except the Diamond), with which they supplied the ancient 
 world to an extent of which a very limited conception can 
 now be formed, yet that despite all these inducements of 
 ability and of abundance of materials, they seem never
 
 150 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 to have attempted until a very late period, and then but 
 rarely, to imitate their Persian neighbours in embodying on 
 the precious stone the miniature forms of those numerous 
 and often graceful deities whose larger statues they daily 
 reproduced in innumerable multitudes. Assuredly it was not 
 the practical difficulties of this art that deterred them, for 
 they executed with facility many operations which would tax 
 the skill of the most expert lapidary of the present day, such 
 as drilling fine holes with the greatest accuracy, not merely 
 through beads of Onyx, but even of Sapphire and of Kuby ; 
 and this is a part of the work in hard stones much more 
 difficult, and requiring greater precision and care, than the 
 processes required in sinking an intaglio, at least in its 
 simplest forms, or in cutting a figure in relief upon the sur- 
 face. Their extraordinary skill in working one of the hardest 
 substances known, Jade, is beautifully shown in the large 
 tortoise found on the banks of the river Jumna near Alla- 
 habad, and now in the British Museum, which for fidelity 
 to nature and exquisite finish is worthy to be the work of a 
 Grecian artist. Small figures of the Sacred Bull ' couchant,' 
 perforated through their length for the purpose of beads, are 
 often found in company with the other relics here described. 
 Miniature idols, also of Indian work, and formed in the 
 hardest stones, are not uncommon. The most extraordinary 
 production of the kind that ever came in my way was a 
 figure of Buddha seated in his shrine, surrounded by various 
 accessories, the whole cut with marvellous skill out of a 
 huge Agate of red and white strata, a most valuable speci- 
 men of the stone for brightness of colour and for magnitude, 
 being six inches in height and width and of nearly the same 
 thickness. 
 
 Although one powerful motive for the engraving of intagli 
 was wanting amongst them, hinted at in the words of Pliny,
 
 SECT. II. INDIAN ENGRAVED GEMS. 151 
 
 "Non signat adhuc Oriens literis contenta solis," the non- 
 employment of the signet, but merely of the writer's sub- 
 scription to authenticate documents, yet still we should 
 have expected that, as soon as acquainted with this art from 
 intercourse with their neighbours (and, to some extent, 
 masters) the Persians, whose universal use of engraved gems 
 is noticed by Herodotus, they would have attempted to 
 enhance the native beauty of their gems, though intended 
 merely as personal ornaments, by adorning their surface with 
 figures either in intaglio, or, as was the first step in the 
 Egyptian branch of this art, with sculptures in relief. For 
 it is sufficiently plain that with the latter people the scarab 
 was worn as an ornament or amulet on the necklace long 
 before its base -was engraved upon for the purpose of impress- 
 ing the seal ; and the same observation holds good for their 
 pupils the Etruscans. Be this is it may, it is certain that no 
 gems have yet appeared engraved with purely Hindoo types, 
 or as having been discovered in provinces of India lying 
 beyond the sphere of the influence of the Greco-Bactriac 
 civilization. 
 
 Wilson figures in his 'Antiquities of Afghanistan' a small 
 number of intagli found in the deposits already mentioned. 
 Of these, one is evidently a portrait belonging to the Greek 
 period, two are common Koman gems, as was to be expected 
 in sites where so many aurei of the Lower Empire are 
 constantly discovered, whilst the rest are certainly works of 
 the natives of the country where they were brought to light. 
 The most interesting of these is a Sard engraved with the 
 bust of a female, holding a flower, prettily executed, with a 
 legend underneath in Sanscrit letters of the 7th century, 
 giving the owner's name, "Kusmna Dasasya," "The Slave 
 of the Elower." Another is the portrait of a prince with a 
 pendant of four large pearls in his ear, and wearing a neck-
 
 152 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 lace, inscribed " Ajita Varmma," " Varma the Victorious," in 
 Sanscrit letters of the 9th century. This was the name of 
 a king of Cashmere of that period. Another Sard found at 
 Hidda bears a regal head in the same style, but without a 
 legend. The same tope also furnished two gold rings set 
 with Carnelians, one a head in relief, apparently that of 
 Buddha, the other an intaglio bust. A large Carnelian 
 intaglio gives two seated figures in Hindoo dresses playing 
 musical instruments, supposed by Wilson to be intended for 
 Krishna and Eadama. 7 As far as a judgment can be formed 
 from the plate, the execution of this group is extremely neat 
 and careful, although rather stiff. Under the head of 
 " Barbarian Camei " a notice will be found of some Indian 
 works of the kind that have been brought under my own 
 examination. Although the Greek colonists of Bactria 
 formed a powerful and extensive state that flourished for 
 more than three centuries, and which also possessed great 
 wealth, as may be inferred from the large quantities of the 
 currency of their princes still in existence, it is very singular 
 that they should have left behind them so few engraved 
 gems, considering the universal use of them in their parent 
 country during the same space of time. We should have 
 expected to meet with here a numerous class of gems 
 engraved with figures of Indian deities, but assimilated to 
 the Greek treatment of such subjects, exactly after the 
 manner of the same figures upon the reverses of their coins. 
 That the artistic skill to produce gems worthy of their 
 mother-country was not wanting, amongst the Indo-Macedo- 
 nians of at least the first century of the kingdom, plainly 
 appears from the excellence of the execution of the portraits 
 
 7 More probably the Sign Gemini, so represented by the Hindoo 
 astrologers.
 
 SECT. II. MODERN ORIENTAL INTAGLI. 153 
 
 on the coins issued during that period by the monarchs 
 bearing purely Greek names. 
 
 Persian. Serpentu 
 
 MODEEN OEIENTAL INTAGLI. 
 
 Before we quit the subject of Oriental intagli, the Maho- 
 metan, or Mediaeval and Modern, deserve a slight notice, for 
 two reasons : as being the immediate successors of the class 
 just described, and as articles the use of which kept alive 
 the processes of the art of gem-engraving in the East during 
 those centuries in which it had been entirely forgotten in 
 Europe. 
 
 The earliest Cuphic stones are an extremely interesting 
 class. The gems themselves are still of the ancient shape, 
 being, no doubt, importations from India ready prepared for 
 engraving as in Roman times. The legends upon them, in 
 the elegant vertical Cuphic letter, are so arranged as to form 
 certain figures, as a cross or a T. The letters are very fine, 
 often apparently executed with the diamond-point, such is 
 their precision and accuracy, and entirely dissimilar to the 
 rude wheel-cut legends of the Sassanians. They consist of 
 long legends in the Cuphic, or square Arabic character, in 
 the earliest class, and in the flowing and elegant Persian 
 on those of more recent execution. The Cuphic went out of
 
 154 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 fashion in the 13th century, and thus the form of the letters 
 gives us a clue to the age of the signets themselves. The 
 mechanical execution of most of these legends is of the most 
 perfect description ; nothing can exceed the freedom and 
 elegance of the curves and the depth and boldness of the 
 engraving, frequently also occurring on the hardest gems, 
 for I have seen admirable instances upon the Euby and the 
 Sapphire. 
 
 Pliny remarks, "Non signat adhuc Oriens, literis contenta 
 solis ;" " Eastern nations make no use of seals, being satisfied 
 with the mere subscription of the name." This fact struck 
 him with peculiar force, seeing the universal use of seals in 
 his time throughout the whole civilized world as the sole 
 mode of authenticating a document. But the Oriental prac- 
 tice still continues unchanged, for the stone or metal signet 
 inscribed with the owner's name and titles, is not impressed 
 upon wax, but inked over, and thus applied to the paper 
 after the manner of a copper-plate. By the term " Oriens " 
 in this passage India alone is signified, for the use of seals 
 intended to leave their prints on a soft substance, clay or 
 wax, originated with the early civilization of the Assyrian 
 Empire. 
 
 t These legends, beautiful as they are to the eye of the 
 unlearned, are the very plague of all Oriental scholars, who 
 are often pestered by their acquaintances to decipher for 
 them some " engraving of a signet " which, when the words 
 are extricated from the calligraphic flourishes in which they 
 are entwined, contain some such profound idea as this: 
 " What is destined will surely come to pass ;" or a religious 
 axiom, as, " Ali is the purest of Men ;" or perhaps the name 
 and titles of some Captain Smith, a revenue-collector in some 
 Indian province. Gems also are to be seen with legends 
 in the Rabbinical Hebrew character, some of considerable
 
 X 
 
 SECT. II. MODERN ORIENTAL INTAGLI. 155 
 
 antiquity ; they usually contain nothing but the name and 
 father's name of the owner. 
 
 A most curious if not unique example of this very rare 
 class is a Jacinth, en cabochon, now in the hands of Mr. East- 
 wood, the device on which appears intended for a vine-leaf, 
 and a modius with three wheat-ears, surrounded by the 
 legend in distinct Hebrew letters, "Helulu Bar Coasah," 
 " Helel, son of Coasah." This stone was found deposited with 
 other engraved gems of Sassanian date, and the style of the 
 work upon it is certainly of that period the 5th or 6th 
 century and therefore furnishes one of the very earliest 
 instances known of the use of the modern Hebrew character. 
 Another, but much more recent stone, an octagonal Car- 
 nelian, set in a very singularly-formed Oriental silver ring, 
 
 Hebrew Jacinth of the Sassanian period 
 
 bore in Rabbinical characters the legend "Issachar Ha 
 Cohen," "Issachar the Priest." Huge gold rings, adorned 
 with filigree work and surmounted by a small temple, with 
 Hebrew inscriptions on the interior of the shank, sometimes 
 are seen in collections, and puzzle the beholders as to their 
 use, being much too large for the finger. They were made 
 for the use of the Synagogue, where they serve in the cele- 
 bration of the marriage ceremony, being placed on the finger 
 of the couple at a certain portion of the rites. As may be 
 supposed, they are often most exquisite specimens of the 
 skill of the jeweller.
 
 156 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. 11. 
 
 Frateiis : Etruscan. Sard. Archaic Greek. Calcedony 
 
 GKEEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 
 
 Although it is impossible to lay down any exact rules for 
 distinguishing the works of the Greek and Roman period 
 from each other without any exception, yet there are certain 
 general principles which will be found to obtain universally, 
 and which, with a little practical experience, will enable us 
 to separate the productions of either school. 
 
 By the term Greek intagli we mean those engraved before 
 the time of the Roman Empire, even though the best of 
 those of a later date were the work of Greek artists, as we 
 still see by their names added to the finest existing engrav- 
 ings; yet the imperial epoch has a peculiar style of its 
 own, the nature of which we shall hereafter endeavour to 
 define. 
 
 The earliest Greek intagli are undoubtedly those of very 
 low relief but of the most minute finish, and principally 
 executed with the diamond-point, whilst the design is usually 
 enclosed within the so-called Etruscan border. On account 
 of this border, these intagli were formerly all assigned to the 
 Etruscan school, an opinion at present quite abandoned. 
 The subjects which they present are single figures of deities 
 or heroes, animals (which are of very frequent occurrence), 
 and groups illustrative of events taken from Homer and the 
 Tragedians, amongst which, for some unknown reason, the
 
 SECT. II. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 157 
 
 story of Philoctetes seems to have been a very favourite one 
 with the artists of the period. 8 One Sard, of the Herz 
 Collection, of the most exquisite finish, represents the hero 
 in the act of removing the bow and arrows of Hercules from 
 beneath the altar where they had been concealed ; whilst a 
 huge serpent twining round it, is about to sting him in the 
 foot. Another, of still finer work, represents him reposing 
 under a rock, and with a wing driving away the flies from 
 his mortifying foot ; Ulysses is stealing up in the background 
 to purloin the bow and quiver suspended over his head. 
 Both these designs are enclosed within very elaborate en- 
 grailed borders. Of Homeric subjects the best I have met 
 with is one representing Priam offering to Achilles the ran- 
 som for Hector's corpse, also from the same collection. This 
 design is executed in delicate lines upon the surface of the 
 gem, scarcely any portion of it being composed of sunken 
 surfaces ; in fact, the figures may be said rather to be etched 
 upon than engraved in the Sard. Yet they have a degree 
 of force and expression, although of minute size, hardly to 
 be equalled by any work of this description. This style of 
 intaglio is extremely rare : I only remember one other 
 instance of it, a laureated bust, probably of a poet, in the 
 Florentine Cabinet. Another excellent gem that has come 
 in my way with a Homeric subject is a group of the four 
 horses of Achilles lamenting over the corpse of Patroclus 
 stretched out naked upon a bier in the foreground. This 
 group also is in extremely flat relief. One of the hindmost 
 horses is expressed by the most delicate shadowing, so as to 
 be hardly visible at the first glance ; but the whole com- 
 
 8 If a conjecture may be allowed, pent when taking up the bow and 
 
 this story may have been selected quiver of Hercules from their hiding- 
 
 as illustrative of the divine ven- place, which he had sworn to his 
 
 geance on a violated promise : for dying lord never to reveal to the 
 
 Philoctetes was stung by the ser- Greeks.
 
 158 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 position is full of life and vigour, and the drawing and 
 outlines of all the figures are perfection itself. In the 
 Pulsky Collection is a Neptune throwing his trident, exactly 
 like the type of the broad didrachm of Metapontum, engraved 
 on a large and brilliant Sard: this intaglio also is marked 
 by the same flatness of relief, 9 while the extremities of the 
 hands and feet are indicated by drill-holes, their rudeness 
 forming a curious contrast with the careful finish of the body 
 and limbs. Though all intagli of this early class much 
 resemble the best Etruscan, yet, if we take the most perfect 
 of the latter, whose origin is authenticated by the inscrip- 
 tions in the Etruscan character, usually occurring upon 
 them to express the name of the personage represented, we 
 shall find that these are always more stiff and exaggerated 
 in their action than the early Greek designs. The Etruscan 
 gradually merge into the Roman, many of the latter re- 
 taining traces of the frequent employment of the drill for 
 the execution of all the sunken parts and of the extremities : 
 they also retain the engrailed border down to a late period 
 of the Eepublic. It will be observed that many of these 
 Archaic Greek intagli are cut upon Sards of a bright pale- 
 yellow colour, very like the European Topaz, while the 
 Etruscans and early Italians employed the common Car- 
 nelian of their own river-beds. The Etruscan intagli will 
 also be found either cut on the base of scarabs, or else on 
 stones bearing traces of having been sawn off them at a 
 later period for the purpose of being converted into ring- 
 stones. The Greeks seem never to have used the form of 
 the scarabeus, and all their intagli were from the first 
 intended to be set as signet-stones in finger-rings. Some 
 
 9 This lowness of relief and care- Greek intagli and those executed 
 ful finish of all parts is in truth the by their successors of the IJoman 
 grand distinction between the true period.
 
 SECT. II. GI1EEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 159 
 
 scarabei, indeed, are said to have been found in Corfu ; but 
 if so, were probably importations of Etruscan traders or 
 pirates whose ships once scoured the Mediterranean. 
 
 When we arrive at the most flourishing period of the 
 glyptic art under the successors of Alexander, we have no 
 longer any difficulty in recognising the works of the most 
 perfect natural taste, arrived by this time at its full ma- 
 turity. In the Archaic period no portraits occur; here, on 
 the contrary, we meet with many heads of deities and 
 princes full of life and character, as well as whole-length 
 figures, universally nude, the symbolic expression of the 
 divinity of the personage in the perfected Grecian art. 
 These intagli are still in flat relief, compared with those of 
 the Roman school, but yet they are sunk deeper into the 
 stone than the class lately considered. There is a vigour and 
 a life in the expression of these works which stamps their 
 origin at once, and a softness in the treatment of the flesh 
 never to be found in works of a later period. The finest 
 of this class that have come under my own observation 
 are the Ariadne (a Sicilian gem), and the Demetrius 
 Poliorcetes of the Pulsky Cabinet, and recently a youthful 
 portrait of Demetrius II. Soter, once the property of Horace 
 Walpole. 
 
 Youthful Hercules : Greek. Sard. 
 
 The sole technical peculiarity that has struck me in the 
 work of these gems is the treatment of the hair. It is
 
 160 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 represented by a vast number of fine lines, all distinct from 
 each other and never crossing, but every one perfectly well 
 defined. Any ornaments that may be introduced, such as the 
 wreaths on the heads of the deities, the diadems of the 
 princes, the ear-rings, necklaces, hair-cauls, or fillets, of the 
 female busts, are always rendered with the most scrupulous 
 fidelity. In fact, the artist appears to have been in love 
 with his work, and to have, as it were, kept it in hand as 
 long as possible, nor to have relinquished it before every 
 portion of the accessories had received the last degree of 
 finish. These intagli will also be found to be generally 
 engraved upon the fine yellow kind of Sard ; yet I have in 
 my own collection an exquisite head of Proserpine upon one 
 of a ruby-colour ; and a magnificent head of a Syrian king, 
 on Amethyst, is one of the glories of the Pulsky Cabinet. 
 Of this period also we find excellent works on Jacinth, a 
 stone recommended to the Greek engraver, in spite of the 
 extreme difficulty of working it, by its extraordinary lustre 
 when worn on the finger. 
 
 Much of the Greek style survives in the intagli of the 
 time of Augustus, some of whose portraits are executed 
 altogether in that manner, as is especially observable in the 
 treatment of the hair. This peculiarity also shows itself in 
 his coinage, in which the greatest diversity exists, some 
 being as rude as the old consular pieces, others, on the 
 contrary, quite of the Grecian type. However, the Eoman 
 manner soon became fixed, and exhibits the following cha- 
 racteristics. There is a great aiming at effect and a neglect 
 of details ; the intaglio is sunk as deep as possible, and relief 
 of colour is sought for by cutting through the various layers 
 of the Sardonyx and the Nicolo ; the hair is expressed by 
 broad strokes, in masses, and undefined as in painting; 
 everything, in short, is sacrificed to the face, which, though
 
 SECT. II. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. liil 
 
 usually effective, has a kind of stiffness of expression never 
 to be observed in good Greek portraits. In the female 
 heads, more care is bestowed upon the execution of the hair 
 and its arrangement according to the distinctive fashion of 
 the day; but the work falls very far short of the careful 
 finish of the same part of the design in the preceding period 
 of art. The portraits appear now as busts with a portion 
 of drapery on the shoulders, while the Greek present nothing 
 but the head and neck. The figures are more or less draped, 
 while those of the emperors are represented in full armour. 
 The compositions seldom exceed two figures; they usually 
 represent some action of ordinary life war, hunting, agri- 
 culture, or some well-known event of mythology, or some 
 religious ceremony. We no longer find designs taken from 
 the Tragedians or Epic Poets, as in the earlier Greek gems ; 
 and so invariable is this rule, that all historical or poetical 
 events represented on Roman intagli afford in themselves 
 grounds for ascribing the work to some artist of the Revival ; 
 a judgment which will generally be verified and confirmed 
 by a minute examination of the stone. The stone often has 
 been hollowed out to a great depth by the drill ; arid the 
 necessary finish of detail, such as the features, the hair, and 
 the drapery, put in afterwards with the diamond-point. 
 Much of the latest work, however, appears to have been 
 entirely executed by means of the wheel, an instrument 
 which, as before observed, there is reason to believe came 
 into use at Rome about the time of Domitian : certain it is, 
 that the rude intagli of the Lower Empire show no traces 
 of the other instruments which so strongly mark the flou- 
 rishing epoch of the art. The better class of Roman intagli 
 display an extreme degree of polish in the interior of the 
 work, and we have already noticed the theory of the expe- 
 rienced Lippert, that the tool used by the ancients polished 
 
 M
 
 162 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 as well as cut the intaglio by one and the same operation, 
 thus accounting for the perfect internal lustre of many gems 
 of rude unfinished work. In modern times this polish is 
 the effect of a tedious operation, by rubbing diamond-powder 
 with a lead point into the interior of the engraving, and 
 therefore is only to be seen in works of the best artists, 
 executed in imitation of the antique. For this very reason, 
 the constant appearance of this high polish on every variety 
 of Roman work, up to a certain period, is a most singular 
 fact, and must have been in some manner the result of the 
 peculiar tool employed in cutting the intaglio, for it entirely 
 vanishes in the rude talismanic engravings of the Lower 
 Empire, which are evidently wheel-cut, as well as in the 
 Sassanian gems engraved by the same means. In many 
 heads, again, the hair, when intended to be represented as 
 short and curly, is rendered by holes drilled close together, 
 a mode of treatment common enough in Roman heads of 
 Hercules. In Greek gems, on the contrary, every separate 
 curl would have been minutely finished, and the hair com- 
 posing each faithfully rendered by lines cut with the diamond- 
 point. The same peculiarity is to be observed in busts in 
 marble of the Roman school, in which, towards the end of 
 the 2nd century, the hair and beard are simply represented 
 in the same manner by holes drilled into the stone. This 
 method of representing the hair is often found upon the 
 later camei. Another great distinction between the Etruscan 
 intagli and those of Archaic Greek work is the circumstance 
 that the former represent most of the deities as winged, a 
 manner borrowed from the Egyptians, but never found in the 
 works of Grecian artists. 
 
 Certain portraits of Roman times occur very abundantly 
 on gems of Augustus and of Nero more especially ; heads 
 of the Flavian family are also frequent, as well as of M. Aure-
 
 SECT. II. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 163 
 
 lius and L. Verus, although the modern copies of the two last 
 are still more plentiful. Of a later date they are very rare, 
 with the exception of Caracalla, of whom I have seen many 
 rude portraits, probably worn by the military, whose favour 
 he courted by all possible means, in pursuance of the last 
 injunctions of his father. After this date they almost alto- 
 gether disappear, their place being taken by gold coins of the 
 reigning emperor, which it had become the fashion to wear in 
 rings. I have, however, met with a good though stiff portrait 
 of Aurelian ; and some of Probus are mentioned as known. 
 Strange to say, no more than one is described as now existing 
 of Constantine, in spite of his long reign, and great popularity 
 in the following centuries ; but Lippert mentions a well-exe- 
 cuted one of his eldest son, of the same name. In Stosch's 
 Catalogue appears this diademed head of Constantine, upon 
 Amethyst the sole Eoman figured on a gem with such 
 an ornament. The Mertens-Schaafhausen Collection pos- 
 sesses a supposed bust of Julian on Carnelian, 10 and a most 
 interesting one (if genuine) of Mauricius, front-faced, and 
 crowned, holding the orb, and inscribed DNMAVEITIVS.P.P.A. 
 It is a large Calcedony, 2 x 1 inches in size, and said to 
 have been dug up at Grafin, but the form of the letters in 
 the legend make me suspect it to be a work of the 16th cen- 
 tury. Under the head " Cross of Lotharius " will be found a 
 detailed account of the signet of that Carlovingian emperor, 
 the latest engraving on a gem of which I have been able to 
 
 10 This portrait is very uncertain ; heads of Gallienus and Salonina, 
 
 it does not wear the diadem, the facing each other, and with three 
 
 invariable decoration of the imperial wheat-ears over each. Between the 
 
 busts of that date. But among the busts is an altar supporting an 
 
 portraits called "unknown," in the eagle with spread wings, holding a 
 
 catalogue of the same collection, is wreath in his beak. 
 a most interesting intaglio : the 
 
 M 2
 
 ABT, STYLES OF. 
 
 SKCT. II. 
 
 meet with any trace, and, indeed, one executed long after 
 the date usually assigned for the utter extinction of the art in 
 Europe. But still, as before remarked, portraits of even the 
 3rd century are of extreme rarity : the heterogeneous Herz 
 Collection, the sole design of which was to get together the 
 greatest possible variety of subjects, contained no portraits 
 posterior to the times of Severus. 
 
 Caligula and his Sisters Sard. 
 
 Antoninus Pius: Cameo. Emerald. 
 
 After the revival of the art in Italy the works of the 
 Cinque-Cento engravers are, as might be expected, close copies 
 of the Roman style, but they are marked by a curious exag- 
 geration, to be observed in all the productions of that age, as 
 their bronzes, carvings, and majolica-painting. The intagli 
 of the very earliest artists of this date (those who first appear 
 as flourishing under the patronage of Lorenzo dei Medici) 
 are easy to be recognised by their extreme stiffness and 
 thoroughly mediseval character, exactly agreeing in their 
 treatment with the contemporary portraits of the persons 
 they represent. All that I have seen are, in fact, portraits 
 worked out in very flat relief, and apparently with the dia- 
 mond-point, in the antique manner, and on stones of consi- 
 derable size. The head-dress and costume of the period is 
 most scrupulously rendered, just as in a miniature by a 
 painter of the Quattro-Cento. In short, nothing can be more
 
 SECT. H. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 165 
 
 dissimilar to the flowing, exaggerated, and forcible style cha- 
 racterising the intagli of fifty years later, when endless prac- 
 tice and the study of the antique had freed the engraver's 
 eye and hand from the trammels of Gothic conventionalism. 
 These works of the second dawn of the art are excessively 
 rare. Subjects from Eoman history and from Ovid are very 
 great favourites with this succeeding school : few intagli were 
 however produced by them, compared with the abundance of 
 camei, which, issuing from their ateliers, have flooded the 
 cabinets of the world of amateurs. In the last century the 
 taste for intagli revived, and many were executed equal to 
 the best productions of ancient art ; however, there is usually 
 an undefinable expression of the period about them (in the 
 treatment of the drapery more especially) which guides the 
 experienced eye in distinguishing them from the antique. 
 Besides this, such great artists as Natter v and Pikler did not 
 profess to be mere copiers of antiquity : they always signed 
 their own works after they had acquired celebrity, and the 
 latter had a peculiar style, differing widely from the antique, 
 although of equal merit. Some, however, of the latest 
 Roman engravers have taken the Greek school for their 
 model ; and I have seen works by Cerbara for instance, a 
 lion on Emerald in the Pulsky Cabinet ; a head of Proserpine 
 and a Dioinede with the Palladium, camei by Girometti ; 
 surpassing, to my taste, any production of the artists of anti- 
 quity in this department. 
 
 Philosopher meditating upon tbe Immortality Sailor of Ulysses opening the Bag of Winds : 
 
 of tie Soul: Greek. Agaie. Etruscan. Sard.
 
 166 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 I shall conclude with a few general observations upon the 
 mechanical execution, the art, and the subjects, of the classes 
 of gems treated of in the preceding chapter. A very marked 
 distinction of Archaic Greek and Greco-Italian intaglio work 
 is the constant use of the meplat, to use the French technical 
 term, only to be expressed in English by a long periphrasis. 
 It may be described as the sinking of the whole design into 
 the gem, with all its various portions, in flat planes, differing 
 but slightly in depth from each other, upon which the muscles 
 of the body, the folds of the drapery, and the other accessories, 
 were afterwards traced by the diamond-point. The impres- 
 sion from such an intaglio has its outline nearly as much ele- 
 vated as its highest projections, yet without sacrificing any of 
 its effectiveness ; a peculiarity observable also in the coinage 
 of the same epoch and regions. This flatness of the internal 
 surfaces within the intaglio itself may be held as the surest 
 mark of its genuine antiquity, being the necessary result of 
 the instrument employed by the ancient engraver, by which, 
 acting as a scraper, he could produce a flat surface to the 
 bottom of the cavity he was sinking in the gem with less 
 difficulty than a curved one. In the modern process, on the 
 contrary, where the wheel is the sole means used, this is 
 almost impossible, and semi-cylindrical or grooved hollows 
 mark all the productions of this tool, even in gems intended 
 to pass for antiques of the earliest times. 
 
 In these early gems it will be also observed that the design 
 is invariably so arranged as to fill up the entire field of the 
 surface, whether of the scarab or of the ring-stone. Hence 
 the forced attitudes and violent exertions expressed by the 
 figures of men or of beasts, which were purposely chosen by 
 the artist in order to accommodate the flexure of the bodies 
 to the elliptical form of the surface upon which he was en- 
 gaged. But, in fact, in all antique works, one point, carefully
 
 SECT. II. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 167 
 
 kept in view, was to leave unemployed as little as possible 
 of the surface exhibiting the design of the artist. It may 
 be laid down as a rule that, in all intagli of good times, 
 and more especially in camei, the subject, be it a head, a 
 single figure, or a group, is always so carried out as to en- 
 gross, as nearly as possible, the whole surface of the stone, 
 leaving but a narrow field or background, often little more 
 than what was absolutely required for the hold of its metal 
 setting. On the contrary, modern camei, the works of artists 
 accustomed to admire and copy prints on paper, where a 
 large field and background form an important portion of 
 the whole, usually show a considerable space surrounding the 
 design, the dimensions of which are, as it were, gathered up, 
 and not extended and flattened out, as in the true antique. 
 The same rule holds good likewise for their intagli. But 
 whenever the ancient gem-engraver wished to display the 
 full beauty of the material, as in the case of the Oriental 
 Onyx or the Nicolo, he bevelled off the surface, so as to ex- 
 hibit the brilliant contrast of the concentric layers, and thus 
 contracted the field to the smallest limits capable of enclosing 
 his intended composition. This is the reason why imperial 
 portrait camei, especially when of large dimensions, are so 
 generally surrounded by a wreath of oak or laurel boughs, 
 between which and the head a very contracted field is left ; 
 the object evidently being to bring into play the various 
 colours of the stone on as many points as possible. To the 
 same purpose serves the line left to surround the design in 
 the smaller camei. But to return to the works of the archaic 
 school. These intagli for camei they never attempted or 
 at least the greater part of them, whether cut upon scarabs 
 or on ring-stones, are inclosed within the border already 
 noticed under "Etruscan Scarabei." These borders are 
 milled, or formed of small strokes set close together ; or
 
 168 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 granulated, i. e. resembling a string of beads, whence the idea 
 was taken ; or the guilloche ; the last only occurring upon the 
 most highly-finished works on account of the extreme diffi- 
 culty of its execution. The milled border, however, occa- 
 sionally re-appears on Eoman intagli of very late times, where 
 it may readily be distinguished by its carelessness and irregu- 
 larity, having been introduced as a mere unmeaning finish, 
 whereas we can clearly perceive, from its mathematical accu- 
 racy in good Etruscan gems, that it was then regarded by 
 the artist as an essential portion of his work. The most im- 
 portant of the Greco-Italian works will be found to occur 
 upon a tricoloured Agate, i. e., a stone having a white and 
 transparent between two dark and opaque stripes crossing its 
 surface; or the converse. The regularity and evenness of 
 these bands constituted the value of the stone in the eyes of 
 the ancient lapidary. From its various shades it does not 
 display the work upon it so effectively as either a perfectly 
 transparent or perfectly opaque stone ; yet the fact is indis- 
 putable that it was at that time accounted the gem par emi- 
 nence for signets of the highest merit ; an employment con- 
 firmatory of the remark of Theophrastus already quoted as to 
 the beauty and value of the Agate in his days. 
 
 The legends seen upon these archaic intagli, even when 
 the characters are purely Greek, always give the names of 
 the heroes they represent in a most barbarous and contracted 
 form, as TVTE for Tydeus, AXVE for Achilles, &c. It may 
 be confidently affirmed that no intaglio appears with a pure 
 Greek inscription upon it until after the age of Alexander, 
 when the first few letters of the owner's name are introduced, 
 the earliest instance of which, to my knowledge, is an exqui- 
 sitely finished and minute lion's head, on Sard, with E 
 below, the signet of some Theodoras. 
 
 The Etruscans and the contemporary Greco-Italians appear
 
 SECT. U. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 169 
 
 never to have attempted heads, even of divinities, much less 
 portraits of individuals, upon their signets. Such, indeed, 
 are not met with upon gems before the ages when Greek art 
 had attained to its full maturity. The most ancient intaglio 
 head that has come under my notice is one of a nymph 
 crowned with myrtle on a Jacinth, among the Mertens-Schaaf- 
 hausen gems, and there styled a Sappho ; a work much in the 
 Egyptian manner, and resembling the types of the earlier coins 
 of the Egean islands. And there is nothing surprising in this, 
 for, agreeably to the analogy of all other branches of pictorial 
 art, the earliest gem-engravers, Greek or Greco-Italian, 
 begun with representations of the various beasts to which, 
 in those times of primitive nature, their thoughts were con- 
 stantly directed, either as objects of utility, of amusement, or 
 of terror. Thus, the ox, the stag, and the lion so abundant 
 upon these gems may be safely accounted among the first 
 productions of the newly-discovered art ; a conclusion also to 
 be deduced from their extreme stiffness, yet careful finish. 
 For rudeness and slovenliness of execution, except where 
 owing to imperfect instruments as in the purely Etruscan 
 scarabs -marks the decline of a long practised art, where 
 great demand has occasioned cheap and hurried production, 
 not the cautious and laboured efforts of the first inventors of 
 the process. This observation equally applies to the cognate 
 art of coining ; the types of the earliest currency being inva- 
 riably animals. It needs only to mention the tortoise of the 
 drachms of Phidon and the lion and bull opposed of the staters 
 of Croesus. 
 
 The next step was the human figure at full length, repre- 
 senting mortals employed in the pursuits most immediately 
 interesting the owner of the gem agriculture, war, the chase. 
 In the next stage came the heroes of former ages, but all de- 
 picted with the literal accuracy of daily life ; and, lastly, the
 
 170 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 gods themselves, now represented and worshipped in the 
 human form ; for the most ancient Hellenic, or rather Pe- 
 lasgic, deities were but symbols rivers, trees, or stones. 
 Such continued for centuries the rule for the productions of 
 the glyptic art, long after it had reached a point of mecha- 
 nical perfection never subsequently surpassed ; for what later 
 works, either in gems or medals, come up, in precision and 
 delicacy of finish, to the better sort of Greco-Italian scarabs, 
 or to the thin incuse didrachms of the same style and times? 
 During this long period, and amongst the innumerable intagli 
 it has bequeathed us, we never find an attempt made to 
 engrave on a stone a bust or head, even of a deity, though 
 statues had then become universal, 1 much less any portraits 
 of individuals. It is only when all traces of the archaic 
 manner have disappeared that the gems give us, first heads 
 in profile of heroes, nymphs, and gods, and the art having 
 now attained to full perfection regal portraits ; the latter 
 certainly not before the age of Alexander. Engraving such 
 portraits upon gems, it may be confidently affirmed, was 
 never thought of before the Macedonian princes set the ex- 
 ample of putting their own heads upon their coinage instead 
 of that of the tutelary god, the former universal rule. Even 
 at this stage of the art portraits of private persons are utterly 
 unknown. In fact, they do not appear, as far as my expe- 
 rience extends, before the later days of the Eoman Eepublic. 
 Heads given in full face begin with the latest Greek period, 
 are by no means rare of Eoman date, and gradually be- 
 come the favourite style for what were intended as the most 
 elaborate works of the Decline. 
 
 In their treatment of imperial portraits the Eoman en- 
 
 1 Two thousand bronze statues, sinii, towards the close of the Etrus- 
 or rather statuettes, are recorded as can power, 
 forming part of the plunder of Vol-
 
 SECT. II. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 171 
 
 gravers displayed every variety of style, and evidently taxed 
 their invention for novel modes of reproducing subjects which 
 they were called upon to repeat so frequently for their pa- 
 trons among the courtiers. 2 Hence we have such portraits 
 sometimes in low relief after the best Greek style, and often 
 upon gems of great volume like the Julia of Evodus, on an 
 immense Beryl ; an Augustus with the star, on an extraordi- 
 nary Nicolo (Fould) ; and other well-known ornaments of 
 the gem-cabinets of Europe. Or, again, they resorted, for 
 the sake of exhibiting their marvellous skill, to the opposite 
 extreme, engraving portraits of perfect accuracy and the 
 highest finish on gems of almost microscopic size, such as 
 a bust of Titus on a Prase inch high by T 3 ^ wide ; and 
 another on red Jasper but slightly larger ; both among the 
 Mertens-Schaafhausen gems. Of these, the former is probably 
 without an equal for spirit, fidelity, and minuteness. Again, 
 we find intaglio heads of extreme depth of cutting given in 
 full face, a style adopted by the artists in many of their most 
 famous works, of which the lo, the Muse, and the Julius Csesar, 
 of Dioscorides may be quoted as unparalleled examples. From 
 the extreme care bestowed upon the execution of these por- 
 traits in front face, and the larger dimensions of the gems 
 besides their choicer quality on which they are engraved, a 
 proof of their superior importance, it may be conjectured 
 
 2 A favourite mode of representing of his popularity, the three first years 
 
 the bust of the youthful Caesar, or of his reign, when a new golden age 
 
 heir-apparent, was in the character was confidently expected from the 
 
 of Mercury, with wings on the head, sway of the pupil of Seneca. They 
 
 and the caduceus on the shoulder, must all have been engraved before 
 
 Thus appear frequently Caligula, his 20th year, when, on the occasion 
 
 Nero, M. Aurelius, and Caracalla. of his first cutting off his beard, he 
 
 The numerous portraits of Nero established the festival Juvenalia. 
 
 show, by the nascent beard appear- Of his portraits in more advanced 
 
 ing on almost all of them, that they life, but one (with the radiated crown) 
 
 were executed during the first bloom has ever come in my way.
 
 172 ART, STYLES OF, SECT. II. 
 
 that such was generally the form adopted for the heads on 
 official signets ; a theory supported by the almost exclusive 
 employment of this style in the portraits cut on the precious 
 stones of the Lower Empire. The large front -faced busts of 
 the Provinces in extremely bold, though rudish, Koman work 3 
 of the later period, were also designed for official signets, 
 probably for the use of the Proconsul of the province, 4 since 
 it is difficult to imagine that any private person should have 
 arrogated to himself so important a device for his private seal 
 without risking ruin from the suspicious jealousy of the em- 
 peror. Can it be that these heads, whether of Emperors or 
 of Provinces, when given in front face, have been all official 
 signets, but those in profile worn by their subjects through 
 friendship or adulation ? The words of Pliny, assigning the 
 entree at the court of Claudius exclusively to persons privi- 
 leged by the gift of a gold ring engraved with the emperor's 
 portrait, go to establish the official use of such ornaments 
 under the empire. Gems engraved with the features of an 
 unpopular prince or favourite were doubtless broken to pieces 
 upon his death or downfall; the gem-portraits sharing the 
 fate of their colossal brethren in bronze and marble, " descen- 
 dunt statuse restimque sequuntur." I have met with numer- 
 ous instances of this " execution in effigy " done upon fine 
 gems, as a Commodus an important intaglio in red Jasper 
 surrounded by his titles, which has evidently been muti- 
 lated purposely; a Caligula, also with a legend; and the 
 Caracalla of the British Museum Collection. In conclusion, 
 to return to certain points slightly alluded to above, though 
 of considerable importance in the distinguishing antique gems 
 from modern imitations. Firstly, it is an invariable rule that 
 
 3 Of Africa I have seen two ad- 4 When Clodius Macer revolted 
 mirable examples, and both appa- against Nero he struck denarii at 
 rently from the same hand. Carthage with the head of Africa.
 
 SECT. II. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 173 
 
 all truly antique designs are marked by tlieir extreme sim- 
 plicity. Karely does the composition include more than two 
 figures, or, if others are introduced, they are treated as mere 
 accessories, and only indicated by an outline. To this branch 
 of art Horace's maxim can be strictly applied with but slight 
 alteration 
 
 " Xec quarta loqui persona laboret." 
 
 Except in the archaic works of the Greeks and Greco- 
 Italians, who, as we have seen, preferred the representations 
 of violent action and muscular exertions, Kepose is the cha- 
 racteristic of the productions of matured Hellenic and Italiote 
 taste. Hence the best works of the most illustrious gem- 
 artists are invariably single figures or heads, as will appear 
 on the examination of the list of artists' names and works 
 still extant. As a necessary consequence of this restriction 
 nothing of the nature of a picture with perspective, back- 
 ground, and carefully-finished details of unimportant objects, 
 is ever observed in truly antique gems, whether camei or in- 
 tagli. Such a treatment of the design stamps the work at 
 once, however ancient its aspect, as a production at best of 
 the Eenaissance, the artists of which had not emancipated 
 themselves from the mediaeval rules of art where all objects 
 in the picture are considered of the same importance and 
 made equally prominent. 
 
 Again, there is a marked soberness in the invention of the 
 subjects themselves, or, rather, there is no invention at all in 
 them. They are always literal transcripts of some event in 
 mythology bearing a serious or mystical interpretation ; some 
 fact of Heroic history, that is, the religious history of their 
 ancestors ; or some business or diversion of everyday life. 
 All these are rendered upon the stone according to certain 
 strict and definite rules, and nothing fanciful is ever allowed 
 to intrude. The whole design is carried out with the rigid
 
 174 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 simplicity of the old tragedians, where one or two actors do 
 and say everything for themselves. Such is the treatment of 
 the events of the Epic Cycle, the favourite themes of the 
 early Grecian and Italiote engravers : with the Eoman 
 period art, though in its fullest perfection, becomes altogether 
 prosaic in the choice of its subjects. For gem-engraving, 
 " Scalptura," being from the first ancillary to Sculpture, and 
 ever taking its larger productions for its models the Etrus- 
 can his terra-cotta gods and masks, the Greek his bronze or 
 marble statues the gem-artist never attempted anything in 
 miniature the example of which had not previously been 
 placed before his eyes on a larger scale. Another reason 
 this for the simplicity of their compositions. Neither the 
 one nor the other ever thought of representing events of 
 contemporary or of actual history ; an observation which 
 applies invariably to Greek, and, with the rarest exceptions, 
 to Eoman works. Even in the latter the event was given in 
 the most simple manner, as in Sylla's signet, " The Surrender 
 of Jugurtha," and precisely as depicted on the reverses of 
 the coinage of the times. Such scenes as the Battle of Issus, 
 the Suicide of Lucretia, Scaevola before King Porsenna, the 
 Death of Caesar, &c., compositions crowded with figures, 
 grouped as in a modern painting, all in violent action, all 
 which we so often see upon the large intagli and camei of the 
 Cinque-Cento and later schools, nothing whatever of this 
 nature is ever met with on a really antique gem. Neither 
 do we find scenes from Virgil or the " Metamorphoses," the 
 favourite subjects of Italian artists in every department since 
 the revival of art. All truly antique themes are ideas hal- 
 lowed by long use and reverence, or, so to speak, the " scrip- 
 tural subjects " of the age that embodied them upon the gem. 
 No antique gems ever represent licentious scenes or attitudes. 
 Even in the undraped figures the sex is slightly indicated
 
 SECT. II. GREEK AND ROMAN GLYPTIC ART. 175 
 
 and nothing more. Such designs, on the contrary, are suffi- 
 ciently plentiful on modern gems, and the great skill and 
 labour which have been lavished by the best hands of the 
 time upon such unworthy subjects prove the favour with 
 which they were received. The number of antique intagli 
 still preserved the greater portion dating from the times of 
 the Roman Empire is perfectly incredible until a little 
 reflection upon the causes of this abundance supplies a satis- 
 factory explanation. For the space of three centuries they 
 were being produced in countless thousands over the whole 
 civilized world as articles, not merely of ornament, but sub- 
 servient to the most important uses, authenticating all the 
 transactions of commerce, and serving as a substitute for 
 keys in daily life, when the locksmith's art was yet imper- 
 fect. Their material, utterly indestructible, sets at defiance 
 time and the action of the elements ; even fire can only dis- 
 colour it. The stone whose beauty and art charmed the eye 
 of Mithridates, of Caesar, or of MaBcenas, preserves all its 
 charms unimpaired for the gaze of the man of taste of this 
 day. The barbarian or new convert who melted down the 
 precious ring, bracelet, or vase, for the sake of its metal, cast 
 away as worthless or as idolatrous the Sard or Onyx with 
 which it was inlaid ; the priceless work of art fell into the 
 earth and securely slumbered within its protecting bosom 
 until reviving civilization enabled the world again to appre- 
 ciate its value. Amidst this profusion of ancient treasures 
 the beginner must ever bear in mind one remark that in 
 the antique world, as in all times, mediocrity was the rule, 
 first class works the exception ; hence the vast majority of 
 gems, whether Greek or Roman, though of the greatest his- 
 torical importance, fall very short of perfection as works of 
 art. They were an article produced by a trade, and, in most 
 cases, with as much rapidity as possible, and made to sell.
 
 176 AET, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 Still, even in these, one cannot but admire the effect pro- 
 duced by a few bold and rapid touches of the master's hand. 
 Hence a gem of very perfect work and good execution re- 
 quires to be scrutinized with the utmost caution before its 
 genuineness be pronounced indisputable, for the best en- 
 gravers of the last three centuries naturally copied such 
 antique models, and followed them with the utmost fidelity, 
 that being the sole means by which they could obtain an 
 adequate recompense for their labours from the high price 
 commanded by the originals or the copies passing as such. 
 Mediocre gems, being plentiful in the market and to be pro- 
 cured for a trifle, were thus left beyond the danger of 
 forgery. 
 
 Caligula as Mercury. Sard. 
 
 STONE-KINGS. 
 
 Kings cut out of the solid stone were in common use 
 among the Komans of antiquity, just as Carnelian rings .are 
 among their female descendants of the present day, who 
 wear them now as a species of amulet to keep off sickness 
 a notion derived from the mediaeval idea of the protective 
 virtue of the Sard. These ancient rings were formed out 
 of various substances, but most frequently of Calcedony, a 
 tough and firm material. It is most probable that the first 
 idea of these stone-rings was borrowed by the Komans from
 
 SECT. II. STONE-RINGS. 177 
 
 the Persian conical and hemispherical seals in the same 
 material. Some of these latter have their sides flattened 
 and ornamented with divers patterns, and thus assume the 
 form of a signet-ring, with an enormously massy shank, and 
 very small opening, sufficient, however, to admit the little 
 finger. And this theory of their origin is corroborated by 
 the circumstance that all these Roman examples belong to 
 the times of the Lower Empire, none being ever met with of 
 an early date. Of these most collectors must have seen 
 examples. Two very interesting ones, procured in France, 
 came under my notice last summer (1858). Both were of 
 precisely the same form, much resembling the Calcedony 
 ring figured in Dr. Walsh's Gnostic gems, the shank being 
 very stout and three-sided, and the head a long oval. One 
 of them bore intaglio portraits of a man and woman facing 
 each other, with letters and numerals ; the v other a bust of 
 the bearded Bacchus, of excellent Eoman work ; and both 
 intagli apparently from the same hand. An acquaintance of 
 mine possessed another, found at Aries, made of Crystal, with 
 a very thick cable-formed shank, and a small opening, evi- 
 dently only meant for suspension, like the Sassanian stamps. 
 It was engraved with the favourite type of a youth drinking 
 from a bowl after the exercises of the gymnasium. In the 
 Herz Collection was a very massy one in Calcedony, covered 
 on all sides with Gnostic legends. I have also seen lately 
 another, still more bulky, of green Jasper, but with a round 
 shank, the head oval and engraved with a serpent twisted 
 round a wand, surrounded by the usual legend. The head of 
 a third, belonging to the same class, in mottled Jasper, once 
 in my possession, represented Osiris in the sacred boat, above 
 him the sun and moon, and the inscription IAO> underneath. 
 Under the head of " Pastes " we have already noticed the 
 numerous rings of coloured glass in imitation of Agate. But 
 
 N
 
 178 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 the most curious thing of the kind that has ever come in my 
 way was a ring of a material like red Amber, only elastic, so 
 that when the shank, which had been divided, was pulled 
 open, it immediately resumed its shape. This elasticity was 
 no doubt due to the mode in which the substance, whatever 
 it was, had been prepared. The ring was said to have been 
 brought from Egypt, and certainly was the same in form as 
 some Carnelian rings found on the fingers of mummies. But, 
 even allowing it to be a modern forgery, the elasticity of the 
 Amber remains a most curious fact. A large Amber cup, 
 holding half a pint, has lately been discovered, deposited in a 
 tumulus in Ireland, and from its size could hardly have been 
 cut out of a single block of that substance. It has been 
 ascertained by experiment that bits of Amber boiled in tur- 
 pentine can be reduced to a paste, united, and moulded into 
 any form desired ; and this is supposed to have been the 
 manner in which the vessel in question was manufactured. 
 This fact may throw some light upon the strange story about 
 malleable glass told by Petronius in his account of Trimal- 
 chio's Feast, and thus alluded to by Pliny : " It is said that 
 in the reign of Tiberius the art of tempering glass was disco- 
 vered so as to make it flexible, but that the entire establish- 
 ment of the workmen was exterminated (abolitam), lest the 
 value of bronze, silver, and gold, should suffer diminution in 
 consequence." It must be remembered that Pliny was born 
 in the reign of Tiberius, and would hardly have thought this 
 story worth inserting in his 'Natural History' had not its 
 truth been very generally believed. 
 
 Oriental rings, exactly like the ancient in shape, and 
 made of Carnelian, Calcedony, and Agate, with legends in 
 Arabic upon the face, for the use of signets, are by no means 
 uncommon in collections. They are of large .size, being 
 designed to be worn on the thumb of the right hand, in
 
 SECT. II. FLEXIBLE GLASS. 179 
 
 order to be used in drawing the bowstring, which the 
 Orientals pull with the bent thumb, catching it against the 
 shank of the ring, and not with the two first fingers, as is the 
 practice of English archers. I have seen finger-rings of 
 ivory, even of the Egyptian period, their heads engraved 
 with sphinxes, and figures of eyes, cut in low relief, as camei, 
 and originally coloured Of the Roman times they are quite 
 common ; the Mertens-Schaafhausen Collection alone con- 
 tains the following, the description of which I extract from 
 the Catalogue, as illustrative of the style of work, and the 
 devices, to be found in reliques of this class : 
 
 A ring with an aged head in high relief. 
 
 Do. with a Siren in high relief, with a human head covered 
 with a helmet ; armed with a lance and a buckler orna- 
 mented with a Medusa's head. (This is the Stympha- 
 lian Bird, the device of the Valeria family). Found near 
 Castell in 1854. 
 A ring with CAES in relief. 
 
 Do. with AM in relief: found at Aries in 1853. 
 Do. with two interlaced triangles. 
 
 A large ring engraved with the monogram of Christ between 
 A and Q, with the legend ABPACAZ, also found at Aries. 
 
 FLEXIBLE GLASS. 
 
 I give Trimalchio's account of the invention of Flexible 
 Glass at length; his appreciation and knowledge of art so 
 forcibly reminds one of many a rich collector of the present 
 day: 
 
 " While Agamemnon was attentively examining this dish 
 of Corinthian bronze, Tramalchio says, ' I am the only person 
 in the world who possess the real Corinthian.' I was ex- 
 pecting that, with his usual absurdity, he was going to say, 
 that he had his vessels imported direct from Corinth ; but he 
 
 N 2
 
 180 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 did still better. ' Perhaps you ask why I alone have Corin- 
 thian bronzes ? Because the brazier's name of whom I buy 
 them is Corinthus ; now, pray, what else is Corinthian, but 
 what Corinthus keeps. But, that you may not take me for 
 a know-nothing, I understand quite well how Corinthian 
 bronzes first came about. At the sack of Troy, Hannibal, a 
 cunning fellow and a great rogue, heaped up all the gold, 
 silver, and bronze statues into one great pile, and set fire to 
 it. The metals mixed, and all ran together. From this mass 
 the workmen took and made pots, dishes, and statues. So 
 arose the Corinthian metal one thing out of several, but 
 neither this nor that. You will pardon what I am going to 
 say. I prefer glass ; others do not. If glasses were not so 
 brittle, I would rather them than gold ; as it is, they are 
 of little value. Yet there was once an artist who made a 
 glass bowl that would not break. He was admitted before 
 the Emperor with his present : he then made Caesar give it 
 him back, and dashed it down on the pavement. The Em- 
 peror could not help being frightened almost out of his wits ; 
 but my man picks up the bowl from the ground, and lo ! it 
 was only bruised, just as a brass one would have been. He 
 takes out a little hammer, and leisurely makes all right 
 again. Having done this, he thought himself already in 
 heaven, especially when the Emperor said to him, "Does 
 any one else know of this mode of tempering glass ? " Now 
 see as soon as he replied " No," the Emperor ordered him 
 to be beheaded ; for if the invention had become public, we 
 should look upon gold like so much clay. In plate I am 
 quite a connoisseur : I have bowls that will hold some eight 
 gallons, more or less. How Cassandra kills her children, 
 and the boys lie there dead, that you would think it real ! I 
 have a flagon which Komulus bequeathed my late patron, on 
 which is Daedalus shutting up Niobe inside the Trojan horse.
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 181 
 
 I have, too, the battles of Hermeros and Petrax (Hector and 
 Patroclus) on a tankard, all massy plate ; for I would take 
 no money for my knowledge.' " 
 
 CAMEO-ENGKAVINGS. 
 
 V 
 
 The name Cameo has been derived by some from the 
 Arabic Camaa, an amulet, for which purpose engraved gems 
 were universally used in the Middle Ages. Camillo Leonardo, 
 writing in 1502, speaks of "gemma? chamainee" 5 in the 
 sense of camei, or gems engraved with figures in relief: this 
 is the earliest instance of the use of the term that I have 
 met with. He also mentions a stone called Kaman and 
 Kakaman, a name which he derives from the Greek Kaupta, 
 " heat," as being found in hot and sulphureous places. It was 
 white, striped with various colours, and often mixed with the 
 Onyx, and derives all its virtue from the nature of the figures 
 engraved upon it a description which seems to support the 
 
 5 Were not x ? * t Attic a 
 word to have been used in the com- 
 mon parlance of the times of the 
 Greek Exarchs, when the spoken 
 Latin became naturally much inter- 
 mixed with the language of their 
 officials, one might be tempted to 
 
 guess that chamaina meant nothing 
 but a gem discovered in the ground 
 of a garden, &c., by accident the 
 only mode by which the jewellers 
 of that degenerate epoch could have 
 been supplied.
 
 182 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 derivation from the Arabic just mentioned. Among the 
 numerous attempts to trace the etymology of this word, it is 
 surprising that no one should have deduced it from Chama, 
 the shell sometimes used for this kind of work ; a theory 
 which would have been favoured by the origin of the term 
 porcelain, which comes, by a similar process of transition, 
 from the porcellana shell formerly used in the manufacture 
 of the Italian Faenza ware. But if we consider the circum- 
 stance that as early as the time of Cellini the rustics around 
 Home called the Onyx stones that they used to pick up in 
 their grounds by the name of camei, and that this word 
 appears only to denote a colour, at least in its primary sense, 
 as, for instance, paintings in cameo or camaieu grey figures 
 upon a white ground we are probably justified in seeking 
 an Italian origin for the term. The only light that I have 
 been able to extract from Lessing's lengthy dissertation on 
 the word, though he seems to consider it a corruption of 
 " gemma onychina," is that " cameo " was considered by 
 some writers to be the equivalent of the German " Speck- 
 stein," or bacon-stone, which homely substance, to the vulgar 
 eye, the red layers of the Sardonyx greatly resemble. Hence, 
 after all, as no better etymology has been suggested, the 
 Gothic word " ham," in its baconian sense, may have acquired 
 this more euphonious form in the Italian mouth, a trans- 
 formation not so strange as that of our " hopper " into 
 zoppo. 6 
 
 The term applies only to minute bas-reliefs cut on a hard 
 
 6 After all, the Italian word may and grigio, &c. Bede, speaking of 
 only be the rustic pronunciation of Jet, describes it as nigro-gemmeus ; 
 gemmeus, for it is often found in old and Valerian uses the term annulus 
 writers spelt gamahu. The modern bigemmeus : hence we may con- 
 Romans continually interchange the jecture that imago gemmea would 
 g and c : thus cancer becomes gran- in Low Latin gradually assume this 
 cio ; cammarus, gambro ; chryso- form, 
 prasus, grisopraso; chryseus, griseo
 
 SECT. II. CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 183 
 
 stone or gem, or on an imitation of the same ; for the largest 
 bas-reliefs upon a slab of Sardonyx would still be named a 
 cameo, while the smallest on marble or alabaster still remains 
 a bas-relief. The small heads, and even busts, in full relief, 
 made out of gems, are not, properly speaking, camei, though 
 often so called, but are rather portions of statuettes, the 
 rest of the figure having been intended to be completed in 
 the precious metals. The earliest mention of a ring-stone in 
 relief occurs in Seneca, who, in a curious anecdote which he 
 tells (De Benefidis, iii. 26) concerning the informer Maro and 
 a certain Paulus, speaks of the latter as having had on his 
 finger on that occasion a portrait of Tiberius in relief upon a 
 projecting gem, "Tiberii Ca3saris imaginem ectypam atque 
 eminente gemma." This periphrasis would seem to prove 
 that such a representation was not very common at the time, 
 or else a technical term would have been^used to express 
 that particular kind of gem-engraving. Pliny also mentions 
 a stone called Morio, probably from its mulberry colour, used 
 for engravings in relief, " ad ectypas sculpturas faciendas ; " 
 perhaps the dark Jacinth or the Guarnaccmo, in which so 
 many camei still remain. From a careful inspection of the 
 most famous cabinets of France and Italy I have come to 
 the conclusion that truly antique camei were usually of 
 larger dimensions than are suited for ring-stones, and were 
 almost exclusively designed to ornament armour dresses or 
 plate. For if we examine attentively those early collections 
 which were formed before the art of cameo-cutting had 
 revived (which was not much before the middle of the 16th 
 century), such as that of Florence, which contains many 
 camei obtained by Lorenzo dei Medici himself and marked 
 with his name, we shall find them to be all of large size and 
 of a bold but rude style of work. The same remark also 
 holds good for the oldest portion of the Paris Collection.
 
 184 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 This rude but bold style is also invariably found in the 
 camei enchased in mediaeval jewellery and ecclesiastical 
 plate, in which so many precious relics of this art have been 
 preserved thanks to the uneducated piety of their Gothic 
 makers such as that perfect mine of antique gems the 
 silver-gilt shrine of the Three Kings of Cologne, which is 
 known to be a work of the llth century. The great rarity 
 of small antique camei is also proved by the fact that they 
 are seldom or never found, even those of the coarsest qua- 
 lity, in the miscellaneous jumble of stones of all kinds col- 
 lected by the Koman peasants in turning over their vineyards 
 a remark to which there are fewer exceptions than even in 
 the case of antique pastes already commented upon. Again, 
 not even does the largest cabinet possess an antique ring set 
 with a fine cameo, though, were they as abundant in ancient 
 tunes as the present number of professed antiques would 
 lead us to suppose, antique rings would present us with as 
 many instances of set camei as they do of set intagli. But 
 so far is this from being the case that the Florentine Cabinet, 
 amongst its innumerable gems of all ages, only possesses erne 
 antique gold ring set with a cameo of even fair execution, 
 and that so singular in its nature as to merit a detailed 
 description. It has been evidently the ornament of some 
 Koman sporting gentleman, who, as the poet sings, held his 
 wife "a little higher than his horse," for it is set with a 
 cameo head of a lady, of tolerable work, in Garnet ; and on 
 the shoulders of the ring are intaglio busts of his two 
 favourite steeds, also in Garnet, with their names cut in the 
 gold on each side AMOR and OSPIS. On the outside of the 
 shank is the legend POMPHINICA, " Success to thee, Pom- 
 phius ! " very neatly engraved on the gold. In all my own 
 experience I have met with only two camei in antique rings, 
 and, singularly enough, both represented birds one a parrot,
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 185 
 
 very rudely cut upon an Onyx of many colours, the other a 
 pigeon, tolerably executed, on the same kind of stone, per- 
 haps of early Christian times : these were set in hollow gold 
 rings, the genuine antiquity of which was beyond suspicion. 7 
 
 Greek Cameo, found in Cabul. Sardonyx. 
 
 The rarity of camei of the size of ring-stones in ancient 
 times will appear less extraordinary wh&n we reflect that 
 the primary use of rings was for the purpose of signets, not 
 of mere personal ornaments, and that very few even of the 
 precious stones are left to us which have not had their value 
 enhanced, to the eye of taste, by the engraving upon them. 
 The artists of antiquity do not seem to have been able to 
 execute small works of sufficient finish to have become 
 favourite or fashionable decorations of the fingers. And this 
 leads to the consideration of the mechanical means employed 
 
 7 In the Mertens-Schaafhausen 
 Collection is a Jacinth cameo, an 
 imperial bust, which was in a silver 
 setting, apparently a circular brooch, 
 at the time of its discovery on 
 the breast of a skeleton in a tomb 
 at Marsfeld near Mayence. The 
 owner had probably been a German 
 chief, for three large double-spiral 
 ornaments of bronze wire covered 
 his chest, having once been sewn 
 on his tunic for ornament and 
 
 defence at the same time ; and his 
 arms were incased from wrist to 
 elbow in spiral bracelets of the 
 same material. It may here be 
 noticed that the barbarian so often 
 transfixed by the emperor, on the 
 latest Roman coins, is usually re- 
 presented with his arms covered by 
 a series of parallel rings, probably 
 this identical form of bracelet, which 
 served the purpose of a gauntlet.
 
 186 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 by the ancient cameo-cutters in the execution of their works. 
 On minutely examining a really antique cameo the design 
 will appear to have been cut out of the coloured layer by 
 the repeated strokes of a tool of the nature of a chisel, 
 which left a series of uneven surfaces, to be polished down 
 more or less by a subsequent operation. The outline of the 
 figure always fades away into the field of the stone, which 
 often shows minute traces of the upper layer not completely 
 cleared away from it ; and the design is never undercut, as 
 it often is in modern camei for the purpose of throwing it 
 out more from the field. The ground itself is often left 
 uneven and not completely cleared of the upper layer, having 
 evidently been scraped down by means of a narrow cutting 
 instrument, which could not be made to bear upon a large 
 surface at one and the same operation. Hence these works, 
 though extremely effective at a distance the purpose for 
 which they were intended by the engraver appear rough, 
 and, as it were, lumpy, on too close an inspection. This un- 
 evenness of the ground of the design has been pointed out by 
 some writers as the unvarying test of antiquity in a cameo, but 
 this is not exactly correct, as the same peculiarity is equally 
 manifest in the works of the earliest artists of the Revival. 
 
 It may be observed that many antique camei are per- 
 forated through their diameter to admit a thread for the 
 purpose of fastening them to the dress f and some are en- 
 closed in a massy iron setting, evidently intended as orna- 
 ments for armour. This was the case with the finest cameo 
 that ever came under my inspection, at Eome : a head of 
 Jupiter Dodonasus, about six inches in circumference. 9 
 
 8 But in most cases this perfora- engraver to the form most suitable 
 
 tion merely attests the Indian origin to bring out the layers of the stone 
 
 of the Sardonyx stones (Pliny), im- required by his design, 
 
 ported into Europe in the form of 9 The owner demanded 2000 scudi, 
 
 large beads, and subsequently flat- about 4:001., for this fine gem. 
 tened by the Greek or Eoman gem-
 
 SECT. II. CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 187 
 
 Another rule given for the distinguishing of antique camei, 
 " that they were invariably worked out of the stone by means 
 of the diamond point," is certainly true in itself ; but yet all 
 gems cut in this manner are not necessarily antique, as pre- 
 cisely the same mode of operation was followed by the early 
 artists of the Italian school. Witness the large portrait of 
 Queen Elizabeth cut upon a green and white Onyx, and 
 now in the Kensington Museum ; and a much earlier, and 
 more admirable example, the oval cameo with the busts of 
 Henry VIII. and his three children, now set in the Devon- 
 shire parure, a work of microscopic perfection and delicacy 
 of touch. These later stones have usually a rim of the 
 coloured layer, out of which the design is cut, left all 
 round the edge of the cameo as a kind of border to the 
 composition: an ornament not to be found in true antique 
 works, except in those of the period of the Koman empire. 
 The later Cinque-Cento camei are easily recognised by their 
 extremely high relief, which gives the figures a very bossy 
 appearance; they are also very much undercut, sometimes 
 almost detached in portions from the field, which is now re- 
 duced to an extremely neat and even surface, whilst a re- 
 markable polish and rotundity is given to all the projecting 
 parts of the figures ; so that they often look as if modelled 
 out of wax, and then affixed to the surface of the stone. 
 This glassy semi-transparent body of the raised parts is a 
 sure test of the recent origin of the work on which it appears, 
 for the same portions of the strata in an antique Onyx are 
 usually converted into a dead and often chalky whiteness, 
 by the action of the earth and of time upon them, during the 
 ages through which they have been subjected to these power- 
 ful agents. Besides they never present that exact resem- 
 blance to designs in thick and opaque coloured enamels, so 
 striking a peculiarity of the best antique performances.
 
 188 AET, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 But the most reliable test of antiquity in this class of work, 
 is the similarity of the execution of the design, of the por- 
 traits for instance, with those on the coins of the same date ; 
 as it is very likely that a good cameo portrait on a larger 
 scale served as the model to the ancient die-sinker, who was 
 also by profession an engraver on gems. 
 
 Although the smooth and unworn surface of a cameo tells 
 almost decidedly against its genuineness, as its exposed sur- 
 face renders the work so much more liable to the injuries of 
 wear and of time: yet one with a rough surface is by no 
 means on that score alone to be pronounced unquestionably 
 antique, on account of the common trick of dealers, before 
 noticed, of cramming turkeys with newly-made gems, and 
 thus in a few days anticipating the effect of centuries upon 
 their polish. The style of work is by itself alone a very in- 
 sufficient guide in determining the antiquity of a gem ; for 
 although the quaint exaggerated drawing of the artists of the 
 Revival 10 is easy to be recognised after a little practice, yet 
 later engravers, like Pistrucci and Girometti, from the con- 
 stant study of antique models, have produced works which 
 would do honour to the greatest names of antiquity ; and the 
 head of Proserpine, by the latter, far surpassed any ancient 
 work of the kind that I ever beheld whilst the Flora of the 
 former passed unquestioned for years as the chief ornament 
 of Payne Knight's Collection. In such cases, therefore, the 
 sole guide is the appearance which the Onyx always assumes 
 from age, and which can only be learnt from long obser- 
 
 10 It is said that the antique Satyr's are represented Satyrs, or Fauns, or 
 head was the type kept in view by Bacchanalia, may be on that account 
 M. Angelo in all his works. This is alone shrewdly suspected of belong- 
 certainly true of the cameo-cutters ing to this school, and require very 
 of his age, for more than half their careful examination before their 
 designs will be found to include or claims to an antique origin are 
 consist entirely of this grotesque allowed, 
 subject : hence all camei on which
 
 SECT. II. CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 189 
 
 vation. Of this, the most obvious peculiarity is the opacity 
 and extreme deadness acquired by the originally semitrans- 
 parent strata of the stone. They actually are not to be dis- 
 tinguished from layers of enamel fused upon the ground of 
 the work, and this effect is heightened by the excessive soft- 
 ness of manner and flat relief characterising many of the best 
 antique camei ; qualities which, as we have seen, the earliest 
 artists of the Kevival succeeded to some degree in imitating. 
 Indeed many of the smaller antique camei, from their wonder- 
 ful smoothness, flatness of relief, and depth of colour, can 
 only be compared to certain of the best Limoges enamels on 
 copper. 
 
 Ever since the revival of the art, gem engravers especi- 
 ally those of the first two centuries since that epoch (the 
 fifteenth towards its close) have executed infinitely more 
 camei than intagli, for the work of the vformer is easier 
 by far than that of sinking the intaglio into the stone, as 
 well as much more rapid, now that the operation is entirely 
 effected by the wheel ; so that no very great skill or practice 
 is required to enable the engraver to produce a creditable 
 performance ; * and the ornamental appearance of such works 
 caused them to be much sought after in those ages of show 
 and external magnificence. The fashion, too, was very 
 general of wearing camei set as pendants to chains ; and in 
 the hats, in place of the gold or metal medallions of the 
 preceding century : and hence we have such a number 
 of the portrait camei of the Cinque-Cento still preserved 
 to us in the elegant enamelled settings of the time, the 
 forms of which still shew the purpose they were designed to 
 
 1 I was informed by a working executed for them the very neatly 
 
 cameo-cutter at Rome that the finished cameo portraits on Onyx of 
 
 dealers in articles of virtu in that poets and philosophers, so exten- 
 
 city only paid six pauls, or three sively purchased by dilettanti to be 
 
 shillings, apiece to the artists who set in studs, rings, Sec.
 
 190 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 serve. 2 From the infinite abundance of such works produced by 
 artists of every degree of merit, during a space of nearly three 
 centuries, it will easily be discerned how small is the chance 
 of meeting with a really antique cameo among the numbers 
 in existence. And this opinion is verified by experience, for 
 in the numerous collections sold in London during the last 
 ten years, and which I have examined, scarcely one stone in 
 twenty presents all the required proofs of indubitable an- 
 tiquity ; however much collectors, and still more dealers, may 
 be disposed to dispute the truth of this most uncomfortable 
 doctrine. Many antique camei are cut on Sardonyx slabs 
 of extraordinary dimensions, instances of which are exhibited 
 in all celebrated collections ; amongst these the pre-eminence 
 in point of magnitude must be given to the famous Onyx of 
 the Sainte-Chapelle, brought by King Baldwin from Con- 
 stantinople, when that city belonged to the Franks in the 
 13th century. Some also exhibit an extraordinary variety 
 of coloured strata ; for instance, a large cameo representing 
 a quadriga in the Paris Cabinet, where each of the four 
 horses is cut out in a layer of the Onyx of a different 
 colour ; and portraits are often to be seen in which the hair, 
 the flesh, and the laurel-wreath around the head are all 
 represented in distinct shades. The works of the artists of 
 the Renaissance are usually cut upon an inferior sort of 
 stone, consisting of merely an .opaque white layer upon a 
 semi-transparent brownish ground, probably another reason 
 for their working so frequently on the reverses of antique 
 Sardonyxes, of a quality then unattainable at any cost ; they 
 
 2 The artists of this age were fond spirit of emulation we owe many a 
 
 of exhibiting their own skill in com- convenient means of comparing the 
 
 petition with that of the ancients, styles of the two periods where 
 
 hence we so frequently meet with a also the superiority must often be 
 
 Cinque-Cento cameo cut on the re- adjudged to the more recent hand, 
 verse of an antique one : to which
 
 SECT. II. CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 191 
 
 were also frequently engraved upon stones of but one colour, 
 as Carnelians, Lapis-lazuli, and Garnets, where most of the 
 effect of the design is lost from the absence of contrast 
 between the ground and the design. Portraits of this date 
 sometimes occur on Eubies and other hard gems, which have 
 little to recommend them besides the difficulty of execution, 
 a point utterly disregarded by a correct taste. In the same 
 century also, the scarcity 3 of materials affording layers of 
 distinct colours led to the extensive employment of shells in 
 which the natural strata exactly imitate the colours of the 
 best pieces of the Sardonyx, an art which the modern Romans 
 have carried to an astonishing degree of perfection. At pre- 
 sent the Indian conchs are used for this purpose, affording a 
 choice of the most beautiful strata : but the artists of the Re- 
 naissance were forced to content themselves with the shells of 
 the Mediterranean, and works of extraordinary labour and 
 taste for instance, a battle scene, with an infinity of figures 
 will be often seen thrown away upon these coarse and perish- 
 able materials. In the Kensington Museum are some ad- 
 mirable busts of the Caesars, on shell, by an artist of the 
 early Renaissance school. This use of shells for the making 
 of camei is said to have been practised by the ancients, and 
 specimens of such works have occasionally been brought 
 before me, as for instance, a head of a nymph in the Herz 
 Collection, said to have been found in a vase at Vulci, and 
 which certainly bore every appearance of true antique work. 
 Other examples too I have seen, 4 but with very great doubts 
 of their authenticity, as it seems impossible that so fragile a 
 substance could remain unchanged for so many ages, when 
 
 3 For the same reason we often backs, may owe this rare decoration 
 
 find camei of this date cut upon the to some artist of this period, 
 reverses of really antique gems, both 4 For example, a very spirited t 
 
 camei and intagli. Some of the portrait of Galba, to all appearance 
 
 scarabei, presenting masks on their an antique work.
 
 192 AKT, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 buried in the earth. The same observation equally applies 
 to the camei in Turquois so frequent in collections, a stone 
 which loses its colour so speedily when exposed to damp. 
 Heads in full relief, in Amethyst, Jacinth, and Sard, are 
 often met with, but the same small proportion of true antiques 
 occurs amongst these as amongst the other classes of camei 
 already noticed : a fact easily accounted for when we con- 
 sider the facility of the execution of these works by the 
 modern process, and the large reward that stimulated the 
 artist's ingenuity to aim at a successful imitation of antique 
 works. 
 
 That indeed both busts and statuettes cut out of solid gems 
 were known to the Romans, appears from the numerous au- 
 thentic portraits of imperial times in this style still preserved 
 to us : one of the most famous of which is the bust of Tiberius 
 in a stone like the Turquois, now in the Florence Collection. 
 Pliny states that when the Topazion, or Peridot, was first 
 introduced into Egypt, it became at once a favorite gem ; 
 and a statue of Queen Arsinoe, 4 cubits high, was made out 
 of it (of several pieces united, no doubt), and dedicated by her 
 daughter Berenice within the so-called Golden Temple erected 
 to her memory. For this Juba was his authority, but he had 
 himself seen a figure of Nero in armour, 15 inches in height, 
 cut out of a block of Jasper ; and also statues of Augustus, 
 in Obsidian, an equally hard material. 
 
 I have seen a figure of Osiris in half relief, on a true Ruby, 
 about half an inch long, incontestably antique, and of good 
 Roman work. But most of the " Ruby " camei portraits of 
 modern times are cut in rose Garnets, and foiled up to the 
 proper colour. Some heads also occur cut in relief on Eme- 
 ralds of such great intrinsic value, that it is almost impossible 
 that any artist, except in the times of imperial magnificence, 
 would have been allowed to use so extravagant a medium
 
 SECT. II. CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. ]9 o 
 
 for the exhibition of his skill. There is, however, no class of 
 antiques on the authenticity of which it is harder to decide, 
 than upon these works in relief upon the harder gems. 
 
 The Odescalchi cameo now in the Vatican Cabinet, for- 
 merly supposed to represent Alexander and Olympia, but 
 according to Visconti, Ptolemy Euergetes and Berenice, is 
 a precious monument both for the beauty of the work and 
 for the great volume of the stone : but the most singular 
 peculiarity of this cameo is that the slab of Sardonyx upon 
 which it is cut is composed of several pieces united together 
 for the purpose, and that in order to conceal the joinings the 
 artist has introduced necklaces upon the necks of the two 
 busts. 
 
 In the chapter on Passtez, mention has been made of the 
 large cameo of Bonus Eventus, formed of an excellent 
 imitation of Lapis-lazuli. Caylus, II. LXXXL, gives a drawing 
 of an admirable head of Medusa, 4 by 3J inches in size, and 
 made of a paste subsequently worked over with the diamond 
 point in the same way ; and on the same plate he gives a bust 
 of Victory, set in a large antique ring of bronze, which he 
 describes as a perfect imitation of an Onyx of three strata. 
 
 Vases also were in use among the Romans, which may be 
 regarded as huge camei, being entirely covered with subjects 
 in relief, such as the famous Agate Carchesium of St. Denys, 
 and others still in existence formed of similar materials- 
 These also were imitated in paste, as the elegant vase of the 
 Museo Borbonico shews, which is entirely covered with a 
 trellis-work of vines, cut out of a delicate white layer, fused 
 upon a dark blue ground ; precisely in the same manner as 
 the famous Portland vase was supposed by Wedgwood to 
 have been manufactured. The mention of the latter recals 
 to my mind an idea that struck me in reading the minute 
 account of the coifer of Cypselus, given by Pausanias: in 
 
 o
 
 194 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 which one of the compartments " represents Peleus approach- 
 ing Thetis, from whose hand a serpent rushes at him ; " a 
 description which seems to me to explain the meaning of 
 one of the much disputed groups upon this vase, in which a 
 youth is approaching a female seated on the ground, who 
 pushes him away with one hand, while a huge crested serpent 
 rises open-mouthed against him from the other. Fragments of 
 vases of this kind are not very rare, and all that I have seen 
 are executed with great taste and delicacy of finish. 
 
 A very singular kind of antique paste, something between 
 a mosaic and a cameo, is presented in the small pieces of the 
 size of ring stones, themselves imitating Lapis-lazuli, and 
 inlaid with a pattern of variously coloured pastes, arranged 
 in the form of different objects. Two in the Herz Collection 
 one a vine leaf, the other a parrot brought the high price 
 of 10 apiece, being considered unique ; one of these (the 
 vine leaf) or an exactly similar one, is figured by Caylus. 
 Here too we may appropriately notice the glass discs stuck 
 into the mortar when still moist, which closes up the tombs 
 in the Roman catacombs. These are usually called the 
 bottoms of drinking-glasses, but all that I have seen appear 
 perfect in themselves, and never to have formed a portion of 
 any other vessel. They contain within their substance rude 
 designs, often portraits of the latest emperors, surrounded by 
 inscriptions, the whole worked out of a stout leaf of gold laid 
 between two pieces of glass afterwards fused together, and 
 thus incorporated within their substance. It seems most 
 probable that they were manufactured expressly for the pur- 
 pose to which we find them applied, and for that alone, 
 namely, to serve as imperishable memorials of the date : in 
 the same manner as the coins deposited along with the ashes 
 of the deceased in earlier times. 
 
 The consideration of this, the latest era of Eoman art,
 
 SECT. II. CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 195 
 
 introduces the subject of a very numerous class of camei, 
 apparently belonging to the same period. These are inscrip- 
 tions cut in relief, in Onyx or burnt Carnelian, and mostly 
 enclosed within a rim of the same layer that the letters are 
 formed of, which last are usually engraved with extreme 
 neatness, and of a shape greatly resembling those of the 
 legends on the coins of the successors of Constantine, when 
 a peculiarly neat compact character replaced the sprawling 
 open types of the previous century. Hence they may be 
 justly assigned to the 4th century, a date with which the 
 purpose of the legends is in strict accordance. Nothing 
 but inscriptions are to be found in this style of engravings in 
 relief; with one exception, an unique cameo in my posses- 
 sion, representing Anubis bearing the caduceus and the palm, 
 the well-known Gnostic device, executed in the precise 
 manner of these inscriptions upon a green and white Onyx, 
 the figure being inclosed within a border left of the upper 
 layer of the stone. The spelling of these legends (usually 
 containing nothing but a name and a good wish, as EGNA- 
 TINICA " Success to thee, Egnatius ! ") offers some curious 
 anomalies to the student of the transitional state of the Latin 
 language. The Greek and Latin characters are used in- 
 differently ; and the B replaces the v wherever the harder 
 sound of the letter is required, the v being at that time 
 always sounded as our w : thus we have VISAS LVXVRI HOMO 
 BONE " Long life to thee, Luxurius, thou good man ! " The 
 Greek legends offer perpetually instances of the so-called 
 Komaic pronunciation of the vowels, as XEPETE instead of 
 Xaigsre, " Hail "; and are often extremely hard to make out, 
 from this interchange of letters, their similarity of form, and 
 the manner in which they are run into each other. This 
 gave rise to a most absurd mis-translation of one in the Herz 
 Collection, reading STPATONIKHYTIAINE, which last word 
 
 o 2
 
 196 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 being read MIAINOYSA, was interpreted to convey a very in- 
 sulting address to the lady instead of a good wish, its actual 
 meaning. Others of these inscriptions only give the name 
 and office of the owners as EPMAAI^N KAICAPOC ; and others 
 present maxims, one of which is of frequent occurrence, and 
 of which Caylus remarks that it should be taken as the motto 
 of every philosopher : 
 
 AEfOVCIN A EAOVCIN AETETwCAN OV MEAEI MOL 
 
 A most interesting stone of this class, the only one I have 
 seen in its original gold ring, and that of the smallest size, 
 evidently only intended for the top joint of the little finger, 
 bears the legend E vcEBi' 5 an( ^ ^us ma y nave been a present 
 to the famous chamberlain of Constantius, the persecutor at 
 once of the Csesar Julian and of the patriarch Athanasius. 
 
 The Byzantine period presents us with many camei, often 
 cut on pieces of Sardonyx of uncommon size, and of the 
 most beautiful colours. But as might have been expected 
 from the lateness of the date, the execution of the subjects 
 is very far from corresponding with the perfection of the 
 material, being rude and clumsy in the extreme, the figures 
 seeming to have been hewn out of the upper stratum of the 
 Onyx by some rude instrument ; it is possible they may have 
 been scraped out of the stone with a piece of emery, like the 
 coarser scarabs of the Etruscan period : at least, the peculiar 
 roughness of finish of both these classes is difficult to explain 
 in any other manner. The subjects are taken from scripture, 
 the Angelical Salutation is a very favourite one, a circum- 
 stance affording some clue to the time of their execution, 
 since the portraits of the Virgin do not appear upon the 
 bezants before the reign of John Zimisces, at the close of the 
 10th century. Had these camei been the productions of an 
 
 Mayest thou prosper, Eusebins !
 
 SECT. II. CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 197 
 
 earlier age, they would have borne heads of Christ, or else 
 nothing but Christian symbols such as vines, doves or 
 lambs. I have actually met with a plasma, on which was 
 cut a bust of Christ, in mezzo-relievo, inscribed ic xc of very 
 neat work, and resembling much the portraits on the early 
 Byzantine aurei, beginning in the reign of Justinian Khinot- 
 metus, A.D. 685, the execution of which is still careful and 
 by no means despicable in point of art. These huge camei 
 .often bear long legends in ill-shaped barbarous characters, 
 the orthography of which is precisely that of an uneducated 
 Greek of the present day, such is the confusion of the vowels 
 and diphthongs of similar sound. Thus on one splendid Sar- 
 donyx of large size, we find Xeps xai x, a /" TO / XV7 ' instead of 
 Xai xex,aTft>//,V7), each mode of spelling having exactly the 
 same pronunciation at that time as at present in the spoken 
 language. 
 
 Agate vases, or as they may be called cameo vases, being 
 of such great rarity, it may be allowed me here to return to 
 the subject in order to mention one described by Caylus ; II., 
 LXXXVI. This was a vase cut out of an Agate of three strata, 
 3 inches high by 2 inches wide, in form much like the Portland, 
 but tapering more towards the bottom. The subjects upon it 
 were Apollo and Diana, Cupid and Psyche, and a group of 
 small cupids, some chasing butterflies, others riding through 
 the air in cars drawn by them. This beautiful example of the 
 art had been sold shortly before (1754) for a small price, at 
 an auction of the refuse of the Eoyal Garde Mobile. When 
 described by Peiresc, a century before, it was mounted in an 
 elaborate Cinque-Cento setting of gold, enriched with precious 
 stones, shewing the high estimation in which it had been 
 held by its first possessor at that period, probably Francois I. 
 The want of taste, or the avarice of the age of Louis XV., 
 ha/I stripped off the precious casing, but sold the far more
 
 198 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 valuable Agate as a piece of rubbish. Besides vases and 
 bas-reliefs in ivory of the earliest date, we have also many 
 true camei in this substance, or small medallions bearing 
 heads in low relief on one side, and on the other numerals 
 or letters : these were tickets for admission to places of 
 amusement, or to entitle the bearer to certain largesses given 
 by the emperor on days of rejoicing, as Martial : 
 
 " Nunc dat spectatas tessara longa feras." 
 
 And others may have been tessarae hospitales, or equivalents 
 to letters of introduction for the use of travellers. As might 
 be expected, these small relics are much decayed by time 
 and are liable to fall to pieces when dried after their dis- 
 covery : it has, however, been found that they may be pre- 
 served from this danger by saturating them for some time 
 in a hot solution of glue, and thus restoring to the pores of 
 the ivory the due proportion of gelatine extracted from them 
 by time. 
 
 Camei of barbarian origin are, as might be expected, very 
 rare. I have, however, met with a few of apparently indu- 
 bitable antiquity. One was a finely-executed Brahminee 
 bull on Onyx, the figure white upon a transparent ground. 
 The work was evidently Greek, not Hindoo, and therefore 
 must have belonged to the period of the Macedonian kings 
 of Bactria, on whose copper coinage this type sometimes 
 appears. This cameo had been brought from India, but I 
 could not ascertain the name of the locality where dis- 
 covered. Another Indian cameo of antique workmanship 
 was a front face of Buddha, of rude, bold work, on a brown 
 and white Sardonyx of considerable size. But the most 
 curious of all the examples of this style was a crouching 
 lion, of early Persian work, extremely stiff and archaic in 
 execution, as if the engraver had possessed but little power
 
 SECT. II. CAMEO-ENGRAVINGS. 199 
 
 to carry out his conception upon the hard gem, a large 
 Oriental Onyx of three strata and of the finest quality. 
 
 Amongst the Pulsky carnei is a fragment of a large one 
 representing a king, in the costume of the Sassanian monarchs, 
 engaged in combat with an animal, the figure of which has 
 been broken off. The king's head is encircled by the dia- 
 dem, terminating in broad flowing ribands so conspicuous 
 in the rock-sculptures commemorative of Sapor I. The work 
 of this cameo is truly excellent and equal to that of the 
 best imperial times of Eome, and far superior to the con- 
 temporary Roman engravings ; indeed, were it not for the 
 costume of the principal figure, one would be disposed to 
 refer it to a much earlier date. It, however, affords another 
 proof of the statement, before advanced, of the wonderful 
 revival of the arts under the restored Persian dynasty, and 
 was doubtless the chef-d'oeuvre of some Asiatic Greek patron- 
 ized by Sapor. This composition, agreeably to the Roman 
 style of late times, is inclosed within a border left from the 
 upper layer of the stone, a fine Oriental Onyx. 
 
 Together with the two Indian gems above described, and 
 said to have come also from Cabul, was a cameo on Sardonyx, 
 Victory in a car, bold and vigorous in treatment, though by no 
 means minutely finished, and showing every mark of an early 
 Greek origin a singular testimony to the diffusion of Hellenic 
 art throughout the northern districts of India. The projecting 
 portions of the design were much worn down and flattened 
 by friction, perhaps among the gravel in the bed of some 
 watercourse whence it had been rescued by the recent dis- 
 coverer. The composition of the design bore a striking 
 resemblance to the reverses of the Sicilian tetradrachms. 
 
 But the most interesting Oriental Cameo, though of a 
 much later date, that has ever fallen under my notice was 
 one in the Webb Collection sold by Christie and Manson
 
 200 
 
 ART, STYLES OF. 
 
 (1854). It was not, indeed, of ancient times, for the subject 
 was Shah Jehan slaying a tiger that had killed one of his 
 attendants, whose corpse lay upon the ground ; the history 
 of the event, in Persian characters, occupied the field of 
 the cameo. The style of the engraving was purely Oriental, 
 although one would rather have expected such a work to 
 have displayed something of the Italian taste, in consequence 
 of the constant patronage shown by the Mogul's court to 
 the jewellers and lapidaries of that nation. The stone a 
 splendid Onyx of the clearest colours was also of great 
 size, about three inches in diameter, through which it had 
 been pierced with a fine hole for the purpose of sewing it 
 upon the dress, after the manner used by the Komans. 
 
 Ceres, with name of artist Aulu 
 
 ry poi trait. Antique Pasto. 
 
 NAMES OF AKTISTS ON GEMS. 
 
 In all the collections of Europe taken together, there are 
 certainly not a hundred 6 gems inscribed with the genuine 
 
 6 Koehler boldly asserts that there 
 exist but four gems bearing the in- 
 dubitable signature of the engravers ; 
 but his distinctions are so arbitrary 
 that his dictum may be regarded 
 as a mere German paradox. An 
 archaeologist, however, of the great- 
 est experience, and who has paid 
 especial attention to this particular 
 question, by the collection of the 
 
 casts and the study of the originals 
 of all the known signed gems, is of 
 opinion that the number may be 
 extended to sixty. The rules which 
 he had laid down to himself for 
 establishing the reality of these sig- 
 natures, to my great satisfaction, 
 exactly coincided with those already 
 written by me in the following 
 article.
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 NAMES OF ARTISTS ON GEMS. 
 
 'Ml 
 
 name of the artist who engraved them. And these authentic 
 signatures are usually distinguished by this peculiarity, that 
 they are placed at the side of the design, and engraved in 
 minute but elegant Greek characters. Many antique stones 
 also occur in which these names have been added by a 
 modern hand in order to augment the value of the gem; 
 but these forged names can generally be detected by their 
 great inferiority in neatness of execution to the genuine. 
 The ancient artist evidently attempted to distinguish his 
 own signature, both by its position and by the miniature size 
 of the letters, from the common inscriptions so abundant 
 upon intagli, especially those of Koman times, which consist of 
 the initials or the name of the owner, and sometimes that of 
 the town of his domicile ; or, still more frequently, invoca- 
 tions to the deities whose figures are represented upon the 
 stone. 
 
 Signet of Rufina. Bed Jasper. 
 
 Grylhis: signet of Titinius. Obsidi; 
 
 The legends occasionally seen on Etruscan intagli, and 
 which add considerably to their value, are the names of the 
 gods or heroes engraved upon them, according to the usual 
 practice of that people in their other works of art, as on 
 painted vases and the backs of their metallic mirrors. The 
 Greeks, on the contrary, with their usual good taste, never 
 impaired the effect of the design by an explanatory inscrip- 
 tion: all that they allowed themselves, and that but very 
 rarely, was to hand down the artist's name in the most 
 modest and unpretending manner possible.
 
 202 
 
 ART, STYLES OF. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 The subject of artists' names on gems unavoidably recals 
 to one's mind the Poniatowsky Collection, where each stone 
 bears engraved upon it the name of some celebrated artist 
 of antiquity Pyrgoteles, Dioscorides, Cronius, Solon, Aulus, 
 Admon, Gams, &c. These gems are of large dimensions, often 
 of fine quality, and engraved with mythological subjects, for 
 the most part executed with much taste, but frequently also 
 displaying a good deal of the flighty Berninesque manner of the 
 
 Neptune : Poniatowsky gem. Amethyst. 
 
 Inscribed Etruscan Gem 
 
 last century in the attitudes of the figures and in the treatment 
 of the drapery. The heads and the single figures are by far the 
 most pleasing in the series, and approach the nearest to the true 
 antique. These gems were all executed for Prince Poniatowsky 
 (d. at Florence, 1833) by the best Eoman artists of the past 
 age, Cerbara, Girometti, Pichler, &c., and the inscriptions, 
 Avhich are masterpieces in this very difficult branch of the 
 art, are from the hand of Dies, who took upon himself this 
 department alone. Had these clever engravers put their 
 own names upon their productions, instead of forging those 
 of ancient artists, these masterpieces of their skill would have 
 increased in value with every passing century: whereas at 
 present, they are looked upon as worthless, are sold for
 
 SECT. II. NAMES OF ARTISTS ON GEMS. 203 
 
 merely the value of their gold mountings to those persons 
 who understand gems, and fill the show-cases of every curi- 
 osity dealer in London, who often succeed in passing them 
 off upon " country collectors " as the genuine works of the 
 artists whose names they bear. As a proof of the little 
 value in which they are now held, I may state that, at the 
 sale of Lord Monson's Collection, consisting of 154 of the 
 best of these gems, they went at prices ranging from 25s. 
 to 30s. each, though many of them were cut on the finest 
 Amethysts and Sards and mounted in elaborate gold frames 
 of very elegant designs. Knowing all this, we cannot but 
 be amused at the blind faith of the person who last year 
 (1858) took the trouble to publish an elaborate and expen- 
 sive account of these all but worthless forgeries, illustrated 
 with admirably-executed photographs of the most curious, 
 and this evidently under the full conviction, as appears from 
 his preface, that they are all the genuine productions of 
 those celebrated ancients whose names appear so conspicu- 
 ously upon them. How the Prince himself could have con- 
 ceived so absurd an idea as the formation of this series, and 
 have wasted so large a sum in the carrying out of his ridi- 
 culous project, is very difficult to imagine, since he had inhe- 
 rited from his uncle, the last king of Poland, Stanislaus, a 
 splendid cabinet of true antique gems, the possession of 
 which ought to have inspired him with better taste. 7 
 
 7 The gem of the original col- the Due de Blacas. The stone, a 
 lection was the famous Helmet, Sardonyx of considerable size, { by 
 which merits a detailed description, | inch, is of most singular quality : 
 both on account of its extraordinary the upper layer being an opaque 
 beauty, and from its having fetched red Jasper ; the under, a transparent 
 at its last sale, February, 1859, the greenish Calcedony or Plasma. The 
 largest sum (89Z.) ever obtained for intaglio, deeply cut, is a Greek hel- 
 an intaglio at a London auction, met, with flowing crest of horse- 
 though it is said that Herz had hair; but the crown is unusually 
 refused an offer for it of 1501. from spherical. This is ornamented with
 
 204 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 This original cabinet numbered, when catalogued by Vis- 
 conti, no more than 154 gems, including a few splendid 
 camei. The intagli were all of the finest character. Amongst 
 them was the masterpiece of Dioscorides, the bust of lo, a 
 three-quarter face, with small budding horns on the temples, 
 and very deeply cut in a most splendid Sard; the eagle's 
 head, inscribed Mie, and hence ascribed to the collection of 
 King Mithridates; the antique paste, a portrait of Nico- 
 medes IV., with the name of the artist Pergamus ; and the 
 famous helmet described below in detail. This last, I am 
 informed, is of larger dimensions than that of Stosch on the 
 same peculiar Jasper-plasma, now in the Berlin Cabinet, as 
 well as somewhat more elaborate in the ornamentation. It 
 was the Prince, the last possessor, who, by adding to these 
 genuine treasures so many absurd forgeries, brought it up to 
 the vast number of 3000 in all ; and thereby so discredited 
 the whole cabinet that, when it was brought to the hammer 
 in London, about thirty years ago, even the established repu- 
 tation of the lo was not proof against the suspicion excited 
 by the bad company amongst which she appeared, so that 
 this matchless gem was actually knocked down for 17?., 
 
 the figure of Bellerophon on Pegasus, presentations, for the Herz Collec- 
 attended by his dog, and spearing tion also boasted another gem of the 
 the Chimera represented on the same curious material, but engraved 
 cheek-piece beneath : all, though on with a tall Corinthian crater ; its 
 so minute a scale, miracles of art, surface decorated with Bacchic sub- 
 both in design and execution. The jects, almost equal in finish and 
 flowing crest of horse-hair is care- delicacy to the work of this helmet, 
 fully and naturally rendered by Curiously enough Winckelman re- 
 means of the diamond-point alone, marks that the helmets and vases 
 Winckelman describes one of Stosch's of this description, executed in imi- 
 gems, almost identical with this, tation of Corinthian bronze-work, 
 both as to the nature of the stone occurring in the Stosch Collection, 
 and of the subject engraved on it. are all very highly and carefully 
 This peculiar variety of Sardonyx finished, and to be numbered amongst 
 seems to have been a favourite of the choicest treasures therein pre- 
 the ancient engravers for such re- served.
 
 SECT. II. NAMES OF ARTISTS ON GEMS. 205 
 
 although in the previous century it would have commanded, 
 if sold singly, fully 1000?., a sum paid for other works made 
 valuable by the artists' names, yet falling far short of this 
 both in artistic and historical value. 
 
 The only gem-engravers mentioned by name in Pliny's 
 account of the art are Pyrgoteles, Apollonides, Cronius, and 
 Dioscorides : nor doa ny others, to my knowledge, occur in any 
 ancient author. But their own works have preserved to us a 
 somewhat copious list of names, which, together with the sub- 
 jects they accompany, will be found annexed to this article. 
 
 An early and therefore interesting notice of the first 
 artists of the Renaissance is given by Camillo Leonardo, in 
 the year 1502, and therefore but a short time after the art 
 had been revived in Italy. Nevertheless, he speaks of their 
 works as already diffused over the whole of that country, 
 and not to be distinguished from the antique ; and affirms 
 that the following gem-engravers, his contemporaries, were 
 equal in merit to any of ancient times : in Home, Giovanni 
 Maria da Mantova; at Venice, Francesco Nichini da Fer- 
 rara ; at Genova, Jacopo Tagliacarne ; at Milan, Leonardo 
 da Milano ; " Who sink figures in gems with such accuracy 
 and neatness that nothing can be added or taken away 
 therefrom." He adds that an art then flourished, altogether 
 unknown to the ancients, that of Niello in silver, in which 
 he praises as a most distinguished worker Giovanni, sur- 
 named Frazza, of Bologna. Vasari, writing in 1550, himself 
 the contemporary of all the best artists of the Cinque-Cento 
 period, names with commendation Giovanni del Castel Bolog- 
 nese, who cut intagli in rock-crystal, especially a Tityus and 
 a Ganymede, for the Cardinal Ippolito dei Medici. Valerio 
 Belli, II Vicentino, was a famous engraver, as was also his 
 daughter: he died in 1546, and therefore could not have 
 executed the portraits of Queen Elizabeth (1558) so often
 
 206 
 
 AET, STYLES OF. 
 
 ascribed to him. 8 Luigi Anichini of Ferrara was distin- 
 guished for the fine engraving and exquisite finish of his 
 intagli. Alessandro Cesati, II Greco, " surpassed all his age 
 in the drawing, gracefulness, and excellence of his works, 
 and left behind him camei and intagli of the greatest merit 
 and w diversity." In the Pulsky Collection is a spirited por- 
 trait of Pope Paul III., ascribed to this artist, and cut on a 
 large and beautiful Sapphire, a most admirable specimen of 
 his skill. It has been asserted with some plausibility that 
 certain supposed antiques, inscribed KOINTOS AAESA, are in 
 reality works of this artist. 
 
 Hercules and Antaeus: Cinque-Cenco Sard. 
 
 COIN-DIES. 
 
 That the dies for the coinage of the Greeks and Eomans were 
 cut by the artists who also engraved the gems of the same 
 period is evident from the identity of treatment of the heads 
 and subjects occurring in each of these classes. Some sin- 
 gular instances in confirmation of this opinion have come 
 under my notice. Thus, a Sard surrounded with an Etruscan 
 border, bears engraved upon it a cow looking backwards, 
 precisely similar to the curious representation of the same 
 
 8 These are usually the works of Coldord, the proteye of Henri IV.
 
 SECT. II. COIN-DIES. 207 
 
 animal on the silver of Sybaris, which might well be mis- 
 taken for an antelope. Another Sard with a figure of 
 Abundantia was the exact counterpart in its minutest details 
 of the reverse of a denarius of Hadrian in my possession. 9 If 
 we compare the numerous intagli of Minerva, so abundant 
 in all collections formed in Italy, we shall be struck by the 
 similarity of their execution, in numerous instances, to the 
 reverses of the coinage of Domitian, who regarded this god- 
 dess as his patroness, a circumstance which, no doubt, made 
 her the fashionable subject for signets during all the space 
 of his long reign. On many Greek coins, especially those of 
 Sicily and Magna Grecia, names are found engraved in a 
 small character on the accessaries of the subject, such as the 
 fillet or the helmet of the head of the deity on the obverse, 
 and occasionally on a small tablet, as sometimes on gems. 
 These are supposed, with considerable certainty, to be the 
 names of the engravers of the dies, a theory strongly sup- 
 ported by the inscription in full NEYANTOSEHOIEI on the 
 medals of Cydonia in Crete. Nothing of this kind is met 
 with in the Roman series, when such a liberty would not 
 have been allowed to the engravers, who were then the slaves 
 attached to the Quaestor or Triumviri Monetales; but I 
 fancy I have discovered an ingenious device employed by 
 them for recording their names in the symbols so often seen 
 in the field of the consular denarii. It will be found on 
 examination that the symbol on the reverse has always a 
 certain connexion with that on the obverse of the coin : thus, 
 on a denarius of the family Papia, one is the petasus, the 
 other the harpe of Perseus; on another the obverse gives 
 two horns conjoined in the form of a crescent, the reverse 
 
 9 A head of Commodus, on a gem the same engraver who cut the die 
 in the Mertens-Schaafhausen Collec- for a denarius of that prince, in my 
 tion, is also evidently the work of Collection.
 
 208 ART, STYLES OF SECT. II. 
 
 bearing a myrtle wreath, both common Bacchic emblems ; 
 from which one might hazard a conjecture that the engraver 
 of the first die was named Perseus, of the second Dionysius 
 for it must be remembered that at Rome all artists were 
 Greeks or of Greek extraction, slaves or freedmen. We 
 have a corroboration of this theory in the case named 
 by Pliny, of Sauros and Batrachos introducing the rebus of 
 their names, the " lizard " and the " frog," in the capitals of 
 the pillars sculptured by them in the reign of Augustus, im- 
 mediately after the cessation of the issue of the consular 
 mintage. On the denarii of certain families, as the Papia 
 and Roscia, these twin-symbols are extremely numerous, 
 indicating, like the numerals which take their place on the 
 mintage of other families (as the Baebia), the enormous 
 number of dies used up in the issue of the silver currency 
 while the Quaestor of that particular name was in office as 
 Master of the Mint. 
 
 How the ancient coin-dies were supplied in sufficient num- 
 bers to meet the requirements of an extensive commerce, 
 which employed an exclusively metallic currency, is a point 
 the explanation of which is a problem still unsolved. The 
 difficulty is increased when we consider the high relief of the 
 types on the larger coins, such as the didrachms and tetra- 
 drachms of the Greek series. 10 And it should be remembered 
 that, in the present day, the making the die for a crown-piece 
 (no larger than the latter) is the work $ six months. Some 
 suppose that the plan was adopted of cutting a punch in 
 relief, and with this stamping dies in bronze in any number 
 required (the modern practice) ; but a fatal objection to 
 this explanation is, that then, as now, every issue of coins 
 would have produced every piece absolutely identical with 
 
 10 Besides still larger pieces, as the and the gold octodrachms of the 
 Syracusian Medallion, a decadrachm, Ptolemies.
 
 . II. COIN-DIES. 209 
 
 the rest, whereas, no two ancient coins, though of the same 
 year, are ever found exactly alike thus proving the enormous 
 quantities of dies employed at every mintage. Pistrucci 
 believed that he had found out the secret by obtaining cast- 
 iron dies directly from his models : and certainly there is a 
 soft and flowing outline to the types of the large Greek 
 pieces, scarcely to be attributed to the impression of a cut 
 metal stamp. Again, to have engraved by hand dies suffi- 
 cient for the coinage _of such cities as Athens, Corinth, or 
 Velia, which still exist in endless quantities not to speak 
 of that of Philip, and still more of Alexander, which supplied 
 the currency of the whole civilised world, and when we 
 consider the constant breakage of the dies so tedious a 
 mode of multiplying the stamps must have required such an 
 army of die-sinkers, and such an amount of artistic skill 
 amongst them, as it is scarcely credible ^could have been 
 furnished even in the most flourishing times of Greece and 
 Asia. The dies made of mixed metal, occasionally discovered, 
 certainly corroborate the theory of Pistrucci: these might 
 have been easily cast upon a proper sand-mould and com- 
 pleted by the graver in a very short space of time. In the' 
 Meyer Collection is a die of mixed metal for the reverse of the 
 gold octadrachm of Berenice (if genuine) : it is well preserved, 
 and still shows traces of the hammer upon its back. Caylus 
 figures a similar die for the obverse of a medal of Augustus, 
 found at Aries. How dies in this soft composition were 
 able to resist the blows of the hammer required to bring up 
 the impression upon these large pieces of metal is quite a 
 mystery. Some suppose that the blanks were struck when 
 red-hot, but in this case the heat must soon have softened 
 the fusible metal of the dies themselves, and have speedily 
 destroyed them. The true solution of the difficulty seems to 
 be that the blanks of pure metal cast in a spherical form 
 
 p
 
 210 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 to assist the receiving the type were struck when cold ; the 
 gold and silver being without alloy would yield to the die 
 almost as readily as pewter, and the minters did not care 
 for the destruction of the dies, which they had some method 
 of reproducing without great delay or expense a sufficient 
 explanation of the vast number of dies which, we have 
 already observed, can be proved to have been used in one 
 and the same issue of denarii. It is, however, strange that, 
 if the dies were commonly made of an indestructible metal 
 like the composition described, so few of them should have 
 come down to our times : perhaps they were always care- 
 fully destroyed when worn out, to prevent their being used 
 by forgers. Of the Roman period a few iron dies have been 
 preserved, but no one has ever disputed their employment 
 at that late period, and the infinite numbers of them used in 
 the coinage of the Empire would, in a few years, be converted 
 into undistinguishable masses of rust. But even then a more 
 expeditious mode of producing the species of currency most 
 in demand was resorted to ; for the great proportion of the 
 base silver of the Middle Empire was all cast in clay moulds, 
 quantities of which have been discovered in the ruins of a 
 Roman mint at Lyons, as well as in diiferent localities in 
 this country and in France, some of which are described by 
 Caylus. These, therefore, could not have been, as at first 
 supposed, the unauthorised implements of native forgers, but 
 an expeditious mode made use of by the mint itself to mul- 
 tiply a debased currency. 
 
 Di-dracbm of Caulon
 
 SHOT. II. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. 
 
 211 
 
 Maecenas, by Apollonius. Jacinth 
 
 NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGKAVERS 
 
 OCCURRING ON THEIR BEST AUTHENTICATED WORKS, AND THE COLLECTIONS 
 WHERE THEY EXIST AT PRESENT. 1 
 
 Extracted chiefly from the 'Catalogue des Artistes de 1'AntiquiteY par le Comte do Clarac. 
 1849. Paris. With Remarks and Corrections. 
 
 V 
 
 ADMON (AAMN). Cameo profile of Augustus. Blacas Collection. 
 
 Hercules drinking. Sard. Marl/borough. 
 
 Head of Hercules advanced in life. Smith. 
 
 Hercules Musagetes. Poniatowsky. 
 
 Hercules seated, a cow by his side. Antique paste. Raspe. 
 
 Vulcan forging armour for a youth seated l~>y a veiled 
 
 female ; probably a work of Natter's. 
 
 A ELI us (AEAIO2 and AIAIOS). Head of Tiberius, front-face. Sard. 
 Corsini Coll. 
 
 Head of Homer. Nicolo. The Hague. 
 
 Portrait unknown. Marlborough. 
 
 AEPOLIAN (AEPOAIANI). Head of M. Aurelius. Antique paste. 
 Stosch. 
 
 Bacchante. Sard. Probably the owner's name. 
 AETION (AETIwNOC). Head of Priam. Sard. Devonshire Coll. 
 
 Bacchanalia ; nine rustics sacrificing. Probably by Dormes. 
 
 Mercury bearded. Sard. Petree Coll. 
 
 All, not otherwise specified, are intagli. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 AGATHANGELUS. Head of Sextus Pompeius. Sard. Stosch. Spelt 
 
 AFAGANrEAOY, but the gem is suspected. 
 AGATHKMERUS. Head of Socrates. Sard. Blacas Coll. 
 AGATHON. Bacchus. Beryl. Algernon Percy. 
 AGATHOPUS. Head of Sextus Pompeius. Beryl. Florence. 
 Elephant's Head. Stosch. 
 Two hands joined. Stosch. Sard. 
 ALBIUS. Head of Caligula. Sard. Barbarini. 
 ALEXA. Bull. Sard. Berlin. 
 ALEXA, AULUS. Paste. Barbarini. 
 
 ALEXA, QUIXTUS. Cameo fragment. Legs of a warrior. Florence. 
 N.B. All these are supposed to be works of Alessandro 
 Cesati il Greco. 
 ALEXANDER. Cameo. Cupid taming a lion. On one side Venus, 
 
 on the other a Bacchante. Morpeth. 
 
 Cameo. Head of Drusus. Also assigned to Alessandro Cesati. 
 ALLION (AAAION and AAAYQN). Head of Apollo laureated. Sard. 
 
 Florence. 
 
 Cameo. Head of Apollo. Easpe. 
 Bacchante seated on the lap of a faun sacrificing to Priapus, 
 
 a satyr plays the flute. Calcedony. Besborough. 
 Unknown Eoman bust. Easpe. 
 Muse. Sard. Strozzi. 
 
 Some assert this name to be the signature of Gio. Mar. 
 da Pescia. 
 
 Bull butting. Onyx. Thorns. 
 Head of Ulysses, front-face. Sard. Hamilton. 
 Venus Marina holding a sea-horse. Sard. Fermiani. 
 Nessus and Deianira. Lippert. 
 ALPHEUS and ARETHON. Cameo. Head of the young Caligula. 
 
 Azaincourt. 
 
 Cameo. Germanicus and Agrippina. This used to be shown 
 at the Abbey St. Germain des Pres as the betrothal ring of 
 the Virgin Mary : it was stolen with the other treasures in 
 1795 when the abbey was burnt down, and subsequently 
 sold to the Eussian General Hydrow. 
 ALPHEUS alone. Ajax seated on a rock. Sard. 
 Dying Warrior. Cameo. Derring.
 
 SECT. II. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGBAVEBS. 213 
 
 Barbarian king in a biga. Cameo. Albani. 
 
 Venus and Cupid drawing a butterfly out of a well. Cameo. 
 
 Venuti. 
 
 AMMONIUS. Head of Laughing Faun. Jacinth. British Museum. 
 AMPHOTERUS. Head of youth with a fillet. Black Jasper. 
 
 Blacas. Supposed to be the head of Ehetemalces II. 
 AMARANTHUS. Hercules driving away the Stymphalian birds. 
 
 Sard. Praun. (Not now in that Collection.) 
 ANTEROS. Hercules carrying a bull. Sard. Devonshire. 
 
 A symbolic group. Sard. Lessing. (Merely the owner's 
 
 name.) 
 ANTIOCHUS. Head of Pallas helmeted. Sard. Andreini. 
 
 Cupid bending his bow ; in front a butterfly. Int. Sard. 
 
 Easpe. 
 
 Bonus Eventus. Ked Jasper. M'Gowan. 
 APELLES. Mask. Sard. Jablonowski. 
 APOLLODOTUS. Bust of Pallas armed. Sard. Barbarini. 
 
 The Dying Orthryades, near him two warriors. Sard. 
 
 Lucatelli. 
 APOLLONIDES. Cameo fragment of a cow lying down. Sold by 
 
 Stosch to the Duke of Devonshire for 1000 guineas. 
 Ox grazing. Amethyst. Easpe. 
 Cow lying down, as in the cameo. Sard. Hague. 
 Mask. Garnet. Berlin. 
 
 APOLLONIUS. Diana leaning against a pillar ; a rock in the back- 
 ground. Amethyst. Naples. 
 Head of Maecenas. Jacinth. Bhodes. 
 AQUILAS. Venus bathing, Cupid by her. Easpe. 
 A horse. Stosch. The name spelt AKYIAOV. 
 ARCHION. APXIONOC on the robe of Venus Marina carried by a 
 
 Triton. Sard. Hague. 
 
 ASPASIUS. Head of Indian Bacchus. Eed Jasper. Worsley. (A 
 copy is in the British Museum.) 
 Head of Junius Brutus. Easpe. 
 
 Head of Agrippina the Elder as Ceres, crowned with wheat 
 ears. Beryl. Marlborough. Perhaps a work of Natter, 
 or Flavio Sirletti. 
 Head of Jupiter fragment. Eed Jasper. Florence.
 
 214 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 Juno standing, at her feet a peacock. 
 
 Head of the City of Antioch, Worsley. 
 
 Head of Pallas, in a highly ornamented helmet. Bed 
 
 Jasper. Vienna. Many copies of this hy Natter are 
 
 known with his signature upon them. 
 
 ASPUS. Centaur carrying off a Bacchante. Amethyst. Thorns. 
 ATHENION. Jupiter in his car throwing his bolts at two giants 
 
 with serpent legs. Cameo. Naples. Antique copy of 
 
 this. Webb. 
 
 Female head. Amethyst. Lippert. 
 AULUS. Cupid nailing a butterfly to the trunk of a tree. Sard. 
 
 Thorns. 
 
 Cupid in fetters leaning on a hoe. Cameo. Bareuth. 
 Cupid chained before a trophy. Sard. Carlisle. 
 Cupid holding a cornucopia. Calcedony. Easpe. 
 Head of the young Augustus. Sard. Lippert. 
 Horseman in armour. Sard. Florence. 
 Fore part of a horse. Garnet. Caylus. 
 Diana or Amazon. Sard. Buoncompagni. 
 Esculapius bust: the name in a tablet. Sard. Strozzi. (His 
 
 finest work, of which innumerable copies, some antique, 
 
 are extant. 
 
 Head of Faun front face. Sard. Jenkins. 
 Female pouring a libation. Stosch. 
 Head of Hercules. Sard. Northumberland. 
 Youthful head. Cameo. Collegio Eomano. 
 Lion devouring a horse. Green Jasper. Meghan. 
 Mercury holding a ram's head. Sard. Easpe. 
 Head of Sextus Pompeius. 
 Head of Ptolemy Philopator or of Abdolonymus in front a 
 
 bull's head ; behind, an old man with a staff. Sard. 
 
 Bibliotheque, Paris. 
 Quadriga. Sard. Carlisle. 
 Venus seated on a rock balancing a stick, at which a little 
 
 Cupid catches. Agate. Vettori, afterwards Jenkins the 
 
 banker. (This name has beyond all others been made use 
 
 of by modern artists. Natter confesses that he put it upon 
 
 a copy of the Venus Vettori, of which he made a Danae.)
 
 SECT. II. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. 215 
 
 The following gems are also attributed to Aulus : 
 
 Cupid liolding a butterfly. Jacinth. The Hague. 
 
 Head of Ceres. Sard. Marquis de Dree. 
 
 Faun's head. Nicolo. Beck. 
 
 Head of Laocoon. Bibliotheque Royale. 
 
 Lion seizing a stag. Red Jasper. Lord Meghan. 
 
 Head of Maecenas. Sard. Lord Greville. 
 
 Mercury carrying the infant Bacchus. Jacinth. The 
 
 Hague. 
 
 Pan and Olympus. Sard of three layers. Beck. 
 Sacrifice to Venus : three females, a man, and a satyr, per- 
 haps of the 16th century. 
 
 AXEOCHUS. Faun playing the lyre, Cupid with a thyrsus, be- 
 tween them an altar on which is a crescent. Stosch. 
 Head of youthful Hercules. Sard. Cheroffini. 
 Perseus carrying the Medusa's head, has on his buckler 
 
 this name ASEOX Stosch. 
 Bacchante. Paste. De Thorns. 
 
 Hercules, Mercury, Yulcan. Sard. Count AYackerbarth. 
 BEISITALAS. Cupid leaning on a spear, his legs crossed. Agate. 
 
 Florence. 
 BOETHUS. Philoctetes reclining and driving oft' the flies from 
 
 his wounded foot with a wing. Cameo. Milliotti. 
 CAESILAX. Minerva seated. Sardonyx. Constable. 
 CAIUS or GAIUS. Head of a dog, perhaps of Sirius, full face ; 
 very deeply cut in a Siriam Garnet. Marlborough. 
 Raspe calls this a work of Natter's. 
 Silenus seated playing on the double flute. Jacinth. Baron 
 
 Roger. 
 
 Bust of a girl, her finger on her lips. Sard. Same collection. 
 CALLIMORPHUS. Thalia standing : a mask in one hand, a thyrsus 
 
 in the other. Sard. Florence. 
 CARPUS. Bacchus and Ariadne on a lioness bound with wreaths. 
 
 Red Jasper. Florence. 
 
 Drunken faun dancing. Antique paste. Count de Thorns. 
 Heads of Hercules and lole. Calcedony. Florence, per- 
 haps of the 16th century. 
 Perseus liolding the Medusa's head and the harpe. liaspe.
 
 216 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 CHAEREMON. Conqueror in the games. Burnt Sard. Of the 
 
 Lower Empire. Raspe. 
 CLASSICUS. Serapis seated. Sard. Crozat. 
 CLEON. Apollo Citharedus, behind him a tripod and altar, in 
 
 front a helmet. Gori, once belonged to Andreini. 
 CNEIUS or GNAEUS. Head of Antinotis. Raspe. 
 
 Victorious Athlete rubbing himself with oil, by his side a 
 table, with a vase and palm branch. Beryl. Lord Dun- 
 cannon. 
 
 Same subject. Isicolo. Bibliotheque Royale. 
 Young Athlete holding a strigil. Sard. Rendorp. 
 Head of Brutus. Sard. Cavaliere d'Azara. 
 Diomed naked, armed with sword and shield, the Pal- 
 ladium on a cippus by him : he is seated on the ground, 
 his mantle thrown over his arm. Sard. Denham. 
 Fragment of a horse the head only. 
 Head of a goddess, sometimes called Sappho and Cleopatra. 
 
 Sard. Collegio Romano. 
 
 Head of the young Hercules. Beryl. Strozzi. 
 Head of Melpomene and a tragic mask. Turbie. 
 Head of Mercury. Abbe Pullini. Torino. 
 Head of Theseus, covered with a bull's hide. The name 
 
 said to be added by Pichler. Rendorp, Amsterdam. 
 COENUS and QUINTUS ; reading KOINOY and KOINTOY. 
 
 Adonis nude, holding a javelin and leaning on a cippus ; 
 
 a hound by him. Onyx. Prince Lichtenstein. 
 Head of Augustus. Raspe. 
 
 Faun celebrating the bacchanalia : vase in one hand, thyrsus 
 in the other, leopard's skin on arm. Nicolo. Extremely 
 delicate work ; letters very faint. L. Natter. 
 Figure of Pythagoras. Sard. Salinis. 
 CRATEKUS. Diana of Ephesus. Sard. Stosch. 
 CRESCESS (KPHCKHC). Harp-player. Sard. Poniatowsky. 
 CRONIUS. Terpsichore doubtful. Andreini. Figure standing, 
 holding a lyre, leaning against a square cippus on which 
 is a statue of Hercules ; but the work appears too late foi 
 the age of Cronius. 
 Perseus. Sard. Devonshire.
 
 SECT. II, NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. 217 
 
 DALIOX. Nymph seated on a sea-horse, with two dolphins. 
 Amethyst. The Hague. This name is probably ALLION 
 mis-read. 
 
 DAROX. A Janus. Sard. Crozat. 
 DEMETRIUS. Hercules strangling the Nemean lion. Sard. 
 
 Marquis de Dree. 
 
 A bull. Sard. Baron von Schellersheim. 
 DEUTON. Four cars racing. Ant. Paste. Stosch. 
 DIOCLES. Head of a young Faun. Jasper. Berlin. 
 DIONYSIUS. Head of a Bacchante. De Murr. 
 DIOSCOURIDES. Head of Jo : three-quarter face, fillet round the 
 hair, a necklace of two rows. Sard, deep intaglio. 
 Poniatowsky. 2 
 
 Mercury Criophorus : naked and wingless figure leaning 
 against a column, and holding a ram's head in his hand. 
 Sard. Devonshire. 
 Mercury on a journey, with petasus, caduceus and mantle. 
 
 Sard. Lord Holderness. 
 Perseus resting his hand on a shield witfe a Medusa's head, 
 
 and holding a sword. Sard. Naples. 
 Diomede, Master of the Palladium. Sard, in flat relief. 
 
 Devonshire. 
 Diomede carrying off the Palladium. Sard cracked. The 
 
 Hague. 
 Head of Demosthenes, front face. Amethyst, deep intaglio. 
 
 Ludovisi. 
 Head of Augustus ; a star in the field. Amethyst, perhaps 
 
 by Sirletti. Blacas. 
 
 Bust of Augustus, with the Paludamenturn. Amethyst. Thorns. 
 Head of Maecenas, formerly called that of Solon. Amethyst. 
 
 Bibliotheque Royale. 
 
 The following are also attributed to Dioscorides : 
 Head of Augustiis laureated. Cameo. Hamilton. 
 Bacchus drunken, riding on a panther, with cantharus and 
 thyrsus. Cades. 
 
 2 I have seen a most admirable copy of this head by Pichler, once 
 belonging to Beckford.
 
 218 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 Head of Caligula. Cameo. Walmodeu. 
 
 Muse. Sard. Fulsky. 
 
 Head of Julius Csesar, front face, and lituus. Sard. British 
 
 Museum. 
 
 Giant with serpent legs. Beryl. Blacas. 
 Hercules chaining Cerberus. Canieo. Berlin. 
 Hermaphroditus reclining ; a Cupid playing the lyre ; 
 
 another the flute ; a third holds a flambeau. Amethyst 
 
 Zanetti. 
 
 Head of a girl. Topaz. Marlborough. 
 Bust of Serapis. Garnet. Caylus. 
 Silenus and a young faun playing the double flute. Very 
 
 fine Sard. Naples. 
 
 Thalia holding a mask. Sard. Blacas. 
 Head of Sol radiated, front face ; presented to Colbert by 
 
 the Chapter of Figeac. Sard " as largo as a 30-sous 
 
 piece." 
 Natter and Torricelli have copied all the best works of this 
 
 artist, some of them repeatedly. 
 EPITYNCHANUS. Portrait of Germanicus or Marcellus. Sard. 
 
 Blacas. 
 
 Tiiumph of Venus and Cupid. Easpe. 
 Mercury seated on an eagle. Easpe. 
 Bellerophon on Pegasus. Sard. Azara. 
 EROPHILUS. Head of Augustus. Cameo, Green Jasper found at 
 
 Treves:. 
 EUELPISTUS. Chimera of two heads, and an elephant's trunk 
 
 holding a caduceus. 
 Nemesis. Sard. Grivaud. 
 EUTHUS. Silenus seated on the ground ; in front are two cupids, 
 
 one playing the lyre, the other the syrinx. Cameo. 
 
 Altieri. 
 EUTYCHES, son of Dioscourides written 
 
 GYTYXHC AIOCKOYPIAOV AireiAIOC En. 
 
 Bust of Pallas, front face, holding her robe on the breast. 
 Pale Amethyst, deep intaglio. Marlborough or Scheller- 
 sheim.
 
 SECT. II. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. IMO 
 
 Phoebus in his car. Onyx. The Hague. 
 
 Head of a young Eomaii. Calcedony. 
 
 Minerva putting her vote in the urn at the trial of Orestes. 
 
 Eckhel. 
 EUHEMERUS. Eoman emperor in a cuirass. Sard. Landgraf 
 
 von Hesse. 
 
 EVODUS. Head of Julia Titi, with diadem, curled hair, necklace, 
 earrings. Beryl or pale Sapphire, of extraordinary mag- 
 nitude. Bibliotheque Royale. 
 Horse's head. Sard. Baron Eoger. 
 Bust of a Muse, the head bound with a fillet half length. 
 
 Lippert. 
 FELIX, freedman of Calpurnius Severus. Diomede and Ulysses 
 
 carrying off the Palladium. Sard. Maryborough. 
 Centaur carrying two baskets. Sard. Odescalchi. 
 Victory naked slaughtering a bull. Easpe. 
 Head of Mercury. Bed Jasper. Bibliotheque Eoyale. 
 GAMUS. Hope. Emerald. Kestner. 
 
 G-AURAMUS AXICETUS. Combat between a dog and wild boar. 
 
 Bloodstone. St. Aignan. The name may be that of the dog. 
 
 GLYCON. Venus riding on a sea-bull, surrounded by cupids. 
 
 Sard. Bibliotheque Eoyale. 
 HEIUS. Diana the huntress, in a stiff archaic style, holding a 
 
 stag by the horn, bow in left hand. Sard. Stosch. 3 
 Dying Amazon. Sard. Easpe. 
 Head of a youth, with curly hair, and tied with a fillet. 
 
 Sard. Lord Greville. 
 Minerva with a diadem. Kicolo. Easpe. 
 Ulysses and Diomede killing Dolon. Blacas. 
 HELLEN T . Bust of Antinous as Harpocrates, breast partly covered 
 
 by the robe. Sard. Stosch. 
 Comic mask. Blacas. 
 
 Full face of young faun. E AAHN O V, doubtless name of owner. 
 Berlin. 4 
 
 3 This is supposed to be the most inscribed EAAHN in very minute 
 ancient gem known, bearing the art- characters. Pale Ruby. L. Foulcl, 
 ist's name. formerly Boocke. 
 
 4 Head of a Bacchante, front-face,
 
 220 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 HERDS. Shepherd leaning on his crook. Borgia. 
 HOROS. Head of Tiberius. Abbe Pullini. 
 
 Silemis. Gori. 
 
 EYDRUS. Paris. This name was assumed by Natter as the Greek 
 form of his own German apellation, which means a water 
 snake. 
 
 HYLLUS. The Bacchic bull, girt with ivy, above him a thyrsus. 
 Calcedony. Stosch. The work of the bull similar to 
 that on the medals of Sybaris. 
 Same bull. Sard. Lord Clanbrazil. 
 Ditto. The Hague and Bibliotheqne Eoyale. 
 
 Copies of this gem are very numerous ; and the same 
 subject, though antique, often occurs with the name added 
 in modern times. 
 Head of a female, called that of Cleopatra. Sard. St. 
 
 Petersburgh. 
 
 Youthful Hercules, Aventinus. Onyx. Stosch. 
 Head of philosopher. Sard. Florence. 
 Triton, Nereid, and two cupids. Sard. Marlborough. 
 Head of a Muse, inscribed LAVR MED. Orleans Collection. 
 
 Sard. 
 
 Head of Paris. Modern. Algernon Percy. 
 Pallas seated looking at the Medusa's head. Antique 
 
 paste. The Hague. 
 
 Mask of Silenus. Sard. General Eottier. This name has 
 been more tisurped by modern engravers than even that of 
 Aulus. 
 
 IADIS. Diana walking and about to let fly an arrow. Beryl. Percy. 
 IRENE. Man holding a cup, surmounted by a bird. Sard. 
 
 Cortona Museum. 5 
 
 LEUCOX, probably the correct reading of DEUCON. 
 LIPASIUS, probably for ASPASIUS. Head of Ehea. Worsley 
 
 Museum. 
 
 LEUCIOS. Victory, in a biga. Sard. Walchenaer. 
 Masque of a bearded Faun. Gori. 
 Head of Poppaea. Sard. Wackerbarth. 
 
 This is clearly the owners name, not the artist's.
 
 SECT. If. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. 221 
 
 MAXALUS. Head laureated of Antoninus Pius. Cameo. Gori. 
 
 The inscription suspicious. S 
 
 MESA OF DIODORUS. Female head with diadem. Onyx. De 
 
 Thorns. Most probably the name of the lady herself. 
 MIDIAS. Griffin and serpent. Cameo. Caylus. 
 MILESIUS. Apollo seated before a tripod. Bracci. 
 MiTH. 6 Head of a horse. Sard. Berlin. 
 
 Head of an eagle. Sard. Poniatowsky. 
 MORSIUS. Hercules carrying a bull. Denham. 
 Musicus. Harpocrates standing. Sard. The Hague. 
 MYCOX. Head of an old man. Jasper. Stosch. 
 Head of Caligula. Jasper. Lippert. 
 Cupid on a lion. Nicolo. Baron Magnancourt. 
 MYRON. Head of Muse. Sard. Berlin. 
 Lion passant. Sard. Blacas. 
 Ajax kneeling and falling on his sword. Berlin. 
 Apollo pursuing Daphne. Probably modern. 
 MYRTOST. Leda, the swan flying towards her. Blacas. 
 NAIUS, probably for GNAIUS. Bust of a Miise, in front a mask ; 
 
 often called a Virgil. Easpe. 
 NEISUS. Jupiter Anxur, beardless, holding fhe thunderbolt and 
 
 ^Egis. Sard. St. Petersburgh. 
 
 NEPOS. Youth playing the lyre. Sard. Schellersheim. 
 NESTOR. Bust of Cupid. Chrysolite. The Hague. 
 NICANDKR. Bust of Julia Titi, inscribed NIKANAPOC EIIOIEI 
 
 Amethyst. Marlborough. 
 NICEPHORUS. Mercury carrying on his hand the eagle. Onyx. 
 
 Hesse Cassel. 
 
 Man seated forging a helmet. Sard. Florence. 
 NICOMACIIUS or NICONAS. Faun seated on the ground upon his 
 spread leopard's skin ; two flutes before him. Black 
 jasper. Marlborough. 
 
 Head of youthful Hercules. Sard. Schellersheim. 
 Venus Anadyomne. Splendid Sard. Uzielli. The name 
 apparently a modern addition. 
 
 8 Gems with these letters are of King Mithridates, but on no suffi- 
 usually assigned to the dactyliotheca cient grounds.
 
 222 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 NILUS (NET AOV). Head of Hadrian. Raspe. 
 NYMPIIEROS. Standing- warrior, with one hand on a tree, the 
 other on his helmet placed upon his .shield, which is set 
 on the ground. Sard. Florence. 
 
 CVVESAS (ONHCAC EIlOlEl). Muse holding a lyre, and lean- 
 ing on a base supporting a Cupid. Antique paste. 
 Florence. 
 
 Head of Hercules, laureated. Sard. Blacas. 
 Head of Apollo. Sard. Cheroffini. 
 Drunken Bacchus. Lippert. 
 Ulysses carrying his casque. Sard. Thorns. 
 ONESIMUS. Jupiter Conservator. Van Hoom. 
 
 Head of Minerva, like the Pallas of Velletri, said to have 
 
 been found at Forli ; but is modern. 
 Osius. Head of Apollo. Beryl. Devonshire. 
 OSION. Head of Apollo crowned with wheat-ears ; behind it a 
 
 lyre and star. Onyx. Pallazzi. 
 Head of Agrippina. Kicolo. Raspe. 
 
 PAMPHILUS. Achilles seated on a rock, playing the lyre. Ame- 
 thyst. Bibliotheque Royale. 
 Achilles bending backwards and playing the lyre. Sard. 
 
 Devonshire. 
 
 Theseus killing the Minotaur. 
 Head of Junius Brutus. Stosch. 
 Youthful Hercules. Sard, modern. Portalis. 
 Cupid coming to the rescue of Psyche caught by the foot in 
 
 a trap. Sard. British Museum. 
 
 PANAEUS. Pan assaulting Venus as she is leaving the bath. 
 Sard, Caylus. nANAIOV A$POAITH. (Probably implying 
 that it was a copy of the picture by that painter.) 
 PAZALIAS, the signature of Passaglia, an excellent Eoman artist 
 of the last century, and a lieutenant in the Papal 
 Guards. 
 
 PERGAMUS. Faun dancing. Stosch. 
 Hercules carrying a bull. Stosch. 
 Head of Nicomedes IV. Paste. Poniatowsky. 
 Heroic head. Stosch. 
 Bearded head. Stosch.
 
 SECT. IT. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. 22H 
 
 PETROS. Head of Caracalla. Millin. 7 
 PHARXACES. Seahorse. Sard. Naples. 
 Capricorn. Amethyst. The Hague. 
 Nemesis standing, holding a bridle. 
 Boar crouching amidst reeds. 
 Head of Mercury. Eed Jasper. 
 Lion Passant. Sard. Lord Greville. 
 
 PHILEMON. Theseus regarding the Minotaur extended on the 
 ground, the club in his hand. Sard found at Rome. 
 Vienna. 
 *IAHMON EHOI. Head of a faun, crowned with ivy, the 
 
 deerskin on his shoulders. Antique pasle. Strozzi. 
 Hercules chaining Cerberus. Onyx. Lippert. 
 Hercules strangling the Xemean lion, by Ant. Pichler. 
 
 Onyx. Lord Clanbrazil. 
 Head of a bull. Bracci. 
 
 PHILIPPUS. Head of Hercules laureated. Florence. 
 PHILOCALUS. Head of youth, crowned with olive. 
 PHILODESPOTES. Tragic mask and two fishes. v 
 PHILOLOGUS. Two dolphins. Red Jasper. Seen at Bezestein. 
 PHOCAS. Athlete holding a palm. Jacinth. Caylus. 
 PIIOCIOX. The head bearing this name with that of Pyrgo teles 
 
 is known to be the work of Alessandro Cesati. 
 PHOILAS. Bacchante. Sard. Schellersheim. 
 PHRYGILLUS. Cupid with large wings creeping out of an egg, 
 with a shell in his hand. One of the earliest inscribed 
 intagli known. Sard. Blacas. 
 PHYLAX. Actor or philosopher. Sard. Gori, perhaps mis-read 
 
 for Scylax. 
 POLYCLEITUS. Diomede master of the Palladium, seated on a 
 
 base, at his feet the slain priestess. Sard. Florence. 
 Cupid on a lion. Cameo. Gori. 
 
 POLYCRATES (nOAYKPATH2 EHOIEl). Cupid and Psyche. Gar- 
 net. Marquis de Gouvernet. 
 
 7 This name is clearly due to the tyrant for the traditional portrait of 
 
 amusing error of some mediasval pos- the fiery Apostle, which in truth it 
 
 sessor, who has mistaken the curly- closely resembles, 
 headed truculent visage of the Roman
 
 224 AHT, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 POTHUS. Three masks. Millingen. 
 
 POTIOLUS. Four masks. Red Jasper. S^osch. 
 
 PROTARCHUS (nPQTAPXOS EHOIE). Cupid riding on a lion and 
 
 playing the lyre. Cameo. Florence. 
 PLUTARCHUS. Bust of Cleopatra. De Murr. 
 PYGMON. Faun dancing and holding a crater. Antique paste. 
 
 Florence. 
 PYLADES. Mount Argaeus, surmounted by an eagle holding a 
 
 wreath. Red Jasper. Palazzi. 
 PYRGOTELES. Head of Alexander. A splendid work, but Clarac 
 
 speaks hesitatingly of its authenticity. Blacas. 
 Head of Medusa, Amethyst fragment. Blacas. 
 Head of Alexander covered with the lion's skin. Cameo, 
 but suspected. Mayence. This name has been placed on 
 antique copies of his works, as on a Sard of indifferent 
 execution found at Rome, 1788, representing Hercules 
 with Tolas killing the Hydra. 
 
 QUIXTILLUS. Neptune in a car drawn by two sea horses, in 
 one hand a dolphin, in the other his trident. Beryl. 
 Ludovisi. 
 Mercury standing with his foot on the prow of a vessel. 
 
 Sard. Poniatowsky. 
 RUFUS. Head of Ptolemy Physcon. Sard. Raspe. 
 
 Aurora guiding the Solar car. Cameo, inscribed POY<J>CK' 
 
 EHOEI. St. Petersburgh. 
 
 SATURNINUS. Antonia the younger. Cameo. Seguin. 
 SCOPAS. Apollo Citharedus, bust. Sellari. Cortona. 
 CEdipus and the Sphinx. Stosch. 
 Head of a Roman. Sard. Leipzig. 
 Head of Epicurus. Sard. Count Butterlin. 
 Young woman at her toilette. Caylus. 
 SCYLAX. Eagle's head. Sard. Algernon Perc}'. 
 Head of Pan, full face. Amethyst. Blacas. 
 Hercules Citharedus. Sard. Baron Roger. 
 Head of C. Antius Restio. Sard. Marlborough. 
 Male portrait. Sard. Marlborough. 
 Head of a bald man. Garnet. Baron Roger. 
 Man standing holding a bow. Sard. Baron Roger.
 
 SECT. II. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGEAVERS. 225 
 
 Mask of Satyr, front face. Sard. Baron Eoger. These 
 
 three last very doubtful. 
 
 Combat between a giant and griffin. Sard. St. Petersburgh. 
 SCYMNUS. Bacchus followed by a panther. 
 SELEUCUS. Mask of Silenus, crowned with ivy. Sard. Cerre- 
 
 tani at Florence. 
 
 Herme of Priapus. Square Emerald. Thorns. 
 Cupid and a wild boar. Amethyst. Wordlidge. 
 Head of Hercules. Blacas. 
 Unknown portrait. Fine work. Stosch. 
 SEVERUS. Hygea offering a bowl to a serpent. 
 
 Plasma. Slade. Probably the owner's name. 
 SLECAS or CAECAS (Cascae). Youthful warrior holding a sword ; 
 perhaps Theseus contemplating the sword of his father. 
 Stosch. 
 
 SOCRATES. A comic actor. Onyx. Roger. 
 Fortuna Panthea. Black Jasper. Borre. 
 Comic actor leaning on a crook. Carney on Oriental Sar- 
 donyx of three layers. Eoger. 
 
 SOLON. Head of Medusa, eleven serpents in the hair. Calce- 
 dony. Strozzi, now Blacas. Found in a vineyard on the 
 Monte Celio, near S. Giovanni e Paolo. There exists a fine 
 copy made by Costanzi for Cardinal Polignac, 1729. One 
 by Madame Preissler, smaller size ; another by Jeuffroy, 
 on Amethyst. 
 
 Diomede, master of the Palladium. Sard. Blacas. 
 Portrait of a bald man. Sard. Ludovici. 
 Head of Maecenas. Topaz. Florence. 
 Cupid standing : a mediocre gem. Sard. Eoger. 
 Bust of a Bacchante. Sard. Stosch. 
 Emperor leaning on his shield. Easpe. 
 Head of a Faun. Calcedony : doubtful. 
 Head of Hercules, laureated, front face. Stosch. 
 Livia as Ceres, veiled bust. Sard. Gori. 
 Victory Apteros sacrificing a bull : fragment. Sard. Stosch. 
 SOSTHENES, formerly read SOSICLES. Head of Medusa. Calce- 
 dony. Carlisle. This was considered by Pichler as su- 
 perior to that by Solon. 
 
 Q
 
 226 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 Head of Junius Brutus. Sard. Lord Aldborough. 
 
 Head of Minerva. 8 The Hague. Is a copy by Natter, jV 
 
 Tinder the head being his usual mark: for though he 
 
 copied many of the finest antique gems, he always sold 
 
 them as his own works, and his Minerva, and Hercules 
 
 strangling the Nemean lion, can be compared with the 
 
 best productions of the ancients. 
 SOSTRATUS. Bacchic Genius in a car drawn by two panthers girt 
 
 with ivy -wreaths. Cameo on an Agate of two layers, half 
 
 the stone lost. Devonshire. 
 Victory sacrificing a bull. Sard. Devonshire. 
 
 This Collection possesses almost all the known works 
 
 of Sostratus. 
 Victory in a biga. Cameo, once belonging to Lorenzo dei 
 
 Medici ; now Naples. 
 
 Bellerophon watering Pegasus. Sard. Easpe. 
 Meleager and Atalanta. Cameo. Devonshire. 
 Nereid riding on a marine grifiin. Sard. Lippert, who also 
 
 ascribes to this artist an Europa and a Diana Taurica. 
 STEPHANUS. Man in a biga. Sard. Dubois. 
 
 Pegasus. Gori. 
 TEUCEE. Head of Antinous. Easpe. 
 
 Faun holding a wreath. Sard. Carlisle. 
 
 Seated warrior, a helmet in one hand, a spear in the other. 
 
 Winckelmann. 
 Hercules and lole ; the hero nude, seated on a rock covered 
 
 with the lion's skin, draws lole towards him. Amethyst. 
 
 Florence. 
 
 Copies of this by Brown, Burch, and Carpus, are known. 
 
 It is also admirably copied in the Poniatowsky series, 
 
 where it is signed EAIIHNOPHC. 
 Head of Minerva. Sard. Lippert. 
 Head of an old man. Amethyst. The Hague. 
 THACETAS. Hercules and Omphale. Easpe. 
 THAMYRUS. A winged Sphinx scratching her ear with her hind 
 
 paw. Sard. Vienna. 
 
 8 Probably Medusa. See Goethe's remarks on the gems of Hemsterhms.
 
 SECT. II. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. 2'_'7 
 
 A similar Sphinx, but without name. La Turbie. 
 Helmeted warrior standing at the side of his horse. Modern 
 
 stone, where the name is written THAMYRIS. Prince 
 
 d'Issemberg. 
 Child seated. Cameo, of which many repetitions are known. 
 
 Caylus. 
 
 THYOSUS. Altar and eagle. Paste. De Thorns. 
 TRYPHON (TPY$QN EIIOIEI). Marriage of Cupid and Psyche: 
 
 infant forms, the latter holding a dove, conducted towards 
 
 the nuptial couch by two Cupids and Hymen bearing a 
 
 torch. Cameo, the figures flesh-colour, on a black ground 
 
 of Sardonyx. Marlborough. 
 
 The same subject, but of inferior work. Naples. 
 Cupid riding a lion. Sard. The Hague. 
 Triumphal procession. Jasper. Easpe. 
 Combat of -SCneas and Diomed. Sard. Caylus. 
 
 Of these artists the most illustrious Tor their ancient 
 reputation or for their works at present in existence are the 
 following. 
 
 Admon. 
 
 Cneius. 
 
 Philemon. 
 
 Aelius. 
 
 Dalion. 
 
 Phrygillus. 
 
 Aetion. 
 
 Demetrius. 
 
 Polycletus. 
 
 Agathemerus. 
 
 Dioscorides. 
 
 Poly crates. 
 
 Alpheus. 
 
 Epitynchanus. 
 
 Protarchus. 
 
 Ammonius. 
 
 Euplus. 
 
 Pygmon. 
 
 Amphoterus. 
 
 Eutyches. 
 
 Pyrgoteles. 
 
 Anteros. 
 
 Evodus. 
 
 Scopas. 
 
 Antiochus. 
 
 Felix. 
 
 Scylax. 
 
 Apollodotus. 
 
 Heius. 
 
 Scymnus. 
 
 Apollonides. 
 
 Hellen. 
 
 Seleucus. 
 
 Apollonius. 
 
 Hyllus. 
 
 Solon. 
 
 Aspasius. 
 
 Meidias. 
 
 Sosthenes. 
 
 Athenion. 
 
 Neisus. 
 
 Sostratus. 
 
 Aulus. 
 
 Onesas. 
 
 Teucer. 
 
 Axiochus. 
 
 Pamphilus. 
 
 Thamyrus. 
 
 Carpus. 
 
 Pergamus. 
 
 Tryphon. 
 
 Cronius. 
 
 Pharnaces. 
 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 Satyr surprising a Sleeping Nymph. Signet of Aspasius : Roman. Agat. 
 
 In the above extract from Clarac's list I have omitted 
 some few names which he describes as doubtful, and which 
 appear to me rather to indicate the name o*f the owner of the 
 signet than that of the engraver. And this is probably the 
 case with many even of those here given, especially where 
 the gem is an intaglio intended only for the sealing and 
 authentication of documents. The only artists' signatures 
 (first supposing the work of them antique), which can 
 be certainly relied upon are such as are accompanied by the 
 word EHOIEI ("fecit" in modern parlance), or are inscribed 
 on a tablet in a significant manner, or else are engraved in 
 such minute characters at the side of the composition as only 
 to be recognised by a careful search, and which, purposely as 
 it were, avoid all interference with the proper design of the 
 stone. The letters Aieo following some of these names are 
 usually read as an abbreviation of XtQo-yXuTrrm, or gem-en- 
 graver; but such an artist was always styled in his own 
 times Sa.xruXioyXuTTT'ris, as the first appellation would not have 
 been sufficiently definite, applying equally well to any 
 sculptor or even stone-mason. Again, from the large size 
 of the characters in such inscriptions it is plain that the 
 name is merely that of the owner of the intaglio, and that 
 Aieo stands for the "gem or signet of such a one," and 
 properly serves to authenticate the impression on the wax or 
 clay. On camei on the contrary, such names being usually 
 left in relief in the same layer of the stone out of which the 
 figures themselves are cut, doubtless designate the artist 
 himself, in accordance with the common practice of antiquity
 
 SECT. II. NAMES OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. 229 
 
 of inscribing bas-reliefs and statues with the names of their 
 sculptors. I have myself examined the following intagli 
 supposed to bear the names of their engravers, on which I 
 shall make a few observations. 
 
 1. A helmeted male portrait, AAAYQN for Allion, reading Y for I 
 
 as the fourth letter, an error not likely to bave been com- 
 mitted by a modern engraver, who would necessarily be 
 on his guard against any blunder. This gem was un- 
 doubtedly antique. Sard. Pulsky. 
 
 2. A minute dancing faun, AYAOY in very small letters. Sard. 
 
 Bobcke. For this gem 100 had been refused by the 
 owner. 
 
 3. A head of Ceres, AYAOY in microscopic letters. Once in the 
 
 Webb Collection, but doubtful. Ehodes. 
 
 4. A Satyr surprising a sleeping Nymph. On a black and 
 
 white Onyx, extremely minute and delicate work, in the 
 exergue ACHACIOY apparently antique ; but the im- 
 portance given to the inscription by the large size of the 
 letters proves it to be the name of the owner. Ehodes. 
 
 5. Magnificent front-face of a Bacchante. On a large pale 
 
 Euby, inscribed EAAHN in the finest possible characters 
 at the side. Bobcke. 
 
 6. Fine bust of a Bacchante. Large Amethyst, inscribed 
 
 NEAPKO2, 9 probably the owner's name. Pulsky.* I possess 
 an excellent intaglio of Apollo Delphicus, on which is 
 scratched in antique but unfinished letters X. NBA, 
 apparently the same name abbreviated. 
 
 7. A head of Neptune, front-face, QAOC perhaps for Solon, but 
 
 doubtful. Emerald or fine Beryl. Herz. 
 
 8. Bust of a Muse, inscribed AIO2KOYPIAOY in somewhat larger 
 
 letters than appear on the other gems from his hand. 
 Sard. Pulsky. The intaglio is certainly not equal in 
 
 9 Or, perhaps, an addition of some name would be spelt Nearco), lias 
 Italian falsifier, who, misled by the thus blundered the name Nearchus. 
 usage of his own tongue (where the
 
 230 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 merit to what we might have expected from so famous an 
 artist ; but the name gave it so high a value that it was 
 purchased by Count Wickzay for 800 gold ducats. 10 
 9. Bust, nearly full-faced, of a Roman, probably Ma3cenas. An 
 admirable intaglio, very deeply cut. AnoAAONlOY in 
 small neat characters indubitably antique. Jacinth. 
 Rhodes. 
 
 10. Naked Faun carrying a large vase on his shoulder and 
 ascending a hill. Of the finest and most minute execution, 
 in the exergue KOINOY in letters almost microscopic. 
 Sard. Rhodes. Clarac assigns a Faun on Nicolo, in- 
 scribed with the same name, to Natter. 1 
 
 Faun with Urn. Finest Greek Style. Sard. 
 
 ON THE CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT GEM-ENGRAVERS. 
 
 Taken partly from Visconti, ' Opere Varie,' II. 115. 
 
 A catalogue of ancient gem-engravers, arranged according 
 to their several epochs, would certainly form an extremely 
 instructive and curious part of any treatise on this study ; but 
 the difficulty of drawing it up with any sure foundation, based 
 upon actual documents, or even upon plausible conjectures, 
 surpasses all imagination. This difficulty arises, first, from 
 the deficiency of notices left to us by ancient writers in this 
 
 10 350Z. probably been added by a modern 
 
 1 This sard, however, is, as far as hand ; such, at least, is the opinion 
 
 concerns the intaglio, an indubitably of a most experienced connoisseur, 
 
 antique work of the best Grecian to whom the matter was referred, 
 time, although the inscription has
 
 SECT. II. CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT GEM EXGKAVEKS. 231 
 
 branch of the history of art, and from the absence of all 
 chronological indications in the greater portion of the gems 
 marked with their authors' names ; secondly, from the ancient 
 practice of placing the original artist's name even upon copies 
 from his works ; and lastly, from the actual forgery of these 
 names a thing not uncommon among the ancients them- 
 selves, but of the utmost frequency amongst the moderns. 
 
 The intrinsic difficulty of the task is augmented by another 
 and extrinsic one: that is to say, the want of all critical 
 knowledge in the two archaeologists, Stosch and Bracci, who 
 have undertaken to collect and elucidate all gems bearing 
 the artists' names. Such blind guides easily lead astray 
 all who follow them with any degree of reliance upon their 
 knowledge. 
 
 Materials for a critical history being so scarce and so un- 
 certain, it will be the best plan to make but one class of the 
 artists before the age of Alexander. Amongst these, Adrnon 
 can have no place, his name being written with the 10 of the 
 form not used till after that epoch. The stiff manner of the 
 Diana of Heius would make us regard him as anterior to the 
 times of Praxiteles ; but the name HEIOS may be read as a 
 trisyllable Eeus, for if we suppose the first letter to be merely 
 an aspirate, then we should not find the final 2 used, according 
 to the analogy of the Athenian inscriptions of that date, and 
 of certain legends on the medals of Philip. 
 
 The only other engravers who have a right to appear in 
 this division are Mnesarchus, named as the father of Pytha- 
 goras an historical notice which also incidentally proves the 
 high antiquity of this art, as, even at that early period, fur- 
 nishing a distinct profession ; Thamyrus and Phrygillus, who 
 show by the stiffness of their style that they must have flou- 
 rished before the age of Alexander. The characters , C.
 
 232 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 and U), used in the names of Action and Agathemerus, by 
 their recent shape cause us to refer these two artists to more 
 modern periods ; and the gem by Philemon, in the Vienna 
 Collection, besides exhibiting the lunar-shaped sigma, C, in 
 the name, has nothing whatever of the Archaic manner in its 
 treatment. 
 
 In the next period, from Alexander to Augustus, Visconti 
 suspects that all the works signed with the name of Alexander 
 are to be assigned to Alessandro II Greco, because the compo- 
 sition of the design shows a certain departure from the antique 
 manner. For instance, amongst other details, the kind of 
 fillet that appears on the back of his lion is never seen in 
 truly ancient works, except upon victims, and such the lion 
 was not ; again, the abbreviation AAESAN.E. for Axe^avfyos- 
 EffoiEj is without any precedent, and even contrary to the 
 usage of those times ; and lastly, Vasari expressly mentions, 
 amongst the works of Alessandro Cesati, a cameo of a child 
 and a lion. 
 
 Pamphilus and Pharnaces are of quite uncertain date ; nor 
 is it probable that Polycletus of Sicyon was the author of the 
 gem inscribed with that name, for his style as the pupil of 
 Agelades, though correct, would still be somewhat stiff and 
 'exaggerated from his early date, anterior to Praxiteles. As 
 however Pamphilus and Polycletus were equally famous the 
 one in painting, the other in statuary it may be plausibly 
 conjectured that the intagli inscribed with these names were 
 copies of famous works by these masters, either pictures or 
 bronze figures. The gem signed Apelles (falsely read Apsa- 
 lus), might likewise be adduced in support of this theory. 
 
 Gems bearing the name of Pyrgoteles may similarly be all 
 doubted with justice ; and here an instance of a stone may be 
 quoted, of incontestable antiquity, both as to the intaglio and
 
 SECT. II. CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT GEM ENGRAVERS. 233 
 
 the name upon it. It is a Carneliau found near Home in 
 1788 ; its subject, Hercules and the Hydra. The work was 
 only mediocre ; it was consequently judged by Visconti to be 
 an ancient copy of a gem by Pyrgoteles. It passed into the 
 Trivulzi Cabinet at Milan. 
 
 The age of Tryphon is fixed by the epigram of Addeus, a 
 court-poet of the Ptolemies, already quoted under the head of 
 " Beryl." 
 
 Of the Eoman period, all the artists must be classed to- 
 gether from the times of Augustus to the commencement of 
 the decline of art under Septimius Severus ; for here, unless 
 the date of the work is fixed by its presenting historical por- 
 traits, or else by notices of the artist in ancient writers, we 
 are completely at a loss for other guides during the whole of 
 this period ; for if we take the mere excellence of the work 
 itself, as the ground to form our judgment upon, the intaglio 
 head of Antoninus Pius, in the Museum Capo di Monte, is by 
 no means inferior to the most finished portraits of the first 
 Ca3sars. 
 
 In this same category ought likewise to be classed all the 
 engravers having Roman names, such as Gneeus, .ZElius, and 
 Felix. Whatever may have been their native country, the 
 excellence of their works ranks them in the Greek school, 
 and they themselves adopt it as their own by signing their 
 names in Greek letters and after the Greek fashion, omitting 
 however that of their family ; but for this there was a suffi- 
 cient cause. These artists were doubtless Greeks, and the 
 freedmen of great nobles and of the emperors, whose family 
 name they assumed, according to the invariable rule, on their 
 manumission ; and hence we may conclude that Gnaeus flou- 
 rished under Pompey, .ZElius in the reign of Hadrian, and 
 similarly for the others who sign their Roman gentile names 
 in Greek characters. Probably no work of Dioscorides equals
 
 234 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 in sublimity the youthful Hercules of Giiseus in the Strozzi 
 Cabinet ; and this engraver, together with Aulus, Quintus, and 
 Lucius, must be numbered amongst the Greek artists of the 
 same period. An antique paste of the Barbarini Collection has 
 the inscription AYAOC AAESAEHOIEI ; and hence we may con- 
 clude him to be the brother of Quintus, who upon another 
 gem also styles himself, after the Greek fashion, " son of 
 Alexander." This latter name of Quintus is probably the 
 KOIMOC given by a mistake of the reading of the signature by 
 Stosch and Bracci. Agathangelus is a false name added by 
 a modern hand to an antique intaglio, according to Yettori, 
 in his ' Dissertatio Glyptographica.' Agathopus and Epi- 
 tynchanus also belong this ciass. There can be little doubt 
 that these are the two persons bearing the same names de- 
 scribed as " aurifices," or jewellers, in the sepulchral inscrip- 
 tions of the household of Livia. Their epoch too is fixed by 
 the intaglio head of Pompey the younger, on a gem in the 
 Florentine Collection, engraved by Epitynchanus, and a 
 cameo of Germanicus by Agathopus, belonging to the Strozzi. 
 Probably a magnificent sard, the combat of Bellerophon with 
 the Chimera, in the Azara Cabinet, signed Em, is a work of 
 the former engraver. I have also seen an admirable head of 
 Germanicus on a very fine ruby-coloured Sard, also signed 
 Eni. This gem was once in the collection of Beckford, and 
 had all the appearance of antiquity. 
 
 Of altogether uncertain date are Allion and Amphoterus ; 
 for as to the portrait of Ehetemalces, ascribed to the latter, it 
 is extremely uncertain whom it really represents. The same 
 may be said of Ammonius and Onesas. Concerning Apollonius 
 and Athenion we have no sure data, yet as no characters of the 
 more recent form, such as the U), appear in their signatures, 
 this consideration, coupled with the superiority of their works, 
 would induce us to place both in the first times of the
 
 SECT. II. CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT GEM-ENGRAVERS. i>3:> 
 
 Roman empire. 2 Aspasius also may be ranked among those 
 of an uncertain but yet early period. Although his name is 
 not engraved in such elegant characters as those of the two 
 just mentioned, yet the fact of each of his three known works 
 being executed in red Jasper would lead me to the same 
 judgment: for assuredly the luxury of the Roman times 
 would not have allowed such an artist to work in so common 
 a stone as it had then become. 
 
 As for Aulus, the variety both of manner and of merit 
 observable even in the indisputably antique gems, signed 
 with this name, must be assigned either to forgery, or else 
 the name, even when genuine and antique, may have been 
 added to ancient copies of his actual works. The best and 
 most authentic of all his productions is the Strozzi head of 
 Esculapius, a profile of sublime beauty, where the name 
 appears on a tablet. Whoever compares this head with the 
 other works bearing the same signature will find it difficult to 
 persuade himself that they are all originals from the same 
 hand. 3 
 
 Acmon is known to us by a single cameo, a portrait of 
 Augustus, a profile laureated head upon an onyx of two 
 layers, Sard and Sapphirine, in the De la Turbie Cabinet. 
 The work of this cameo is executed with infinite freedom and 
 facility, so as to appear done entirely by the hand and not by 
 the wheel a peculiarity observable in many other antique 
 camei. The name AKMQN is engraved beneath the bust. 
 From his style he may be concluded a pupil of Dioscorides. 
 
 Cronius was apparently anterior to the times of Augustus, 
 for it is probable that Pliny followed the chronological order 
 in placing his name between that of Pyrgoteles, the contempo- 
 
 2 The age of Apollonius is fixed 3 So common a name as Aulus 
 by his signature on the portrait of was doubtless borne by different art - 
 Maecenas. ists and at different dates.
 
 236 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 rary of Alexander, aud that of Dioscorides, the contemporary 
 of Augustus. The name of Cronius appears at the side of a 
 standing figure of Terpsichore, a design afterwards repeated 
 by Onesas and Allion, whence we may conclude that these 
 two latter came later than Cronius ; unless indeed, which is 
 very probable, the intagli of all three are but copies of some 
 famous statue. 
 
 Dioscorides is the most famous of all the ancient engravers. 
 There is however a great variety in the style and in the 
 merit of the gems distinguished by his name. Comparing 
 together the impressions of the two Mercuries by him, any 
 experienced eye will detect at once that they certainly are 
 not productions of the same hand. The most admirable of 
 all his works is the Head of lo, which cannot be reproduced 
 exactly in the plaster-cast on account of the under-cutting of 
 the nose, the intaglio being a three-quarter face. It is far 
 superior, both in delicacy and correctness, to the Demosthenes 
 by the same artist in the Piombino Cabinet. This last is 
 upon a splendid Amethyst, but shows somewhat of stiffness 
 and hardness in its manner. Both these intagli are much 
 more deeply cut than is usual with antique gems, and differ 
 in this respect from his " Diomede, master of the Palladium," 
 which is in flat relief. It is however very probable that the 
 difference of style observable in his works may arise from 
 the distant periods of his professional life at which they were 
 respectively executed : thus his Demosthenes may be set 
 down as one of his earliest productions, for certainly there is 
 a perceptible increase in freedom of touch between his por- 
 trait of Julius Cassar and that of Maecenas, in which the 
 elderly look of the latter would indicate the lapse of many 
 years between the execution of the two, even if we allow, 
 what was most probably the case, that the head of Julius 
 was engraved during the last years of the Dictator, and for
 
 SECT. IT. CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT GEM-ENGIIAVERR. 237 
 
 his special use as a private signet. The native country of 
 Dioscorides is known from the inscription on the Minerva of 
 the Prince di Avella at Naples, which runs thus : " Eutyches, 
 son of Dioscorides of Aege, made this." This Aege was pro- 
 bably the town of that name in Aeolia of Asia Minor. 4 
 
 Hyllus, known to us by his grand Dionysiac Bull, treated 
 in a style similar to the type of the autonomous coins of 
 Sybaris, may for this very reason be placed among the artists 
 anterior to the Koman empire. 
 
 Of Antiochus the date is quite unknown. The Head of 
 Sabina, ascribed to him by Bracci, does in reality read 
 Antiochis, the name of the lady it represents. To the age of 
 Septimius Severus we may safely assign Gauranus, Carpus, 
 and Apelles, absurdly read Apsalus by Stosch. 
 
 Amongst those earlier than the reign of Augustus we may 
 reckon Apollodotus, for his style, though not altogether accu- 
 rate, is yet of considerable simplicity ; Plutarchus, on account 
 of the beauty of the characters of his signature on his cameo 
 at Florence, a design also treated with considerable talent ; 
 and Teucer, on account of the purity of his style. Caecas is but 
 the false reading of Cascae, the owner's name. Lucius, from 
 his name, belongs to imperial times. 
 
 To return to Roman artists belonging to the Greek school, 
 
 4 This form of the artist's signa- bear in mind the versatility of ge- 
 ture upon a gem is quite without nius of the old artists, as well as 
 precedent. Visconti appears to en- rare occurrence of the name ; the 
 tertain no doubt of its authenticity, same peculiarity of spelling occurs 
 but it seems to me to have been sug- in this also as upon the gems, where 
 gested to some Italian gem-improver we always find Dioscourides, not 
 by the inscription on the splendid Dioscorides. As the early mosaics 
 mosaic found at Pompeii in 1764, were principally composed of tesserae 
 representing a comic scene, ' Dios- of hard stones, and not exclusively 
 corides of Samos made this.' This of glass, like those of Byzantine date, 
 picture is the very perfection of the there is a kind of relationship be- 
 art of the mosaic worker, and may tween mosaic and the art of gem- 
 be assigned with some confidence to engraving, by which he subsequently 
 the great engraver himself if we became illustrious.
 
 238 
 
 ART, STYLES OF. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 such as Quintus, Aulus, and Gnaeus. The finest works of the 
 last are his young Hercules, his Cleopatra, one in the Strozzi, 
 the other in the Kircherian Collection at iiome. Both are 
 examples of most exquisite skill. His Juno Lanuviua, or 
 Head of Hercules covered with the liide of the Bull of Mara- 
 thon, is indeed an antique intaglio, but the name Gnaeus is 
 a forgery of Ant. Pikler. 
 
 Of the period of the Lower Empire, the famous Sapphire of 
 Constantius, published by Ducange, is now in the Einuccini 
 Cabinet at Florence. To this epoch must be assigned Chaere- 
 mon, Phocas, Nicephorus, and Zosimus, if indeed the works 
 bearing these names are originals, and not copies of more 
 ancient gems. As for the names themselves, they afford no 
 argument as to the date of the artists, having been borne in 
 the early as well as in the later times of Greece. 
 
 The large size and beauty of the pieces of Sardonyx used 
 for the Byzantine camei representing Scriptural subjects, is a 
 proof that the decay of the empire had not rendered these 
 stones more rare or more difficult to procure a fact con- 
 firming the opinion that the supply of this material came 
 from India, with which a very active trade was kept up during 
 the whole period of the Greek empire. 
 
 The Julius of Dicecorides. ?ard. 
 
 THE ANTIQUE GEMS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 
 
 These hidden treasures of the great National Collection, a 
 portion of its contents so highly interesting and yet so little
 
 SECT. II. ANTIQUE GEMS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 239 
 
 known, may be briefly noticed in this place, inasmuch as 
 amongst them will be found some gems inscribed with the 
 signature of the artist, which may be ranked amongst the 
 finest in existence. The collection is small in point of 
 numbers, consisting of about 500 rings and unset stones; 
 the former arranged in five cases and mounted in gold, with 
 some few in silver settings. They come from the bequests 
 of Townley, Payne Knight, and Cracherode ; the collection 
 of the latter containing indeed no work of very great im- 
 portance, but still characterised throughout by his usual 
 excellent taste in the selection of nothing but what is to be 
 admired either for the elegance of the subject or the beauty 
 of its execution ; or lastly, for the fine quality of the stone 
 itself. For example, to take a single instance in this casket, 
 an Emerald, engraved with a Cupid teasing a goose with a 
 bunch of grapes, is" in every respect the most charming 
 intaglio that can be possibly imagined, and equally graceful 
 is the Cupid mounted on a dolphin, cut on a fine Aqua- 
 marine. 
 
 But the Townley gems number in their ranks some half 
 dozen intagli not to be surpassed by any in the most famous 
 cabinets of Europe. First among these is the Julius Csesar 
 of Dioscorides, a front-face portrait on Sard, the brows 
 encircled with a laurel wreath (its leaves of unusual size) the 
 face full of life and energy, but hard-featured, haggard, and 
 expressed with all the unflattering fidelity of a photograph ; 
 and evidently taken but shortly before the close of his life. 
 The name of Dioscorides is engraved at the side in the most 
 minute and elegant characters, indubitably of the same time 
 as the intaglio itself. Far superior to this in beauty of 
 subject, though yielding to it in historical importance, is the 
 front-face bust of an empress, probably Livia in the character 
 of Abundantia, with veiled head, and holding a cornucopia
 
 240 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 It bears the letters Em, and therefore is with little doubt 
 from the hand of Epitynchanus, the author of the famous 
 head of Germanicus, in the Paris Cabinet. The stone is a 
 fine dark Amethyst. Perseus standing and holding the harpe 
 in one hand, in the other the Gorgon's head, upon a large 
 Sard, is a figure of careful and minute finish. Of Aspasius we 
 find here two works: the first, a full-face of the bearded 
 Bacchus on red Jasper, very deeply cut, and of the most 
 vigorous execution ; the name inscribed in small neat letters 
 across the breast of the bust. The work is worthy of the age 
 of Augustus ; still there is something in the aspect of the 
 stone itself that appears to tell against its antiquity. The 
 other intaglio by the same artist, representing an Athenian 
 warrior supporting a dying Amazon, her shield and battle-axe 
 cast on the ground, is an exquisite design of high finish, upon 
 Amethyst. A full -face portrait of a young man (apparently 
 one of the family of Augustus) by Aelius, upon a Sard, is an 
 admirable work, both for expression and execution, and 
 undoubtedly antique. Cupid advancing to the rescue of 
 Psyche caught by the foot in a trap, engraved by Pamphilus 
 on a most splendid ruby coloured Sard, is a lovely compo- 
 sition, but is either the work of some eminent Italian artist 
 of modern times, or else the stone has been re-polished ; for 
 it certainly does not present an antique surface. There is 
 also an intaglio by Heius ; the work, though antique, is by no 
 means of the archaic style characterising the famous Diana 
 by the same artist, which Visconti considered to be the 
 oldest gem in existence inscribed with the engraver's name. 
 Heius however was a common name among the Sicilian 
 Greeks, and may have been borne by more artists than one, 
 and at different dates. A head of a laughing faun (strongly 
 resembling the portrait of John Wilkes), a face beaming with 
 mirth and mischief, by Ammonius, whose signature, cut in
 
 SECT. II. ANTIQUE GEMS OF THE BEITISH MUSEUM. 241 
 
 the finest characters and close to the edge of the gem, is 
 almost imperceptible, closes this list of inscribed intagli. 
 The Jacinth, on which beams forth this embodiment of fun 
 and frolic, is the most splendid stone of the kind for colour 
 and lustre that has ever come in my way. 
 
 Many also of the uninscribed intagli are equal to any of 
 the above in artistic merit. Worthy of special notice 
 amongst these, is a sacred hawk, on Sard, in the Greco- 
 Egyptian style, and though of smaller size, by no means 
 inferior in execution to the famous gem of the same subject 
 in the Berlin Cabinet, an intaglio always quoted as the 
 masterpiece of that period of the art. Another, of the 
 highest interest to numismatists, is a Sard engraved with the 
 human-headed bull with the legend TEAAS in the field, done 
 in a very ancient manner, and exactly resembling the type 
 of the early coins of that city. A Medusa'^ head in profile is 
 of uncommon merit. A female sacrificing to Priapus is 
 equally remarkable for the beauty of the execution, and for 
 the singularity of the design. This part of the collection 
 also boasts of many fragments of gems of extraordinary 
 dimensions, and still preserving portions of engravings whose 
 wonderful beauty only serves to make us the more feel the 
 irreparable loss of the entire work. I may single out for 
 particular mention a large brown Sardonyx, bearing the 
 lower portion of an exquisite female profile, backed by a head 
 of Ammon, which has apparently formed the neck-piece of 
 the helmet originally covering the head of the goddess ; a 
 work in very flat relief, and of the best Greek period. 
 Another preserves a portion of the portrait of Caracalla, of 
 the size of his largest medallions, and most characteristic and 
 life-like in the expression of his truculent physiognomy. 
 
 The collection is also peculiarly rich in Gnostic gems, most 
 of the finest examples that have been published at various 
 times (many of them of a degree of excellence in point of art 
 
 R
 
 242 ART, STYLES OF. SKCT. II. 
 
 far beyond any that I had met with elsewhere), having 
 gradually found their way from different cabinets into this 
 haven of unbroken rest. Of these, as well as of that rarest 
 class of them all, the intagli of orthodox Christian origin, 
 a detailed notice will be made under the proper heads. 
 
 The scarabei likewise are of especial interest, both for sub- 
 jects and materials ; as regards the latter point, may be noticed 
 one quite unique, being formed out of a Carbuncle of the 
 most perfect quality, and hardly to be distinguished from the 
 finest Ruby. 
 
 Hydraulis. Plasma. 
 
 As for gems still retaining their antique settings this 
 collection cannot be matched by any in Europe : it certainly 
 surpasses in this department those of the Uffizi and of the 
 Museo Borbonico. Here too, in accordance with the general 
 rule, the artistic merit of the gem is, in most instances, in the 
 inverse ratio to the value and singularity of the mounting. 
 One remarkable exception however must here be noted, a 
 magnificent intaglio of Hercules slaying the Hydra, very 
 deeply cut on a rich Sard, and set in a massy gold ring, of 
 the form fashionable during the Lower Empire. Another 
 intaglio of very fine work is to be seen set in a broad 
 bordered oval brooch, the surface of which is ornamented 
 with filigree arabesques in the most elegant Greek taste. 
 This unique example of the employment of an intaglio as the 
 decoration of a fibula was discovered in Sicily ; and both the 
 intaglio and its setting are evidently coeval, and date from 
 the most flourishing times of Syracusan art. The wonderful 
 lion-ring of the Princess di Canino, the masterpiece of the
 
 SECT. II. ANTIQUE GEMS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 248 
 
 Etruscan goldsmith, has lately been added to the list of these 
 treasures. I observed also a large and massy gold signet 
 with the device cut upon the metal, an undoubtedly authentic 
 instance of this much-forged class of antiques. Here also 
 is preserved one of the most tasteful adaptations of an 
 antique gem to mediaeval usages that has ever come under 
 my notice : a pretty bust on Sard, set in a gracefully shaped 
 ring of the fourteenth century, as appears from the Lombardic 
 legend surrounding the bizzel and covering the shank. Some 
 astrological emblems introduced upon the shoulders of the 
 ring plainly indicate its Italian origin. 
 
 The Camei of this collection although presenting none 
 of great importance for their volume, have yet several in 
 their number that deserve notice on account of their beauty 
 and their authenticity. Amongst these may be pointed out 
 as worthy of special consideration a head of Serapis, a front- 
 face, in half relief; profile portraits of Domitian and Julia 
 side by side ; and a fragment of an Europa on the Bull. 
 This last, together with the two horses, the remains of a 
 victory in a biga, surpass in spirited design and delicate 
 execution any antique works of this class that I have ever 
 examined. Another, a lion passant cut in low relief out of 
 the red layer of a Sardonyx, a highly finished work of the 
 best period of the art, has its value still further enhanced by 
 the letters LAVB MED. engraved upon the field; showing 
 that it had once formed part of the collection of Lorenzo dei 
 Medici. The stone, set in a ring, l^as its surface covered by a 
 glass like that of a watch, to protect it from injury : a proof 
 of the value set upon it by its first possessor. A gold snuff 
 box, presented by Pius VII to Napoleon at Tolentino, has the 
 lid set with an excellent antique cameo in flat relief on a 
 beautiful Onyx of several layers ; the subject, a young faun 
 riding on a goat, and expressed with much spirit and minute- 
 ness. This precious antique was doubtless selected to adorn 
 
 B 2
 
 244 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 the presentation box, as being held far superior in value to 
 the diamonds usually employed to ornament gifts of this 
 description. The number of loose scarabei of all varieties, 
 which unfortunately my time did not allow of my examining, 
 is very large, and is said to include many of the greatest 
 interest both for subject and for workmanship. The Baby- 
 lonian Cylinders, as might be expected in the Museum of the 
 nation par-eminence of Oriental travellers, form the most 
 complete and extensive collection as yet made of that class of 
 engraved stones ; and the same may be said of the Indian and 
 Persian stone seals lately displayed in the gallery containing 
 the antique glass. I also looked with much interest mingled 
 with amusement at the famous Flora, the Cameo which first 
 brought Pistrucci into notice, having been palmed off upon 
 Payne Knight and the first cognoscenti of his day as one of 
 the finest productions of ancient Greek art. It speaks little 
 for the practical knowledge of these collectors that they 
 should have been thus imposed on by this head ; for the very 
 first view of it would now cause it to be referred at best to no 
 earlier epoch than that of the Cinque-Cento school. The face, 
 broken off at the neck 2 to augment the colour of antiquity, 
 is very much under-cut, so as to be in three-quarters relief, 
 and the hair adorned with a garland of red roses, in execrable 
 taste and clearly stamping the date of its execution. In 
 other respects the work is fair enough, but certainly not 
 superior to the ordinary run of the camei of the Italian 
 Kenaissance ; and infinitely below the expectations I had 
 formed of so highly lauded a performance. 
 
 It were much to be desired that at least the camei, together 
 with the intagli on opaque stones accompanied by their casts 
 in plaster of Paris might be exhibited in the public part of 
 
 2 On this section of the neck setting, so as to be able at pleasure 
 Pistrucci is said to have engraved to claim the authorship of the 
 his name, which is concealed by the work.
 
 SECT. II. ANTIQUE GEMS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 245 
 
 the Museum, arranged under glass and close to its surface, as 
 is done in the Bibliotheque Imperiale. The work on the 
 transparent stones, it is true, cannot be well examined unless 
 the light be suffered to pass through them by an arrangement 
 for raising the cases in which they are fixed similar to that 
 adopted in the Museum at Naples, where, by turning a screw, 
 the trays can be raised or lowered so as to admit the light at 
 any angle required for the examination of the cutting. If 
 this, however, should be impracticable here from the want of 
 side windows in the public galleries, all amateurs would be 
 well content with the opportunity of inspecting these gems 
 merely ranged horizontally beneath the eye, if at the same 
 time provided with their impressions in plaster. 
 
 Mention may here be made of the Townley Pastes, amongst 
 which are some of the largest and most important examples 
 known of pieces of this kind ; one quite unique, inscribed with 
 the artist's name, and the Bonus Eventus already noticed, so 
 remarkable for its dimensions and the excellence and pecu- 
 liarity of its workmanship. These have lately been exposed 
 to the public view amongst the other specimens of antique 
 glass, and thus furnish an additional argument why their 
 more important prototypes in real gems should be drawn 
 from the obscurity in which they have been so long buried 
 that is to say, ever since the removal of the last portions of 
 the former Montague House, up to which time the cases 
 might be seen under glass in the room at the top of the back 
 stairs leading up to the old apartments of that mansion. 
 
 Cupid rescuing Psyche : by Patnp'uilus Sard
 
 24G 
 
 ART, STYLES OF, 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Hermes making Lyi 
 
 THE DEVONSHIKE GEMS. 
 
 This Collection was formed by William the third Duke of 
 Devonshire, during the first half of the last century; and, 
 augmented in its descent to the present possessor, now num- 
 bers upwards of five hundred gems, including some of the 
 finest antiques, both in cameo and in intaglio, as yet known 
 to the world. From this treasure, eighty-eight gems of the 
 most beautiful in material and the most interesting in sub- 
 ject, were selected by Mr. Hancock (whom I have to thank 
 for the permission to make a careful examination of the 
 suite), and mounted (with a delicacy of taste only surpassed 
 by the skill of the workmanship) in a complete set of orna- 
 ments, to be worn, for the first time, by the Countess of 
 Granville, lady of the English ambassador, at the coronation 
 of the present Emperor of Russia. This parure consists of 
 seven ornaments ; a Comb, a Bandeau, a Stomacher, a 
 Necklace, a Diadem, a Coronet, and a Bracelet. The 
 setting is an admirable reproduction of the elaborately 
 artistic style of the French Renaissance, most carefully 
 enamelled, and enriched with brilliants. The " motive," to 
 speak technically, of the whole design, was the original frame 
 of the portrait of Queen Elizabeth, executed by her own
 
 SECT. II. THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. 247 
 
 jeweller Hilliard, now forming the chief ornament (quite 
 in its pristine state) of the Diadem, into which it has been 
 introduced without the slightest alteration. The other stones, 
 I am informed, were all loose when selected to be employed 
 in carrying out this most fortunate idea, It was justly 
 observed at the time, " that Moore's oft quoted line, 
 
 ' Rich and rare were the gems she wore,' 
 
 never had a closer application than to the matchless parure 
 worn by the lady of our ambassador at the recent coronation 
 at Moscow. While others w r ere vieing in the splendour of 
 their jewels, in which the Russian imperial, princely, and 
 noble families are very rich, none attracted so much atten- 
 tion as the Countess of Granville, whose parure was the 
 triumph of art over mere material wealth. Others displayed 
 a perfect blaze of diamonds, but it was fo^; the English lady 
 to assert a higher splendour ; and if their jewels were the 
 more costly, hers were positively priceless. For while lost 
 diamonds may be replaced, each of these fine gems is unique, 
 and so far has the gem-engraver's art been lost, that there 
 exists no artist who could produce anything to compare with 
 the choice works of the Cinque-Cento period, much less with 
 the higher and more unattainable excellence of the best 
 times of ancient Greek or Roman art. It was a happy 
 thought of the Duke to have had constructed, out of this rich 
 store of art-treasures, a suite of personal decorations fit for 
 the adornment of queen or empress. To any one who has 
 not seen these exquisite ornaments, the impression likely to 
 be conveyed by imagining a series of cameos combined in 
 a necklace for instance is, that it would be somewhat mono- 
 tonous and heavy. Nothing can be farther from the fact ; 
 and we were especially gratified with three of its features, 
 the admirable harmony with diversity of colour giving a
 
 248 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 peculiarly soft and mellow tone to the ensemble, the agree- 
 able forms of contour selected, and the exceedingly light and 
 elegant mountings, wholly free from heaviness or dullness of 
 effect" 
 
 I shall now proceed to make a few remarks upon the most 
 important of these gems, following the order in which they 
 are numbered in the descriptive catalogue. 
 
 The Comb. No. 2 is a small and delicately worked cameo, 
 Head of Leander : an early work ; probably Greek. 
 
 No. 4. A portrait of Charles L, interesting as a specimen 
 of the decline of the newly revived art, and very rare. 
 
 No. 6. A large cameo ; bold antique work ; a Centaur 
 bearing a Bacchante on his back. 
 
 No. 7. The principal ornament of this piece is the famous 
 portrait intaglio of Sapor, on a beautiful Amethyst of un- 
 common dimensions ; the finest relic in existence of later 
 Persian art. The monarch appears with the usual stern 
 expression of face seen in all the Persian regal portraits, his 
 beard elaborately curled, his hair falling in long ringlets, 
 and his head covered with a tiara edged with pearls. Around 
 run two lines of well cut Pehlevi letters. 
 
 No. 8 is one of the finest camei of the collection : a Faun 
 balancing his youngster on his right foot. The attitudes of 
 the pair most natural, and the anatomical forms rendered 
 with the greatest knowledge and exactness. This is to all 
 appearance a work of the Greek period. The design is cut 
 in the white stratum upon a dark ground. 
 
 The Bandeau. Of this the central ornament is the far- 
 famed work of Dioscorides, known as " The Diomede, master 
 of the Palladium." The hero appears seated, with one leg 
 extended, and contemplating the statue placed on a cippus 
 before him. The intaglio, on a large red Sard, is in some- 
 what shallow relief, and certainly not equal in merit to the
 
 SECT. II. THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. 249 
 
 portraits by the same engraver. The signature of the artist 
 is, however, antique beyond all suspicion ; and for this 
 historical recommendation (another instance of the value of 
 a name), the stone was purchased, it is said, for 1000?. by 
 the founder of the collection. The characters are extremely 
 minute and well-formed, agreeing with those inscribed on 
 his portraits of Julius Csesar and of Maecenas. Probably 
 from the exaggerated idea one had conceived beforehand of 
 the transcendent excellence of this artist from the sight of 
 his heads (in which doubtless his forte lay), the first view of 
 this group is rather disappointing, although had it been 
 nameless it would present much to admire. 
 
 To keep fitting company with this most precious antique, 
 the other stones mounted in the bandeau have been selected 
 from those the most valuable in material of the whole 
 number employed. They are Oriental precious stones of 
 uncommon beauty, and are rather lessened than enhanced in 
 value by the work upon them, which (in accordance with the 
 usual rule) is always found the best on the cheapest stones, 
 when these are truly of antique date. 
 
 No. 8. A Sapphire of the most perfect quality, with a 
 head of Augustus ; a very deep intaglio, and apparently good 
 work of his period, certainly the finest stone of the kind I 
 have ever seen engraved upon. 
 
 And the same remark as to the quality of the stone will 
 apply to No. 11, a superb Emerald of extraordinary magni- 
 tude. It is cut into a full-faced Medusa's Head, in very high 
 relief, and is probably of Roman work. Nothing is more 
 difficult than to decide upon the antiquity of this class of 
 camei in the precious stones, the surfaces of which bid 
 defiance to the changes wrought by time in all the varieties 
 of the quartz species : but in this instance, besides the 
 extreme grandeur of the treatment and boldness of the lines,
 
 250 ART, STYLES OK. SECT. II. 
 
 it is hardly probable that any artist of the Renaissance would 
 have obtained from his patron an Emerald of such high in- 
 trinsic value (incomparably higher then than now), merely as 
 a material on which to display his skill, however great might 
 have been his reputation at the court of the Pope or Medici 
 of the period. 
 
 Nos. 12 and 14 are two Plasmas or Prases of Eoman work ; 
 one an intaglio of Serapis, the other of Venus Victrix. They 
 have probably been introduced for their colour's sake, being 
 fine specimens of that gem, and little inferior to the Emerald. 
 
 No. 15. A head of Silenus, full-face, on Jacinth, in very 
 high relief; a very spirited work, and the gem of the very 
 finest quality for tint and brilliancy. 
 
 No. 14. An intaglio, head of a youth, very deeply cut on 
 a pale octagonal Sapphire, is apparently an interesting 
 example of the style of the Lower Empire. 
 
 But No. 17 may claim the reputation of being the most 
 valuable intaglio, as far as its material is concerned, that 
 graces any cabinet of gems. It is a perfect Ruby of the 
 most delicious cerise colour, weighing, as nearly as can be 
 judged by the eye, three carats, and consequently of enor- 
 mous value as a precious stone. The Venus and Cupid 
 engraved upon it are deeply cut in the usual style of middle 
 Roman work, but the figures are of very mediocre execution, 
 and by no means compensate for the damage done to the 
 Ruby, in its character of an ornamental jewel, by the excision 
 of so much of its beauteous surface. The corresponding 
 stone, No. 9 (at the other extremity of the bandeau), is also 
 a Ruby, but of very inferior quality, yet the intaglio it bears, 
 a Faun's Head, is greatly superior to this in point of art, and 
 of much earlier date. 
 
 In the Stomacher the gems most deserving of attention 
 (where all is good) are,
 
 SECT. II. THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. ^5i 
 
 No. 23. A cameo, white on a d-irk ground, a Roman 
 Emperor seated on a throne, by the side of a female com- 
 pletely veiled, and presenting a sword to a warrior standing 
 before him. This group is usually explained as representing 
 Tiberius and Drusus, which, however, does not account for 
 the introduction of the veiled lady. A more probable con- 
 jecture of its meaning is that the investiture of Tiberius 
 with the tribunician power by his stepfather Augustus, in the 
 presence of Li via (who always appears veiled in her portraits), 
 is here expressed. As a work of art nothing can exceed this 
 cameo in accurate drawing and delicate finish. The figures 
 are kept in flat relief. 
 
 No. 24. A profile of Alexander ; white, on a pinkish ground, 
 in flat relief, and of a style nearly coeval with his times. 
 
 No. 25. An Europa carried upon the Bull, preceded and 
 followed by Tritons sounding their conchs^ at her feet are 
 dolphins, and in the rear are two Cupids, one seated on a 
 dolphin and carrying a crown ; in the background is a very 
 elaborate landscape ; all the figures are a pure white on a dark 
 ground. This cameo is a masterpiece of the Cinque- Cento 
 school in its fullest perfection; admirable in composition, 
 and exquisitely finished in every part : it is, in fact, a picture 
 worked out in an Onyx, and bears no resemblance in its 
 treatment to the simplicity of antique works in the same 
 material. 
 
 No. 26 is a very large intaglio of Mars, in Lapis-lazuli of 
 the finest colour, apparently a work of the Renaissance. 
 
 No. 29. Head of Minerva, the helmet ornamented with 
 the group of Leda and the Swan, of which the wings form 
 the crest of the helmet. A work full of the grotesque vigour 
 of the Florentine Cinque-Cento, and cut on a remarkably 
 beautiful Onyx, the brown and white layers of which have 
 been employed with the greatest skill, and produce a very
 
 252 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. 11. 
 
 striking effect, so that this cameo arrests the eye before any 
 of the other more important gems mounted in this ornament. 
 
 No. 30. A seated figure of Clotho with her distaff; a 
 cameo in high relief, and the body, completely nude, most 
 exquisitely modelled in the white stratum upon the dark 
 ground of an Onyx; this is evidently an antique of the 
 Grecian period. 
 
 No. 31. A large Sard intaglio, Ganymede feeding the 
 Eagle, is good Eoman work, on a splendid stone remarkable 
 for its size and richness of colour. 
 
 The Necklace is composed of twenty-one gems, set in 
 separate collets, and suspended from a plaited gold-chain, in 
 such a manner that a pair of intagli of a red colour (Sards 
 or Garnets) hang between each cameo, so as to afford the 
 required contrast of tints. Amongst these intagli I noticed 
 some apparently of exquisite work, and fine Greek gems. 
 The camei, more easily examined than these, of which the 
 delicate mounting renders the taking impressions impossible, 
 present the following interesting gems. 
 
 No. 36. A portrait of Queen Elizabeth, white on a dark 
 ground ; the hair, edges of the ruff, and ornaments on the 
 dress, are rendered in a brown layer. This is ascribed, with 
 justice, to Coldore, and is quite in the style of the latest 
 Cinque-Cento camei, the bust being in high relief, and the 
 projections very much rounded off and polished. 
 
 No. 39. A Venus and Satyr, of the Cinque-Cento, a very 
 beautiful Onyx, the pinky layers of which have been used 
 with great effect for the flesh of the figures. 
 
 No. 41. A Venus Victrix ; a beautiful antique. 
 
 No. 42. Portrait of Tiberius, forming the centre of the 
 necklace. A fine Roman gem : the head is white on a dark 
 ground ; the laurel wreath, and the border surrounding the 
 canieo, are brown ; outside the border is an Arabic inscription,
 
 SECT. IT. THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. 253 
 
 with the name of Alnaser Abu Saadal Mahamraed, a Mam- 
 luk prince of Cairo about 1496. 
 
 No. 48, a most interesting cameo, is a portrait of 
 Edward VI., full face, in flat relief, white on a dark ground, 
 the cap and dress brown. The work is very delicate, and 
 the Sardonyx one of the finest quality. The reverse has the 
 same portrait in intaglio. 
 
 No. 51, another excellent Cinque-Cento work, is Mutius 
 Scsevola brought before Porsenna. The group consists of 
 the king, Scsevola, and two warriors, and is cleverly executed 
 in white on a dark ground. 
 
 Of the Diadem, also set with twenty-one stones, intagli and 
 camei, the most attractive are, 
 
 No. 57. A cameo bust, white on a dark ground, of Queen 
 Elizabeth, still set in the original enamelled locket, and 
 containing, at the back, two much faded^ miniatures, by 
 Hilliard, of the queen and of the Earl of Leicester. There is 
 little doubt that this ornament was worn by the queen her- 
 self. The cameo is as usual ascribed to Valerio Belli, II 
 Vicentino ; who, by the way, died in 1546, or twelve years 
 before Elizabeth's accession, and who besides never was in 
 England. It is very likely to be a work of Coldore, who is 
 known to have executed portraits of Elizabeth for his master 
 Henry IV. ; for its treatment is altogether in the style of 
 his period, not in the early and stiff manner of II Vicentino's 
 age. 
 
 No. 63, the principal or centre-piece of the diadem, may 
 rank as one of the most beautiful antique camei in existence. 
 The subject is a Victory in her car, and rarely has an Onyx 
 of so fine a quality had all its capabilities brought into 
 employment with such exquisite skill. Victory herself is 
 formed in the blue stratum, her drapery in the brown ; one 
 of the horses is of a bluish tinge, the other brown and white
 
 254 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 with the mane blue. The work is in very flat relief, so as 
 to take advantage of the extreme tenuity of the coloured 
 strata of the stone ; and is, besides, of so smooth and polished 
 a surface, as to produce the effect of enamels fused upon a 
 dark ground, rather than that of a design worked out of so 
 obdurate a substance. On the back of the Onyx a Cinque- 
 Cento artist has engraved a Eiver god, the Arno ; a clever 
 performance, and affording a useful comparison, as regards 
 its treatment and mechanical execution, with the matchless 
 Greek work on the other face of the stone. This gem also 
 retains its enamelled Florentine setting. 
 
 No. 66, admirable for its historic interest, rarity, and 
 workmanship, represents busts of Henry VIII. and his three 
 children ; worked out in the flat and minute manner of the 
 early portrait camei already treated of. The king is re- 
 presented in full face, a most characteristic likeness ; his 
 children in profile. The figures are in white on a dark 
 ground, the ornaments of the caps and dresses in brown, 
 according to the usual practice of this early school. It would 
 be highly interesting to ascertain if any Italian artist, capable 
 of executing so excellent a performance, ever visited England 
 in this reign ; or if these portraits w T ere done after miniatures 
 transmitted by Henry to Paris or to Florence. 3 
 
 Of the intagli set in the diadem, three are heads of 
 Socrates, one of Greek the others of Eoman work, showing 
 how plentiful were the portraits of this philosopher in every 
 age of the ancient world. 
 
 The Coronet is made up of smaller gems, principally intagli. 
 The camei introduced are all Heads, generally finely finished 
 and antique performances, of which the best is the bust of 
 
 3 At present the Roman cameo- for brooches, bracelets, &c., after pho- 
 cutters, Saolini for example, produce tographic likenesses sent to them as 
 very faithful portrait-camei in shell models from distant countries.
 
 SECT. II. CONSPECTUS OF EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS. 255 
 
 Clytie, No. 74. One intaglio deserves particular notice, a 
 Head of Hercules on Lapis-lazuli, No. 79, a gem of the best 
 Eoman style, but which, at a later period, has been converted 
 into an amulet, by engraving on the reverse a scarabeus and 
 the sacred name ABPASAS, as was common in the fifth century. 
 The front of the Bracelet is set with three red stones. Of 
 these the centre one is a Carbuncle of extraordinary size, and 
 of the richest colour, but engraved, in the usual rude Eoman 
 manner of the work in this material, with a Muse tuning her 
 lyre. At each side are Cinque-Cento busts in half relief on 
 smaller stones, one a Carbuncle the other a Sard, selected 
 for their beauty of colour, and which harmonise admirably 
 with the magnificent centre gem. 
 
 Roma holding a torques. Spotted Sard. 
 
 A CONSPECTUS OF THE PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN 
 COLLECTIONS. 
 
 FRENCH COLLECTION. (CLARAC.) 
 
 Many of the finest gems of the Cabinet des Antiques have 
 been in France from time immemorial ; or at least the dates 
 at which they were brought, and the names of the persons
 
 256 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 to whom they are due, are still subjects of dispute. The 
 greatest portion of them proceed from the munificence of the 
 various kings of France, and from the travels undertaken at 
 their command; others were presents made to themselves, 
 and given by them to the public : many also are the fruits of 
 conquest. St. Louis, as well as others of the Crusader princes, 
 brought back some of them from the East. The covers of 
 their Missals, and of their choice MSS., were adorned with 
 them, a few of which are still preserved. Charles V., and his 
 brother the Due de Berri, were passionately fond of jewels, 
 and their treasuries were extremely rich both in engraved 
 gems and in precious stones, as may be seen from the curious 
 inventory of the jewels of Charles V., existing in the 
 Bibliotheque Eoyale. Francis I., to whom France owes 
 so many masterpieces of antique sculpture (procured by his 
 orders in Italy through his agents Primaticcio and Cellini), 
 and who, as Vasari phrases it, had made another Rome of 
 Fontainebleau, drew also out of Italy and other countries 
 an immense number of engraved gems, for which he paid 
 vast prices. Thus the taste for them was diffused amongst 
 his courtiers : they adorned the arms, the chains, the caps, 
 the doublets of the warriors, and served for the embellish- 
 ment of the dresses of the ladies of the court and of the 
 nobility. Henri II. and Catherine dei Medici followed the 
 example of Francis I. ; and the latter queen had brought 
 with her from Florence a quantity of fine engraved stones. 
 It was Charles IX. who first united them in one collection 
 in the Louvre, and formed there the Cabinet of Antiquities, 
 which, having been plundered and dispersed shortly after, 
 was no longer in existence at the accession of Henri IV. 
 This great prince re-established it; he summoned from 
 Provence a learned antiquary, M. de Bigarris, with the 
 intention of purchasing the large collection of medals and
 
 SECT. IT. CONSPECTUS OF EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS. iJ57 
 
 gems made by this amateur, in order to unite it to the 
 remains of the former royal collection at Fontainebleau, 
 where the royal library was then kept. This design was 
 postponed in consequence of the death of this prince, and 
 was not resumed until the reign of Louis XIV. His uncle, 
 Gaston d'Orleans, had bequeathed him his own collection,, 
 including, amongst other antiquities, a considerable number 
 of gems coming partly from that of the president De Memes, 
 a selection out of the t\vo thousand engraved stones got to- 
 gether by Louis Chaduc in Italy. This cabinet was at first 
 deposited in the Louvre ; Colbert, in 1664, replaced it in the 
 Bibliotheque Royale. Louis XIV. purchased antique gems 
 from all quarters, including the collection of Gualdi, and 
 lhat formed in the East by M. de Monceaux. Louvois, in 
 1684, removed the cabinet of gems and medals to Versailles, 
 and appointed M. de Carcavy keeper of Mt. Louis XIV. 
 often amused himself with the examination of these treasures, 
 and added to them the collections of M. de Harlai, of 31. 
 Oursel, and of Thomas le Comte. M. de Rainssant, keeper 
 of the cabinet at Versailles, also made some important 
 additions to the number ; and this care, after his death, was 
 followed up by Oudinet, deceased 1712, Simon (1719), and 
 afterwards by C. de Boze. Towards the end of the seventeenth 
 century Louis XIV. had made the purchase of the splendid 
 collection of Lauthier of Aix, in Provence, formed with great 
 taste, and under the direction of the learned Peiresc, whose 
 own gems Lauthier had purchased. Now also Louis XIV. 
 bought the cabinet of Bagarris, formerly treated for by 
 Henri IV., as already noticed. The famous signet of M. 
 Angelo belonged to the Lauthier Collection. The various 
 travels, in the interest of science, of Nointel, Lucas, De la 
 Croix, and Vaillant, all undertaken at the expense of this 
 sovereign, and at an enormous cost, greatly contributed to 
 
 s
 
 258 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IJ. 
 
 enrich the Cabinet of Antiquities. It was still further 
 augmented by the purchase of the medals of Pellerin in 
 1775 ; by the bequest of the collection of Caylus, and by the 
 acquisition of those of Fourcault ; and by the union of that 
 of St. Genevieve in 1796. The total number of the gems is 
 1388, thus classified: 
 
 634 Tntagli, of which 160 are heads ; 474 various subjects. 
 
 139 Camei of the Greek School : 66 heads ; 73 various subjects. 
 
 58 Camei of the Roman: 51 heads; 7 various subjects. 
 
 172 Modem Intagli (suspected) : 99 heads; 73 subjects. 
 
 33 Modern Intagli : 12 heads; 21 subjects. 
 
 93 Camei, supposed modern, of Roman portraits. 
 
 63 Camei, subjects from modern history. 
 
 16 Camei of devotional subjects. 
 
 57 Camei of various subjects. 
 
 9 Mediaeval Camei : 2 heads ; 7 various subjects. 
 
 Amongst these the names present themselves of the 
 engravers, Dioscorides, Evodus, Glycon, Gnaeus, Hyllus, 
 Midias, Pamphilus, Panaeus, Aulus (the last modern). The 
 intagli of this cabinet are distinguished for the beauty of the 
 material as much as by the variety of their subjects. Many 
 of them hold the first rank among antique engraved gems, 
 such are the Achilles Citharedus of Pamphilus, the 
 Dionysiac Bull of Hyllus, the Julia Titi of Evodus, formerly 
 belonging to St. Denis, and the signet of M. Angelo. And 
 as regards camei, nothing can be cited as surpassing in 
 volume of the stone and in excellence of workmanship the 
 following : the Apotheosis of Augustus (known as the Agate 
 of the Sainte-Chapelle, brought to France by Baldwin II. in 
 1244) ; the Apotheosis of Germauicus, which came from 
 Constantinople, and was treasured for seven hundred years 
 in the convent of St. Evre at Tours, until presented to 
 Louis XIV. in 1684 ; the Augustus, the Annius Verus, the
 
 SECT. IT. CONSPECTUS OB' EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS. 259 
 
 Jupiter of the cathedral of Chartres, and the vase of Sar- 
 donyx, designated as the vase of Ptolemy, or of St. Denis. 
 
 BERLIN. 
 
 The immense collection of Berlin (by far the largest 
 existing) is formed out of the united cabinets of the Elector 
 of Brandenburg, of the Margrave of Anspach, of Stosch (in 
 number 3544 stones and pastes, purchased by Frederick 
 the Great for 30,000 ducats), of Bartoldy (entirely antique 
 pastes), and of later acquisitions, forming the enormous total 
 of 4490 stones and 848 pastes. Of these are classified 3634, 
 being the intagli alone, as follows : 
 
 1. Egyptian and Oriental : gems 165 ; pastes 31. 
 
 2. Etruscan and Early Greek : gems 151 ; pastes 30. 
 
 3. Greek and Eoman Eeligion : gems 1141 ; pastes 355. 
 
 4. Monuments, heroes : gems 263 ; pastes 172. 
 
 5. Historical subjects : gems 190 ; pastes 70. 
 
 6. Ancient domestic life : gems 138 ; pastes 71. 
 
 7. Arms, vases, instruments, masks : gems 297 ; pastes 66. 
 
 8. Animals: gems 316; pastes 47. 
 
 9. Inscriptions, Abraxas: gems 125; pastes 6. 
 
 Of these 316 gems and 115 pastes present heads, and 2470 
 gems and 733 pastes, various subjects. Amongst them occur 
 the artists' names of Agathangelus, Agathopus, Alexa- 
 Apollonides, Aulus, Craterus, Diocles, Diodorus, Deuton, 
 G-naeus, Hellenus, Hermaiscus, Hyllus, Seleucus, Solon. 
 
 The finest gems, to the number of 1100, are mounted in 
 gold, the rest in silver. Of stones retaining their antique 
 settings there are 65, twenty-five of which are rings. Set in 
 silver antique rings are 9, in bronze 15, in iron 26, in lead 1. 
 By the side of each intaglio is placed a cast from it in plaster, 
 the only mode of facilitating the study of the beauties or 
 defects of an engraving when it can only be examined, but 
 
 s 2
 
 260 ARTS, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 not be taken in the hand. From Berlin this plan was 
 introduced into the collection of the Bibliotheque at Paris. 
 
 FLORENCE. 
 
 The collection commenced by Lorenzo grew up under the 
 patronage of the succeeding princes of the Medici family, 
 especially of Cosmo III., until it has attained the number, 
 according to Maffei, of nearly three thousand gems. Besides 
 many camei of rare beauty, it possesses 14 heads or busts 
 in full relief, in Turqnois, Agate, Sardonyx, and Lapis-lazuli. 
 The names, supposed of artists, occur on 23 intagli and 2 
 camei. 
 
 Gori, in the 'Museum Florentinuni,' has described 1010 
 intagli and 181 camei, of those most valuable for art or 
 subject in this collection. 
 
 a 
 
 Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds. 
 
 ITALIAN COLLECTIONS. 
 
 The Strozzi Cabinet contained, says Visconti, a larger 
 number of first-class works than any other of the same nature. 
 Amongst them was the Hercules of Gnaeus, the Medusa of 
 Solon, that of Sosthenes, the Esculapius of Aulus, the Ger- 
 manicus of Epitynchanus, the Muse of Allion, and the Satyr 
 of Scylax ; and many others without names but of the very 
 highest merit. This cabinet was attached, by the will of its 
 founder, to the Palazzo Strozzi at Rome, whence it could not
 
 SECT. II. MODERN GEM-ENGRAVERS. 261 
 
 be removed without the penalty of forfeiture. It is now 
 dispersed, but the best gems have passed into the Blacas 
 Collection. The Ludovisi gems, belonging to the Prince di 
 Piombino, include many of great value, both antique and 
 Cinque-Cento works, but its chief glory is the Demosthenes 
 of Dioscorides. A set of casts of 68 of the finest are procur- 
 able at Borne. 
 
 The Cavalier Azara, Spanish minister, possessed (1796) a 
 collection formed by himself at great cost and with much 
 intelligence, and rich in many camei and intagli, valuable 
 either for instruction or for their workmanship. 
 
 The Vatican Collection, though accumulated more by means 
 of chance acquisitions than by selection, includes many 
 examples of gems of great volume and of excessive rarity. 
 The catalogue prepared by Visconti for publication, but un- 
 fortunately lost, filled two folio volumes, wljich may give an 
 idea of the great riches of this collection, access to which is 
 so difficult to be obtained that few visitors of the Vatican are 
 aware of its existence. 
 
 MODEEN GEM-ENGEAVERS. 
 
 (Principally abridged from Mariette, 'Pierres Gravees,' I. 114.) 
 
 The earliest artist in this line, mentioned by Vasari, is 
 G-iovanni dette Carniole, who worked at Florence, under the 
 patronage of Lorenzo dei Medici, in the latter quarter of 
 the fifteenth century. His masterpiece was a head of Fra 
 Savonarola, cut upon a large Carnelian. 7 
 
 Domenico dei Camei had engraved at Milan a portrait of 
 
 7 Mertens-Schaafhausen Collec- of the time of the Medici. Hieron. 
 tion, B. 180, Carnelian. Bust of a Savonarola ? (Is this the gem men- 
 Monk ; on the right the letter |, on tioned by Vasari ?) 
 the left S> Gothic form. Fine work
 
 262 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 Ludovico II Moro, on a Balais Ruby, ten lines in diameter, 
 about this period, or a little later. 
 
 Pietro Maria, da Pescia in Tuscany, worked at Eome for 
 Leo X. He was the friend of M. Angelo. 
 
 Michelino also flourished there at the same time. 
 
 Matteo del Benedetti, died 1523, was a celebrated gem- 
 engraver of Bologna, and is praised by Achillini in his 
 ' Viridario.' 
 
 Francia the painter, of the same city, is also said to have 
 worked in this line. 
 
 Marc. Attio Moretti also flourished there about 1495. He 
 is praised by Achillini, and invited by lo. Baptist Pio, in a 
 Latin elegy (1509), -to engrave the portrait of his Chloris. 
 
 Caradosso of Milan, and his assistant Furnius of Bologna, 
 are placed by Pomponius Gauricus (at the beginning of the 
 sixteenth century) on a level with Pyrgoteles and Dioscorides. 
 
 Severo da Eavenna is however set above all others by this 
 writer, who styles him sculptor, scalptor, cselator. He is pro- 
 bably the scholar of Marc. Antonio who engraved the copper- 
 plates with the monogram s. E. 
 
 Leonardo da Milano, mentioned with praise by Camillo 
 Leonardo, is probably Da Vinci, the universal genius who, 
 besides goldsmith's work, may have tried his powers in this 
 branch of art. 8 
 
 Jacopo Tagliacarne of Geneva is supposed to have engraved 
 the numerous portraits of Genoese nobles of that age, which 
 it was then the fashion to use as seals. 
 
 Henri Engelhart of Xurnberg, a friend of A. Durer's, was 
 famous for engraving coats-of-arms on gems. 
 
 Gio. Bernardi di Castel Bolognese, engraved for Duke 
 
 8 I have seen an enamelled pen- certainly does bear his usual moiio- 
 dant jewel ascribed to Da Vinci ; it gram.
 
 SECT. II. MODERN GEM-ENGRAVERS. 2G3 
 
 Alfonso of Ferrara the attack on the Fort of Bastia, where the 
 latter had been dangerously wounded. He also cut the dies 
 for the medals of the same prince. Paulus Jovius persuaded 
 him to go to Eome, where he was patronised by the Cardinal 
 Ippolito dei Medici and Clement VII., for whom he executed 
 several medals, highly commended by Cellini himself, as well 
 as many intagli on gems. After the death of the Cardinal 
 in 1535, he entered the service of Cardinal Alessandro 
 Farnese, grandson of Paul III., for whom he executed nume- 
 rous intagli, chiefly in Rock Crystal, in which he worked with 
 great facility. Some of these are still to be seen (1750) set 
 in a cross and two candlesticks of silver, presented by the 
 Cardinal to St. Peter's. On the foot of each are three circular 
 intagli representing different scenes from the life of Christ, 
 the designs for which were probably furnished by the painter, 
 Perin del Vago. His best pieces were a Tityus torn by the 
 Vulture, now in the Strozzi Cabinet, and the Fall of Phaeton, 
 both made for Cardinal Ippolito from the designs of M. Angelo. 
 Another celebrated work of his was his portrait of the Duchess 
 Margaret of Austria, wife of Ottavio Farnese. He died (1555) 
 at Faenza, whither he had retired upon his fortune : aged 
 sixty. 
 
 Matteo del Nazaro of Verona worked in France for Francis I. 
 He had been pupil of Avanzi and Mondella, both Veronese 
 gem-engravers, the former of whom was famed at Rome for 
 his camei and Carnelian intagli ; and a Nativity by him, on 
 Lapis-lazuli, had been sought after by Isabella Gonzaga. 
 Duchess of Urbino, the first patroness of Raffaele. Matteo's 
 first work of note was a Crucifixion on Bloodstone, so managed 
 that the spots of the stone represented the blood issuing from 
 the wounds, and which became the property of Isabella d'Este 
 of Mantova. At the French Court he chiefly engraved camei, 
 the fashionable ornament of the day. A head of Deianira by
 
 264 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 him was greatly admired, in which the various layers of the 
 Agate gave the different colours of the flesh, the hair, and 
 the lion's hide drawn over her head. He also executed for 
 Francis a portable Oratory adorned with numerous gems, and 
 bas-reliefs and statuettes in gold. He set so high a value on 
 his works that he gave them away as presents rather than 
 submit to what he considered too low an offer ; and is said to 
 have broken to pieces a fine cameo which had not been 
 accepted by a nobleman under such circumstances. After 
 the battle of Pavia he returned to Verona with his fortune ; 
 but was recalled to Paris by Francis immediately upon the 
 recovery of his freedom, was made Head Engraver to the Mint, 
 and died at Paris soon after the King, in 1547. 
 
 GHo. Giacomo Caraglio, also of Verona, at first a copperplate 
 engraver, then of gems and medals ; worked for Sigismond I., 
 King of Poland, in 1539, at whose court he was still living 
 in 1569. 
 
 Valeria dei Belli, II Vicentino, engraved equally carnei and 
 intagli on all kinds of gems ; but, according to the fashion of 
 the age, his most numerous works are on Kock Crystal. He 
 also cut dies for medals, both modern and copies of the 
 antique. He was looked upon as the head of the numerous 
 engravers who flourished at Rome under Clement VII., before 
 the sack of that city. This Pope paid him 2000 gold scudi 
 for the Crystal coffer adorned with scenes from the Passion, 
 and which he presented to Francis I. at his interview with 
 him at Marseilles on the occasion of the marriage of his niece 
 Caterina dei Medici to the Dauphin. Besides this, a cross 
 and several Crystal vases by this artist were presented to the 
 church of San Lorenzo at Florence by Clement. He after- 
 wards was employed by Paul III. and the Cardinal Farnese. 
 No engraver has ever been so industrious or so expeditious as 
 Valerio, and his works were long employed as models by all
 
 SECT. II. MODERN GEM-ENGRAVERS. 265 
 
 the Italian goldsmiths. He retired to Vicenza with an ample 
 fortune, but continued to work at his profession down to the 
 very close of his life in 1546. A daughter also of his had 
 been instructed by him in the art, in which she attained con- 
 siderable distinction. 
 
 Marmita the Elder, of Parma, a painter, engraved many 
 gems after the antique. Luigi Marmita, his son, however, 
 greatly surpassed him ; and in the service of Cardinal Salviati 
 at Home was distinguished at a period when nothing mediocre 
 would have passed muster there. His most famous work was 
 a cameo head of Socrates ; but he abandoned gem-engraving 
 for the more profitable trade of making dies for false antique 
 medals. 
 
 Domenico di Polo, of Florence, also a die-sinker, afterwards 
 engraved gems. He had been a pupil of Giovanni delle 
 Carniole. v 
 
 Nanni di Prospero delle Carniole is also named by Vasari 
 as a painter, " the son of Prospero the gem-engraver." 
 
 Luigi AnicJiini of Ferrara, but resident at Venice, a die- 
 sinker, engraved gems with the greatest delicacy and pre- 
 cision ; the smaller their size the more spirit did his intagli 
 display. 
 
 Alessandro Cesari, or Cesati (so called in Vasari, first edi- 
 tion), II Greco, surpassed the latter artist in the excellence of 
 his drawing. Besides coin-dies he also engraved innumerable 
 gems. M. Angelo considered his medal of Paul III. (reverse, 
 Alexander kneeling before the High Priest) as the very per- 
 fection of the art, beyond which it was impossible to advance. 
 Vasari names a portrait of Henri II., an intaglio on a Car- 
 nelian the size of a half-franc, made for Cardinal Farnese, as 
 one of his best works. M. Crozat possessed a cameo portrait 
 of the same king in very low relief, also on Carnelian, in- 
 scribed AAESANAPO2 EnoiEi. Vasari also praises his portraits
 
 2G6 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 of P. L. Farnese L)uke of Castro, his son Ottavio, and Car- 
 dinal Farnese : the last a head in gold on a silver ground. 
 Three camei are also commended a child, a lion, 9 and a 
 woman naked. But his masterpiece, according to Yasari, was 
 a cameo head of Phocion. This, in 1750, was in the collection 
 of Sig. Zanetti of Venice, and was still regarded as the most 
 exquisite of any works of that kind. 
 
 Criovanni Antonio del Rossi, a Milanese, engraved the largest 
 cameo known since antique times, being seven inches in dia- 
 meter, with portraits, three-quarters length, of Cosmo I., 
 Eleanora of Toledo, and all the princes and princesses of their 
 family. This work, says Vasari, established the reputation of 
 the artist, already known by a quantity of other engraved 
 gems. 
 
 Misuroni, Gasparo and Girolamo, and Jacomo da Trezzo, 
 all three Milanese, engraved both camei and intagli, but 
 chiefly worked at vases in Agate and Jasper. The last artist 
 was noted for the excellence of his portraits on gems. 
 Marietti cites an admirable head in relief, on Calcedony, of 
 Philip II., by whom he was brought to Madrid. He was 
 employed for seven years in making the Tabernacle of the 
 Escurial, of Agates, Jaspers, and other fine stones, all found 
 in Spain, and was allowed to place his name on the same line 
 with the King's in the dedicatory inscription on the socle of 
 the work. He is said even to have engraved on the diamond. 
 
 Clemente Birago, another Milanese, patronised by the same 
 monarch, has however a better claim to this honour. The 
 testimony of both Clusius the botanist (who had known him 
 during his stay in Spain in 1564), and of Lomazzo his country- 
 man, leave no doubt as to the truth of this fact. The work 
 
 9 In the Pulsky Cabinet is a most AAESANAPO2 EIIOIEI. Can this 
 singular intaglio, a lion in his den, be the gem praised by Vasari ? 
 full-faced, on a burnt onyx, inscribed
 
 SECT. II. MODERN GEM-ENGRAVERS. 267 
 
 was a portrait of Don Carlos, intended as a present to Anna, 
 daughter of Maximilian II., his betrothed bride. On another 
 diamond he also had engraved the arms of Spain for a seal, 
 for the same prince. 
 
 Tortorino and Criuliano Taverna, of Milan, are also named 
 by Lomazzo : the first as a good engraver of camei, the second 
 as a worker on Crystal. Even at the present day (1750) the 
 Milanese excel in the working of Crystal. 
 
 Annibal Montana, died at Milan 1587, was famous for his 
 camei and intagli, and made, for Wilhelm Elector of Bavaria, 
 a Crystal coffer, for which he received 6000 scudi. 
 
 Philippo, called Pippo Santa Croce, a shepherd boy, began 
 by carving groups on plum and cherry stones. Count Phil- 
 lipin Doria brought him to Genoa, had him instructed in 
 drawing, and thus he became an engraver in gems. 
 
 Antonio Dordoni of Busetto in Parma, diec^ 1584 at Kome, 
 is said to have held the first place among the gem-engravers 
 of that age. 
 
 Flaminius Natalis, probably of Liege, an admirable en- 
 graver of coats-of-arms, died at Rome 1596. 
 
 SEVENTEENTH CENTUKY. 
 
 The art now began to fade in Italy, but flourished in Ger- 
 many under the patronage of Rudolph II., of whose time an 
 infinity of vases in hard stones are preserved at Vienna, but 
 nearly all of Gothic and bizarre forms. The chief of his 
 artists were Lehman, who had the monopoly of engraving on 
 glass as a recompense for his discovery of that art; and 
 Miseron, created a noble and made keeper of the Imperial 
 Cabinet of Curiosities. His son Denis also worked for the 
 emperor Matthias. 
 
 Christopher Schwaiger, died 1600, aged sixty-eight, is com- 
 pared to Pyrgoteles for his talent in engraving, in the verses
 
 268 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 beneath his portrait by Luc Kiliau. He probably flourished 
 at Augsburgh. 
 
 But few names of Italian artists of this century are known, 
 yet an excellent portrait of Paul V., on Carneliau, set in a 
 ring, preserved in the Borghese Palace, proves that some 
 good masters still existed in his time. 
 
 Coldore however was indubitably the first engraver of the 
 century. He worked at Paris for Henri IV. and Louis XIII. 
 The portrait of the former he has repeated an infinite number 
 of times, both in intaglio and in cameo, and always with the 
 same finish and success as to the likeness. No figures by him 
 are known, his works being exclusively heads. He is said to 
 have been invited over to England by Queen Elizabeth, and 
 in the Crozat Collection is a cameo head of that princess on 
 Agate-Onyx, evidently by this artist. He is supposed to be 
 the same as the Julien de Fontenay mentioned in the Lettres- 
 patentes of December 22, 1608, as the king's valet and en- 
 graver in precious stones Coldore being a nickname derived 
 either from his dress or from his birthplace. A fine portrait 
 of Kichelieu, on a Siriam Garnet, in the Crozat Cabinet, is 
 probably of too late a date to be his work, and is besides in 
 somewhat too stiff a manner. 
 
 Maurice, father and son, and Jean Baptiste Certain, also 
 flourished under Louis XIII. 
 
 Borgognone worked at Florence for the Grand Duke about 
 1670. 
 
 Adoni, at Rome, principally engraved clasped hands for be- 
 trothal rings. 
 
 Rey, at the end of the century, had a great reputation at 
 Home as an engraver of all kinds of subjects on gems. They 
 speak with praise of his portrait of Carlo Albani, brother of 
 Clement XL, and of the seal of the Marchese Castel San 
 Vita
 
 SECT. IF. MODERN GEM-ENGRAVERS. 209 
 
 Juno, by John Picliler. 
 
 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Flavio Sirletti. died at Rome 1737, surpassed all modern 
 artists in the fineness of his touch, and approached the nearest 
 of all to the ancient Greek style. He excelled in portraits. 
 His best was one of Carlo Maratta, executed for Agostino 
 Masuccio, a scholar of that painter. His istagli represent- 
 ing antique statues the Hercules Farnese, the Apollo, the 
 Giustiniani Bacchus, and his Laocoon are excellent in draw- 
 ing and in finish. This last, on Amethyst, was bought by 
 Lord Besborough. He signed his works $. 2. Yettori pos- 
 sessed the last of his works, a Laughing Faun crowned with 
 ivy. His two sons, Francesco and Raimondo, followed the 
 same profession at Rome. 
 
 Costanzi, Giovanni and Carlo, in the year 1750, were the 
 most distinguished in this art at Rome. The elder, according 
 to Stosch, engraved the head of Nero on a Diamond for the 
 Prior Yaini. Carlo cut on the same gem a Leda, and a 
 head of Antinous for the King of Portugal. His style is 
 highly finished, neither too stiff nor too loose ; his drawing 
 correct, his portraits the flesh itself, and very like. Nothing 
 can be better for an intaglio than his portrait of the Cardinal 
 Spinola on an Agate-Onyx, though Mariette was assured that 
 his heads of the Pretender and of Carlo Rene Imperiali are quite
 
 270 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 equal to it. He has succeeded better than any of the moderns 
 in his copies of antique gems, and has frequently repeated his 
 head of Antinous. Many connoisseurs have been deceived by 
 his copies ; such, for instance, as that of the Strozzi Medusa, 
 made in 1729 for the Cardinal Polignac, on a Calcedony of 
 the same size and colour as the original, and imitated even to 
 the name of the artist. 10 Though born at Naples, 1703, he 
 always lived at Rome, where he had a brother Tommaso, also 
 a skilful engraver in fine stones. 
 
 Domenico Landi was also, according to Vettori, " one of the 
 most famous artists at present in the same city." In 1716 he 
 engraved a bust of Augustus, on Calcedony, for the Marquis 
 de Fuentes, Portuguese ambassador; in 1720 a portrait of 
 N. Duodo, the Venetian envoy, on an Emerald. Two gems, 
 of larger dimensions than ring-stones, by him, are portraits of 
 Trajan, Plotina, Matidia, Marciana, facing each other; and 
 the other of Severus, Julia, Caracalla, and Geta. 
 
 F. Gringhaio of Florence, engraver to the two last Dukes, 
 living at Naples in 1750. 
 
 Ant. Pichler, established since 1730 in the same city. 
 
 Grirolamo Rossi, at Livorno. 
 
 Of all modern engravers, none in my opinion have so fully 
 come up to the antique style as Rega of Naples, who flourished 
 at the end of the last century. His Hercules Reposing and 
 his Head of a Bacchante might well pass for gems of the finest 
 Greek work, were it not for his signature PEFA which appears 
 
 10 He also engraved a portrait of and St. Paul on the other. The gem 
 the Empress Maria Theresa on a is two inches in diameter, and was 
 large and fine Sapphire. But what designed for the brooch fastening the 
 he himself considered his master- cope worn by his Holiness on great 
 piece, and which cost him two years festivals, but, after once wearing it, 
 and a half of constant labour, was a he ordered it to be deposited in the 
 table Emerald, with the head of the Treasury of San Petronio at Bo- 
 Pope on one side and of St. Peter logna.
 
 SECT. II. MODERN GEM-ENGRAVERS. 271 
 
 upon them. His intagli liave much more of the true antique 
 spirit than those of Pikler or Natter. Visconti is of opinion 
 that the engravers of the last century do not deserve the 
 eulogium bestowed on them by Millin ; the artists of the 
 Cinque-Cento school, such as Cesati II Greco, Bernard], and 
 Belli, were far above them in boldness of manner and in accu- 
 racy of drawing. Besides this they had a style of their own, 
 or at least that of the contemporary school ; whereas those of 
 our day possess less intelligence, but are closer imitators of 
 the antique in their composition and in their forms. Rega 
 however Visconti pronounces a most admirable artist, and 
 he had seen some of his heads in intaglio that rivalled 
 the best of the antique ; this in my judgment is true, for 
 nothing of any period can surpass the " Head of a Bac- 
 chante," that favourite subject with the ancients, where the 
 treatment of the hair is especially to be admired, being truly 
 in the Greek manner. This Head also proves his great supe- 
 riority over Marchant, who has reproduced the same subject, 
 but in his usual tame and laboured manner ; whilst Rega's 
 work is full of life and energy, and displays the greatest free- 
 dom of touch. 
 
 G-otfried Graaft, II Tedesco, at Rome. 
 
 Laurent Natter, of Nurnberg, studied the art at Venice, 
 and afterwards worked at Rome with considerable credit. 
 Much praise is given to his copy of the Julia Titi by Evodus, 
 on a reduced scale ; but still more is due to his portrait of 
 Cardinal Albani, as being an original work. A Head of a 
 Youth, on Amethyst, belonging to the Abbe Rothelin, was 
 greatly admired in Italy. After leaving Rome he established 
 himself in London, whence he is said to have gone to Persia 
 on the invitation of Thamas Kouli Khan (Nadir Shah). He 
 died at St. Petersburgh, 1763. 
 
 Marc Tuscher, his townsman, was by no means his equal
 
 272 ART, STYLES OF. SKCT. II. 
 
 in merit. Being at Koine in 1733 he engraved his own por- 
 trait, signed MAPKOS, and probably some other gems ; but is 
 chiefly known for his admirable series of plates of the coins of 
 Sicily and Magna Grecia. 
 
 Dorsch, of Nurnberg, 1676 to 1732, engraved for Ebermeyer 
 numerous suites of portraits of Popes, Kings, and Emperors, 
 and unfaithful copies of famous antiques, with nothing to 
 recommend them in the execution. He taught his two 
 daughters also the same art. 
 
 Seeker ^ was regarded as the best German engraver of the 
 century. Born at Coblentz, he went to Vienna, and engraved 
 medal dies for two Emperors of Germany. His works in gems 
 are principally seals of German Princes, containing numerous 
 quarterings very skilfully done. He cut portraits on gems of 
 Charles VI. and his Empress, and also of Prince Eugene. 
 
 F. J. Barier, born at Paris 1680, engraved portraits, the 
 most admired being those of the Marquis Kangoni and of 
 Fontenelle ; and groups of figures extremely minute on the 
 body of vases of Carnelian and Agate. 
 
 Jacques Guay, of Marseilles, studied at Kome, where he 
 engraved the head of Antiuous from the bust of the Capitol. 
 His drawing is correct, and imitation of the Greek style per- 
 fect. His portraits are admirable, especially that of Crebillon. 
 No modern engraver has ever thrown into his work such 
 spirit as Guay has done in a Carnelian intaglio, the " Victory 
 of Fontenoy," from the design of Bouchardon. He afterwards 
 succeeded to the post of gem-engraver to the King, formerly 
 held by Barier. 
 
 The only English artist of any merit in this line is Charles 
 Christian Reisen, son of a Danish engraver who came to 
 London with William III. He died in 1725, aged forty, 
 
 Now better known for his false dies for ancient coins.
 
 SECT. II. ENGLISH GEM-ENGRAVERS. 273 
 
 yet left behind him a great number of works. A portrait of 
 Charles XII. of Sweden, a three-quarter face, is quite correct 
 as to principle ; but all his intagli are wanting in finish, from 
 the extreme rapidity of his execution. 
 
 Claus, a pupil of his, and the most able, died mad in 1739. 
 Smart, another pupil, was in Paris in 1722. 
 
 Seaton, a Scotchman, also his pupil, was in 1750 the first 
 engraver in London. 
 
 Smart worked with astonishing celerity. In a single day 
 he would often finish several heads, and that by no means in 
 a careless manner. His best work, when at Paris, was a head 
 of Monima from the antique. Seaton endeavoured to give an 
 extreme finish to his gems : hence they are weak, cold, and 
 without spirit. His chief works are portraits of Pope, Inigo 
 Jones, and Sir John Newton, for the last of which he was 
 paid 25 guineas. 
 
 John Pichler, the first of modern engravers, was the son of 
 Ant. Pichler, mentioned above, and born at Naples, where 
 his father had been settled from the beginning of the century. 
 He, however, was far superior to his father in this line, so 
 that his intagli were often sold by the antiquaries as first- 
 rate antique gems. To prevent this fraud he ever after- 
 wards signed all his works with his name in Greek capitals 
 niXAEP. He died at Home, 1791. 
 
 ENGLISH GEM-ENGRAVERS. 
 
 Mention may be fitly made here of the few English artists 
 whose gems, signed with their names, occasionally are seen in 
 collections. Of these, the chief, beyond all question, was 
 Marchant in the last century, who executed many fine 
 works, both modern portraits, antique heads, and groups in 
 the Greek style. There is much grace and delicacy in his 
 
 T
 
 274 ART, STYLES OF. 
 
 figures, but the finish of them is too minute to be effective, 
 and consequently his heads are deficient in boldness and 
 expression. At the sight of his engravings you become 
 sensible that they were executed with the aid of a powerful 
 magnifying glass, and they require to be viewed through such 
 a medium to produce their full effect. This is a common 
 error with modern engravers, and one of Pichler's chief merits 
 is that he has avoided it, and that his works, like those of 
 the ancient artists in this line, produce their effect on the 
 eye at the first glance. Merchant's skill was, however, fully 
 appreciated in his own times ; probably from the circum- 
 stance of his carrying on his profession at Rome, and thus 
 becoming known to wealthy English amateurs, who at all 
 times have preferred to pay pounds for works of art abroad, 
 rather than as many shillings for productions of equal merit 
 executed at home. I have seen a Sard engraved by him, with 
 two female figures, the one seated, the other standing by her, 
 apparently portraits, for which he was paid 200 guineas. 
 
 Clarac mentions his having been shown at Otranto a paste 
 taken from one of Marchant's gems, which, backed with a 
 slice of Sard after the usual manner of such forgeries, had 
 been sold at an enormous price to an amateur as a first class 
 Greek work, recently discovered in that locality. 
 
 Brown was noted as an engraver of Cupids, singly and in 
 groups. He also executed portraits with great taste. His 
 intagli are always signed K. B. 
 
 BurcTi, R. A., died 1814, was an admirable artist in this 
 line. I have seen a Head of Hercules by him worthy of any 
 engraver of the times of Augustus. His works are very 
 numerous. 
 
 Wray, of Salisbury, died 1770, executed a few fine intagli, 
 Pastes of which were thought worthy of admission into 
 Tassie's list of antiques. But though the first of English
 
 SECT. II. ENGLISH GEM-ENGRAVERS. 275 
 
 gem-engravers, he never obtained more than 20 guineas for 
 his best works. These are, as he himself classed them, 
 1. The Dying Cleopatra. 2. Copy of the Strozzi Medusa. 
 3. Magdalene. 4. Flora. 5. A Madonna. 6. Female head, 
 ideal. 7. Ditto. 8. Milton, front face. 9. Milton, pro- 
 file. 10. The same. 11. Cicero. 12. Pope. 13. Zingara. 
 14. Antinous. 
 
 Pistrucci, though a Roman by birth, may be mentioned in 
 this article, as from his long residence in London he may be 
 almost considered as an English artist ; although his success, 
 as far as pecuniary remuneration is concerned, has far ex- 
 ceeded the wildest dreams of any gem-engraver of previous 
 ages. At first he practised the art at Borne, and there 
 executed the Head of Flora, bought for an antique work by 
 Payne Knight, and long regarded as the choicest gem of his 
 collection. Lord Maryborough was his first patron on his 
 arrival in London, and when made Master of the Mint, 
 appointed him the Chief Engraver to that establishment. 
 At the great re-coinage in 1816, a Cameo by him, a Greek 
 Warrior on horseback, was adopted with slight alterations for 
 the reverse of the sovereigns and crowns. The improved 
 copy of this design on the subsequent coinage of George IV. 
 is probably the finest work that has ever appeared upon a 
 modern currency. His heads on the obverse of the same 
 coinage are by no means so successful ; they have a very 
 scratchy appearance, and have none of the boldness that the 
 work from a steel die ought to present : in fact he is said to 
 have cut the punches by means of the lapidary's wheel, 
 exactly as if operating upon a gem, a fact which fully accounts 
 for the feebleness of the result. His coronation medal, 
 however, of George IV. is a very spirited work; and his 
 double sovereign of the same reign has great merit in spite 
 of the scratchy treatment of the hair, especially when we 
 
 T 2
 
 276 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 consider the low state into which the arts had fallen, and the 
 barbarism into which the country had been plunged by 
 twenty-five years of a ruinous and unnecessary warfare. 
 For his merits, great as they undoubtedly were, he obtained 
 the most fabulous remuneration : thus a Cameo with portraits 
 of Augustus and Livia, which fetched at the sale of the Herz 
 Collection the sum of SQL, had been executed by him some 
 forty years before at the astounding commission of 800?., 
 doubtless the largest sum ever paid for a work of the kind. 
 
 Ship und 
 
 KINGS AND SETTINGS. 
 
 An appropriate text to this dissertation will be the advice 
 on this point given by Clemens Alexandrinus to the Chris- 
 tians of the second century. Paedagogus III. 2. 
 
 " Moreover, men ought not to wear their ring upon the top 
 joint of the finger, for it is an effeminate practice ; but on 
 the little finger, and thrust it on too as far as it will go, for 
 thus the hand will be easily used for all necessary purposes, 
 and the signet ring will not fall off very easily, being guarded 
 by the larger size of the joint of the finger itself. And let 
 the engraving upon the stone be either a pigeon, or a fish, or 
 a ship running before the wind, or a musical lyre, which was 
 the device used by Polycrates, or a ship's anchor, which 
 Seleucus had cut upon his signet ; and if it represents a man 
 fishing, the wearer will be put in mind of the Apostle, and of
 
 SECT. II. RINGS AND SETTINGS. 277 
 
 the little children drawn up out of the water (Moses ?). For 
 we must not engrave on them images of idols, which we are 
 forbidden even to look at; 2 nor a sword, nor a bow, being the 
 followers of peace; nor drinking goblets being sober men. 
 Yet many of the licentious world wear engravings of their 
 naked minions and mistresses in their rings ; so that not even 
 if they wish it can they at any time enjoy a respite from the 
 torments of desire. We must \vear but one for the use of a 
 signet ; all other rings we must cast aside." 
 
 The earliest rings are made of pure gold, hollow, and the 
 metal very thin. Such occur even of the Etruscan period, 
 but are very rare, the signets of that nation still retaining the 
 form of scarabei. The most magnificent Etruscan ring 
 known, is that once in the collection of the Prince di Canino : 
 it was formed of the fore parts of two lions, whose bodies 
 composed the shank, whilst their head^s and fore-paws 
 supported the signet, a small Sard scarab, engraved with a 
 lion regardant, and set in an elegant bizzel of filigree work. 
 The two lions were beaten up in full relief out of thin gold 
 plate, in a stiff archaic style, but very carefully finished. A 
 Greek ring lately came in my way of a pretty and uncommon 
 design, though the make was rude enough: two dolphins 
 whose tails met formed the shank, and supported with their 
 heads the setting, containing a circular crystal or paste. 
 
 Roman rings also, if of early date and set with good intagli, 
 are almost invariably hollow and light, and consequently 
 easily crushed. This and some other interesting points are 
 well illustrated in the story told by Cicero of L. Piso, when 
 
 2 Macrobius says that Atcius Ca- delicacy of notions was afterwards 
 
 pito, a famous lawyer of the Repub- carried to such a degree that, under 
 
 lie, highly censured the practice of Tiberius, persons were actually exe- 
 
 wearing figures of the deities en- cuted on the charge of treason for 
 
 graved and set in rings ; but this having worn rings set with the por- 
 
 was on account of the profanation to trait of Augustus during their visits 
 
 which they were exposed. This to brothels.
 
 278 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 praetor in Spain (in which province he was killed) : " Whilst 
 he was going through the military exercise, the gold ring 
 which he wore was by some accident broken and crushed. 
 Wishing to have another ring made for himself, he ordered 
 a goldsmith to be summoned to the Forum of Cordova, in 
 front of his own judgment-seat, and weighed out the gold to 
 him in public. He ordered the man to set down his bench in 
 the forum, and make the ring for him in the presence of all." 
 This was done to prove to the provincials his scrupulous 
 honesty, that he had not taken " even half an ounce " of gold 
 out of the public treasury, but had merely given him his old 
 broken ring to work up again into a new one. Here we have 
 a picture of the ancient goldsmith carrying about with him 
 his fire-pot and a few tools (like the Indian jeweller of the 
 present day), and squatting down to execute his work under 
 the eye of his employer. This mode of making the ring, by 
 hammering it out of the gold, affords a pretty simile to Ovid, 
 A. A. III., 221. 
 
 " Annulus ut fiat primo colliditur aurum." 
 " The gold is beat up ere the ring is made." 
 
 These hollow rings were convenient receptacles for poison, 
 of which they would contain a large dose, being always of a 
 bulky shape. Of this practice the instances in history are 
 numerous, as the death of Hannibal and of Demosthenes suf- 
 fice to show ; and another less known instance that of the 
 custodian of the Capitol, who, being apprehended on account 
 of the robbery of the gold deposited there by Camillus, which 
 had been taken away by Crassus, "broke the stone of his 
 ring in his mouth, 3 " and expired immediately, probably to 
 
 8 In the Mertens-SchaafhausenCol- have no doubt it was thus formed as 
 
 lection is an Onyx intaglio, the back of the receptacle of a dose of poison, 
 
 which has been completely hollowed for the gem was worked out so thin 
 
 out into the form of a bowl, with the that it could easily be crushed by a 
 
 usual raised circle at the bottom. I sharp bite.
 
 SECT. II. RINGS AND SETTINGS. 279 
 
 escape the torture for his supposed complicity in the sacrilege. 
 The ancients were acquainted with vegetable poisons as 
 speedy in their effects as the modern strychnine, as appears 
 in the death of Britannicus from a potion prepared by 
 Locusta, and in innumerable other instances. These hollow 
 rings were put together with a degree of skill far beyond that 
 of our modern jewellers ; for the soldering of the numerous 
 joinings of the gold plates of which they are formed is 
 absolutely imperceptible even when breathed upon a test 
 under which the best modern solder always assumes a 
 lighter tint. This is due to the different composition of the 
 ancients, which was made of chrysocolla (carbonate of 
 copper), verdigris, uitrum (carbonate of soda, natron) mixed 
 with the urine of a child, and rubbed down in a copper 
 mortar with a copper pestle. This solder was called santerna. 4 
 
 Under Claudius it became the fashion to engrave the 
 device upon the gold of the ring itself, now made solid ; at 
 first this engraving was the bust of the emperor, and such 
 rings- could only be worn by those that had the entree at 
 court. A fine example of this sort, with busts of M. Aurelius 
 and L. Yerus facing each other, is to be seen in the Florence 
 Gallery. This was but a revival of the ancient practice, for 
 Macrobius, vii., 13, quotes Ateius Capito to the effect that 
 the devices were originally always cut upon the substance of 
 the ring itself, whether it was of gold or of iron ; and that 
 the progress of luxury introduced engravings upon precious 
 gems to augment the value of the signet. 5 
 
 In Pliny's time it was the fashion to wear but one on the 
 
 4 Cellini's receipt for solder is arsenic is added to promote fusion. 
 
 Native Verdigris, 6 parts, Sal- am- 5 I have seen a splendid head of a 
 
 moniac 1, Borax 1, ground down nymph, apparently of Sicilian work, 
 
 and mixed to a paste with water, engraved upon the gold of a solid 
 
 The modern, used for gold of tolerable ring; and other instances of less 
 
 quality, is made of equal parts of importance, hut certainly far earlier 
 
 gold and silver, to which a little than the age of Claudius.
 
 280 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 little finger ; previously the signet had always been carried 
 on the ring-finger of the left hand from a notion that a vein 
 passed down it direct from the heart. At the late period 
 of the empire when Macrobius wrote (late in the third 
 century), this had again become the usual finger to wear the 
 signet-ring upon, for the assembled guests in his ' Saturnalia,' 
 vii., 13, express their surprise at seeing Avienus wear his 
 upon the little finger of his right hand ; for which he excuses 
 himself on the plea of his left hand being swollen by an 
 injury. Pliny's words are, " At first it was the custom to 
 wear but one ring on each of the fingers next to the little 
 finger of each hand, as we see in the statues of Nurna and 
 Servius Tullius (the only Koman kings represented as wear- 
 ing rings). Next they put them on the fore finger, even in 
 the statues of deities. Last of all they thought proper to 
 grant this honour even to the little finger. The natives of 
 Gaul and Britain are said to have worn them on the middle 
 finger. This, now, is the only one excepted, all the others 
 are loaded ; and even the joints individually with others of 
 smaller size. Some pile three upon the little finger alone, 
 others wear on this but a single ring which they use as their 
 signet. This is treasured up, and, like a precious rarity un- 
 justly profaned, is drawn forth from its sanctuary: and to 
 wear a single ring on the little finger is but a way of showing 
 off the more precious collection locked up at home." The 
 custom of covering all the joints of the fingers with rings 
 when in full dress was so prevalent, that Quintilian, in his 
 directions to orators as to their costume, attitude, and action 
 (xi., 3), deems it necessary expressly to caution them against 
 this senseless piece of foppery : " The hand must not be 
 overloaded with rings, especially with such as do not* pass 
 over the middle joints of the fingers." 6 This fashion of 
 
 6 The minute size of many an- archaeologists from their ignorance of 
 tique gold rings has often puzzled the passages above quoted.
 
 SECT. II. RINGS AND SETTINGS. 281 
 
 having rings for each finger-joint is the one condemned by 
 Clemens Alexandrinus ; and continued in use, in spite of his 
 objurgations, down to the close of the empire ; for Ammian, 
 writing at the beginning of the fifth century, speaks of the 
 Roman nobles, on leaving the baths, receiving from the 
 attendant their rings, which they had taken off lest the wet 
 should injure them, and then strutting away " digitis sicut 
 metatis," with their fingers measured off by the rings placed 
 on each separate joint. The origin of the quarrel between 
 Plato and Aristotle was because the former found fault with 
 his luxurious style of dress and his custom of wearing a 
 number of rings, at least so says Aelian, iii. 19. Lucian, 
 writing in the second century, makes the girl tell her mis- 
 tress that Parmeno has returned from the wars quite a rich 
 man, and as a proof, " that he has on his little finger a large 
 polygonal gold ring set with a three-coloured gem, red on the 
 surface (an oriental Onyx)." 
 
 Taste had so far declined even when Pliny wrote that 
 some persons " made a boast of the weight of their rings," 
 of which one found in Hungary, and now in the Fould Col- 
 lection, is a most convincing testimony. Though evidently 
 intended for the little finger its weight was three ounces, 
 the shank was triangular in section, increasing rapidly in 
 width on each side towards the head of the ring, which thus 
 formed a long and pointed oval. It was set with a large 
 oriental Onyx of the very finest quality and not engraved ; 
 quite the ring of Parmeno when the consideration of the 
 mere intrinsic value of an ornament had entirely banished 
 all regard for art. In my own. collection is a ring of this 
 date weighing 15 dwts. (a modern Roman ounce), set with 
 an Onyx rudely engraved with a dancing girl ; and I have 
 seen another of similar form, the Onyx intaglio of which was 
 a pigeon : both illustrative of the remarks of Clemens
 
 282 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 Alexandrinus quoted above. These weighty rings were 
 probably badges of office under the Empire, for we find one 
 specified among the various insignia and allowances, some 
 singular enough, 7 ordered by the Emperor Valerian to be 
 made to Claudius Gothicus on his appointment as Tribune 
 of the Fifth Legion (Treb. Pollio Valerian). " Two brooches 
 in silver-gilt ; one brooch in gold, with a copper pin ; one 
 double-gemmed ring of an ounce weight ; one bracelet of seven 
 ounces; one neckchain of one pound." This term annulus 
 bigemmeus is difficult to explain, for no antique rings occur 
 set with two gems, though they do with three. I suspect that 
 bigemmeus refers to the stone itself, and means a gem of two 
 colours, as the Nicolo, so often found in these massy rings. 
 One weighing an ounce was found, 1836, near Bristol, set with 
 an Onyx, engraved with a head of Augustus in a good style ; 
 and Caylus V., cxn., gives one of very elegant form, the 
 gem of which is a Nicolo engraved with the letters Q.E.H. 
 The shape of these rings at once shews for which finger they 
 were designed, being nearly triangular, the base of the tri- 
 angle being the head of the ring ; so that in spite of their 
 weight they sit very comfortably on the little finger and on 
 that alone, and are much less inconvenient to wear than one 
 w T ould have expected from their bulky proportions. Some 
 Etruscan rings occur, in which the face of the ring is an 
 elliptical plate adorned with figures in outline, generally 
 Sphinxes: these were merely intended as ornamental, not 
 as signet rings. I have met with but one Etruscan intaglio, 
 not a scarab, in its antique gold setting, which was a large 
 case of thin gold plate, in which the Sard was fixed and sur- 
 rounded by several folds of plaited wire, forming a broad 
 bizzel around the stone. The shank was a thick round wire 
 
 7 As " duas eximias mulieres ex captivis."
 
 SECT. II. RINGS AND SETTINGS. 283 
 
 soldered on to the side of the case, with two gold balls on 
 each side of the junction. 
 
 We have seen Pliny's remark that the Gauls and Britons 
 were the only nations who wore rings on the middle finger 
 (which he appears to consider a truly barbarian fashion), but 
 what these rings were is not known, unless the large bronze 
 plain hoops, so often found amongst ancient remains in this 
 country, were of this nature. Perhaps the smaller specimens 
 of the so-called "King Money " were used for this purpose, 
 for nothing like an intaglio 8 ring can be assigned to these 
 nations before the period of their subjugation by the Eomans ; 
 although numerous relics attest their skill in working gold 
 into various tasteful ornaments. The abundance of this 
 metal in Gaul was such in ancient times that the produce of 
 Caasar's campaigns in that region lowered the value of gold 
 at Rome by nearly one-third. 
 
 The Gallic gold coins of native unrefined metal, rude 
 imitations of the staters of Philip, are still numerous in 
 cabinets, and appear to have been current in Gaul even 
 under the latest emperors. In no other way can we explain 
 the edict of Majorian, " Let no tax-collector refuse to take 
 a solidus of full weight, except it be that Gallic solidus which 
 is rated at a lower value on account of the quality of the 
 gold." Now these ancient autonomous pieces are all coined 
 of the metal in its native state, containing a large per- 
 
 8 One intaglio, however, has come also lately seen a silver ring, of an 
 
 under my notice which was consi- extremely grotesque and barbarous 
 
 dered by its owner (whose opinion fabric, the shank being an attempted 
 
 is of the greatest weight with me) representation of caryatid figures ; 
 
 to have been the work of a Gallic instead of an engraved stone it was 
 
 artist. It was an oval bead, of pale set with a large silver coin, one of 
 
 Amethyst, engraved with a wild the common imitations of the di- 
 
 boar, and in a very peculiar style, drachm of Philip, and both its make 
 
 exactly agreeing with that of the and its substitute for a gem fully 
 
 same type so often occurring on the indicate its Celtic origin, 
 reverse of the Gallic coins. I have
 
 284 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 centage of silver (which can only be separated by a skilful 
 metallurgist) ; whereas all the imperial gold currency, even 
 of the Gallic tyrants, as Postumus and Victorinus, is of the 
 purest metal. 9 It is my belief that most of the "Ring 
 Money " was used as articles of personal ornament, and that 
 the form with large cup-shaped extremities served as a 
 button for fastening round the neck the large and heavy 
 Gallic " sagum " or mantle, each end passing through an 
 opposite button-hole like a pair of modern studs. 
 
 Cupid chained by Psyche. Girasol. Narcissus and Echo: Roman. Prase. 
 
 Let us now speak of Iron Rings, the common wear of the 
 Romans of all degrees under the republic, the ornament of 
 the martial metal well beseeming the descendants of the 
 god of war. Here too we can appropriately introduce the 
 poet's fabled origin of this decoration of the hand. " Jupiter 
 having at length been moved to release Prometheus from 
 his chains, in which he had sworn to keep him for ever, to 
 save his conscience and yet keep his oath to the letter, 
 obliged the freed prisoner to wear always on his finger a ring 
 made out of the iron of his fetters and set with a fragment 
 
 9 Such continued the rule till late century are equal to our present 
 in the Byzantine period, even the standard for the sovereign, 
 bezants of the Comneni in the 12th
 
 SECT. IT. RINGS AND SETTINGS. 285 
 
 of the rock to which he had been chained." When Marius 
 rode in triumph, both the general, and the slave standing 
 behind, had iron rings on their fingers, and the fashion con- 
 tinued universal to the very end of the Kepublic. This 
 fact explains the existence of the large number of good 
 intagli we meet with that have been originally set in iron, 
 though the rings themselves have generally been reduced to 
 masses of shapeless rust. A few, however, having chanced to 
 be buried in dry sand have come down to us uninjured, and in 
 some of them it will be observed that the gem was set open ; 
 an example of which was a fine and large Carbuncle engraved 
 with a Canopic vase, now in the Fould Collection. This mode 
 of setting intagli was very unusual with the ancients : in most 
 rings the stones were backed with a plate of gold to prevent 
 the rust from shewing through and thus marring the beauty 
 of the gem. One of the finest Eoman intagli I have ever 
 met with is set open in an iron ring, and is a portrait of 
 Massanissa; perhaps has been worn by Scipio himself; the 
 merit of the engraving proves that it must have been 
 executed for a person of high position. 
 
 Under the early republic the senators alone had the 
 privilege of wearing rings of gold, for they are said to have 
 taken off their rings to mark their sense of what they con- 
 sidered a public calamity the publication of the Dies Fasti, 
 by Cn. Flavius, the secretary of Appius Ca3cus, and his 
 election as tribune of the people in consequence, B.C. 305. 
 On the same occasion the knights laid aside their silver horse- 
 trappings, for a gold ring was not made the distinction of 
 that class until the reign of Tiberius; for even under 
 Augustus the greater part of that body still wore the ancient 
 ring of iron. By the law passed under Tiberius, no one was 
 allowed to wear one of gold unless he was of free birth, his 
 father and grandfather rated at 400 sestertia (4000Z.), and
 
 286 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 had the right of sitting among the fourteen rows in the 
 theatre allotted by the Julian law to the Equestrian Order 
 (Pliny, xxiii. 8). Before this law was passed any one might 
 wear a gold ring who pleased, by which fact Pliny explains 
 the three bushels of gold rings collected at Cannes, as show- 
 ing how universal the fashion had become at that time ; and 
 C. Sulpicius Galba, under Tiberius, had complained that the 
 very tavern-keepers presumed to usurp this ornament. But 
 even under Augustus some senators (old Conservatives no 
 doubt) still retained the republican ring of iron, as Calpur- 
 nius, and Manilius who had been lieutenant of Marius in the 
 Jugurthine war, and L. Fufidius. In the family of the 
 Quinctii not even the ladies were allowed to wear any orna- 
 ments of gold. The Lacedemonians of Pliny's age also 
 adhered to the precept of Lycurgus, and only wore rings of 
 iron, which custom they retained to a much later period ; 
 for Phlegon, writing in the next century, while relating his 
 most ghastly of all ghost stories, 10 with which his book on 
 'Wonderful Things' opens, speaks of the iron ring of 
 Machatas, exchanged by him for the gold one with whicli 
 Philinnion, his spectre-bride, had been buried. But under 
 the empire rings of this metal had soon become degraded 
 into a badge of servitude with the Komans ; for Apuleius, in 
 mentioning a money bag sealed by a slave, speaks of the iron 
 signet ring which he, as a slave, was wearing on his finger. 
 Hence the wealthy freedmen used to wear them gilt. Many 
 of these are still preserved. They went by the name of 
 Sarnothracian rings in that age. Thus the rich Trimalchio, 
 originally a slave, though he proves to his admiring guests, 
 by actually weighing them in their presence, that the gold 
 
 10 The original of Goethe's ' Braut in dramatic effect, for he has Goth- 
 von Corinth,' but far superior to it icised and spoilt the story.
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 RINGS AND SETTINGS. 
 
 287 
 
 ornaments on his wife Fortunata amounted altogether in 
 weight to six pounds and a half, 1 yet durst not himself wear a 
 solid gold ring, but " had on his little finger a large gilt one, arid 
 on the top joint of the next finger, another of gold studded with 
 iron stars." Freedmen could only obtain the right of wearing 
 a ring of solid gold by an express decree of the Senate ; and, 
 as may be supposed, there were not wanting instances of the 
 nobles thus paying court to the favourite of the ruling prince : 
 a degradation thus wittily commented upon by Pliny, in a 
 letter to Montanus. "You must have already observed, 
 
 1 The passage, from Trimalchio's 
 Feast, above quoted, is worth trans- 
 cribing at length as a curious illus- 
 tration of the massy ornaments of 
 the females of that period the time 
 of Nero. " But tell me, pray, Gaius, 
 why does not Fortunata come to 
 dinner?" " Why," replied Tri- 
 malchio, "you know what a sort 
 of person she is : until she has seen 
 that the plate is all right, and has 
 divided the broken meat among the 
 younger fry, she will not put a sup 
 in her mouth." "That may be," 
 says Habinna, " but, unless she 
 comes to table, I vanish." So say- 
 ing, he was on the point of getting 
 up, but, on a given signal, "For- 
 tunata " was bawled out four times 
 and more, with one voice, by the 
 whole body of servants. She there- 
 fore came in, wearing a white apron 
 in such a way as to show beneath it 
 her red gown, wreathed anklets, and 
 gilt slippers. Then, wiping her hands 
 on the handkerchief she wore round 
 her neck, she approaches the couch 
 on which Scintilla, Habinna's wife, 
 was reclining, and kissed her as she 
 was testifying her delight at her 
 appearance, with " Do I really see 
 you, my dear?" And thus things 
 went on, until Fortunata pulled off 
 
 the bracelets from her brawny arms, 
 and showed them to the admiring 
 Scintilla. At last she undid her' 
 anklets also, and her golden hair- 
 caul, which she told us was of the 
 finest standard. This was noticed by 
 Trimalchio, who ordered all of them 
 to be brought to him ; then " Do 
 you see," quoth he, " the woman's 
 fetters ? Look how we cuckolds are 
 robbed and plundered ! They ought 
 to weigh 65 Ibs., and yet I have my- 
 self a bracelet of ten pounds weight 
 made out of Mercury's tithes on my 
 profits." Finally, lest we should 
 doubt his veracity, he sends for a 
 pair of scales, and bids all around 
 make sure of the weight. Nor was 
 Scintilla any better-mannered, for she 
 took off from her neck a little case 
 which she called her Good-luck, 
 out of which she took two ear-drops, 
 and gave them in her turn to For- 
 tunata for examination, saying, 
 " Thanks to my lord and master no- 
 body else has such fine ones." 
 "Why," said Habinna, " you plagued 
 me into buying you these glass 
 beads ; truly, if 1 had a daughter 
 I would cut her ears off. If there 
 were no women we should have 
 everything dirt-cheap ; but now we 
 gain a penny and spend a pound."
 
 288 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 from my last letter, that I had lately remarked the monu- 
 ment of Pallas (a freedman of Claudius Caesar) with this 
 inscription, ' To this man the Senate, on account of his fide- 
 lity and affection towards his master and mistress, decreed 
 the insignia of the praetorian office, together with the sum of 
 150,000, of which vote he only accepted the honorary part.' 
 I afterwards deemed it worth my while to look up the decree 
 itself. I found it so exaggerated and extravagant, that, in 
 comparison with it, that most arrogant of epitaphs appeared 
 not merely modest but even humble. The collected and 
 united glories, not only of those ancient heroes the Africani, the 
 Achaici, the Numantini, but even of those of later times, the 
 Marii, Syllas, and Pompeys, not to go down further in the 
 list, will fall far short of the praises heaped upon a Pallas. 
 Must I think the senators to have been joking, or to have 
 been miserable wretches ? I should say joking, if joking 
 befitted the dignity of the Senate. Were they wretches 
 then ? But no one is sunk so low that he can be forced to 
 commit such actions. Was it done then out of ambition, 
 and the desire of rising in the State ? But who could be so 
 senseless as to wish to rise through his own or the public 
 disgrace, in that commonwealth in which the sole advantage 
 of the most exalted station was the privilege of being the 
 first to sing the praises of a Pallas ? I pass over the circum- 
 stance that the praetorian insignia are offered to Pallas, to a 
 slave, inasmuch as they are offered by slaves. I pass over 
 that they vote, 'He must not merely be urged but even 
 compelled to wear the gold ring,' it being, forsooth, dero- 
 gatory to the dignity of the Senate that a man of praetorian 
 rank should wear one of iron." An apt illustration of the 
 badge of an imperial freedman, is the following description 
 of a ring once in the possession of an acquaintance. "An 
 antique iron ring plated with gold ; it has on the centre a
 
 SECT. II. RINGS AND SETTINGS. 289 
 
 gold medallion, Laving the busts of Augustus and Livia 
 facing each other, in high relief." 
 
 Mask, bellowed out to contain poison. Onyx. 
 
 Silver Rings are very abundant, both solid ones with the 
 devices cut upon the metal, and also set with intagli. In 
 one found at Caerleon, Mon. (Isca Silurum), the stone, a 
 Nicolo, engraved with a rude figure of Venus Victrix, was 
 set in a gold collet let into the silver bizzel ; an unique 
 instance of this mode of setting. These rjngs are usually of 
 rough workmanship, as well as the intagli they contain, and 
 appear to belong invariably to the Lower Empire. From their 
 size and shape they were evidently made to be worn on the 
 little finger, an additional proof of their late date. In this 
 country they are often found in the vicinity of camps and 
 military stations, and the subjects on them are usually 
 Victories, Eagles, Kavens, and similar legionary devices. 
 Arellius Fuscus, when expelled from the Equestrian Order, 
 and consequently deprived of the right to wear a ring of 
 gold, appeared in public, according to Pliny, with silver 
 rings on his fingers, apparently out of bravado, and to show 
 his contempt for the punishment inflicted upon him by the 
 Senate. Rings are by no means rare formed entirely of 
 this metal ; but I have only met with one presenting a well- 
 engraved device, a Venus, upon its face, for the work of such 
 engravings is generally very coarse. The silver also is of 
 the same base standard as the coinage of the period to which 
 they belong ; for the nature of their subjects, being legionary 
 
 u
 
 290 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 insignia and rude attempts at imperial portraits, prove that 
 they must be all assigned to the poorest classes and common 
 soldiers of the Lower Empire. 
 
 These remarks apply equally to rings of Bronze, which are, 
 as might be expected, the most numerous of all, with this 
 addition, that they are often found of a fanciful design, and 
 set with coloured pastes for ornamental wear. Paste intagli 
 generally occur in bronze settings. I know but one instance 
 of a paste, a fine cameo of a Sphinx, being found set in a 
 gold antique ring ; and have never met with any in rings of 
 silver. Pastes thus set in antique bronze ornaments are 
 almost the only kind I am disposed to consider as truly of 
 ancient manufacture ; as we have already noticed under the 
 head of " Pastes." Stones rudely engraved are often set in 
 the rings of this metal ; and like those of silver, they were 
 often made solid, with the device cut on the face, of which 
 examples occur of Etruscan and Greek times. When the 
 wife in the Ecclesiazusae talks of having a counterpart of 
 her husband's signet-ring made for her own use for the small 
 sum of half a drachma, she must mean one of bronze. 2 Al- 
 though such early examples are naturally rare, yet of the 
 Eoman times they abound ; the most curious of the latter 
 that I have met with is a very massy one preserved among 
 the Rutupine antiquities in Trinity College Library. Its face 
 bears the letters F and E, arranged in a square as a mono- 
 
 2 Sealing up pantries. Diogenes the same door after the contents had 
 
 Laertius tells an anecdote illustrative been pilfered. But his servants, 
 
 of the simplicity of Lacydes the noticing this sapient device, soon 
 
 philosopher, that, whenever he had found that, by exactly imitating 
 
 occasion to bring anything out of his method of proceeding, they 
 
 the pantry, after sealing up the door, might help themselves with all 
 
 he used to throw his ring into it security, and resealing the door, 
 
 through a hole in the door, for fear replace the signet in the same manner 
 
 lest it should be taken off his finger as the sagacious philosopher, 
 when asleep, and used for resealing
 
 SECT. II. RINGS AND SETTINGS. 291 
 
 gram, and the outside of the shank is engraved with the 
 inscription *STiMivrAMXTO N , where the device probably 
 stands for " Feliciter," " Good luck to you ; " and the legend 
 " Stimius Amato N," " Septimius to Ainatus," is curious from 
 the very late form of the final >S and A, which apparently 
 belong to a later period than that of the departure of the Ro- 
 mans from this island. The entire ring has been strongly gilt. 
 Roman bronze ornaments may be distinguished from the 
 latton or brass of similar shapes belonging to mediaeval times, 
 so abundantly discovered in the earth of every old town, by 
 an examination of the metal, for Roman relics are invariably 
 composed of bronze (copper and tin), whilst those of the 
 Middle Ages are made of " latton," that is " brass " (copper 
 and zinc). Bronze when polished has always a brownish 
 hue, and is very hard; whereas latton is more of a gold 
 colour and much softer. 
 
 V 
 
 In Lead rings occur, though they are very rare, and even 
 set with intagli of a good style of art and of early date, but 
 such were doubtless gilt originally, and intended to pass for 
 massy gold. A device which reminds one of the trick played 
 by Polycrates upon his Spartan auxiliaries, whom, on quitting 
 his service, he paid off in Samian gold pieces, which he had 
 coined for the purpose in lead gilt. A singular fraud of some 
 rogue of antiquity accidentally came to light in a ring in my 
 own collection. It was hollow, and formed out of strong 
 gold plate of very ancient Greek work, and set with a Sard 
 intaglio, a full face of Jupiter Ammon. From the subject, 
 and from the style of art, it may safely be ascribed to some 
 citizen of Cyrene, a State in which, according to Eupolis 
 (Aelian, xii. 30), " the poorest man had signet rings worth ten 
 minae (30?.), and the artists engaged in engraving gems were 
 to be wondered at." 3 The gem in question always had pro- 
 
 3 He does not say whether for their numbers, or for their skill. 
 
 u 2
 
 292 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 jected slightly from its setting ; and on one occasion adhered 
 to the wax on which it was being impressed, and thus came 
 out of the ring, when it appeared that the hollow behind had 
 been filled with thin leaf-lead, retaining its form, but reduced 
 by age to a brittle oxide ; a change which must have been the 
 work of many centuries to effect. We know that Cyrene 
 was a favourite residence of the Jews from the very time of 
 its foundation : may we not have here an instance of a fair 
 advantage in a bargain contrived by some individual of the 
 Chosen People to obtain a few drachms more for his ware 
 from some unsuspecting Gentile ? 
 
 Having now exhausted the subject of rings in all metals 
 set with intagli, either in stone or paste, a fitting conclusion 
 will be a brief notice of those, belonging usually to the Lower 
 Empire, having, instead of an intaglio, a gold coin of the 
 reigning prince ingeniously inserted in the bizzel. A fine 
 specimen is given by Caylus, V. cxii., of one of elegant form, 
 the broad shoulders being cut into an elaborate pattern of open 
 work, the head octagonal, and holding an aureus of Maxi- 
 minus : Rev. VICTORIA GERMANICA. A very similar one, but 
 of still more tasteful design, in weight one ounce, and get with 
 an aureus of Severus Alexander, was found a few years back 
 in this country. This had probably been the official ring of 
 some Roman officer serving in Britain, and corresponding to 
 the " Annulus bigemmeus unciarius " assigned to Claudius 
 Gothicus as tribune of the Fifth Legion. 4 
 
 It was no doubt the impossibility of obtaining good portraits 
 engraved on gems, of the reigning emperors, that suggested 
 the setting of the aurei with their likenesses in these massy 
 
 * I have lately seen another equally relating to the army have been pur- 
 massive, hut of the rudest fahrique, posely selected in all these instances : 
 set with an aureus of Diocletian, another argument that they were 
 Eev. VIRTVS MILITVM. It will be military distinctions, 
 observed that aurei having; reverses
 
 SECT. 11. RINGS AND SETTINGS. 
 
 293 
 
 gold rings, evidently from their intrinsic value the ornaments 
 of persons who, at an earlier period, would have worn a 
 cameo or intaglio portrait in the same way, of the most 
 admirable execution. But the art of engraving gems with 
 any degree of sic ill appears to have expired, as it were, all at 
 once, the last imperial portrait of fine work mentioned in any 
 collection being one of Constantinus Junior ; a fact the more 
 strange when we consider that the medallions of this family 
 are by far the most abundant in the whole series, whilst they 
 are by no means contemptible as works of art ; and from the 
 manner in which they are found mounted with loops for 
 suspension, were evidently designed to be used as personal 
 ornaments. The total disappearance of the statues of the 
 later emperors is more easily accounted for by the fact, that 
 metal statues, usually gilt, were alone considered worthy to 
 represent the form of the sovereign in that age of advancing 
 barbarism. There is but one marble statue" of Constantino at 
 Eome, and one solitary bust of Julian ; the last a most 
 wretched production of expiring art. Now, not merely do 
 the later historians make mention of statues of the emperors 
 of those times, as set up in every large city, as of Theo- 
 doric and even Phocas at Eome, and of Justinian, and 
 other celebrities of his reign at Constantinople ; but they 
 even allude to numerous bronze statues of poets, warriors, 
 and advocates, the contemporaries of these emperors. All 
 these, on any change of government, went at once into the 
 furnace and re-appeared in the vile coinage of the epoch. 
 This circumstance, besides the roguery of the coiners, may 
 explain the great proportion of lead in the later bronze 
 coins, such as the huge pieces of the sixth and seventh 
 century ; for Pliny states that a considerable proportion of 
 this metal entered into the composition of statuary bronze in 
 order to render it more fusible. Long after the art of
 
 294 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 sculpturing marble was quite extinct, works in bronze, of 
 considerable size and skill, were executed by Byzantine 
 artists : witness the numerous doors of churches still existing, 
 and dating even from the ninth and tenth centuries. In the 
 best period of Roman art, marble seems to have been pre- 
 ferred to bronze for portrait statues a fortunate circum- 
 stance, to which we owe the preservation of so many treasures 
 of ancient art. Pausanias mentions 4000 statues of Hadrian 
 alone, collected in the precincts of the Olympeium at Athens, 
 the votive offerings of the same number of Grecian cities : 
 no wonder that statues of this prince are still so numerous. 
 Pliny, in his description of the Colossus of Nero, the work of 
 Zenodorus, the most skilful statuary of the time, says that 
 the execution of it proved the art of casting bronze to have 
 been entirely lost : a strange statement probably referring to 
 some defects in the finished cast, or faultiness in its colour. 5 
 For there still exists, in the cortile of the Senator's Palace 
 on the Capitol, a colossal bronze head of Nero, of admirable 
 execution, which to all appearance completely refutes the 
 assertion of Pliny as to the incapacity of the metal casters of 
 that epoch. 
 
 5 This may have been merely an sent (1859) the art of bell-founding 
 
 exaggerated mode of expression to is entirely lost in England, seeing 
 
 signify the badness and honey- the two successive failures of the 
 
 combed quality of the metal when Great Bell of Westminster, 
 cast ; just as one might say at pre- 
 
 Signet and monogram of Faulus. Sard.
 
 SECT. II. FIGURE KINGS. 295 
 
 FIGURE RINGS. 
 
 The fashion of wearing figures of Egyptian deities on the 
 fingers, derided by Pliny, has left us a beautiful example, 
 which is now preserved among the scarabei in the British 
 Museum. Three busts, of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, of Eoman- 
 Egyptian work, and admirably executed in fine gold, are 
 arranged side by side, so as to form the head of a ring, to 
 which they are set on at a right angle ; one exactly similar 
 is given by Caylus, as well as another, in which the busts 
 of Osiris and Isis form the opposite ends of a shank, and 
 are so brought together as to lie side by side, the heads 
 pointing in opposite directions. 6 These rings composed of 
 deities remind one of those common in Italy, and made of a 
 crucifix so bent that the stem and upper limb of the cross 
 meet together at their extremities and form the shank, so 
 
 V 
 
 that the crucified figure becomes the most conspicuous 
 portion of the ring. How strangely do the usages of the 
 most remote ages and countries coincide in particular 
 instances, especially in matters connected with religious 
 worship. Again, the Hindoo lady generally wears on her 
 finger a small mirror, set in a ring, so that she may be able 
 to while away an idle hour in the pleasing contemplation of 
 her dusky charms; whilst here certain fashionable prayer 
 books of the best class are bound up with looking-glass linings 
 to the covers, so as to enable the fair Christian devotee to 
 support the infliction of a tedious service, or a dull sermon, 
 by the aid of reflections of a more agreeable nature. 
 
 6 A most interesting and unique in each of the lowest faces, the pas- 
 ring of solid gold and elegant Jorm, sages thus formed intersecting each 
 in the collection of an acquaintance, other on the centre of the edifice, 
 has set upon its face, instead of the On the flat top of the pyramid is a 
 figurine of a god, a small temple, a panther in intaglio, 
 pyramid of four degrees, with a door
 
 296 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 These aids to devotion recall the decade rings of mediaeval 
 times. These are often found of brass, but sometimes made of 
 silver, and are readily known by their having ten projections 
 like short cogs on their circumference, representing so many 
 Aves, whilst the round head, engraved with I.H.S., stands for 
 the Pater Noster. They were worn by the pious of old 
 times, and could be used at night, in place of a rosary, 
 by the wearer if he felt disposed to tell his beads. 
 
 PAPAL AND EPISCOPAL EIXGS. 
 
 From the earliest period of the Middle Ages, the symbol of 
 investiture with the office of bishop has been a ring set with 
 a Sapphire or Kuby, and worn on the fore-finger. The real 
 origin of this custom is not known, but probably was derived 
 from the practice of the Empire, by which a ring was given 
 to a military tribune on his appointment, and, in fact, as 
 early as the age of Juvenal, had become the symbol of the 
 office itself ; 7 and we have seen from the letter of Valerian 
 that it was of a " regulation " weight and description. That 
 the bishop's ring is a type of his mystical union with his 
 diocese, is a subsequent interpretation due to the fancy of 
 some medieval ecclesiastic who, like Durandus, could espy a 
 symbol in everything, even in a bell-rope. To the same 
 source belongs the reason assigned for the choice of the gem 
 with which it is set, and mentioned by Vossius, De Physio- 
 logia Christiana, VI., 7. " The Sapphire is said to grow dull 
 and lose its colour if worn by an adulterer or a lascivious 
 person." And, c. 25, he adds, " The Sapphire worn in a ring, 
 or in any other manner, is said to check lust, and for that 
 reason is proper to be worn by the priesthood, and all 
 persons vowed to perpetual chastity." But the true reason 
 
 " Semcstri vatum digitos circumligat auro." Sat. VII.
 
 SECT. II. PAPAL AND EPISCOPAL KINGS. 297 
 
 for the choice of the Sapphire (or ancient Hyacinthus), 
 besides its supposed sympathy with the heavens, mentioned 
 by Solinus, and its connection with Apollo the god of day, 
 was its violet colour, agreeing with the vestments appro- 
 priated to the episcopal office. 
 
 The bishop's violet represents the inferior purple, Con- 
 chylia, or Hyacinthina of the Komans ; a colour which Pliny 
 compares to that of the "angry sea," a very dark violet 
 indeed, as any one will remember who has sailed on the 
 Mediterranean in rough weather. The scarlet of the 
 cardinal's robes is the true Tyrian dye, " the colour of 
 clotted blood; dark when looked at directly, but brilliant 
 when held above the eye ; " 8 and the " purple ink," with 
 which the emperors signed their names to all documents, is, 
 as plainly appears in the Byzantine charters preserved to 
 the present time, of a bright scarlet colour. Hence the robe 
 in the Passion is by one evangelist called purple, by another 
 scarlet. 9 I therefore think it probable that, when such 
 mediaeval rings occur set with a Euby instead of a Sapphire, 
 they have belonged to bishops who were at the same time, 
 cardinals. 
 
 These rings were often, perhaps always, interred with the 
 prelates to whom they had belonged. Two were found a few 
 years ago in the coffins of ancient bishops of Hereford ; others 
 found under similar circumstances are preserved in the 
 library of York Cathedral ; and they often occur in col- 
 lections, obtained, no doubt, from the accidental desecration of 
 episcopal sepulchres. The one discovered in the stone coffin 
 of a bishop of St. Omer was entirely of gold, the head 
 
 8 Laus ei summa in colore sari- 'guis. Plin. ix. 62. 
 guinis concreti nigricans aspectu, 9 xAa/jvSa KOKKIVTJV, Mat. nop- 
 
 idcmqiiG suspectu refulgens. Unde (pvpav, Mark. 
 et Homero purpuveiis dicitur san-
 
 gH ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 formed of three trefoils, combined together in a very tasteful 
 pattern. 10 
 
 The custom of burying ecclesiastics together with all their 
 official insignia, appears to have lasted far down into the 
 Middle Ages, for amongst the amusing adventures of An- 
 dreuccio da Perugia, related by Boccaccio, he, when reduced 
 to despair, joins some thieves in plundering the tomb of the 
 Archbishop of Naples, interred the previous day in all his 
 precious vestments, and with a ring on his finger valued at 
 500 scudi. Two parties of plunderers, the last headed by a 
 priest of the cathedral, visit the tomb in succession, and 
 almost at the same time, to which circumstance Andreuccio 
 owes his escape from a horrible death, and returns home in 
 possession of the ring, which more than makes up for all his 
 losses. 
 
 At one time it seemed to me probable that this common 
 practice of plundering the tombs as soon as the corpse was 
 deposited therein, even by the very parties who ought to have 
 most religiously guarded the sacredness of the treasure, gave 
 origin to those huge rings of gilt metal so often seen in 
 cabinets of antiques, bearing either the titles or the coat of 
 arms of some pope or bishop. As none that I have met with 
 are of earlier date than the fifteenth century, one was almost 
 led to the conclusion that the universal violation of the 
 sanctity of the tomb, even by the supposed guardians of it, 
 had induced the friends of the deceased prelates to substitute 
 these counterfeit insignia of their rank for the real ones, 
 which had been found to offer such irresistible temptations to 
 the plunderers. That these metal rings were occasionally 
 
 10 One of the earliest, if not the 1856. It is set with a large rough 
 earliest extant, has lately been shown Sapphire, is made of dectrum, and 
 me, said to have been found with hollow, and entirely covered with 
 other insignia in the tomb of the the elogant guilloche pattern so con- 
 Abbot of Folleville, near Amiens, in slant in Uomanesque ornamentation.
 
 SECT. II. PAPAL AND EPISCOPAL RINGS. 299 
 
 deposited in tombs appears from these words of Palatin ; 
 Gesta Pont. Rom., III., 653. "A. S. 1607. In sepulchre 
 Sixti IV. repertus est annulus Pauli IL, cum hac nota, 
 PAVLVS II." This ring was sold (for 7 guineas) in Eoby's 
 collection of miscellaneous works of art, by Christie and 
 Manson, May 3, 1855. In the catalogue of Major Mac- 
 donald's Collection, sold by Sotheby and Wilkinson, Ap. 20, 
 1857, No. 9 is "A large ring of gilt bronze set with 
 Amethyst, with raised figures in high relief, and finely 
 chased. It formerly belonged to Pope Boniface, from whose 
 tomb it was taken during the popular insurrection in Rome, 
 1849." But here it will be as well to give a more minute 
 description of these rings, which may also serve to direct the 
 attention of antiquaries to any allusions to the use of them 
 occurring in medieval writers, or to the circumstances under 
 which they may be brought to light at the present day. 
 They are of very large dimensions, and evidently never 
 designed to be worn upon the finger ; some I have seen which 
 must weigh nearly a pound ; l they are all of the same form, 
 the shanks being four-sided, and the head square, and set 
 with a slab of Crystal or pale Amethyst, or sometimes with a 
 piece of glass of that colour. The upper part of the shank 
 usually bears the shield of the owner on one side ; on the 
 other some religious design, as the emblems of the evangelist. 
 These ornaments are cut out of the metal in high relief, and 
 often in a good bold Gothic style. On the outside of the 
 narrow part of the shank an inscription is often found in 
 Gothic letters, giving the title of the owner, as EPIS. LUGDUN : 
 but they more frequently are without any inscription, and 
 appear always to have been strongly gilt. 
 
 One of the most eminent archaeologists of the present day 
 
 1 Preserved in the Bronze Room of the Uffizi, Florence.
 
 300 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 is of the opinion that they served as credential rings to 
 authenticate the mission of any person despatched upon the 
 business of the owner, and that they had no connection with 
 the ring of investiture, a valuable jewel, and one always 
 retained by the prelate, both in life and death. This theory 
 is supported by the fact, that duplicates of these metal rings, 
 belonging to the same individual pope or bishop, are still in 
 existence, which certainly would not have been the case had 
 merely a single one been made for the sole purpose of 
 accompanying the corpse within his last resting place. In 
 the Archaeological Journal of some years back is figured a 
 ring of this class (but entirely without ornamental chasing on 
 the sides), set with a square crystal, and inscribed on the 
 upper part of the shank, EOGERII REGIS, probably one of the 
 Neapolitan kings of that name. 2 This is the earliest instance 
 known to me, and confirms the hypothesis that these rings 
 served merely as credentials to the envoys of their possessors. 
 It is curious that, with these two exceptions, they should all 
 have belonged to ecclesiastics of various ranks. At present 
 this class of antiques is extensively forged in Germany, as 
 well as all other varieties of mediaeval seals and signets ; the 
 high price they command from collectors of the relics of the 
 Middle Ages is a great temptation to the manufacture, which 
 also presents but little difficulty to a skilful worker in metal. 
 Hence all objects of this kind which appear without a well- 
 authenticated pedigree ought to be examined by the amateur 
 with a very suspicious and critical eye. 
 
 2 Another lately seen by me has century) cm the other, marking its 
 a Fleur-de-Lys on one side, and French and regal origin, 
 a crown (apparently of the 14th
 
 SECT. II. USE OP ANTIQUE GEMS IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES. 301 
 
 Serapis: Roman. Cameo. 
 
 USE OF ANTIQUE GEMS IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 
 
 The foregoing dissertation naturally introduces the subject 
 of the mediaeval seals and rings, which are so often found set 
 with antique intagli for the purpose of signets. The subjects 
 engraved upon them were always interpreted by the owners 
 as representations of scriptural personages and events. Thus 
 a triple mask stood for the Trinity, with the legend added 
 
 Triple Mask : Roman. Jaciath. 
 
 around the stone, " Hsec est Trinitatis Imago ; " and a similar 
 intaglio I have seen, a Jacinth, set in a massy gold ring, with 
 " Noel," the corruption of Emmanuel, repeated on each side 
 of the setting, evidently in a similar sense. Isis nursing 
 Horus naturally passed for the Virgin and Child ; nor was 
 this substitution confined to intagli alone, for the "Black 
 Virgins " of certain French churches (revered from the 
 earliest period of the Middle Ages, but unfortunately de- 
 stroyed in the general wreck of everything ecclesiastical in 
 1794), were discovered by Montfaucon to be basalt figures 
 of the above-named Egyptian deities, which, having merely
 
 302 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 changed names, continued to attract the devout to their 
 temples as before. The common type of a Muse holding a 
 mask, did duty for Herodias with the Baptist's head in her 
 
 Jupiter Olympius: Roman. Sard. 
 
 hand ; and St. John the Evangelist was represented by the 
 figure of Jupiter with the eagle at his feet Silenus with his 
 crooked stick was appropriately transformed into some 
 croziered abbot ; whilst cupids made very orthodox angels. 
 The bust of Serapis passed always for the portrait of Christ ; 
 and every one who has paid any attention to the representa- 
 tions of this mysterious divinity, characterised as they are by 
 a grave and pensive expression, so different to the open and 
 genial air of the Greek and Koman Jupiter, will feel con- 
 vinced that the countenance of Serapis, and not the pretended 
 letter of Bufus to Tiberius, supplied the original type for the 
 portraits of our Lord. The description of the Alexandrians, 
 given by Hadrian in his letter to Servianus (Vopiscus in Yita 
 Saturnini), seems to tend to an elucidation of the origin of 
 this interchange of representations between the old and new 
 Faith. " Those who worship Serapis are also Christians, and 
 those who style themselves the bishops of Christ are devoted 
 to Serapis. The very Patriarch himself, when he comes to 
 Egypt, is forced by some to adore Serapis, by others to adore 
 Christ. There is but one God for them all, him do the 
 Christians, him do the Jews, him do all the Gentiles also 
 worship." The Jewish prejudices entertained by the early 
 Christians were so powerful, that such portraits were not
 
 SECT. II. USE OF ANTIQUE GEMS IN MEDIEVAL TIMES. 303 
 
 admitted into their churches until a very late period ; and 
 any traditional description of Christ's personal appearance 
 must in a generation or two have become much too vague to 
 serve as any guide to an artist. 3 Sacred plate of the Middle 
 Ages was enriched with swarms of intagli, a practice common 
 enough long before under the Empire, for Juvenal laughs at 
 the person who transferred the gems from his rings to the 
 exterior of his drinking vessels : 
 
 " Nam Virro ut multi gemmas ad pocula transfer! 
 A digitis." 
 
 Caylus gives figures of several of the greatest merit, both 
 camei and intagli, selected from nearly three hundred, at that 
 time (1760) preserved set in the sacred vessels 4 and orna- 
 ments belonging to the sacristy of Troyes Cathedral. The 
 shrine of the Three Kings of Cologne, a work of the eleventh 
 century, has some admirable camei set in its two ends, and 
 its sides are studded with engraved gems of all sorts. For the 
 subject of one of them (a Leda and Swan) the devotees of 
 the period must have been puzzled to find a scriptural 
 parallel. But it is needless to particularise these works, as 
 every collection of documents of the Middle Ages will dis- 
 play, in their seals attached, abundant evidence of the 
 universality of the custom. The parchments preserved in 
 the muniment room of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 
 have a great number of impressions from antique intagli set 
 in the personal seals of the donors and attestors of the various 
 
 3 Epiphanius (Hasres. xxvii.) setting them up all together, worship 
 
 brings it as a grave charge against and do sacrifice unto them after the 
 
 the Carpocratians, " that they had gentile fashion." 
 
 painted portraits, and even gold and 4 The greatest part of these gems 
 
 silver images, and of other materials, were small intagli on Carnelian, and 
 
 which they affirmed to be portraits of set in a chasse containing a tooth of 
 
 Jesus, and made by Pilate after the St. Peter, and the head of St. Philip, 
 
 likeness of Christ at what time he so- made by order of Bishop Gamier, 
 
 journed amongst men. These they Almoner to the Crusaders at the 
 
 keep in secret along with others of taking of Constantinople, whence he 
 
 Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, and stole the skull of the Apostle.
 
 304 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IF. 
 
 deeds ; amongst which, however, very few occur of any merit 
 as to workmanship, being generally of late Roman date. I 
 have seen a small rude intaglio of Pax, surrounded by a 
 mediaeval legend EICHARDVS ESP, which had been regarded by 
 the German antiquaries, in which country it had been found 
 (at Ratisbon), as an invaluable relic, being the very signet of 
 Richard Coaur de Lion ! 
 
 Lapidaria or Treatises on Gems still exist, describing the 
 benefits that accrue from the possession of stones sculptured 
 with certain figures. Their virtues are deduced from the 
 meaning supposed by the authors of these treatises to be 
 implied by the engraving on the gem ; and both grounds and 
 inferences are, it is needless to say, in most cases ridiculously 
 absurd. The mode in which they express themselves on this 
 point would lead one to conclude that they considered the 
 stone and figure to be a natural production, and not a work 
 of art ; an idea the more admissible if we reflect upon the 
 great length of time during which the art of gem-engraving 
 had been totally unknown in Europe. The last intaglio 
 known, of any merit as a work of art, is the famous Sapphire 
 of Constantius. in which that emperor is represented spearing 
 a wild boar in the neighbourhood of Caesarea, that city being 
 typified by a female reclining on the ground. The rude 
 works of the Gnostics may have been executed for a century 
 or two longer, for the tomb of Maria, wife of Honorius was 
 found, when opened, to contain several, buried with that 
 princess as amulets, in spite of her orthodoxy ; with the notion 
 no doubt that they could do the deceased no harm, and might 
 possibly be of service to her in her passage to the next world, 
 as we shall see when we come to treat of the class of Abraxas 
 gems, a barbarous but highly interesting series of intagli. 
 We have already noticed the signet of Mauricius, who reigned 
 582 to 602, but I cannot vouch for the genuineness of the 
 stone, for it has much the air of a work of the Renaissance.
 
 SECT. IT. CROSS OF KING LOTHAIUUS. 305 
 
 I have, however, met with an account of a most interesting 
 
 o 
 
 intaglio, the authenticity of which is indubitable, and which 
 brings down the traces of the existence of the art of engraving 
 on gems some centuries lower than is generally allowed ; to 
 the examination of which the next article shall be devoted. 
 
 CEOSS OF KING LOTHAKIUS. 
 
 This cross, itself indubitably a work of the Carlovingian 
 period, but mounted upon a silver-gilt foot of very elegant 
 design in the taste of the fifteenth century, is preserved in 
 the treasury of the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, and affords 
 some singular illustrations of certain points already treated of 
 in these pages. The surface of the gold is ornamented with 
 arabesque tracery, and studded thickly with gems set close 
 together in plain raised collets. These consist of Pearls, 
 Rubies, Sapphires, Amethysts (one an intaglio of the Three 
 Graces), and Emeralds ; another convincing proof, if any 
 were needed, of the common use of the last gem in ancient 
 times. At the intersection of the arms of the cross is placed 
 a magnificent cameo on Onyx, about 3 inches high and 2J 
 wide, representing the laureated bust of Augustus holding an 
 eagle-topped sceptre ; a work of the highest merit. But the 
 most interesting feature that presents itself to our notice in 
 this early relic of the first dawn of medieval art, is the signet 
 of Lotharius himself, set in the lower part of the stem of the 
 cross, immediately beneath the cameo of Augustus. It is 
 engraved on a large oval piece of rock crystal about If inches 
 high by 1 J wide, and represents the bust of that king, his head 
 covered with a close-fitting helmet with a slightly projecting 
 frontlet, like those of the latest Roman period. Around the 
 bust runs this legend, in well formed Roman letters, 
 
 f XPEADIVVAHLOTHARIVMREG 
 " Christ, defend King Lothaire."
 
 306 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. IT. 
 
 The execution of the engraving is very tolerable ; far better 
 than could have been expected at that date, A.D. 823, especi- 
 ally when we consider the rudeness of the coinage of the same 
 period. It is not the work of the Byzantine school, for the 
 characters of the legend bear no resemblance to those em- 
 ployed by its artists, but are precisely the same as those seen 
 on the Frankish stone and metal work of the time of this 
 monarch. This is by far the latest intaglio of ascertained 
 date, of which I have been able to find any trace ; and its 
 existence supports the opinion previously expressed, that the 
 art of engraving gems lingered in Europe to a much later 
 period than is generally supposed. 
 
 This most splendid specimen of ancient jeweller's work is 
 admirably figured in the magnificent 'Melanges d'Archreo- 
 logie,' Vol. I., par MM. Cahier et Martin. 
 
 PKOFUSION OF JEWELLERY WORN BY ROMAN 
 LADIES. 
 
 " I have seen," says Pliny, ix. 58, " Lollia Paulina (once the 
 wife of the Emperor Caligula) though it was on no great 
 occasion, nor was she in full dress of ceremony, but merely at 
 an ordinary wedding party I have seen her covered all over 
 with Emeralds and Pearls shining in alternate rows, over all 
 her head, her hair, hair-fillet, ears, reck, necklace, and fingers ; 
 the value of all which united amounted to the sum of forty 
 millions of sesterces (400,000?.) : a value which she was ready 
 to attest by the vouchers for the prices paid. Nor were these 
 jewels the presents of an extravagant prince ; they were, on 
 the contrary, family heir-looms, that is to say, bought with the 
 spoils of provinces. This was the result of peculation, this 
 the end for which M. Lollius made himself infamous all over 
 the East, by taking bribes from princes; and at the last 
 drunk poison when C. Caesar, the adopted son of Augustus,
 
 SECT. II. JEWELLERY WORN BY ROMAN LADIES. 307 
 
 had renounced his friendship : all for this end, that his grand- 
 daughter might show herself off by lamp-light covered over 
 with the value of forty millions of sesterces ! Let any one 
 now count up on the one side the sums carried in triumph by 
 Curius or Fabricius, let him picture to himself their scanty 
 dishes ; and on the other side, Lollia, a wretched female, a 
 tyrant's plaything, seated at the feast ; would he not have 
 preferred that they should have been dragged down from 
 their triumphal cars, rather than have been victors for such a 
 result as this?" 
 
 Claudian enumerates among the treasures left by the 
 Emperor Theodosius to his two sons : 
 
 " Quin et Sidonias chlamydes et cingula baccis 
 Aspera, gemmatasque togas, viridesque smaragdo 
 Loricas, galeasque renidentes hyacinthis." 
 
 " Sidonian mantles rich with purple fold, \ 
 
 Belts bossed with pearls, robes stiff with woven gold, 
 And helmets shining green with emeralds bright, 
 And breastplates rich with precious sapphires dight." 
 
 In illustration of the last lines it may be observed, that 
 Constantine often appears, on his small brass coins, wearing 
 a helmet studded with gems set together as closely as 
 possible. This passage also supplies another argument in 
 favour of the identity of the Hyacinthus with our Sapphire, as 
 that stone is found more abundantly used than any other in 
 the decoration of the jewellery of the latest Koman age, in 
 the few instances (to be described in the next article) that 
 have been preserved to our times. Here, too, it may be 
 observed, that these ornamental helmets of the latter empire 
 were the origin of the imperial crown in its present shape, 
 the gradual transition of form being easily traced upon the 
 coins of the Byzantine Caesars. 
 
 x 2
 
 308 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 CROWNS OF THE GOTHIC KINGS OF SPAIN. 
 
 A brief notice has been already given, under Emerald, of 
 the Iron Crown of Monza, and that of King Agilulph. But 
 these have been altogether eclipsed, both in value and in 
 interest, by the discovery of eight crowns in solid gold, of the 
 intrinsic worth of 2000?., lately discovered in clearing away 
 a deserted cemetery at Fuente di Guerrazar, two leagues 
 from Toledo. The most important, that of King Receswin- 
 thus, A.D. 653, is a circle of fine gold one foot in diameter, 
 set with 30 huge Eubies and 35 Pearls, alternating with 
 Sapphires. The circle is edged by two borders, adorned with 
 a running pattern of Greek crosses made of pieces of Carne- 
 lian, cloissonnds in gold. From 24 little chains hang these 
 letters, of gold, incrusted with Carnelians, like the border, 
 
 f RECESVINTHVS REX OFFERET. 
 
 From the letters again hang 24 pendeloques in gold and five 
 Pearls, and support 24 pear-shaped pink Eubies, forming a 
 fringe all round the crown. Lowest of all hangs a magni- 
 ficent cross, of elegant form, set with very large gems, and 
 having three pendants from the arms and foot. 
 
 The second crown, supposed to be the queen's, is set with 
 Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds, Opals, and large Pearls, and 
 has a fringe of Rubies and a pendant cross, but is altogether 
 of a plainer make than the first. 
 
 The other crowns are much simpler, and are set with but 
 few stones ; they probably were those of counts and barons of 
 the time. On one is the inscription, 
 
 INDNI 
 
 NOM 
 INE 
 
 OFFERET SONNICA 
 SCTE 
 
 MARIE 
 
 INS 
 
 ORBA 
 CES
 
 SECT. II. CROWN OF HUNGARY. 309 
 
 which records its dedication by Sonnica to Santa Maria di 
 Abaxo, a church at the foot of the hill on which Toledo 
 
 stands. 
 
 CEOWN OF HUNGAEY. 
 
 This most venerable relic of Byzantine art is formed of a 
 broad flat circlet of fine gold, from which spring four arches 
 supporting a cross. It was sent, A.D. 1072, by Michael 
 Ducas, Emperor of Constantinople, to Geisa I., Duke of 
 Hungary, or, as he is styled in his enamel portrait placed 
 above the circlet, " Geabitras, king of the Turks." Next 
 comes a portrait of Constantinus Porphyrogenitus ; then one 
 of Ducas himself ; the fourth and largest enamel represents 
 Christ seated, exactly as he appears on the bezants of the 
 period. These four portraits are placed at the springing of 
 the arches that close the top of the crown ; on the front of 
 the circlet itself are fixed four smaller enamels of Michael, 
 Gabriel, St. George, and St. Demetrius. 
 
 Above the medallion of Christ is a large heart-shaped 
 Amethyst, below it is a huge rough Sapphire ; four large 
 Sapphires are also set equidistant on the circlet, all of them, 
 but one, being unpolished. The edges of the circlet are 
 closely studded with Pearls set touching each other in a row. 
 The large Sapphire at the back is surrounded by four green 
 stones, cut in an oblong form, but their precise nature cannot 
 be ascertained. In the deed by which Queen Elizabeth of 
 Hungary pledged this crown to the Emperor Frederic IV,, 
 the stones are enumerated as 53 Sapphires, 50 Rubies, one 
 Emerald, and 320 Pearls. Here is another proof of the early 
 existence of the Emerald in Europe, and of the correctness of 
 the opinion as to the real nature of the Hyacinthus, for what 
 other gem, to judge from Claudian's account of the robes and 
 armour of Theodosius, should we expect to see so lavishly 
 employed as this in decorations of the Byzantine age ?
 
 310 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 KING OF THE GEEAT MOGUL. 
 
 Before quitting the subject of ancient jewellery, I cannot 
 refrain from giving a brief description of an ornament, which, 
 though not antique, exemplifies the Oriental idea of magnifi- 
 cence more fully than any example that has ever come before 
 me. This was a monster ring presented two centuries ago by 
 the Great Mogul to the only envoy of the Emperor of Germany 
 who ever visited his court. The very first sight of this jewel 
 sufficed to convince one that it could have had no other origin 
 than this, such a show of barbarian splendour did it exhibit, 
 forming in itself a complete cabinet of every kind of precious 
 stone of colour to be found within his dominions. Its form 
 was that of a wheel about three inches in diameter, composed 
 of several concentric circles joined together by the spokes 
 radiating from the centre, in which was set a large round 
 Sapphire ; the spokes, at all their intersections with the 
 circles, have collets soldered on them, each containing some 
 coloured gem; in fact, every stone of value, except the 
 Diamond, occurs in this glorious company. On the back is 
 fixed the shank, and when worn it covers the whole hand 
 like some huge mushroom. 
 
 Strange to say, this same pattern is found in an ornament of 
 a very different origin a Eoman fibula discovered at Shefford, 
 Bedfordshire, and now in the collection of the Cambridge 
 Antiquarian Society. It is composed of bronze gilt, and is 
 about eight inches over, and formed of three concentric 
 circles connected as in the ring, all set with large pastes 
 imitating Emeralds and Amethysts. The gilding is still very 
 perfect, and the colours of the pastes remarkably good and 
 brilliant. The form of this fibula is perhaps unique, but 
 there can be little doubt of its Roman origin, having been 
 found together with many relics of that period, such as
 
 SECT. II. STATUES ADORNED WITH JEWELLERY. 311 
 
 Samian ware and other pottery. This is another singular 
 instance of the persistence of ancient types in the East, 
 which strikes us so forcibly in the examination of the Etruscan 
 and Greek gold work, much of which might have been but 
 yesterday brought from India, the same lightness of material 
 and delicacy of execution, as well as similarity of " motive," 
 characterising the productions of ages so widely separated. 
 
 STATUES ADORNED WITH JEWELLERY. 
 
 At a late period of the Eoman Empire, the practice had 
 become common of adorning the statues of the gods with 
 articles of jewellery, such as would be worn by wealthy per- 
 sonages of the time. Of this custom wo find no traces in 
 former ages, for the gold and gems that decorated the statues 
 of the flourishing periods of the arts were employed in the 
 actual construction of the figure or of its drapery and acces- 
 sories. Zosimus ascribes the tragic end of Serena, the 
 widow of the great Stilicho, who was strangled by the orders 
 of the wretched Honorius (or rather of the eunuchs who 
 governed him), to the vengeance of the goddess Vesta, whose 
 statue she had despoiled of a most valuable necklace of 
 precious stones. This was done at the time the temple was 
 deserted by its former guardians, in consequence of the con- 
 fiscation of its revenues. Hence Zosimus (a devout adherent 
 to the ancient faith), whilst lamenting the fate of so excellent
 
 312 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 a matron, cannot refrain from pointing out the justness of the 
 punishment " which encircled with the cord that very neck 
 previously adorned with a necklace obtained by sacrilege 
 from the most venerable of the Roman shrines." The priests 
 of old, in the Eternal City, must have had greater faith in the 
 devotion or the honesty of the worshippers, than is manifested 
 by their successors of the present day, for although some of 
 the Madonnas, especially that dell' Annunziata, seem one 
 blaze of jewels, the gifts of devotees of every age and country, 
 yet they are in reality nothing but false stones. The guar- 
 dians of the churches themselves confess the substitution, and 
 affirm, that to guard against accidents, every real offering is 
 represented to the public view by a fac-simile in paste, whilst 
 the originals are deposited for safety in the sacristy of the con- 
 vent, though it is shrewdly suspected by the natives that the 
 originals would not be forthcoming if demanded, having, 
 immediately on their dedication, been converted into a form 
 more applicable to the requirements of the " living temples." 
 The sacred vessels of the sacristy of Cologne Cathedral blaze 
 with a profusion of precious stones, which even to the eye of 
 the casual inspector, appear too brilliant to be genuine, and 
 have much the appearance of recent pastes. I have also 
 been informed, by a person of the greatest skill in antique 
 gems, that the large Onyx camei, already mentioned as 
 decorating the ends of the shrine of the Three Kings, are 
 not of stone but of coloured paste. If this be true, it affords 
 strong grounds for suspicion that the originals have been 
 abstracted at some time within the last three centuries; 
 moved from their place by the potent arguments of some 
 wealthy collector, and copies in paste substituted for them ; a 
 fraud not difficult of execution,, as the shrine is deposited 
 within a very gloomy enclosure, and can only be examined 
 by means of a hand-lantern, for which permission a consider-
 
 SECT. II. STATUES ADORNED WITH JEWELLERY. 313 
 
 able fee, one thaler, is charged. The devout but poor 
 worshipper can only contemplate the open front of the shrine 
 which contains the sacred skulls, from without, and at some 
 distance, through a grating ; so that any tampering with the 
 ornaments of the sides of the shrine might be carried on 
 without any fear of detection. 
 
 The sacrilege of Serena recalls a curious circumstance 
 connected with the downfall of the ancient worship at Rome. 
 The zeal of the Christian populace, as long as the Empire 
 lasted in the West, was only allowed to vent itself upon the 
 more disreputable deities of foreign origin, such as the Egyp- 
 tian monsters, against which even the Senate had in earlier 
 times waged vigorous war ; and against other religions intro- 
 duced from barbarian regions, like Mithras and his host de- 
 stroyed by the onslaught of Gracchus, so highly lauded by 
 
 the irascible abbot of Bethlehem. The ancient deities of 
 
 \ 
 
 Italian origin appear to have remained unmolested as long as 
 the Empire endured. The temples were indeed closed to 
 worshippers, and their revenues sequestrated, but the build- 
 ings and statues remained as decorations to the city. On the 
 other hand, the figures symbolizing abstract ideas, such as 
 Victory and Fortune, had still a certain degree of respect 
 paid to them. The melting down by Palladium of the gold 
 statue of Virtus, in order to buy off the threatened attack of 
 Alaric, was even regarded as an unpardonable offence, and a 
 sure omen of future ruin, by the almost wholly Christian popu- 
 lation of Rome. The figures of the goddess Roma and of 
 Victory appear some centuries later on the coins of the most 
 orthodox and fanatical Byzantine emperors. Even in the 
 reign of Coustantius, a persecuting Tbigot, we read of the 
 Consul sacrificing in the temple of Castor and Pollux at 
 Ostia, when contrary winds locked up the corn-fleet in the 
 harbours of Africa, and threatened the city with famine. But
 
 314 ART, STYLES OF. SECT. II. 
 
 on other occasions also, the new converts, when reduced to 
 despair, had recourse to the expedients of the ancient faith, 
 sanctified by so many centuries of uninterrupted victory. 
 Thus during the last siege by Alaric, when all hopes of de- 
 fence had failed, on a rumour that the citizens of Nepi had 
 repulsed the Gothic besiegers by means of a thunderstorm 
 raised by the rites of some Etruscan Haruspices, the Senate 
 was anxious to try the effect of the same invocations, and had 
 even obtained the consent of the Bishop Innocentius to such 
 a scandalous proceeding. He, as Zosimus observes, \vas ready 
 to sacrifice his creed to his country ; but when the Etruscan 
 priests, rejoicing no doubt in his confusion, insisted on the 
 proceedings being conducted publicly, and in the Forum 
 itself, his pride of office came to the aid of his faith, and he 
 allowed the business to go no farther. As an illustration of 
 the preceding remarks a brief notice will not be out of place 
 of the numerous figures of Koma (often cut on plasma), as 
 well as of Victories and Eagles, usually mere scratches, and 
 so rude as to be hardly recognisable, even when engraved on 
 fine gems, and which may safely be attributed to the very last 
 ages of Eoman power. These rude intagli will often be found 
 set in massive gold rings (in fact, as a rule, the more valuable 
 intrinsically the setting, the less so is the gem as a work of art), 
 evidently the ornaments of the wealthiest classes of the time, 
 and who, had anything better, in point of execution, been then 
 obtainable, would certainly have procured it to adorn such 
 costly decorations. From the circumstance that only such 
 miserable attempts at engravings were then to be procured by 
 the most liberal patrons, we may conclude how nearly the art 
 had declined towards the period of its total extinction. 
 
 I have already noticed the rarity of imperial portraits in 
 intaglio after the time of Caracalla. Even the miscellaneous 
 Herz Collection (the sole object of which was to assemble the
 
 SECT. II. STATUES ADORNED WITH JEWELLERY. 
 
 315 
 
 greatest possible variety of subjects, irrespective of material 
 or of beauty) contained none of later date than the family of 
 Severus. The Mertens-Schaafhausen Cabinet, so rich in 
 portraits, affords however a highly interesting and unique 
 design, the heads of Diocletian and Maximian, combined in 
 the character of Janus, an apt allusion to their pacific rule. 
 The same observation applies still more forcibly to cameo 
 portraits, which, though abundant enough and of excellent 
 style, of the time of Hadrian and his successor, entirely dis- 
 appear in the next century with Severus, of whom some are 
 extant, of considerable merit and in splendid stones. In fact, 
 the only genuine cameo bust I have seen of a later date was 
 one of Macrinus, and that of very inferior execution. 5 The 
 above-named collection possesses, indeed, a head of Valenti- 
 nian, on- a slab of Porphyry 4 inches by 3 in dimensions ; but 
 this, both from its size and material, must rather be designated 
 a bas-relief than a cameo. Camei, however, reappear at a late 
 period of the Byzantine empire, worked out in the same stiff 
 and barbarous style as the religious subjects of the same date ; 
 and, like these, often disfigure and deface slabs of Sardonyx 
 of extraordinary size and beauty. 
 
 s A cameo of considerable size, crown ; the whole worked out in flat 
 
 said to have been found at Xanten relief, like the medallions of the time, 
 
 on the Rhine, and apparently an- in an inferior single-coloured Onyx : 
 
 tique, presents a laureated bust of a most important monument of the 
 
 Constantine, enclosed in a civic expiring art. 
 
 Diocle-tiau and Maximian as Jan 
 
 Green Jasper.
 
 316 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 Antiqua Gem, with forged name of artist Mycon : Greek. Sard 
 
 SECTION III. SUBJECTS. 
 
 KEMAEKABLE SIGNETS OF ANTIQUITY. 
 
 " Graved on the gem the god of Love I see, 
 Whose mighty force no mortal heart can flee : 
 With dext'rous rein he guides the lion's might, 
 Unnumber'd graces spring around to light ; 
 In one hand grasped aloft the whip he roars 
 O'er the rough neck, in one the bridle bears. 
 The murd'rous god that tames the monster dire, 
 How few of mortals shall escape his ire !" 
 
 MARCUS ARGENTARIUS, Anthol. ix. 221. 
 
 NEXT to the celebrated Emerald signet of Polycrates, the 
 most famous is probably the Agate of King Pyrrhus, which is 
 said to have been so marked naturally as to represent Apollo 
 holding the lyre and surrounded by the nine Muses, each with 
 her appropriate attribute. The natural veins and shadings 
 of the stone must have been very much assisted either by art or 
 by the very lively imagination of the beholder, to have drawn 
 so complicated a design upon the small surface of a ring- 
 stone ; although Agates do occur at the present day marked
 
 SECT. III. REMARKABLE SIGNETS OF ANTIQUITY. 317 
 
 with figures which it seems almost impossible to ascribe to a 
 mere freak of nature. Amongst those in the British Museum 
 is one representing the head of Chaucer covered with the 
 hood, as in his well-known portrait, the resemblance of which 
 is most extraordinary ; and yet the pebble is evidently in its 
 original state, not even polished, but merely broken in two. 
 In the Florence Cabinet is a red and yellow Agate, the shades 
 of which admirably represent a Cupid running ; and a few 
 other similar natural pictures are shown in the same col- 
 lection. Among the gems at Strawberry Hill was a " lusus 
 naturae, a rare Egyptian pebble representing Voltaire in his 
 night-gown and cap, set in gold ;" also " another representing, 
 with the utmost exactness, the portrait of a woman in profile, 
 a rock behind her, and sky before, set in gold, and accounted 
 very curious." 1 The examination of these "nature-paintings" 
 supplies the explanation of an epigram by Claudian " On a 
 table of Sardonyx-stone," which is somewhat obscure in con- 
 sequence of its very flowery style of expression, and at first 
 rather suggests the idea of a mosaic being intended by his 
 description, though there can be no doubt it refers to the 
 natural colours and veins of the stone tablet itself. 
 
 EPIGRAM XLIV. In mensd de Sardonyche lapide. 
 
 " Mensa coloratis aquilae sinuatur in alis 
 
 Quam floris distinguit honos, similisque figura 
 Texitur, implumem mentitur gemma volatum." 
 
 " The coloured veins that o'er its surface stray, 
 An eagle's form with dusky wings portray ; 
 With native hues trac'd on the flower'd stone, 
 A life-like figure in perfection shown ; 
 Form'd in the gem the picture seems to fly, 
 And wingless cheats the wond'ring gazer's eye." 
 
 1 Some others still more extraor- tion of the Hope Precious Stones,' 
 dinary are specified in the ' Descrip- by B. Herz.
 
 318 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 This epigram also supplies another instance of the vast 
 size of the slabs of Sardonyx obtained by the Romans ; and 
 this must have been the "gem," two of which made the 
 draughtboard, "tabula lusoria," carried in the Triumph of 
 Pompey, and which was four feet long by three wide. 
 
 Dio records that the head of Augustus, engraved by Dios- 
 corides, was the signet used by his successors until Galba 
 substituted for it his own family device, a dog, looking forth 
 from a ship's prow. Sylla's favourite seal was the surrender 
 of Jugurtha, 2 a subject no doubt represented thereon in the 
 same manner as it is found on the reverse of one of his 
 denarii, where the Roman general appears seated on an ele- 
 vated platform, and before him are two men kneeling, one of 
 them with his hands tied behind his back, while the other 
 holds forth a branch, the emblem of a suppliant. According 
 to Dio, xlii. 18, the Roman Senate refused to credit the news 
 of the death of Pompey until Julius Csesar produced before 
 them his very signet-ring, which was engraved with three 
 trophies, like that of Sylla's. The motive for selecting this 
 device was the same in both cases, to commemorate the three 
 principal triumphs of their military career. The Spaniard, 
 whose father had fallen in a duel with Scipio ^JEmilianus, was 
 so proud of the fact that he used for his signet a stone en- 
 graved with a representation of the combat ; whereupon Stilo 
 wittily inquired, what would he not have done if his father had 
 killed Scipio, instead of Scipio's killing his father ? Augustus 
 at first sealed with a sphinx, having found two intagli of 
 this design, and perfectly alike, among the valuables of his 
 mother ; and one of these, when absent from Rome, he used 
 to leave in the hands of his deputy to authenticate any letters 
 or proclamations that might be suddenly required by any 
 
 2 Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxvii. ; my chief authority for the statements 
 made in this chapter.
 
 SECT. IH. HEM AUK ABLE SIGNETS OF ANTIQUITY. 
 
 319 
 
 emergency to be issued in his name ; but so many satirical 
 remarks were made upon his use of a sphinx that he gave it 
 up, and employed a head of Alexander the Great for his 
 signet. 3 That of Maecenas was a frog, the sight of which, as 
 announcing a contribution about to be levied, used to strike 
 terror into people's minds. This famous patron of literature 
 
 net of Maecenas. Etruscan Calcedony. 
 
 extended his favour to this branch of the fine arts, of which 
 a testimony still exists in his portraits from the hand of 
 Apollonius, of Solon, of Aulus, and above all of Dioscorides, 
 which is the second in merit of the eight authentic surviving 
 works of that engraver. How passionately Maecenas loved 
 gems, doubtless not merely for themselves, but for the art 
 enshrined within their substance, appears from his lines upon 
 the departure of Horace, for which loss, he says, not even the 
 sight of his darling collection could console him : 
 
 " Lugens, o mea vita, te, Smaragdos 
 Beryllos neque, Flacce, nee nitentes, 
 Nuper, Candida margarita, qugero : 
 Nee quos Thynica lima perpolivit 
 Anellos nee laspios lapillos." 
 
 3 A Calcedony scarab in the Mer- 
 tens - Schaafhausen Collection, en- 
 graved with a frog (both the beetle 
 and the intaglio a highly finished 
 work of an Etruscan artist of the 
 best period), may be assigned, with- 
 out much stretch of probabilities, 
 
 to some member of the powerful clan 
 MAIKNE, the " regal ancestry " of 
 Horace's patron. That such devices, 
 like our heraldic crests, were here- 
 ditary, appears from Dio's notice of 
 Galba's hereditary seal.
 
 320 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 " Whilst I thy absence, my life, deplore, 
 Emeralds and lustrous Beryls charm no more ; 
 No more, my Flaccus, can the brilliant white 
 Of Indian Pearls as once my eyes delight : 
 Nor can my favourite rings my grief beguile, 
 Nor Jaspers polished by the Thynian file." 
 
 Augustus also evidently alludes to his mania for collecting 
 gems in the passage of a letter in which he thus mimics 
 his affected style : " Vale mel gentium, metuelle, ebur ex 
 Hetmria, laser Aretinum, adamas supernas, Tyberinum mar- 
 garitum, Cilneorum smaragde, iaspis figulorum, berylle 
 Porsennae, carbunculum habeas" (corruption of Carbuncule 
 Arabice). Macrob. ii. 4. " Farewell my ivory statuette from 
 Etruria, my Aretine spice, my diamond of the Upper Country, 
 my pearl of the Tiber, my emerald of the Oilman clan, my 
 jasper of the potteries, my beryl of King Porsena, my ruby of 
 Arabia," &c., joking him at once on his royal Etruscan de- 
 scent (his weak point) and on this his favourite hobby. 
 Ismenias, the celebrated flute-player in the reign of Alex- 
 ander, having been informed that an Emerald, engraved with 
 a figure of Amymone, was for sale at a town in Cyprus for 
 six gold staters (six guineas exactly), commissioned a person 
 to buy it for him, who made, as he thought, a good bargain, 
 and brought back two gems for the same money ; but Isme- 
 nias, instead of thanking him for his trouble, said that " he 
 had done very wrong in lessening the dignity of the gem by 
 beating down its price." Alexander would not allow his por- 
 trait to be engraved on gems by any artist except Pyrgoteles ; 
 and from the manner of Pliny's expressing himself, it would 
 appear that the Emerald was the only stone selected for this 
 honour. 4 According to the account in Athenaeus, the sophist 
 
 4 After his conquest of Asia, rius " to seal his edicts to the Per- 
 Alexander used the "ring of Da- sians, his original signet for those
 
 SECT. III. REMARKABLE SIGNETS OF ANTIQUITY. 321 
 
 Athenion, on his return from his embassy to Mithridates, is 
 carried in state into Athens, reclining upon a litter with silver 
 legs and coverings of purple. He is lodged in the house of 
 Dies, the richest man of the time, which is furnished for his 
 reception with tapestry, pictures, statues, and a vast display 
 of plate. Out of this house he used to strut, trailing behind 
 him a splendid mantle, and wearing a gold ring engraved 
 with a portrait of Mithridates. Here it may be observed that 
 portraits of this king are of frequent occurrence on gems, for 
 he seems to have been very popular in Greece, where he was 
 no doubt hailed by the natives as a welcome deliverer from 
 the burdensome yoke of Home. His portrait appears, from 
 the arrangement of the flowing locks, to be treated as one of 
 Apollo, probably in allusion to his name, the equivalent of 
 Heliodorus, " the gift of the Sun." He was certainly a prince 
 who appreciated and encouraged the arts, for his coinage is 
 amongst the most beautiful in the entire Greek series a 
 circumstance hardly to be expected at that late period ; and 
 
 addressed to the Greeks. The de- Greek officer, bearing an unknown 
 
 vice of this last was probably a lion, seal, and which proved to be one 
 
 at least such was the figure on the from an agent of Darius. (Quint, 
 
 signet with which Philip dreamed Curt.) 
 
 that he sealed up the womb of Unfortunately no author has men- 
 
 Olympias (a dream interpreted as tioned what was the device on the 
 
 the presage of the future greatness signet of Darius ; although we labour 
 
 of the infant), and in commemoration under the " embarras derichesses" 
 
 of this dream, Alexander subse- in the varying descriptions of the 
 
 quently founded a city named seal of Xerxes, authenticating his 
 
 Leontopolis. Moreover the sole communications to Pausanias ; for 
 
 coins, hemidrachms, bearing his the scholiast on Thucydides, i. 129, 
 
 actual portrait with the horn of Am- says, " The signet of the King of 
 
 mon, have a lion for the reverse, the Persians bore, according to some, 
 
 At this period every man had a the portrait of the king himself; 
 
 fixed device for his signet, as well according to others, that of Cyrus 
 
 known, and as unvarying as a coat- the founder of the monarchy ; and 
 
 of- arms at present ; for we read of a again, as others say, the horse of 
 
 conspiracy being detected, in conse- Darius, by reason of whose neighing 
 
 quence of a letter being brought to a he was made king."
 
 322 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 he is the first monarch recorded to have formed a cabinet of 
 gems. The Spartan magistrates in the time of Pausanias (the 
 
 Mithridates. Yellcw Sard. 
 
 second century) used for their official seal the portrait of 
 Polydorus, one of their ancient kings, but no reason is assigned 
 why he was selected in preference to all the others. Areius, 
 King of the Lacedemonians, ends his letter addressed to the 
 High Priest Onias thus: " The seal is an eagle grasping a 
 serpent in his talons" (Josephus, xii. 5). In the 'Amphi- 
 tryon/ in the dialogue between Mercury and Sosias, we 
 have, 
 
 " Ubi ea patera nunc est ? M. Est in cistula 
 Amphitryonis obsignata signo. S. Signi die quid est ? 
 M. Cum quadrigis Sol exoriens. Quid me captas carnufex ?" 
 
 " Where is the bowl now? Mer. Lock'd up in my trunk, 
 Seal'd with Amphitryon's seal. Sos. Say what 's the seal ? 
 Mer. Sol rising in his car. Why seek to entrap me, 
 Thou gallows-bird ? 
 
 It is probable that Plautus, whose plays are all adaptations of 
 older Greek comedies, had some ancient authority for making 
 this the device of the signet of the Argive king. The fre- 
 quency of the portraits of Alexander the Great, upon gems of 
 very different ages, arose from their being worn as amulets 
 down to a late period. Trebellius Pollio, speaking of the 
 family Macriana, says that the females wore the portrait of 
 Alexander of Macedon, engraved on their hair-cauls, their
 
 SECT. III. REMARKABLE SIGNETS OF ANTIQUITY. 323 
 
 bracelets, and in their rings ; and adds that it was a common 
 belief that persons who carried about with them a portrait 
 of Alexander in silver or gold, prospered in everything they 
 did; and even so late as the time of St. Chrysostom.. he 
 mentions (Horn, ii.) the practice of wearing his bronze coins 
 fastened to the head or feet, as charms to keep off sickness. 
 
 Cicero says (De Fin. v. 1), " I cannot forget Epicurus even 
 if I wished it, for our friends have his portrait not only in 
 paintings, but even engraved on their cups and in their rings." 
 I once had a portrait of this philosopher, engraved in a late 
 
 though still antique style, on a fine Sardonyx, with the cha- 
 
 E 
 racters i KS thus placed an early instance of such an 
 
 arrangement of the letters of a name, afterwards so frequent 
 in Byzantine times. His portrait is easily recognised by his 
 thin cheeks, long hooked nose, and ample beard, more 
 adapted to the character of a Cynic than to the idea one 
 would be inclined to form of the aspect of him that taught 
 pleasure to be the chief good. This too illustrates the pas- 
 sage of the poet, who speaks of a certain personage as being 
 
 " Barbatus, macer, eminente naso, 
 Ut credas Epicuron oscitari." 
 
 " Him, bearded, lean, and with projecting nose, 
 A yawning Epicurus you 'd suppose." 
 
 One of the omens announcing the coming fall of Nero was 
 the presentation to him by his favourite Sporus, as he was 
 taking the auspices on New Year's Day, of a ring engraved 
 with the Eape of Proserpine a most unlucky subject, being 
 the received symbol of death, and appropriated as a decora- 
 tion to sarcophagi. Nothing in the eyes of a Eoman could 
 be more ill-omened than such a New Year's Gift ; altogether 
 as prophetic of future woe, as the unaccountable legend on 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 the marriage medal of Mary and Francis II., " Hora nona 
 Dominus Jesus experavit Heli clamans," words so inappro- 
 priate to the occasion that they must have been suggested 
 by Atropos herself to the designer of the medal, in bitter 
 irony of the festive day. Chiflet asserts (but I fear only on 
 the authority of some mediaeval writer) that Augustus used a 
 signet engraved with a tortoise and butterfly, in allusion to 
 his favourite maxim, Festina lente (" No more haste than good 
 speed"); but this conceit savours too much of the Cinque- 
 Cento taste to be really authentic. The Sapphire of Con- 
 stantius, lately mentioned, from the legend CONST ANTIVS 
 AVG., engraved so conspicuously over the principal figure, 
 was most likely executed by that emperor's order, as his pri- 
 vate signet ; and the Calcedony with the bust and legend 
 of Mauricius, in the Mertens-Schaafhausen Collection, is, if 
 genuine, a most interesting personal relic of that unfortunate 
 prince. 
 
 Yisconti (' Esposizione di Gemme Antiche/ No. 497) thus 
 describes a portrait supposed to be that of Constantius II. : 
 " Impression of an intaglio in Rock Crystal, from the Flo- 
 rentine Museum ; a youthful bust wearing the paludamentum, 
 and appearing to offer, in his physiognomy, the features of 
 Constantius, son and successor of Constantine the Great." 
 But his next (No. 498) is a portrait of the highest historical 
 interest : '* A most singular Carnelian, though of miserable 
 execution, inscribed ALARICVS. REX. GOTHORVM. The bust 
 is in front-face, and has upon the shoulders a kind of stole 
 called lorum in those times, which formed part of the habit of 
 ceremony of the emperors and of the consuls." It may be 
 conjectured that this was cut for the official seal of the 
 secretary of the Gothic king. Had it been intended for his 
 private signet, it would doubtless have been executed on a 
 stone of greater intrinsic value a Sapphire or an Amethyst.
 
 SECT. III. REMARKABLE SIGNETS OF ANTIQUITY. 325 
 
 Portraits of this late epoch, when they do occur ou gems, are 
 generally given in front-face and very deeply cut, showing 
 that the mechanical part of the arts, and the ability of sinking 
 intagli with facility in the hardest stones, still survived the 
 total extinction of all knowledge of design. Front-face por- 
 traits had ere this come into fashion upon the more important 
 productions of the Mint, such as the medallions ; and very 
 shortly after entirely banished profiles from the obverses of 
 the gold currency. In the De la Turbie Collection, No. 49, 
 is a Carnelian engraved with arabesques, and a Greek in- 
 scription, KOMNHNOC TOY CEBACTOY, " Comnenus, son of the 
 Emperor," or in modern phrase, Prince Comnenus. This is 
 consequently an intaglio belonging to the twelfth century, 
 during which that family held the imperial power ; and is also 
 the latest instance that has come under my notice of an en- 
 graved stone, the date of which can be approximately fixed. 
 It supplies another argument in support of the opinion that 
 the art of gem-engraving was re-introduced into Italy by the 
 artists fugitive from Constantinople in 1453. Pepin used for 
 his signet a head of the Indian Bacchus, and Charlemagne 
 one of Serapis ; but there is little doubt that, at that period 
 of ignorant orthodoxy, the first passed muster as a portrait 
 of Moses, the second, with better reason, as that of Christ 
 himself. 
 
 Probably the most famous signet of later times is that of 
 M. Angelo, preserved in the Paris Collection. It is a Sard, 
 engraved with a group representing a Bacchic Festival, quite 
 in the Kenaissance style. In the exergue is a boy fishing, 
 the rebus upon the name of the artist, Gio. Maria da Pescia. 
 Many connoisseurs however still hold the gem to be an un- 
 doubted antique. Of this relic the following curious story 
 is told : In the last century, as the Abbe Barthelemy was 
 exhibiting the rarities of the Bibliotheque to a distin-
 
 326 SUBJECTS. SK.CT. III. 
 
 guislied antiquary of the day, he suddenly missed this ring, 
 whereupon, without expressing his suspicions, lie privately 
 despatched a servant for an emetic, which when brought he 
 insisted on the savant's swallowing then and there ; and 
 in a few minutes he had the satisfaction of hearing the signet 
 tinkle in the basin held before the unlucky victim of his love 
 of antiquities. There are more paste copies of this gem, some 
 of them excellent imitations, than of any other intaglio in ex- 
 istence, not so much on account of the actual beauty of the 
 composition (which, although fine, is by no means of the first 
 class) as from the celebrity of the signet due to the fame of 
 its original possessor. 
 
 An antique ring 5 lately came under my notice, which, 
 though its history is quite unknown, one feels tempted to be- 
 lieve must have been the actual signet of some empress of 
 the fifth century. A female portrait, front-face, like that of 
 Gralla Placidia, deeply though rudely cut on an octagonal 
 Amethyst, was set in a massy gold ring of a very uncommon 
 but elegant design, representing a cable of many strands, the 
 shank gradually swelling from the middle towards the head, 
 wliich thus was flattened out sufficiently to receive the stone. 
 The work was executed with the greatest precision, corre- 
 sponding fully to the elegance of the design an unusual cir- 
 cumstance in antique rings, especially those of Koman date, 
 which are for the most part clumsy in form, the only object 
 kept in view by the ancient goldsmith being to make them 
 fit comfortably upon the finger without the risk of turning 
 round upon it. And now that the subject of antique settings 
 is once more brought before us, I must mention a splendid 
 Greek signet of solid gold, engraved with the head of a 
 Nymph, of the best period of Sicilian art, proving that rings 
 
 8 Now in the Uzielli Collection.
 
 SECT. III. CHIMERAE. 327 
 
 of this description had been in use long before the reign of 
 Claudius, the time assigned by Pliny for their coming into 
 fashion, 6 which also is refuted by the remark of Atteius 
 Capita, already quoted, that the older Romans cut their 
 signets on the iron or gold of the ring itself. Both these 
 rings were in the former splendid collection of Mr. Bdocke, 
 to whose exquisite taste and profound knowledge of this 
 branch of antiquity I am indebted for many of the observa- 
 tions incorporated in these pages. To him also belonged 
 the Diamond in its antique ring, described above a rarity 
 that I had sought for in vain amongst the most famous 
 European cabinets. 
 
 Stymphalian Bird : Roman. Burnt Sard 
 
 CHIMEEAE. 
 
 Chimerae, also called Grylli, from the Italian word signify- 
 ing both a cricket and a caprice, are grotesque figures 
 formed of portions of various animals combined into the 
 outline of one monster, which generally bears the shape of a 
 bird or of a horse. Paintings of similar " capricci " were com- 
 mon among the ancients, and went by the same name that 
 they still bear in Italy ; for Pliny uses the expression " pinxit 
 et Gryllum ridiculi habitus," to designate these fantastic 
 
 6 Pliny's remark may perhaps trait on the gold ring itself, in- 
 only refer to the newly introduced stead of on a gem. 
 fashion of cutting the imperial por-
 
 328 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 compositions. These intagli are sometimes called Basilidan 
 Figures, and classed among Gnostic gems ; to which family, 
 , however, they by no means belong, for besides that they 
 never bear the symbols or legends characteristic of the 
 Gnostic amulets, the style of work which they exhibit is a 
 sufficient proof to an experienced eye that they belong to a 
 much earlier date the nourishing period of Roman art. 
 Their first origin must have been those combinations of 
 masks so frequent in all collections where the engraver 
 sought to produce effect by putting together the strongest 
 contrasts, such as faces of a satyr and a nymph side by side, 
 or back to back Janus-like ; or a stern tragic and a laughing 
 comic mask ; and an infinity of similar groups, often joined 
 together with singular skill. A very favorite stone for these 
 subjects was the red Jasper; doubtless its colour was con- 
 sidered appropriate to such representations. One of the 
 most ingenious of these combinations I have ever met with 
 is in my possession, and represents a fine bunch of grapes 
 
 Bunch of Grapea: Roman. Hed Jasper. 
 
 with stalk and tendril, the whole formed out of five masks, 
 the two upper satyric, the three lower comic, a few grapes 
 being introduced to fill up the outline ; an idea probably 
 unique and carried out with much art in this instance. 
 Some of the very finest Roman art is to be found displayed 
 in the work of these groups : witness the admirable com- 
 bination of three masks, symbolical of the three divisions of
 
 SECT. III. OHIMERAE. 329 
 
 the drama, on a large Sard formerly in the Webb, now in 
 the Fould Cabinet. A very frequent arrangement is to 
 represent a beautiful youthful profile covered with a helmet 
 composed of three or more caricature masks, all united in 
 one whole. A full-faced wide-mouthed tragic mask has 
 often a comic, with mild and regular features in profile, 
 attached to the back ; and every collection furnishes new 
 examples of the artist's ingenuity in varying these com- 
 binations. The next step was to combine the human head 
 with that of some beast : thus an old man's head is backed 
 by that of a wild-boar; of a rani, or of an elephant, all which 
 combinations are of frequent occurrence. 
 
 By adding to these compositions the head and neck of a 
 bird or of a horse, a complete animal sui generis was obtained, 
 which was next supplied with legs, and often mounted by a 
 Cupid, a parody of the popular subject, Cupid riding the 
 lion. A favorite type was formed out of a peacock's head 
 
 and neck set upon a body made out of a satyric mask, backed 
 by a ram's head, out of which springs a cornucopia for the 
 tail, while the monster tramples upon a dolphin or a lizard ; 
 where the general idea of the outline of the whole is that 
 of the sacred Ibis destroying such reptiles ; perhaps a sly 
 hit at the fashionable Egyptian superstitions of the age. 
 A mouse or rabbit is often introduced, together with a 
 letter or two, sometimes of the Punic alphabet, probably
 
 330 SUBJECTS. SKCT. III. 
 
 giving to the initiated the key to the enigma, The com- 
 pleted figure makes a very good imitation of a crane ; or of 
 a cock with a horse's head, perhaps the hippaUctrym of the 
 comedians ; and it will be found that these monsters, however 
 varied in form, are almost always made up of the same com- 
 ponent parts : the satyric mask, or perhaps head of Socrates, 
 the ram's head, cornucopia, mouse, dolphin, rabbit, and 
 lizard, always entering into the composition. Hence one is 
 tempted to hazard a conjecture that these objects, the at- 
 tributes of Earth, Air, and Sea, have a certain designed 
 relation to each other, and the figure resulting from them 
 a deep and mystic meaning. May they not symbolise cer- 
 tain virtues or qualities arrogated to himself by the owner of 
 the signet? It is hardly probable that they would have 
 been so generally used for signets (at a time when good 
 taste still flourished), if they had been only caprices of 
 the artist, in which case also the component parts would 
 have admitted of unlimited variations, and not have been 
 confined to portions of the animals already enumerated. 
 A design sometimes occurs representing the Stymphaivm 
 bird, a long-legged crane, with a human head helmeted, 
 and armed with a buckler and two javelins; a figure 
 which, curiously enough, is a type of the denarii of the 
 family Valeria} The story goes, that these birds were 
 invulnerable, but could with their bills pierce through the 
 strongest armour a quality typified by the darts ; they con- 
 sequently set Hercules and his arrows at defiance until 
 
 7 Or it may be one of the birds of vice contains an allusion to the 
 
 Mars inhabiting the isle Aretias in name Valeria, another instance of 
 
 the Euxine, which shot forth their (in heraldic phrase) the " Canting 
 
 feathers like arrows in their flight Arms " of the Eoman families, as 
 
 on the approach of the Argo, and the elephant of Caesar, the calf of 
 
 wounded Oileus in the shoulder Vitulus, the larches of Lariscolus, 
 
 (Apol. Rhod. II. 10(50). This de- &c.
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 ASTROLOGICAL INTAGLI. 
 
 Pallas came to his aid and gave him a bronze rattlo by 
 means of which he scared ^them away to the coast of the 
 Ked Sea. There their descendants continue to the present 
 day, for the officers employed on the late nautical survey of 
 its shores discovered on the sand hills the deserted nests of 
 a monstrous crane far exceeding in size anything known to 
 belong to that species. Interwoven in the structure of one 
 of them were the bones and tattered clothing of a ship- 
 wrecked sailor, still retaining his silver watch, and thus 
 testifying to the recent construction of the pile. 
 
 Lyres composed of dolphins and tortoises, accompanied by 
 ravens and hoopoes, all animals consecrated to Apollo, are plen- 
 tiful enough, and serve to support the opinion that the other 
 more enigmatical compositions had a well-defined intention. 
 All these chimerae, grylli, or sympleginata, are found much 
 more abundantly on red Jasper than on any other stone. 
 
 ASTROLOGICAL INTAGLI. 
 
 The Signs of the Zodiac are often seen upon gems of Eoman 
 work, either singly, combined, or as adjuncts to figures oi 
 deities, the representatives of the different planets. They
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 may reasonably be supposed to have a reference to the 
 horoscope of the owner : for that persons who had been 
 blessed with an " auspicious nativity " indulged in the vanity 
 of parading it before the public eye is well-known from many 
 historical allusions. Thus Severus selected for his second 
 wife Julia Domna, because she had a " Royal Nativity," and 
 many a senator was sacrificed by the timid tyrants of the 
 Empire for the same reason as was Metius Pomposianus by 
 Domitian : quia imperatoriam genesin habere ferebatur. One 
 of the most auspicious horoscopes was Capricorn, 
 
 " in Augusti felix qui fulserit ortus" Manillas, 
 
 " Who shone propitious on Augustus' birth ; " 
 
 Augustus with bis horoscope Capricorn. Cameo. 
 
 a fact commemorated by this emperor on the reverse of one 
 of his denarii, as Suetonius has noted. Hence this Sign 
 often accompanies the portrait of Augustus on gems. Fir- 
 micus lays down that, " on the rising of the third degree of 
 Capricorn, emperors, kings, and persons destined to fill the 
 highest offices are born." He gives a very detailed list of 
 the " Apotelesmata Signorum," or the influences exerted by
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 ASTROLOGICAL 1NTAGLI. 
 
 333 
 
 each degree of the respective Signs, in its ascension, upon the 
 future destiny of the infant born under it : for this influence 
 was greatly modified by their various altitudes in the heavens. 
 Manilius also gives a similar list, though less full, describing 
 only the influences of the Signs at their rising, or when 
 attended by the ascensions of certain constellations. Thus 
 under Aries the native will be a great traveller ; under 
 Leo, a warrior ; under Cancer, a sailor ; under Aquarius, 
 honest, chaste, and religious, &c. 8 Pisces, strangely enough, 
 brought to light the talkative and slanderous. 
 
 Capricorn is for the above reason a very favorite device, 
 as are also Leo, and Virgo figured as Victory but dis- 
 tinguished by her helmet and the wheat-ears in her hand. 
 Scorpio is, next to Leo, the most frequent of all, and with good 
 reason, if we can credit Manilius as to his influence on the 
 native's fortunes. 9 These figures are generally accompanied 
 by a cornucopia, to define their astrological intention. A 
 magnificent Sardonyx intaglio (Fould) has Jupiter seated, be- 
 tween Mars and Mercury standing, upon an arch under which 
 is a bearded Eiver-god ; thus giving us the nativity of Eome, 
 for cities had their nativities like men. 
 
 Two or three sometimes occur in combination on the same 
 intaglio, as Virgo seated between Taurus and Capricorn. 
 This expresses the joint influence for good of these Signs ; 
 for some were accounted as hostile, others as friendly to 
 each other. The three so united are a trine, or the three 
 
 ' But when receding Capricornus shows 
 The star that in his tail's bright summit 
 
 glows, 
 
 Then shall the native dare the angry seas, 
 A hardy sailor live, and spurn inglorious 
 
 ease. 
 
 Dost thou desire a son pure, holy, chaste, 
 With probity and every virtue graced ? 
 Such shall he born, nor deem the promise 
 
 vain. 
 
 When first Aquarius rises from the main." 
 MAKILIUS, vi. 
 
 Whoso is born beneath th' auspicious sky 
 When Scorpio rears his glittering tail on 
 
 high, 
 He shall the earth with rising cities 
 
 crown, 
 
 And trace the circuit of new founded towns. 
 Or ancient cities in the dust lay low 
 And give their sites back to the rustic 
 
 plough ; 
 
 O'er ruined houses bid ripe crops to wave, 
 And Ceres nourish on a nation's grave." 
 Ibid.
 
 334 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 respectively touched by the points of any equilateral triangle 
 inscribed within the zodiacal circle. 
 
 When they appear as adjuncts to the figures of planetary 
 deities, they denote the power that god or planet exerts 
 when placed in that particular Sign ; a power varying in 
 nature and in degree according to the part of the Sign in 
 which he happened to be at the moment of the nativity : 
 points all laid down with the greatest exactness by the 
 accurate Firmicus, 10 in his Decreta Saturni, Jovis, &c., e.g. 
 " If Mercury be found in Scorpio the native will be handsome, 
 fond of dress, honourable, and liberal. If he be found in Leo 
 the native will be a soldier, and gain glory and fame. If 
 Jove be in Cancer the native will be the friend and faithful con- 
 fidant of the secrets of the rich and powerful," &c., &c. Again 
 the Signs attend the representations of other deities besides 
 those of the planets : for, according to Manilius, each one was 
 under the patronage of its own tutelary god or goddess, whose 
 choice seems to have been dictated by the use or disposition 
 of the animal or personage thereby symbolized. 
 
 " Pallas the Ram, Venus the Bull defends, 
 The beauteous Twins their guardian Phoebus tends. 
 Cyllenian Hermes o'er the Crab presides, 
 Jove with Cybele the fierce Lion guides. 
 The Virgin with her Sheaf is Ceres' dower ; 
 The artful Balance owns swart Vulcan's power. 
 Still close to Mars the warlike Scorpion's seen ; 
 The Centaur huntsman claims the sylvan queen ; 
 Whilst Capricorn's shrunk stars old Vesta loves, 
 The Urn is Juno's Sign, opposed to Jove's ; 
 And Neptune, o'er the scaly race supreme, 
 Claims his own Fishes in the falling stream." 
 
 10 His voluminous treatise on Lollian, was written under Con- 
 Astrology, addressed to the Count stantimis Junior in the 4th century.
 
 SECT. III. ASTROLOGICAL INTAGLI. 835 
 
 These combinations also represent the Planets and their 
 Houses, 1 for 
 
 " The planets look most kindly on the birth 
 
 When from his proper House each views the earth, 
 For there th' auspicious larger blessings shower, 
 And the malign are shorn of half their power." 
 
 The engravings of the Signs were evidently worn in later 
 times as amulets for the protection from disease and accident 
 to those portions of the body under their especial influence. 
 For each member was under a particular Sign, a belief of 
 the highest antiquity, and scarcely yet extinct. 2 Hephaestion 
 expressly observes, " the star Chnumis in the breast of Leo, 
 protects against all diseases of the chest." The Greek 
 astrologer quoted by Salmasius (De An. Clirn.), speaks of 
 the wearing of figures of the decani, or three chief stars, in 
 each Sign (of which Chnumis is one), cut upon rings as 
 charms against disease and accidents. These decani are, as 
 Scaliger observes with justice, the curious winged figures, 
 sometimes holding a Sign in their hands, so often appearing on 
 the Abraxas gems. Such were the " constellation stones " of 
 the mediaeval astrologer. 3 Scaliger 4 gives, as borrowed by 
 the Arabians from the Greeks, a catalogue of most strange 
 figures and groups, intended to express the particular in- 
 
 1 Dorotheas and Manetho (ii. 141) animal, the figure of which they 
 
 lay down that bear ; thus Leo against the assaults 
 
 "Chiefest of these, with aspect most benign of lions and wild beasts, Scorpio 
 
 When in Aquarius doth old Saturn shine : against scorpions and reptiles. &c. ; 
 
 Jove in the Archer joys; th' impetuous Mars , L 
 
 Of right exults in fiery Scorpio's stars; but so extremely material an inter- 
 
 P retation was Mainly not accepted 
 For to each planet that illumes the skies by the ancients. 
 
 His proper House some favourite Sign sup- 3 My ^^ ^ ^.^ ^^ 
 
 And several constellation stones.'' 
 
 2 The Arabian astrologers speak HUDIBRAS. 
 
 of these gems as defending the 4 Notre in Manilitim. Lib. V. 
 wearer against the attacks of the
 
 336 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 fluence of each degree of every Sign on the destiny of the 
 native. 5 Probably a careful study of these descriptions would 
 enable the inquirer to decipher the intent of many of the 
 inexplicable combinations engraved on the later talismanic 
 stones. 
 
 In the combinations above mentioned Sol appears as a 
 star with eight rays ; the planets sometimes are symbolized 
 by their attributes placed over a star: thus the caduceus 
 figures for Mercury ; the dove for Venus ; the spear for 
 Mars, (fee. But the Signs even in the most hasty antique 
 work are always given as full figures, however sketchily 
 indicated; never as the hieroglyphics by which we are 
 accustomed to see them denoted in almanacs. When such 
 do occur on a stone it may be safely assigned to the Italians 
 of the Revival and following century, when astrological gems 
 and amulets were produced in even greater abundance than 
 at any period of the ancient Empire, the belief in the science 
 being then far stronger and more universal than in the 
 times of pagan Rome. These hieroglyphic abbreviations 
 probably originated with the Arabian writers, the founders 
 of astrology in mediaeval Europe, and were due to their 
 religious prejudices against representations of the human 
 figure, which actually led them to substitute new symbols 
 of their own for many of the Greek constellations, as well as 
 for some of the Signs as Gemini, Virgo, and Aquarius. 6 
 
 Another not uncommon device is a crescent and seven 
 stars, the Pleiades: this may be assumed to have been a 
 lady's signet from its occurring as a reverse on the medals 
 of many of the empresses as Sabina and Faustina. The 
 
 5 These tables are termed " Myrio- 6 Gemini they rendered by two 
 
 geneses Signorum," a corruption of peacocks ; Virgo by a bunch of 
 
 Moeriogeneses, the influence of each wheat-ears ; Aquarius by a mule 
 
 part or degree upon the nativity. carrying two buckets.
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 ASTROLOGICAL INTAGLI. 
 
 337 
 
 crescent enclosing the sun-star is also to be observed on 
 gems. The motive for choosing such a device is hardly to 
 be conjectured, unless indeed we suppose the owner thus 
 placed herself under the patronage of all the heavenly host 
 at once. Of the astronomical coins, the most singular is that of 
 Niger the celestial globe supported on the conjoined figures 
 
 Hipparchus the Astronomer : E 
 
 of Taurus and Capricorn : which may be supposed to contain 
 an allusion to his surname Justus, for Erigone (Asteea) often 
 appears thus supported. Some of the large bronze medals of 
 Antoninus Pius from the Alexandrian mint, bear on their 
 reverses a sign with the bust of a deity ; another has the head 
 of Serapis surrounded by those of the planets, and the whole 
 enclosed within the zodiac. The curious Emerald of the
 
 338 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 Mertens-Schaafhausen Collection apparently offers a similar 
 composition, and from its style may safely be ascribed to the 
 same period. 
 
 larchas, the Indian philosopher (probably the president of 
 a Buddhist college), presented Apollonius Tyaneus with seven 
 rings named after the planets, each of which that sage used 
 to wear upon its appropriate day : an early allusion this to 
 the present nomenclature of the days of the week. 
 
 ilithraic Bull, symbol of the Earth. Green Jasper. 
 
 MITHEAIC INTAGLI. 
 
 In the same proportion as the preceding class of Grylli affect 
 the red Jasper, so is the mottled green, or dull yellow 
 variety of the same stone, the favorite material for the ex- 
 tensive series of intagli connected with the worship of Mithras, 
 the oriental equivalent of Pho3bus, whose place he took in 
 the creeds of the second and third centuries. To judge from 
 their good execution many of these intagli date from the early 
 Empire, and thus form as it were the introduction to the 
 innumerable host of Gnostic gems amid which the art of 
 gem engraving expires. These works belong to the oriental 
 doctrines so widely diffused through the Koman world during 
 the Middle Empire, and which taught the exclusive worship 
 of the sun as the fountain of light and life. They are 
 easily recognized by the designs they present: a lion 7 sur- 
 rounded by stars, with a bull's head in his jaws ; or Mithras 
 himself attired as a young Persian and plunging his dagger 
 
 7 Leo is the " House of Sol."
 
 SECT. III. MITHRAIC INTAGLI. 339 
 
 into the throat of a bull, above which appear the sun and 
 moon and some of the signs of the zodiac. In these com- 
 positions, the lion is the type of the sun, as the bull is of the 
 earth ; and the piercing its throat with the dagger signifies 
 the penetration of the solar rays into the bosom of the earth, 
 by which all nature is nourished : which last idea is expressed 
 by the dog licking up the blood as it flows from the wound. 
 The sign of Capricorn, so frequently introduced, represents 
 the necessity of moisture to co-operate with the action of the 
 sun to secure the fertilization of the soil, and the scorpion, an 
 almost invariable adjunct to the bull, typifies the generative 
 heat. Often this scene is depicted as enclosed by a host of 
 Egyptian sacred animals, crocodiles, ibises, hawks, &c., stand- 
 ing around in attitudes of adoration and gazing upon the 
 work of their supreme head, Mithras. Bas-reliefs in stone of 
 the Mithraic sacrifice have been found ni various parts of 
 England, as at Bath and on the line of the Picts' Wall, probably 
 the work of the Syrian troops stationed in this island. The 
 most complete assemblage of Mithraic symbols that I have 
 met with is to be found in an intaglio figured by Caylus, VI., 
 pi. LXXIV. It is engraved on a very fine Agate, 2 inches long 
 by 1 J inch wide. In the centre is the usual type of Mithras 
 slaughtering the bull, the tail of which terminates in three 
 wheat-ears ; beneath is the lion strangling the serpent, the 
 emblem of darkness. On each side is a fir-tree against 
 which are fixed torches, one pointing upwards the other 
 downwards : at the side of one is a scorpion ; of the other, 
 a bull's head. Above each tree is again a torch, each point- 
 ing in opposite directions. On each side of the principal 
 group is Apollo in his quadriga, and Diana in her biga. 
 Above all stand two winged figures entwined with serpents 
 and resting upon long sceptres, between whom are three 
 flames, as well as four at the side of the figure to the right, 
 
 z 2
 
 340 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 making up the number seven : an allusion to the seven planets. 
 A naked female surrounded by ten stars is on her knees before 
 the figure on the left : this may typify the human soul pray- 
 ing for purification. There is no doubt but that this com- 
 position, if it could be interpreted, would be found to contain 
 a complete summary of the Mithraic creed. 8 
 
 Mithraie Talisman of Nicandar. Green Jasper 
 
 SEKAPIS. 
 
 To the same period belong the intagli presenting heads of 
 Serapis with the legend ETC GEOC CAPAHIC, " there is but one 
 God, and he is Serapis ;" EIC ZCON 0EOC "the one living God;" 
 NIKAO CAPATIIC TON *eoNON, " baffle envy, Serapis," &o. A 
 beautiful Sard of Eoman-Egyptian work in my collection re- 
 presents Serapis seated on a throne with the triple-headed 
 animal, described by Macrobius (B. vii.), at his side ; before him 
 stands Isis, holding the sistrum and the wheat ears ; around the 
 group is the legend, H KYPIA icic AFNH, " immaculate is our 
 Lady Isis ; " the very terms applied in our day to the same 
 
 8 The torches raised and lowered 
 signify the East and West ; the 
 serpent winding four times around 
 the youth the annual course of the 
 sun, as is clearly proved by a torso 
 of Mithras found at Aries, in which 
 the zodiacal figures are placed be- 
 tween the folds of the serpent. The 
 tail terminating in wheat-ears al- 
 ludes to the fifty life-giving plants 
 which sprang from the tail of the 
 
 Primeval Bull when destroyed by 
 Ahriman. The scorpion between 
 his hind legs typifies autumn, as the 
 serpent lying beneath does the 
 winter. The raven represents the 
 attendant priest, for in these rites 
 the superior officials were styled 
 Lions, the inferior Eavens ; hence 
 the rites themselves are often desig- 
 nated Leontica and Coracica. Vide 
 SEEL'S Miihra.
 
 SECT. III. SERAPIS. : : !4L 
 
 deity, whose worship has in reality ever subsisted, though 
 under another name. All these invocations are characteristic? 
 of the age when the liberal Western mythology, which 
 pictured Heaven as a well-ordered monarchy peopled by 
 innumerable deities, each having his proper and independent 
 position, was beginning to give place to the gloomy super- 
 stitions of Oriental origin, according to which the tutelary 
 divinity of some particular nation was the sole god of heaven 
 and earth, whilst those of other races were either vain fictions, 
 or else evil spirits. Many gems, fine both in material and 
 workmanship, give us the ancient Egyptian divinities exactly 
 as represented on the oldest monuments, but engraved in a 
 pure Eoman style. Most of these belong to the time of 
 Hadrian, who attempted to revive the outward forms of the 
 old religion, the spirit of which had well nigh passed away ; 
 an attempt which has generally precede^ the downfall of 
 every extinguished creed. 
 
 Macrobius, I. 20, says, " The city of Alexandria pays an 
 almost frantic worship to Serapis and Isis; yet all this 
 veneration they prove that they ofier to the Sun under that 
 name, both by their placing the corn basket upon his head, 
 and accompanying his statue by the figure of a three-headed 
 animal, the central and largest head of which is that of a 
 lion. The head that rises on the right is one of a dog in a 
 mild and fawning attitude, while the left part of the neck 
 terminates in the head of a ravening wolf. All these 
 animal forms are connected together by the wreathed body 
 of a serpent, which raises his head up towards the right hand 
 of the god, on which side this monster is placed. The lion's 
 head typifies the Present, because its condition between the 
 Past and the Future is strong and fervent. The Past is 
 signified by the wolf's head, because the memory of all things 
 past is snatched away from us, and utterly consumed. The
 
 342 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 symbol of the fawning dog represents the Future, the domain 
 of uncertain but flattering hope. But whom should Past, 
 Present, and Future serve* except their author ? His head, 
 crowned with the calathus, typifies the height of the planet 
 above us, and his all-powerful capaciousness ; since to him 
 all things earthly return, being drawn up by the heat which 
 he emits." 
 
 " Again when Nicocreon, king of Cyprus, consulted Serapis 
 as to which of the gods he ought to be held, he responded, 
 
 ' A god I am, such as I show to thee : 
 The starry heaven my head, my trunk the sea ; 
 Earth forms my feet, the air my ears supplies, 
 The sun's far-darting brilliant rays my eyes.' 
 
 "Hence, it is apparent that the nature of Serapis and of 
 the Sun is one and indivisible. Isis, so universally worshipped, 
 is either the earth or Nature as subjected to the sun. Hence, 
 the body of the goddess is covered with continuous rows of 
 udders, to show that the universe is maintained by the 
 perpetual nourishment of the earth or Nature." 
 
 Anubis, surronndel by the seven vowels. 
 Green Jasper. 
 
 Abraxas. Green Jasper. 
 
 GNOSTIC GEMS. 
 
 But the true development of the Egyptian doctrines in a 
 new phase is very conspicuous in the extensive class of 
 Gnostic intagli, which, with the exception of a few rude 
 engravings of victories, eagles, &c., are the sole glyptic
 
 SECT. III. GNOSTIC GEM8. 343 
 
 monuments we possess of the last centuries of Koman domi- 
 nation in the West. As may be supposed, the art displayed 
 in these intagli is at its lowest ebb; and the work appears to 
 have been executed by means of a very coarse wheel, like 
 that on the Sassanian stamps of Persia, a country the source 
 of a large proportion of the ideas expressed in their figures 
 and legends. Instead of the choice Sards, Amethysts, and 
 Nicoli of an earlier period, we find these amulets almost 
 without exception cut upon inferior stones, most commonly 
 on bad Jaspers, black, green, and yellow ; on dull Plasmas, 
 or perhaps Jade, and sometimes on Loadstone, but rarely on 
 Sards or Calcedony. These Gnostic types, when found of 
 good work, and engraved on fine stones, as is sometimes the 
 case, will on examination turn out to be works of the Cinque- 
 Cento period, when similar subjects, and all figures bearing 
 any relation to astrology, were again executed in large 
 numbers, in compliance with the ruling superstition of the 
 day. A fine Amethyst once in my possession, engraved with 
 a figure of the hawk-headed, Priapean, Thoth, standing on a 
 serpent, and holding in his extended right hand a small 
 figure of Anubis, was a remarkable instance of this revival 
 of ancient ideas ; for the work was worthy of the best times of 
 the art, and in itself a convincing proof that the intaglio 
 could not have belonged to the Gnostic era. Pastes of this 
 class do not exist : the real stones were cut so rudely, 
 and doubtless produced so cheaply, that it was not worth 
 while to imitate them in a less valuable material. The sole 
 exception that has come under my notice, to the inferior 
 quality of the gems used for these amulets, is an extraordinary 
 garnet tablet, described further on. 
 
 Without entering into the intricate maze of these doctrines, 
 except occasionally, and just as far as is necessary to explain 
 the representations involving some of their ideas, I shall
 
 344 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 proceed to classify them in the order of their antiquity. 
 The earliest are doubtless those which offer purely Egyptian 
 types ; a very frequent one being a serpent, erect, and with a 
 lion's head surrounded by seven rays, and usually accom- 
 panied by the inscription XNOY^IC or XNOYMIC. This is 
 Chneph, the good genius of the Egyptian religion, the type of 
 
 :.- 
 
 Chneph: A'.exandiian. Sard. 
 
 life and of the sun. Sometimes we find this idea more fully 
 developed in the form of a lion-headed man, bearing a wand 
 entwined with a serpent, the head of which is directed 
 towards his face. A common inscription around the figure, 
 or on the back of the stone, is the Hebrew-Greek, CEMEC 
 EIAAM, "the eternal sun ;" alluding to the appearance of 
 Christ " the sun of righteousness," regarded as the equivalent 
 of the genius of light; to whom also refers the legend 
 ANA9ANABAA, " thou art our Father," a corruption of the 
 Hebrew "Lanu atha ab." To the Egyptian family also 
 belongs the Harpocrates, seated upon the lotus flower (having 
 the life-giving symbol purposely exaggerated) and often 
 accompanied by Anubis, serving as a type of the necessary 
 regeneration of the believer. 9 The same deity often is repre- 
 
 9 The regeneration of the soul is the Sun-Lion impregnating a naked 
 sometimes typified in a very singular female, the usual Eastern symbol of 
 and literal manner, by a group of the disembodied spirit.
 
 SECT. III. GNOSTIC GEMS. 345 
 
 sented sailing through the air in the mystic boat, steered by 
 two hawks, with the sun and moon above his head. The 
 backs of these intagli are often filled up by the seven vowels 
 of the Greek alphabet, arranged in as many lines, each vowel 
 being repeated until it fills its respective line ; illustrative of 
 the curious tenet, that each vowel represented the sound 
 uttered in its course by one particular planet, which, when all 
 combined, formed a hymn to the glory of the great Creator 
 of the Universe. An outline of a human figure entirely filled 
 up with these vowels and other legends, is the type of the 
 regenerated and spiritual man, entirely freed from all earthly 
 taint. 10 Again, we have a combination of different deities in 
 the figures with many wings and arms, and uniting the 
 attributes of Athor and Sate, the Egyptian Venus and Juno. 
 But the most frequent type of this class is the Anubis, or 
 jackal-headed god, sometimes represented in his ancient 
 form, and as bearing the caduceus of Hermes, to denote his 
 office of conducting the souls of the dead through the shades 
 unto their final resting-place in the Pleroma ; l and some- 
 times appearing as a being with both a human and a jackal's 
 head, to express his identity with Christ as the guardian of 
 the spirit when released from the body. This idea explains 
 the meaning of a rude drawing on the wall of a vault in the 
 Palatine, where, this jackal-headed figure is represented 
 
 10 Scaliger takes him to be the representation of Christ raising souls 
 
 representative of the 365 Aeons, all out of Purgatory. The Hell of the 
 
 their names being supposed to be Persians, the burning lake of molten 
 
 compressed within the outline. metal, into which at the Day of 
 
 1 In gems of a better period Judgment Ahriman and his fol- 
 
 Hermes is not unfrequently seen lowers were to be cast, had for its 
 
 with his caduceus, bending over and object the ultimate purification of 
 
 assisting the soul to emerge from the condemned ; a doctrine recog- 
 
 the earth, or Hades. A strange nised by some of the Christian 
 
 coincidence in form, at least (if not Fathers, and even by St. Jerome, 
 in origin), with the common mediaeval
 
 346 SUBJECTS. SECT. Ill, 
 
 crucified, with the inscription AAESAMENOC CEBETE TON 
 " Alexamenos adores the god ; " the work of some pious 
 Gnostic in reality, but which is usually interpreted as a 
 heathen blasphemy, from the jackal's head being mistaken 
 for that of an ass. A Sard in my collection presents to the 
 first view the primitive and orthodox representation of the 
 Good Shepherd bearing the lamb upon his shoulders, his 
 loins girt with a belt with long and flowing ends ; but on a 
 closer view the figure resolves itself into the double-headed 
 Anubis, the head of the lamb doing duty for the jackal's, 
 springing from the same shoulders as that of the man, whilst 
 the floating end of the girdle becomes the thick and curled 
 tail of the same animal. I have also met with another type 
 of difficult explanation: a woman seated upon a huge 
 crested serpent ; evidently not the usual Chneph, as it does 
 not bear the lion's head the invariable adjunct to that 
 symbol. Stones also occur entirely covered on both sides 
 with long legends in the Coptic language but Greek cha- 
 racter, the most curious of which was the famous Garnet of 
 the Herz Collection, an oblong slab, 2f inches high by 1^ 
 wide, with 11 lines on one side, and 14 on the other, of a long 
 invocation 2 in the Greek character, but in a different language, 
 in which many Hebrew (or Chaldee) words were interspersed, 
 together with the names of angels. 3 A very singular type is 
 
 2 It is a most singular coincidence satisfy the learned and sagacious 
 
 that the inscriptions on each side of canon. 
 
 this tablet (excepting a few words 3 lamblichus (Letter to Porphyry) 
 
 enclosed within a coiled serpent at expressly says that the gods are 
 
 the top of the other) exactly cor- pleased with invocations in Assyrian 
 
 respond with those on the oval and Egyptian, as being ancient and 
 
 Calcedony given by Chiflet, xvii. 69, cognate languages to their own, and 
 
 and of which his friend Wendelin those in which prayers were first 
 
 had sent him a very orthodox ver- made to them, and that they have 
 
 sion, which, however, did not by stamped as sacerdotal the entire lan- 
 
 any means, find with good reason, guage of these holy nations.
 
 SECT. III. GNOSTIC GEMS. 347 
 
 the figure of Osiris wearing a radiated crown, and with the 
 body swathed like a mummy, standing upon the heads of four 
 angels, upon whom two streams of water flow out of his sides. 1 
 An armed man, the Soldier of the Mithraic rites, often occurs, 
 sometimes holding a spear terminating in a cock's head, and 
 sometimes grasping two serpents. 
 
 The long and unintelligible legends so characteristic of 
 these intagli, are often found cut on the backs of gems of an 
 earlier date, but the subjects of which were analogous to the 
 religious ideas of the times, such as figures of the Sphinx, the 
 Lion, Medusa's head, or Sol in his car. The letters of these 
 inscriptions are usually of a square form, the rudeness of the 
 instrument employed, or the want of skill in the artist, 
 having prevented his forming circular characters ; to do which 
 neatly requires the greatest dexterity and practice, and is the 
 most difficult task that can be required from the wheel ; for 
 the elegant and minute inscriptions of the earlier engravers 
 will be found to have been scratched into the stone with the 
 diamond point, and hence their perfect neatness of execution. 
 
 We now come to the figure which has given its name to 
 this entire class the god Abraxas, or as the name reads on 
 the gems, Abrasax. The letters of this word, when employed 
 as Greek numerals, make up the number 365, the successive 
 emanations of the Great Creative Principle, which embraces 
 all within itself, and hence is styled the Plerorna ; an idea 
 fitly typified by a word expressive of the collective number of 
 its components. The numerical value of the letters in 
 Abrasax is also equivalent to those in Meithras, the repre- 
 sentative of Christ ; hence the figure of this god is a combina- 
 tion of various attributes, expressive of the union of many 
 
 4 On Assyrian gems Athor appears The Persian female Ized Arduisher 
 with arms extended pouring out the is the " giver of the Living Water." 
 waters of life upon the subject figures.
 
 348 SUBJECTS. SECT. 111. 
 
 ideas under the same form. He is, therefore, depicted with 
 the head of the cock, sacred to the Sun ; or of a Lion, the 
 type of Mithras, with a human body clad in a cuirass, whilst 
 his legs are serpent's, emblems of the good genius ; in his 
 hands he wields the scourge the Egyptian badge of sove- 
 reignty ; and a shield, to denote his office of guardian to the 
 faithful. On one side of him, or in the exergue, is the word 
 I A ta, the Jehovah of the Hebrews, a malignant spirit, whose 
 influence Abraxas was thus entreated to avert at least this is 
 Matter's explanation of this type. It was the Gnostic 
 doctrine that the soul when released from the body, and on 
 its way to be absorbed into the Infinite of the Godhead (the 
 object aimed at in all oriental religions), was obliged to pass 
 through the regions of the planets, each of which was ruled 
 by its own presiding genius, and only obtained permission to 
 do this by means of a formula of prayer addressed to each 
 genius, and preserved in Origen. 5 These spirits were, 
 Adonai, of the Sun ; lao, of the Moon ; Eloi, of Jupiter ; 
 Sabao, of Mars ; Orai, of Venus ; Astaphai, of Mercury ; 
 and Ildabaoth, of Saturn. All these titles occur on gems 
 surrounding the figure of Abraxas, whose potent aid gives 
 victory to the believer over the power of them all. The 
 names of the Jewish angels Michael, Gabriel, Suriel, Eaphael, 
 Tauthabaoth, and Erataoth, occur as the titles of the genii of 
 the fixed stars the Bear, Serpent, Eagle, Lion, Dog, and 
 Bull. These notions were all of Magian origin, and had been 
 adopted by the Jews during their captivity. But in the 
 Gnostic mythology they were all degraded from their high 
 estate, and reduced to the rank of secondary spirits of a 
 mixed nature, but opposed to Abraxas, the Lord and Creator 
 
 5 According to Zoroaster the seven Dews, chief-ministers of Ahriman, 
 are chained each to a distinct planet.
 
 SECT. III. GNOSTIC AMULETS. 349 
 
 of all. Most of these gems appear to have been designed 
 merely for amulets, and not for ring-stones, for which they 
 are unfit, on account of their large dimensions ; I have never 
 met with more than one in an ancient setting of any sort, but 
 Matter figures one antique gold ring, engraved with the type 
 of Abraxas. They were no doubt intended to be carried 
 about the person, 6 perhaps as credentials between the initiated 
 a custom to which St. John alludes in the passage, " To 
 him will I give a white 7 stone, and in the stone a new name 
 written, which no man knoweth, save he to whom it is 
 given." 
 
 GNOSTIC AMULETS. 
 
 That these amulets were intended for suspension around 
 the neck, is indicated by the generic name of such charms, 
 viz., Periapta ; and, in fact, the only Gnostic stone I have 
 ever seen retaining its antique setting, is one adapted for this 
 purpose. It is a red Jasper, of an oval form, engraved on 
 one side, with a mummy with radiated head, the type of the 
 glorified soul ; with the legend ABPACAZ : on the reverse is 
 the usual figure of IAW, with his name below. The stone, not 
 quite an inch in length, is set in a rude frame of gold, with 
 a broad loop soldered on the top edge for suspension, exactly 
 as in the huge medallions of the same date. This unique 
 example exists among the miscellaneous gems of the British 
 Museum, amongst which I recognised all the finest of the 
 Gnostic intagli, figured so long ago by Chiflet ; proving the 
 truth of the assertion, that all the curiosities of the world 
 ultimately gravitate towards London, as their centre-point of 
 
 8 Thus the talisman of the Princess on to her jewelled girdle. 
 
 Badoura, ' ' a Carnelian engraved with 7 Probably the Calcedony, on which 
 
 strange figures and letters," was car- the figures of the Egyptian Agatho 
 
 vied by her in a small purse sewed dasmon usually occur.
 
 350 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 attraction. In this number particular attention is due to an 
 oval Carnelian, covered on both sides with that inscription, 
 already noticed as occurring on the Garnet tablet of the Herz 
 Collection, and on the Calcedony figured by Chiflet ; thus 
 proving the formula to have been a favourite one amongst 
 these religionists, and not improbably a kind of confession of 
 faith. A very singular relic of the latest period of this 
 heresy is a large egg-shaped Calcedony, engraved with the 
 lion-headed deity, surrounded by two lines of a Cufic legend ; 
 the whole rude in the extreme, and in the manner of the 
 latest Sassanian seals. These gems, as well as plates of lead 
 and bronze similarly engraved, and even medals and tessarse 
 of terra-cotta, were placed together with the corpses in the 
 tomb as a safeguard against demons. Many were found 
 in the sepulchre of Maria, although the wife of a most ortho- 
 dox emperor, Honorius ; and in the ancient cemeteries of 
 southern Gaul they are discovered in great abundance. The 
 number of them in use at the close of the Empire must have 
 been very great, so numerous are they in Italy and in 
 France, which latter country was the seat of a very extensive 
 branch of these sectarians, the Priscillianists. It is probable 
 that these doctrines lurked unnoticed amongst the original 
 inhabitants of Gaul, under the reigns of the Arian Gothic 
 princes, and revived in full vigour during the twelfth and 
 thirteenth centuries in the Manicheism of the Albigenses, 
 whom the mere fact of their having been so cruelly persecuted 
 by the Catholics does not prove to have been necessarily such 
 good Protestants as they are usually accounted in our day. 
 
 A curiously-shaped globular vase, often seen on these 
 gems, is explained by Matter as the receptacle of the sins 
 committed during life, for it appears in company with Anubis 
 weighing two figures in a balance ; but I am inclined to take 
 it for the vessel shaped "like an udder," used for pouring
 
 SECT. IIT. GNOSTIC AMULETS. 351 
 
 libations of milk at the rites of Isis. A column, terminating 
 in a triangle, and covered with letters, with Anubis or some 
 other deity standing before it in the act of adoration, is of 
 frequent occurrence ; as is also a group, composed of a sword, 
 bow, cup, and butterfly. It is curious to observe how the 
 Freemasons have retained many of these emblems in their 
 symbolical pictures ; where we see the erect serpent, the 
 sword, the bowl, the inscribed column, and the name of St. 
 John, whom these ancient sects claimed as their especial 
 apostle, presided over by the symbols of the Sun, Moon, and 
 Planets, and arranged in a manner strongly reminding one of 
 the ancient representations of the Gnostic doctrines. Again, 
 Michael actually appears (in a basalt intaglio) in the form of 
 a hawk-headed and winged youth, holding in each hand a 
 mason's level, while the oft-repeated figure of Harpocrates, 
 with his finger on his lips, significantly betokens the in- 
 violable secrecy required from the initiated. A distinguished 
 official of the craft, when looking over the plates of Gnostic 
 gems in the Apistopistus of Macarius, confessed to me his 
 astonishment at recognizing there many of the mystic 
 symbols of his brotherhood. It must also be remembered 
 that the Freemasons claim descent from the Templars, an 
 order suppressed in the fourteenth century on the charge of 
 Manicheism, and on grounds similar to those that led to the 
 extirpation of the Albigenses accusations in which there was 
 probably some truth, although only taken up as an excuse 
 for confiscating the property of the Order, which had excited 
 the cupidity of the needy sovereigns of Europe. 8 Some traces 
 
 3 Gnosticism of the Templars. pression of the Order, in his Chapter 
 
 Von Hammer (Mines de 1'Orient, entitled " The mystery of Baphomet 
 
 VI.) has attempted to substantiate, revealed, or the Templars convicted 
 
 by the evidence of existing remains, by their own monuments of sharing 
 
 all the charges brought against the in the apostasy, idolatry, and im- 
 
 Templars as the excuse for the sup- purity of the Gnostics, and even of
 
 352 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 of Gnosticism probably still survive among the mysterious 
 sects inhabiting the valleys of Libanus. As late as the time 
 of Justinian, Procopius states that more than a million of 
 Idolaters, Manicheans, and Samaritans (a Gnostic sect), were 
 destroyed in Syria by the persecutions carried on by this 
 bigoted emperor ; and as that region soon afterwards fell into 
 the hands of the more tolerant Mahometans, who never 
 interfered with the religion of their tributaries, there is a 
 probability of these doctrines having been handed down to 
 the present day, especially when we consider the extra- 
 ordinary vitality of every well-defined system of religious 
 opinions. 
 
 Martyrdom. Red Jasper. 
 
 CHKISTIAN INTAGLI. 
 
 It is a most singular circumstance that, amidst this multi- 
 tude of heretical designs, intagli representing purely Christian 
 subjects are of the rarest possible occurrence, that is, in works 
 
 the Ophites." Here he makes out 
 that by " Baphomet " is meant the 
 &a(j)T) M^TiSos, or baptism of the 
 Spirit ; and he discovers an endless 
 variety of Gnostic emblems in the 
 jettons dug up occasionally in the 
 ruins of their preceptories, and in 
 the sculptures ornamenting the 
 churches of the Order. But these 
 mysterious jettons are in fact merely 
 
 bracteate coins of certain Suabian 
 Westphalian bishops, and of the 
 markgraves of Brandenburgh ; and 
 the "Baphomet," whom, as it is 
 set forth in the indictment, "they 
 adored in the shape of a man's head, 
 with a long beard," is only the name 
 Mahomet, corrupted in the mouth of 
 the ignorant French witness for the 
 prosecution.
 
 SECT. III. CHRISTIAN INTAGLI. 353 
 
 of indubitable antiquity ; for of modern times they are, as 
 might be expected, by no means uncommon. I have, how- 
 ever, met with one of good work, apparently of the third 
 century, a red Jasper, engraved with the martyrdom of a 
 female kneeling before a naked executioner armed with a 
 singularly shaped sword, evidently made for the purpose of 
 a headsman's instrument. Before the saint is a dove with a 
 palm in its beak, above is the monogram of Christ, in the 
 exergue the letters ANFT, which may perhaps fix the scene of 
 the event at Antioch. A Mcolo, engraved with the Heavenly 
 Father seated on his throne, and surrounded by the twelve 
 patriarchs, might belong to any sect of the late period to 
 which its style induced me to refer it. In the Herz Collec- 
 tion was a Carnelian intaglio of the Good Shepherd standing 
 between two tigers looking up at him, inscribed ESIVKEV, in 
 which the name of Jesus appears to be intended, together 
 with some other appellation or title. The collection of the 
 British Museum contains, however, some highly curious and 
 undoubted Christian subjects engraved on gems. 
 
 The most interesting of these is a red Jasper set in an 
 elegant antique gold ring, the shank formed of a corded 
 pattern, in wire, of a novel and tasteful design. The stone 
 bears in neatly formed letters, IHCOYC GEOYYIOC THPE, 
 " Christ, Son of God, keep us." Another of equal interest 
 and of the earliest period of our religion, a fish cut on a fine 
 Emerald (quarter of an inch square), is set in an exquisitely 
 moulded six-sided ring with fluted and knotted shank, imi- 
 tating a bent reed, very similar to a bronze one figured in 
 Caylus. A beautiful and large Sapphire of very spherical 
 form, is engraved with the monogram of Christ, the straight 
 line of the P being converted into a cross by a line passing 
 through it. Another example this, to be added to the list of 
 genuine antique works upon this stone. 
 
 2 A
 
 354 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 A Sard of the same Collection bears a singular device, a 
 cross planted upon a fish, with two doves perched at the 
 extremities of the arms, and the name IHCOYC repeated above 
 and below them. Lastly, the Good Shepherd in a landscape, 
 did not appear to me of such indubitable authenticity as the 
 rest, for the work was entirely wheel-cut on Sard, in the style 
 of the Gnostic school ; so easily imitated by the modern gem 
 engravers. 
 
 IAw. ABPA&AS. 
 
 We have seen the statement of Origen, which too is adopted 
 by Matter, 'Histoire Critique du Gnosticisme,' that lao, 
 Adonai, &c., were the names of the genii of the moon, sun, 
 and planets, beings inferior and even antagonistic to Abraxas 
 the representative of the Supreme Creator himself. But, 
 resting on the actual authority of the inscribed amulets, I 
 am inclined entirely to reject this theory, and to assert that 
 this doctrine, if ever held, must have been that of a small 
 sect of Jewish or Magian origin, and certainly not that of the 
 numerous body who engraved and wore the gems that have 
 come down to us in such abundance. The inscriptions upon 
 these prove beyond a doubt that Abraxas, Adonai, Sabao, 
 are merely titles or synonyms of lao, the deity symbolically 
 represented by the engraving. Thus we find the prayer, 
 "lao, Abraxas, Adonai, Holy Name, Holy Powers, defend 
 Vibia Paulina from every evil spirit ; " and the same names 
 constantly occur united together, and followed by the epithets 
 ABAAGANABAA, " Thou art our Father," CEMECEIAAM, " The 
 Eternal Sun ; " a mode of invocation which would certainly 
 not have been applied to beings of a discordant, much less of 
 an antagonistic, character to each other. Besides, if Abraxas 
 were the opponent and future victor of lao, it would have 
 been absurd to place their names together (that of lao often
 
 SECT. III. IAtt). ABPASA2. 355 
 
 the first), each evidently invoked in the accompanying prayer, 
 and honoured by the same titles of adoration. Again, the 
 composite figure which represents, as all writers agree, 
 Abraxas himself, is much more frequently accompanied by 
 the inscription lao than by the word Abraxas, and neverthe- 
 less is followed by the same addresses of " Thou art our 
 Father," " Eternal Sun," as when both names occur united. 
 It would also be quite as contrary to the usual course of 
 proceeding in representations of sacred subjects, to make 
 the picture of a deity and inscribe over it the name of his 
 adversary, as it would be to paint a crucifix with the name of 
 Satan occupying the place of an explanatory legend. And 
 it will be shown presently that the numerical value of the 
 name Abraxas has a distinct reference to the nature of the 
 god worshipped, from the earliest period, under the title of 
 lao. If we examine the figure of Abraxas, we shall find it 
 to be made up of portions of animals v considered, in the 
 ancient religion, as attributes of the sun. Thus he has the 
 head of a cock and serpent legs, emblems of the sun in the 
 Egyptian mythology, and he bears in his hand a whip, the 
 symbol of the god of day. That the name Abraxas had 
 reference to the sun appears from Jerome on Amos, in., " As 
 Basilides, who called Almighty God by the portentous name 
 of Abraxas, and says that the same word, according to the 
 Greek numerals, and the sum of his annual revolutions, are 
 contained in the circle of the sun ; whom the heathen, taking 
 the same sum, but expressed in different numerical letters, 
 call Mithras ; and whom the simple Iberians worship under 
 the names Balsamus (Lord-Sun), and Barbelus (Son of the 
 Lord)." Augustine explains these numbers thus : " Basilides 
 pretended the number of heavens to be 365, the number of 
 the days in the year. Hence he used to glorify a ' Sacred 
 Name ' as it were, namely the word Abraxas, the letters in 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 SUBJECTS. SECT. 111. 
 
 which name, according to the Greek mode of computation, 
 make up that number." These passages establish the 
 identity of Abraxas with Mithras, which latter name we also 
 meet with upon Gnostic intagli. For the same reason Apollo 
 in his car, intagli of a better time of art, occur frequently 
 inscribed with lao and Abraxas in characters of a later date ; 
 proving that the ancient type was viewed as indicative of the 
 same idea as the newly-coined Sacred Name of Basilides. His 
 religious system is thus briefly and clearly given by Tertullian, 
 Praescript. : " Afterwards Basilides the heretic broke loose. 
 He asserted that there was a supreme God, by name Abraxas, 
 by whom Mind was created, whom the Greeks call Nous. 
 From this emanated the Word, thence Providence ; from 
 Providence, Virtue and Wisdom; from these afterwards 
 Virtues, Principalities, and Powers were made ; then infinite 
 productions and emissions of Angels ; by these Angels 365 
 heavens were established. Amongst the lowest Angels indeed, 
 and those who made this world, he sets last of all the God of 
 the Jews, whom he denies to be God, but affirms that he is 
 an Angel." 
 
 Having thus proved the identity of Abraxas with Mithras, 
 or rather the fact of the word's being only a numerical epithet 
 applied to the Sun-god, let us examine the exact sense of the 
 name lao, and we shall find this too to be but a synonym 
 of Mithras. Macrobius (B. I.) says that Apollo of Claros, 
 being consulted as to which of the gods that deity was to 
 be regarded who was called laor, delivered the following 
 oracle : 
 
 " The joyous rites ye 've learnt to none disclose, 
 Falsehood, small wit, weak understanding, shows. 
 Regard lao as supreme above, 
 Pluto in Winter, at Spring's opening Jove ; 
 Phoebus through blazing Summer rules the day, 
 Whilst Auttimn owns the mild lao's sway."
 
 SECT - m - IAw ABPASA2. 357 
 
 Here we find lao explained to mean one of the names of the 
 Supreme Deity, whose physical representative is the Sun. 
 Again, we have Dionysius (Bacchus) added to this list in the 
 following oracle of Orpheus : 
 
 "Jove, Pluto, Phoebus, Bacchus, all are one." 
 Thus we see that lao is an epithet of the Sun, who, in the 
 philosophical explanation of the old religion, is regarded as 
 synonymous with Bacchus. Hence originated the prevalent 
 belief of antiquity that the Jehovah of the Jews, a name ren- 
 dered in Greek by IAQ, was the Egyptian Bacchus a notion 
 supported in their minds by the golden vines which formed 
 the sole visible decoration of the Temple, and in the Jewish 
 custom of celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in huts made 
 of boughs, and attended with many of the ceremonies used at 
 the Greek Dionysia. This opinion as to the real origin of the 
 Jewish worship is mentioned by Tacitus as prevalent in his 
 time, although he does not agree with it, but solely on the 
 ground that the gloomy and morose character of the Hebrew 
 religion proved but badly its relationship to the rites of the 
 merry god of wine. 
 
 Serapis, the representative of Universal Nature (according 
 to his response to Nicocreon), may also have been signified by 
 the names lao and Abraxas, and thus have been taken as a 
 type of Christ as the Creator of the worlds, which would serve 
 to explain the strange assertion of Hadrian, that all the 
 Christians of Alexandria were worshippers of Serapis, and that 
 Christ and Serapis were one and the same god ; for Alex- 
 andria was the very hotbed of Gnosticism, and the largest and 
 earliest portion of the gems we are now considering, by their 
 style of execution and the symbols upon them, clearly show 
 their Egyptian origin. A most singular amulet of this date, 
 in the Herz Collection, was a heart-shaped piece of basalt, 
 engraved on the one side with seated figures of Arnmon and
 
 358 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Ka (Jupiter and the Sun), between them the mystic Asp, and 
 on the reverse this legend : 
 
 " eis Eair eis A.d<ap pia ra>v |3ta fis 8e A^copi, 
 X<up* irarep Koo-pov x al P f Tpipopcpe 9eo?." 9 
 
 " Athor and Bait, one power, with Achor one, 
 Hail Father of the world, hail triple God." 
 
 This amulet was probably made about the time of Hadrian, 
 both the execution of the figures and of the letters being neat 
 and careful, and such as characterised that epoch. 
 
 Triune Deity with Coptic legend. Green Jaspe 
 
 A large ivory ring, found at Aries, bears the monogram of 
 Christ between A and CO, as it appears on the coins of the 
 Gallic princes of the fourth century, Magnentius and De- 
 centius, but accompanied by the title ABPACAZ, a sufficient 
 proof of the identity of the two personages in the estimation 
 of its owner. Mithras (Abraxas) was easily admitted as the 
 type of Christ, the Creator and Maintainer of the Universe, 
 from the circumstance that in the Persian religion, to which 
 the Jews owed all the spiritual portion of their creed, 10 he 
 was declared to be the first emanation of Ormuzd the Good 
 Principle, and his representative to the world. 1 The Mithraic 
 
 9 The unity of three deities, or 
 rather the expression of the same 
 deity in three persons, was a very 
 favourite Egyptian type. 
 
 10 Such as the belief in a Future 
 State of rewards and punishments, 
 the Immortality of the Soul, the 
 Final Judgment, the existence of 
 
 Angels and Evil Spirits, &c. 
 
 1 " Who being the brightness (or 
 rather a reflection) of his glory, and 
 the express image of his person, and 
 upholding all things by the word of 
 his power" " Being made so much 
 better than the Angels," &c. He- 
 brews, I.
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 IAW. ABPAEA2. 
 
 359 
 
 rites bore a great resemblance to many subsequently intro- 
 duced among the Christians, as well as to the initiatory cere- 
 monies of the Freemasons of the present day. The believers 
 were admitted by the rite of baptism ; they had a species of 
 Eucharist ; and the courage and endurance of the neophyte 
 were tested by twelve successive trials called tortures, under- 
 gone within a cave constructed for the purpose, before he was 
 admitted to a full knowledge of their mysteries. These ini- 
 tiatory rites are thus alluded to by Justin Martyr (Apol. II.) : 
 " The Apostles, in the commentaries written by themselves, 
 which we call Gospels, have delivered down to us that Jesus 
 thus commanded them : ' He having taken bread after that 
 he had given thanks, said, Do this in commemoration of me ; 
 this is my body. And having taken a cup and returned 
 thanks, he said, This is my blood ; and delivered it to them 
 alone.' Which thing indeed the evil spirits have taught to 
 be done out of imitation, in the mysteries and initiatory rites 
 
 Uitbraic Symbols. The Two Principles, Altar with the Sacred Waf=rs, Lustral Water, 
 Raven, ice. Plasma. 
 
 of Mithras. For there a cup of water and bread 2 are set forth, 
 with the addition of certain words, in the sacrifice or act of 
 worship of the person about to be initiated : a thing which ye 
 either know by personal experience or may learn by enquiry." 
 
 2 In this round cake, termed of the designation Missa, applied to 
 Mizd, we have the prototype of the the Bloodless Sacrifice. 
 Host, and the much-disputed origin
 
 360 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 Again, on this point Terttillian (Praescript) says, " The devil, 
 whose business it is to pervert the truth, mimics the exact 
 circumstances of the Divine sacraments in the mysteries of 
 idols. He himself baptizes some, that is to say his believers 
 and followers ; he promises forgiveness of sins from the sacred 
 fount, and thus initiates them into the religion of Mithras ; he 
 there marks on the forehead his own soldiers ; he also cele- 
 brates the oblation of bread, he brings in the symbol of the 
 Resurrection, and wins the crown with the sword." This last 
 phrase he thus explains : " Blush, ye Roman fellow-soldiers, 
 even if ye are not to be judged by Christ, but by any soldier 
 of Mithras ; who, when he is being initiated in the cave, the 
 very camp of the powers of darkness, when the wreath is 
 offered to him (a sword being placed between, as if in mimicry 
 of martyrdom), and then about to be set upon his head, he is 
 warned to put out his hand and push the wreath away, and 
 transfer it to, perchance, his shoulder, saying at the same 
 time, ' My only crown is Mithras.' And thenceforth he never 
 wears a wreath ; 3 and this is a mark he has for a test, when- 
 ever tried as to his initiation, for he is immediately proved 
 to be a soldier of Mithras, if he throws down the wreath and 
 says that ' his crown is in his god.' Let us therefore acknow- 
 ledge the craft of the devil, who mimics certain tilings of those 
 that are divine, in order that he may confound and judge us 
 by the faith of his own followers." But a dispassionate ex- 
 aminer will remark that these two zealous fathers somewhat 
 beg the question, in asserting that the Mithraic rites were in- 
 vented in mimicry of the Christian sacraments, having been 
 in reality in existence long before the promulgation of the 
 Christian religion. On the contrary, there is very good reason 
 to believe that the simple commemorative rites established by 
 
 3 The universal custom of the the being without one would of itself 
 ancients at all festivities : so that be a most remarkable singularity.
 
 SECT. III. IA^>. ABPASA2. ' 3(51 
 
 Christ himself were invested with the mystic and supernatural 
 attributes afterwards insisted upon as articles of faith, by the 
 unscrupulous missionaries, in order to outbid the attractions of 
 ancient ceremonies of a similar nature, and to offer to the 
 convert, by the performance as it were of certain magical 
 formulae, all those spiritual advantages of which the rites them- 
 selves were merely the symbols. 
 
 The worship of Mithras subsisted at Rome for a lon<>- 
 period under the Christian emperors. Jerome, writing to 
 Laeta, says : " A few years ago your kinsman Gracchus, a 
 name the very echo of patrician nobility, when he held the 
 office of Prefect of the City, did he not upset, break, and 
 burn the Cave of Mithras, and all those monstrous images 
 that served in the initiatory rites, the figures of Corax, 
 Niphus, the Soldier, the Lion, the Persian, Helios, and 
 Father Bromius ? " v 
 
 In the representations here enumerated we recognise 
 symbols of constant recurrence upon the gems under con- 
 sideration : Corax the raven ; Niphus, probably Chneph, the 
 lion-headed serpent; the armed man; the lion; the youth 
 in the Persian dress ; the sun, typified by the star ; Bromius 
 or Bacchus, by the large bowl. Many of these also con- 
 tribute portions of themselves to make up the composite 
 deity called Abraxas, who unites in himself Corax, Niphus, 
 Miles, and Helios. The gem given by Chiflet, pi. xv., 62, 
 appears to me to present a picture of the rites of initiation 
 into the Mithraic religion, and in it all the above-named 
 figures and symbols are introduced. Two serpents erect 
 form a sort of frame for the composition, at the top of which 
 we see the busts of Sol and Luna face to face, between them 
 is a hawk with expanded wings, at the back of each is a 
 raven. In the field are two crowned and naked men on 
 horseback trampling upon two dead bodies : between these
 
 362 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 is a kneeling figure in the attitude of supplication, over his 
 head are two stars. Behind each horseman stand two soldiers ; 
 at the bottom is a table supporting a loaf of bread, a roe 
 (an attribute of Bacchus), a cup, a sword, combined with 
 some indistinct emblems, possibly the wreath mentioned by 
 Tertullian. On the back of the stone is engraved a more 
 simple composition representing two crested serpents, twined 
 round staves and looking into a cup ; two stars above a table 
 resting on a crater, and two bows ending in serpents' heads 
 on each side. Here I fancy we may discover the picture of 
 some of the trials of courage (the twelve degrees of torture 
 of Suidas), to which the neophyte was subjected, exactly as 
 the " apprentice " on his admission to the Masonic Lodge of 
 the present day, 4 and surrounded by all the host of Mithras 
 so remorsely destroyed by the zealous Gracchus. One test 
 of the courage of the neophyte was the apparent approach of 
 death, for Lampridius mentions, among the mad freaks of 
 Commodus, that " during the Mithraic ceremonies, when 
 something was to be done for the sake of inspiring terror, 
 he polluted the rites by a real murder : " an expression which 
 clearly proves that a show or scenic representation of such an 
 act entered into the proceedings ; a circumstance probably 
 denoted by the two corpses beneath the horsemen. The 
 raven properly takes its place among the symbols of Mitliras 
 as being an attribute of Apollo in the early mythology, for 
 which reason it is often engraved seated on a lyre. 
 
 Niphus, or Chneph, spelt upon the gems XNOYBIC, XNOY<HC, 
 and XNOYMIC, the lion-headed serpent of such frequent 
 
 4 During this probation, which scourged for the space of two days, 
 
 lasted forty days, the neophyte was These twelve tests are represented 
 
 tested by the four elements ; he was on the sides of the well-known bas- 
 
 obliged to lie naked on the snow a relief preserved in the museum at 
 
 certain number of nights, and was Innspruck.
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 IAW. ABPASA2. 
 
 303 
 
 
 
 occurrence is said by Hephaestion to be one of the Decani or 
 three chief stars in Cancer. This name comes from the 
 Egyptian XNOVB, gold. XAPXNOVMIC, the first Decanus in 
 Leo, also occurs figured with a human head surrounded 
 by rays and with a serpent's tail : his name is written 
 XOAXNOVBIC on the gems. A Greek 5 astrologer says of these 
 Decani, "there are in each sign three Decani 6 appointed, of 
 various forms; one holding an axe, the others represented 
 differently: these figures engraved in rings are charms 
 against accidents as Teucer says, as do other great astrologers 
 of his times." This passage explains the meaning of a curious 
 Carnelian in the Mertens-Schaafhausen Collection, engraved 
 
 Hermes Heptachrysos. Boman Sard. 
 
 in a late Eoman style, with the figure of Mercury seated on 
 a throne, bearing the attributes of Jupiter, the thunderbolt 
 and laurel-crown, and with a ram at his side. Around him 
 is the legend EtinTAXPVCOC, which has a strong analogy to 
 the XAPXNOVMIC above mentioned as the name of a Decanus 
 in Leo. From the statement as to the talismanic power of 
 the three Decani in each sign, and the custom of wearing 
 their figures engraved in rings, there can be little doubt but 
 that we have in this intaglio a potent Decanus of Leo or 
 Aries, for the animal at his side may do for either, and in 
 
 5 Quoted by Salmasius, De Annis spector," a term exactly rendered 
 Climact. by Horoscopus, the star that looks 
 
 6 From Dekan, Chaldee "In- upon the hour of one's nativity.
 
 3G4 SUBJECTS. SECT. I IT. 
 
 his mis-spelt Greek title a translation of his Egyptian name 
 an epithet compounded with the word "gold," for it may be 
 rendered "sevenfold golden." 
 
 A curious passage indicative of the general belief of the 
 protective virtue of this figure of Chneph, is to be found in 
 Galen De Simp., Med. Facult, B. ix. " Some indeed assert 
 that a virtue of this kind is inherent in certain stones, such 
 as is in reality possessed by the green Jasper, which benefits 
 the chest and mouth of the stomach if tied upon it. Some 
 set it in a ring and engrave upon it a serpent with radiated 
 head, just as King Nechepsos prescribes in his thirteenth book. 
 Of this stone I have had ample experience, having made a 
 necklace out of such gems and hung it round the neck, 
 descending so low that the stones might touch the mouth of 
 the stomach, and they appeared to be of no less service than 
 if they had been engraved in the way laid down by King 
 Nechepsos." 
 
 Chneph is given as the name of the Good Genius by Euse- 
 bius, i., 7, where he says, " the serpent unless injured by 
 violence never dies naturally, whence the Phenicians named 
 it the Good Genius; similarly the Egyptians have called 
 him Chneph and given him a hawk's head on account of the 
 especial velocity of that bird. The priest at Epese, styled 
 the head interpreter of sacred things and scribe, has thus 
 explained the meaning of the allegory. " The most divine 
 nature of all was one serpent bearing the form of a hawk, 
 and also being most delightful in aspect : for when he 
 opened his eyes he filled all the places of his native region 
 with light, but when he closed them darkness immediately 
 ensued." Our serpent of the gems, however, does not appear 
 with a hawk's head, but always with a lion's; for which 
 reason one would be inclined to apply this description of 
 Eusebius' to the Abraxas figure, who sometimes appears with
 
 SECT. III. IAw. ABPASA2. 305 
 
 the head of a hawk, or of a lion, instead of that of a cock, 
 the most common mode of representing him. 
 
 I have already described the Mithraic gems as being 
 earlier in date, and unconnected with the doctrines of the 
 Basilidans. I have no doubt as to the correctness of this 
 assertion, and that no difficulty will be found on inspection 
 in distinguishing the two classes of intagli, the former being 
 marked by the superiority of style as well as by the absence 
 of Egyptian symbols, and of the long Coptic legends. Many 
 of these intagli belong to the best period of Roman art, 
 and it is not difficult to see how the worship of Apollo was 
 gradually merged in that of his more spiritual Oriental 
 representative. The Pater Bromius of the Cave of Mithras 
 may, however, be designated by the title Sabao, so often 
 repeated in company with Adonai; for Bacchus is often 
 called Sabazius from the cry Sabaoi raised by his votaries 
 during the orgies, a word clearly the same as the Hebrew 
 Sabi, glory. 7 Adonai, "Our Lord," is rendered by the 
 Greeks Adoneus, a title of Pluto, and we have already seen 
 the verse of Orpheus asserting the identity of Bacchus, 
 Pluto, and Sol. This list of synonyms recalls the circum- 
 stance that the Syrian worship of Adonis was explained as 
 typical of the sun's loss of power at the winter solstice. 
 These sacred names lao, Sabao, were degraded at a later 
 period into charms for making fish come into the net. The 
 mediaeval doctors read lao as Aio, and construing it as the 
 cry of the peacock, promised wonderful effects from a gem 
 engraved with this bird with a sea-turtle beneath it, and in- 
 scribed with this word. There is an amulet against the 
 plague still current in Germany (probably the last surviving 
 
 7 Certain sectarians of the pre- what an ancient and respectable 
 sent dav, who shout out this word authority they may claim for the 
 at their " Revivals," are little aware practice.
 
 366 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 trace of this class of inscriptions), which is engraved on a 
 thin plate of silver in this manner. 
 
 + ELOHIM + ELOHI + 
 
 + ROGUEL+ JOSIPHIEL + 
 
 The numerals added together downwards, across, or diagonally 
 make up the sum 34, perhaps in allusion to the time of 
 Christ's ministry on earth. This table appears suspended 
 over the head of Melancholy in A. Durer's famous engraving : 
 the meaning of it there had long puzzled me until I met 
 with the above plate in a little work by Kerner on Amulets. 
 
 : Vase. Red Jasper 
 
 ISIAO SYMBOLS. 
 
 The most detailed account preserved of the symbols and 
 types used in the worship of Isis when still in its glory (in 
 the second century), is the description of the procession 
 given by Apuleius, Met. xi. " Next the crowds flow on of 
 persons initiated into the divine mysteries, men and women, 
 of every rank and of all ages, shining in the pure whiteness 
 of a linen robe ; the latter having their dripping hair en-
 
 SECT. IK. ISIAC SYMBOLS. 307 
 
 veloped in a transparent covering; the former with their 
 heads shaven clean and their bare crowns shining white, 
 the earthly stars of the nocturnal religion, raising as they 
 went along a shrill tinkling with sistra of bronze, silver, and 
 even of gold. But the chief performers in the ceremony 
 were those nobles, who, clad in a tight linen robe descending 
 from the waist to the heels, carried in the procession the 
 glorious symbols of the most potent deities. The first held 
 at arm's length a lamp, diffusing before him a brilliant light, 
 not by any means like in form to those in ordinary use for 
 illuminating our evening meals, but a golden bowl supporting 
 a more ample blaze in the midst of its broad expanse. The 
 second, similarly robed, held up with both hands the altar 
 which derives its name from the beneficent providence of 
 the supreme goddess. The third marched along bearing 
 aloft a palm branch, the leaves formed of thin gold, and also 
 the wand of Mercury. The fourth displayed the symbol of 
 Justice, the figure of a left hand with open palm, which on 
 account of its natural inactivity and being endowed with 
 neither skill nor cunning, appeared a more fitting emblem of 
 equity than the right hand would have been. The same 
 priest also carried a small golden vessel made of a round 
 form like an udder, out of which he poured libations of milk. 
 The fifth bore a winnowing fan piled up with golden sprigs ; 
 the last of all carried a large wine jar. Immediately after 
 these follow the deities condescending to walk upon human 
 feet, the first rearing terribly on high his dog's head and 
 neck : that messenger between heaven and hell, displaying 
 a face alternately as black as the night, and as golden as 
 the day ; in his left a caduceus, in his right waving a green 
 palm branch. His steps were closely followed by a cow 
 raised into an upright position ; this cow was the fruitful 
 symbol of the Universal Parent, the goddess, which one 
 of the happy train bore with majestic steps supported
 
 368 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 on his shoulders. By another was carried the coffer con- 
 taining the mystic articles, and closely concealing the secrets 
 of the glorious religion. Another bore in his happy bosom 
 the awful image of the Supreme Deity : not represented in 
 the form of a beast either tame or wild, nor of a bird, nor 
 even in the shape of a human being, but ingeniously devised 
 and inspiring respect by its very strangeness : the ineffable 
 symbol of a deeper mystery and one to be veiled by the pro- 
 foundest silence. But next came, borne in precisely the same 
 manner, a small vase made of burnished gold and most skilfully 
 wrought out into a hemi-spherical bottom, embossed externally 
 with strange Egyptian devices. Its mouth, but slightly raised, 
 was extended into a spout and projected considerably beyond 
 the body of the bowl, whilst upon the opposite side, widening 
 as it receded to a capacious opening, it was affixed to the 
 handle on which was seated an asp wreathed in a knot, and 
 lifting on high its streaked, swollen, scaly neck." 
 
 The " vase shaped like an udder " is the exact description 
 of that seen so often upon the gems, and which Matter so 
 strangely explains as the vessel containing the sins of the 
 deceased, a most unlikely subject to be chosen for an amulet 
 intended to gam the favour of the heavenly powers. The 
 winnowing fan often occurs placed upon this vase ; and the 
 golden bowl used as a lamp is often met with in the group 
 of emblems which sometimes fills up one side of these intagli. 
 Anubis, in order to display by turns a golden and an ebon 
 visage, must have been represented with two heads in his 
 image carried in this procession, just as he appears witli 
 wand and palm in the Basilidan representations. The 
 mysterious figure of the Divinity too awful for Apuleius to 
 describe, from the strange expressions used by him to describe it 
 as " neither beast, bird, nor man," I am tempted to believe 
 must have been a compound of all three very probably a 
 statuette of our friend Abraxas himself, for it was of small
 
 SECT. III. 1SIAC SYMBOLS. 3<il) 
 
 size, being carried hidden in the bosom of the priest's robe. 8 
 This theory is confirmed by the circumstance that a bronze 
 figure five inches in height, found in the South of France, 
 now exists in the Mertens-Schaafhausen Collection, whence 
 the following description of it is extracted. "No. 2002. 
 Statuette of lao standing, armed with cuirass and buckler 
 and whip, his head in the form of a cock's, his legs termi- 
 nating in serpents." 
 
 From the extreme rudeness of many of these iutagli, there 
 can be little doubt that the manufacture of them was carried 
 on long after the date usually assigned for the total extinction 
 of the Glyptic art in Europe. The mechanical proceedings 
 of this art are so simple and the instruments required in it 
 so portable and inexpensive, that the sole cause of its being- 
 discontinued in any age must have been the cessation of the 
 demand for its productions. But we actually have many 
 Byzantine camei of the Middle Ages, and as the Manichean 
 branch of the great Gnostic heresy flourished down to the 
 thirteenth century under the names of Paulicians, Bulgarians, 
 Albigenses, and Cathari, some of the extremely barbarous 
 engravings in which the last trace of ancient art has dis- 
 appeared may justly be referred to a period long subsequent 
 to the fall of the Western Empire. We shall see that Mar- 
 bodus, in the eleventh century, speaking of the Turquois and 
 the Beryl, orders that certain figures should be cut upon them 
 in order to endow them with magical powers. This he would 
 hardly have done, if the art of engraving had been totally 
 unknown in his day ; for at a later period, when such was 
 actually the case, we find the mediaeval philosophers always 
 using the expression, " if a gem be found engraved with such 
 
 8 It must be remembered also that all writers agree that lao was an 
 Egyptian deity. 
 
 2 B
 
 370 SUBJECTS. SECT. ITT. 
 
 or such a figure," thus proving that they were entirely 
 dependant upon chance for the acquisition of these invaluable 
 talismans, and that they had no artists within their reach 
 capable of executing such designs according to their prescrip- 
 tions. It was not the antique origin of these amulets, 
 although ascribed to the ancient Hebrews, and thence called 
 Jews' Stones, that alone gave them their mystic potency, for 
 plenty of instances subsist of charms cut in mediaeval times 
 on metal rings, in the characters of the period, a most curious 
 instance of which is that figured by Caylus, VI., cxxx. 
 A gold ring formed out of a square bar of equal thickness 
 throughout, each side covered with an inscription in Lom- 
 bardic characters, apparently in barbarous Greek but con- 
 taining many Gnostic epithets, as follows : 
 
 + OEGVTTAA + SAGRA + hOGOGRA + lOThE + hENA VEAET 
 + OCCINOMOC + ON + IKC +hOGOTE -h BANG VES + ALPHA + 7IB 
 + ANA + EGNETON + AIRIE + OIRA + &GLA + MEIDA + ADONAI 
 + hIERN AThOI + CEBAI + GUTGUTTA + ICOThIN + 
 
 This talisman was found in France and doubtless had 
 belonged to some noble Albigeois of the thirteenth century, 
 as may be inferred from the form of the characters of the 
 legend. Another favourite charm was the names of the 
 three Kings of Cologne, Casper (or Jasper), Melchior, and 
 Balthasar ; also the inexplicable words " Guttu Gutta Thebal 
 Ebal," IHS Nazarenus, and numerous similar inscriptions of 
 magical effect. From these instances we may conclude that 
 they would have gladly multiplied the natural powers of the 
 gems themselves, by engraving the miraculous Sigilla upon 
 them, had not the art entirely disappeared from the cities of 
 mediaeval Europe. Indeed at the very commencement of the 
 Revival we find Camillo Leonardo prescribing how and at 
 what seasons such talismans ought to be engraved to acquire 
 the promised powers : and in looking over miscellaneous lots
 
 SECT. III. MEDICAL STAMPS. 37 
 
 of stones in Italy one meets with abundance of planetary 
 magical, and invocatory intagli, evidently the productions of 
 the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I have never seen 
 any eamei bearing Gnostic representations : a strange fact if 
 we consider the extensive use of these amulets under the 
 Lower Empire, and one which proves the complete discon- 
 tinuance of the art of engraving eamei at that time. The 
 unique cameo in my possession representing Anubis in the 
 character of Hermes, above alluded to, from its high finish 
 and careful execution was most probably the ornament of 
 some believer in the Egyptian ancient doctrines, of the age ot 
 Apuleius. 
 
 MEDICAL STAMPS. 
 
 Medical stamps are small stone tablets with inscriptions cut 
 upon their face and edges, giving the name^ of the medicines 
 and that of the maker or inventor ; and were used for stamp- 
 ing the boxes containing them, in order to guarantee their 
 genuineness, exactly like the present method of authenticating 
 patent medicines by means of a seal. It is curious that most 
 of these stamps belong to eye-salves. Such preparations must 
 have been in great request among the ancients, who suffered 
 greatly from diseases of the eyes, of which more than two 
 hundred were specified by their oculists. This liability to 
 such complaints was due probably to their custom of always 
 going bare-headed, and passing from their confined and gloomy 
 rooms into the full blaze of a southern sun, without any pro- 
 tection to the eyes. In the Herz Collection was a large Sard, 
 engraved with a figure of the goddess Koma seated, inscribed 
 HEROPHILI OPOBALSAMVM. The surface of the stone was 
 much worn by use, and showed thereby the great demand 
 there must have been for the boxes containing this prepara- 
 tion, which may have derived its name from the famous phy- 
 
 2 B 2
 
 372 SUBJECTS. SKCT. III. 
 
 sician, the founder of the Alexandrian school of medicine. 
 This intaglio was purchased for the British Museum at the 
 high price of 81., although the work of it was rude and of late 
 Koman date. In fact, the stone itself had very much the 
 appearance of a paste ; the letters also of the inscription were 
 very large and ill-formed. 
 
 The inscriptions on these stamps are so curious, and throw 
 so much light upon the subject of the patent medicines of 
 antiquity, that it is worth while to give here an abstract of 
 Caylus' excellent dissertation upon them (i. 225). It will be 
 observed that they all refer to collyria, or medicines to be 
 applied to the eyes. 
 
 The two first were found at Nimeguen, and bore the in- 
 scriptions, 
 
 M. VLPI . HERACLETIS . STRATIOTICVM. 
 
 DIARRODON . AD . IMP. 
 
 - CYCNARIVM . AD . IM. 
 
 - TALASSEROSA. 
 
 This stamp served for authenticating the genuineness of 
 four different sorts of salves, prepared by a no doubt noted 
 oculist, M. Ulpius Heracles, very likely a freedman of Trajan's, 
 from the fact of his bearing the same family name ; and 
 besides, in Koman times, physicians were generally Greek or 
 Asiatic slaves by origin. The Stratioticum was a remedy for 
 the ophthalmia, to which soldiers were subject; the Diar- 
 rodon (rose-salve) for Impetus, or inflammations of the eyes ; 
 Cycnarium, a white ointment made of emollient ingredients, 
 for the same complaint ; Talasserosa, one into the composition 
 of which bay-salt entered. The second stamp bore the name 
 of the same person, with those of four additional salves : 
 Melinum, compounded with verdigris ; Tipinum, an extract 
 from the plant called Typhe ; Diarces, for Diacroces, saffron- 
 ointment ; and Diamysos, salve of misy, or red vitriol.
 
 SECT. 111. MEDICAL STAMPS. 37:5 
 
 The third stamp, given by Spon, has the name of another 
 oculist : 
 
 C . CAP^ SABINIANI . DIAPSORICVM . AD . CALIG. 
 
 CHELIDON . AD . CLAR. 
 
 NARDINVM . AD . 1MPETVM. 
 CHLORON . AD . CLAR. 
 
 Of these, the first was a remedy for the Psora, or dry ophthalmia, 
 and Caligines, or dimness of sight ; the second, an extract of 
 the well-known herb Celidony, to clear the eyes ; the Nardi- 
 num, of many minerals combined with nard ; the last, Chloron 
 or green salve, of sulphate of copper, to clear the sight. 
 The fourth stamp, found at Gloucester, reads, 
 
 Q . IVL . MVRANI . MELINVM . AD . CLARITATEM. 
 STAGIVM . OPOBALSAMAT . AD. 
 
 The second of which was an extract of the guice of balsam, to 
 be dropped stactum into the eyes, and therefore an astringent 
 application. 
 
 The fifth bears the name of Q. Caer. Quintillian, and his 
 salves : Stacta ad Clar. Dialepid., an astringent derived from 
 the Lepidium, or wall-pepper ; Diasmyrn, salve of myrrh ; 
 and Crocod., or saffron ointment. This was found near Cou- 
 tances in Normandy. 
 
 The sixth came from Dijon, and bears the name of M. Sul. 
 Charito. It served to stamp his gallipots of Isochrysa ad clar., 
 or golden ointment ; Diapsor., already named ; Diarrhodon ad 
 fervor., or a remedy for the burning heat of the eyes ; and 
 Diasmyrn., as already described. 
 
 The seventh, found at Besanqon, has the name of G. Sat. 
 Sabinian, and his salve Diacherale, the derivation of which is 
 not known. 
 
 The eighth, also from Besanqon, gives the name of L. Saccus 
 Menander, and his four collyria : Chelidonium ad cal. ; Meli-
 
 374 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 num delac., or distilled ; Thalasseros. delact. ; Diapsoricum 
 ad sc., or ad scabiem, the dry ophthalmia. 
 
 The ninth, from Mandeuvre, bears the name of C. Sulp. 
 Hypnus, and is inscribed with the titles of his Stactum Opob. 
 ad c. : Dialepid ad Aspri., for Aspritudines, or warts on the 
 eyelids ; Lysiponum ad suppurationem, an emollient for the 
 cure of gatherings on the lids ; and lastly his Coenon ad 
 claritatem, or universal ointment, to clear the sight. 
 
 The tenth is in the Collection of Antiques, Paris. It is 
 unfortunately broken, but the original reading was perhaps 
 Decimi P. Flaviani Collyrium lene m. ad aspritudinem oculo., 
 and Decirni P. Flaviani Collyrium rnixtum c. 
 
 Oculist's Stamp. Sard. 
 
 M. Tochon d'Anneci published in 1816 a brochure upon 
 these stamps, in which he described thirty examples, by 
 adding those of his own collection, and others unpublished 
 that had come to his knowledge, to the nineteen previously 
 described by Sacius. Of the unpublished are IVNITAVRI 
 CROCODPACIANADCICATETREVM ("Juni Tauri Crocod. Paci- 
 anum ad cicatrices et rheumata"), and IVNITAVRICEOCOD 
 DAMISVSACDIATHESISETREV., or Juui Tauri Crocod. diamysus 
 ad diathesis et rheumata. Here diathesis, rheumata, and epi- 
 phora, are various kinds of ophthalmia. Another stamp has 
 DIAMISVS ADDIATHETOL, or Diamysus ad diatheses et omnem
 
 SECT. III. BRONZE STAMPS. .375 
 
 Lippitudinem, the last two words occurring at full length on 
 some of these stamps as well as in the abbreviated form. 
 
 The " Tipinum," for Tiphynum, was of the same nature as 
 the "Lirinum," ointment of lily, for the Tiphyon is classed 
 by Pliny amongst the liliaceous plants. The " Diacherale," 
 hitherto unexplained, Visconti interprets as " diaceratos lene," 
 a salve composed of hartshorn. 
 
 The " Authemerum" of another stamp is a salve to be pre- 
 pared every day, as being liable to spoil by keeping, like our 
 golden ointment. 
 
 Another is PHRONIMEVODES ADASPRIETCIK. ("Phronymi 
 euodes ad aspri. et cik."), a singular substitution of the K for 
 the c. 
 
 Seneca (Ep. Ixiv.) alludes to these medicaments and the 
 diseases of the eye for which they were employed : " Hoc 
 asperitas oculorum conlevatur, hoc palpebrarum crassitude 
 tenuatur, hoc vis subita et humor avertitur, hoc acuitur visus." 
 
 Another salve named upon these stamps is the " Floginum " 
 (Phloginum), made from the juice of the phlox, and the " Sar- 
 cophagum," or coiTosive, an application for ulcers. 
 
 BKONZE STAMPS. 
 
 This subject introduces naturally the consideration of the 
 very numerous class of metal stamps formed with a handle at 
 the back, and made for impressing the name and titles of the 
 owner on clay, either used as a seal, as is still practised in 
 the East, for securing the doors of storehouses and cellars, or 
 for stamping the pitch and gypsum stoppings of the necks of 
 amphorae and other vessels. They were also employed by 
 potters for impressing their names on the handles of the huge 
 jars of their fabrique or in the centre of tiles, in the latter 
 case often giving also the name of the emperor for whose
 
 376 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 buildings they were working. But a roost singular fact re- 
 lating to these objects is that the bulk of them are found with 
 the letters in relief, and therefore must have been intended to 
 be inked over, and impressed upon the parchment or papyrus 
 of the legal document as an official authentication, so nearly 
 had the makers of these fixed types approached to the prin- 
 ciple of stereotype printing. It is evident that these in- 
 scriptions, being in relief, could not have been designed for 
 stamping clay or wax, on which substances the impressions 
 themselves are always found in relief. It necessarily follows 
 therefore that they were employed to save time in applying 
 the necessary signatures to a large number of documents re- 
 quired simultaneously, precisely as the stamps now used in 
 the passport bureaux of the Continental States. 
 
 Jupiter, Sol, Luna. Opal. 
 
 SUBJECTS OF INTAGLI. 
 
 Every collector of gems must have been struck with the 
 extraordinary frequency with which certain subjects are re- 
 peated on gems, generally from causes that may be readily 
 conjectured, although the rarity of other representations, that 
 would seem to have had quite as many claims to recommend 
 them to the engraver's notice, is very difficult to be satis- 
 factorily explained. It will also be observed that many sub- 
 jects are cut in preference upon particular sorts of gems ; and 
 the following is a rough attempt at a relative view of the
 
 SECT. III. SUBJECTS OF INT AGLI. 377 
 
 occurrence of the more usual representations, and of the 
 varieties of stones which each class particularly affect : 
 First, beyond all dispute, are the figures of Victory, executed 
 in every style, from that of the best epoch to the rude scratches 
 of expiring art. Almost as frequent are the figures of Nemesis, 
 that deity so justly revered by the ancient world, only to be 
 distinguished from Victory by her being always helmeted and 
 holding a bridle or a measuring-rod in her hand. Virgo or 
 Erigone, a similar figure, is known by her cornucopia and 
 rudder. These subjects, belonging to every date, are found 
 in every material ; those of the Lower Empire, however, occur 
 very abundantly in Plasma. Next come eagles in all attitudes, 
 and combined with various emblems, on the same kinds of 
 stones as were employed for the preceding figures. Venus 
 comes next after eagles in point of frequency, the sea-born 
 goddess appropriately affecting the sea-gi;een colour of the 
 Plasma a gem on which we rarely meet with other subjects 
 than Venus, eagles, and Victories. Cupids, as a necessary 
 consequence, also abound on gems, and give scope for the most 
 elegant fancy on the part of the artist, in his representation of 
 their various groups and attitudes, as engaged in various sports 
 and occupations. Minerva takes the next place, and, as may 
 be deduced from the style of the intagli, was the goddess who 
 chiefly occupied the engravers under the Flavian family ; for 
 most of the neatly-executed gems with this type will be found 
 identical in style with those on the reverses of the denarii of 
 Domitian. 9 Roma, distinguished from the preceding by being 
 
 9 The Medusa's Head, both as a are amongst the most numerous of 
 
 profile, the type of Beauty dead, in all, the latter form being the most 
 
 reproducing which the most skilful frequent when of late work. It even 
 
 artists of every age have emulated occurs upon the Gnostic gems, and, 
 
 each other ; and the living front- apparently from its universal use, 
 
 face Gorgon, with snakes erect, was worn as an amulet to avert 
 
 and replete with energy and rage, the Evil Eye. This seems proved
 
 378 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 SECT. 111. 
 
 seated on a throne and holding an orb, is very frequent, espe- 
 cially on the gems of a later period. Now follows the turn of 
 Bacchus, old, young, bearded, beardless ; the Dionysus, the 
 Indian, the Liber Pater of the Komans, with all his train of 
 Silenus, Fauns, and Bacchantes, who disport themselves as 
 full figures, busts, and heads on all kinds of gems, yet appro- 
 priately affecting the Amethyst as a sort of antidote to their 
 own influence. Mercury has been hitherto omitted, although 
 
 sandra mourninS the doom of 
 Troy. Sard. 
 
 Minerva supporting the bust of 
 Dornitian. Bard. 
 
 he ought to be placed on the same footing in the list as 
 Victory herself, the god of gain being properly the favourite 
 deity of all times, and, as may be shrewdly suspected from 
 the late style of many of his figures, retaining his hold upon the 
 finger of many a Christian convert who had made no difficulty 
 of casting away his other gods of a more subtle and unworldly 
 character. He will be found, the reason of it quite unknown, 
 to occur very frequently upon Amethyst. Hercules, as the 
 deity whose protection assured good luck, was a special 
 favourite, particularly of the Romans under the Middle 
 Empire ; and his heads will be found engraved as it were in 
 
 by a red Jasper of mine, bearing the 
 Gorgon's Head and the legend 
 
 APHrn-POPOMANAAPH. 
 " I protect Roromandares." 
 
 The letters, not being reversed, show 
 that the stone was not intended for 
 
 a signet, but for a talisman. The 
 profile heads of Medusa, on the other 
 hand, will be found to be productions 
 of the better times of the arts, and 
 usually among the finest specimens 
 of it remaining to us.
 
 SECT. III. SUBJECTS OF INTAGLI. 379 
 
 preference on the Nicolo. The bust of Jove, usually given as 
 a front face, also is tolerably frequent ; but much less so is 
 the full figure of this deity seated on a throne a singular 
 circumstance, remembering how common a type this \vas of 
 the Grecian coinage. Serapis, however, whose worship was 
 so universal under the later emperors, claims by far the 
 largest share of the intagli representing Jupiter. This 
 divinity usually appears on the finest red Sards that could 
 be procured at the time. Ammon is met with but seldom, 
 and then only on gems of an early date. Apollo is next 
 to Serapis in point of popularity, together with his attri- 
 butes, especially lyres, represented in a great variety of 
 shapes. Diana 10 is more unfrequent, still more so Juno, their 
 characters doubtless being too prudish and severe to suit the 
 temper of the times which produced the greatest quantity of 
 the intagli existing. An infinite variety of masks, chimerae, 
 and caprices, apparently all belonging to the same epoch (the 
 second centuiy), now appear, and usually on the red Jasper, 
 a fine material, but almost unknown to earlier times. Ceres 
 herself is not seen very frequently, although pictures of rural 
 occupations are plentiful enough. Neptune is still more rare ; 
 still more so Saturn and Vulcan. As for Pluto, I have never 
 yet seen a representation of so ill-omened a deity upon any 
 gem. The head of Mars, or the god himself (an armed warrior 
 holding a spear and shield), is by no means uncommon upon 
 Kornan gems. The same is the case with arms, especially 
 helmets, on which the artists have often expended then- 
 utmost skill. As might have been expected in a people so 
 passionately addicted to the games of the circus, chariots and 
 
 10 Though Sol occurs very fre- with only in solitary examples even 
 quently, both as a full figure, and in the largest collections. 
 as a bust, yet Luna is to be met
 
 380 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 horses of all kinds, often mounted by fantastic riders, and 
 furnished with grotesque steeds and charioteers, appear in 
 vast numbers and in all varieties of material. Animals make 
 up the majority of Etruscan intagli, especially in that rude 
 class the origin of which can be distinctly assigned to the 
 engravers of that nation. They also furnish, and in the same 
 
 Hercules trimming bis club. Etruscan Scarab. Type of the Satyric Drama. Red Jasper. 
 
 style of art, coarse representations of fauns and of the games 
 of the gymnasium, but seem never to have attempted por- 
 traits. Of Roman date, the lion and the bull are the most 
 common subjects, from their astrological import; then the 
 various kinds of dogs and the wild boar, and every matter 
 connected with the chase of this beast. The herdsman and 
 the shepherd are amongst the most numerous class, and 
 testify to the longings of the pent-up citizen for the quiet 
 occupations of the country aspirations so often expressed by 
 the poets, " rus ! quando ego te aspiciam ? " Of fishes the 
 dolphin is the favourite, usually depicted as entwined around 
 an anchor, a trident, or a rudder : the last type was the signet 
 of Sextus Pompeius. The crawfish, a common device, is often 
 cut upon the appropriately-coloured Plasma: this creature 
 being taken by the Greeks as the emblem of prudence, was 
 on that account so frequently selected as a signet by the 
 ancients. Among insects the locust is common on gems : its 
 form is that of our grasshopper, but it is in life often two or 
 three inches long, and is now called by the Tuscans la cavalla.
 
 SECT. III. SUBJECTS OF INTAGLI. 381 
 
 This must not be confounded with the cicada or cigala of the 
 Italians, which more resembles a huge fly in shape than any- 
 thing else ; and from its continuous song (a sound like the 
 cry of the starling) was considered as an attribute of the god 
 of music, and therefore was often engraved in company with 
 a lyre, when it is sometimes mistaken for a bee by persons 
 not acquainted with the real insect. Of birds, after the eagle 
 comes the parrot, next the peacock and the raven : the last a 
 prophetic fowl, and an attribute of Apollo. We have seen 
 how Clemens Alexandrinus recommends the Christians of his 
 own times to adopt for signets the dove, fish, the ship under 
 sail, the lyre, the anchor, and the fisherman : of all which we 
 find numerous intagli, and usually of the coarse execution 
 betokening a late period. Gnostic gems have been already 
 sufficiently considered : their number in Italy and France is 
 incredible, and probably a tenth of all intagli discovered in 
 those countries belong to this class. The Greek period gives 
 us some magnificent portraits, but they are rare, and were 
 most probably engraved only for the use of the person him- 
 self as his private signet, an usage we see alluded to in the 
 ' Pseudolus ' of Plautus. In the Eoman period it seems to 
 have been held a mark of loyalty to wear the portrait of the 
 reigning emperor, which accounts for the vast number of such 
 down to the time of Caracalla, and many of which, even of 
 the early Ca3sars, are of the most inferior execution, clearly 
 manufactured at a cheap rate for the wear of the military and 
 the poorer classes. 1 After this period, gold medals set in 
 rings, and huge medallions suspended round the neck, took 
 the place of engraved gems. It may here be remarked that 
 the greater number of imperial portraits, particularly those of 
 
 1 These imperial portraits are and bronze, thus proving the po- 
 often found set in rings of silver verty of their original wearers.
 
 382 SUBJECTS. SECT. 111. 
 
 large size, to be seen in collections of gems, arc the works of 
 artists of the times since the Kevival : they are much more 
 numerous than the true antique heads of the emperors and 
 their connexions, whence they ought always to be examined 
 with suspicion, above all whenever the stones themselves ex- 
 ceed the usual dimensions of a signet. The heads of Domitia, 
 Julia Titi, M. Aurelius, and L. Verus, have been those most 
 frequently copied by modern artists. 
 
 In the list of my own collection, it appears that more than 
 half of the entire number are Sards of various shades, and 
 after them in number come the Onyx and the Jasper. 
 Plasmas would have been almost as numerous as Sards, had 
 not the choice of the gems been guided by the good work of 
 the intagli, and not by the wish to obtain a great variety of 
 subjects. The proportionate numbers of the gems will be 
 found nearly the same in all collections, where the acquisition 
 of fine work alone is the end proposed by the amateur to him- 
 self in his purchases. In the Herz Collection, where the sole 
 object was to accumulate a variety of subjects, quite irrespective 
 of their authenticity, execution, or material, in an unreasoning 
 emulation of the famous cabinet of Stosch (the cause that more 
 than half of its contents were modern imitations or worthless 
 pastes), the varieties of stones were much more numerous ; as 
 the latest works of the Decline supply vast numbers of Plasmas, 
 and various shades of the Jasper, as well as Garnets, to the 
 collector. But such an assemblage of works of all degrees of 
 merit is only fit for a national museum, not for a private 
 cabinet, where the aim of the possessor should be to keep as 
 few pieces as possible, and those only that are the best of 
 their kind ; so that each gem becomes, as it were, a collec- 
 tion in itself. 
 
 The preference shown by the ancient engravers for parti- 
 cular kinds of gems, is well illustrated by the annexed tabular
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 SUBJECTS OF INTAGLI. 
 
 .383 
 
 view of those composing the Mertens-Schaafhausen Cabinet, 
 formed entirely of intagli, with few exceptions, antique, only 
 97 of the whole number being camei of various periods. 
 
 Sard and Carnelian . . 
 
 Calcedony 
 
 Onyx 
 
 Plasma 
 
 Jasper, various 
 
 Garnets 
 
 Amethyst 
 
 Jacinth 
 
 Lapis-lazuli 
 
 Emeralds . . 
 Crystal 
 Chrysolite. . 
 Beryl.. .. 
 Euhy . . 
 Sapphire . . 
 Opal .. .. 
 Turquois . . 
 Xicolo 
 
 10 
 8 
 4 
 3 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 
 49 
 
 Besides these, there are a few in horn-stone, haematite, 
 nephrite, loadstone, and Lydian stone or touchstone. 
 
 Gcrgou; Greco-Italian Ca
 
 384 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 Pompey, with his titles. Nicolo. 
 
 UTILITY OF CASTS FKOM ANTIQUE GEMS. 
 
 The chief of archaeologists, Visconti, remarks in liis ' Esp. 
 di Gemme Antiche,' " How conducive the study and the 
 accurate examination of ancient works in the precious stones, 
 commonly termed ' Gems,' is to the understanding of anti- 
 quities, and to every species of valuable erudition, as well as 
 to the intelligence of the arts of design, and to the training 
 of the eyes in the distinguishing of true and simple beauty, is 
 an argument already sufficiently dilated upon by others, and 
 unnecessary to be further discussed in this place. I must, 
 however, preface my description of this collection of casts 
 (made for Prince A. Chigi), by the mention of certain con- 
 siderations which have served me as rules in drawing it up, 
 as well as in the choice and formation of the entire cabinet. 
 Two advantages, over all other existing relics of antiquity, 
 are possessed by engraved gems, and both are connected with 
 the service to be derived from them : the first is, that they 
 are able to furnish accurate instruction, not to those present 
 alone, whilst those absent are either entirely deprived, or 
 must derive it from drawings merely, as the sole resource ; 
 drawings too, often incorrect, scarcely ever perfectly accurate, 
 and which can only transfuse into the plate what the eye of 
 the draughtsman (often an unskilled one) has been able to 
 comprehend in the original of his design. Antique intagli, 
 on the contrary, by means of the impressions from them, in 
 a certain manner may be said to multiply themselves, and
 
 SECT. III. PLASTER CASTS. 
 
 385 
 
 are represented in perhaps a better point of view than the 
 originals; from which circumstance these impressions serve 
 equally well with the monument itself to build our reflections 
 and our decisions upon, except in those very rare and excep- 
 tional cases where some peculiarity of mechanical execution 
 of the work is concerned. The second advantage, and that 
 one of the highest importance, is, that their very hardness of 
 material, and the nature of the work on them, especially as 
 regards intagli, to such a degree secure the integrity of these 
 antique productions of art, that the representations, together 
 with all their symbols and accessories, have been preserved 
 without the slightest damage to the present moment ; not 
 mutilated, as is too often the case with works of art in marble, 
 or as with medals, made illegible by wear, or changed and 
 corroded by their long entombment amidst the acids of the 
 earth." 
 
 V 
 
 PLASTER CASTS. 
 
 The collector of antique gems ought to take every oppor- 
 tunity of carefully examining all cabinets of camei and 
 intagli to which he can obtain access, especially in the 
 numerous small collections brought to London for sale during 
 the season. As these are usually of the most miscellaneous 
 character, and composed of works of all ages, gathered to- 
 gether without discrimination, he will have an opportunity of 
 comparing every style, and thus by degrees of gaining the 
 almost intuitive perception of antiquity, only to be acquired 
 by practice. He will soon learn how never to pass over an 
 antique as a modern work ; the converse faculty will, how- 
 ever, be more slowly imparted to his eye, for the most 
 experienced may sometimes be taken in by the exact imita- 
 tion of the antique in some gem the production of the skilful 
 artists of the last century. Much too may be learnt from 
 
 2 c
 
 3S6 SUBJECTS. SKCT. III. 
 
 the careful study of casts from gems of undoubted authenticity, 
 as regards the style and design, and the execution or the 
 mechanical part of the work of different epochs, all which 
 may be acquired nearly as well from the constant and minute 
 examination of the casts as by that of the gems themselves. 
 After some practice the student will find himself enabled to 
 distinguish the casts produced by the various sorts of gems, 
 by observing how different is the work on the Sard from that 
 on the Plasma, how that on the Nicolo again has its peculiar 
 touches, while the flowing and shallow work peculiar to the 
 Jacinth is to be recognised at the first glance. The style of 
 engraving on the Garnet also, when by chance a good intaglio 
 on this gem does occur, has a peculiarity of its own, some- 
 what approximating to that of the Jacinth. 
 
 These plaster-casts are easily taken, and only require a 
 little care in the manipulation to produce extremely accurate 
 impressions : the process is as follows. The face of the gem 
 must first be slightly oiled, to prevent the plaster from stick- 
 ing in the lines of the intaglio. A little plaster must next 
 be mixed with water to the consistence of paste, and then 
 laid upon the intaglio with a fine brush, as if giving it a coat 
 of paint, by which we prevent bubbles from forming on the 
 surface of the cast, which would completely spoil it. Next sur- 
 round the gem with a margin of thick paper to keep the 
 plaster in shape, and lay upon the first coat any quantity of 
 plaster mixed to a strong consistence, to give the required 
 thickness to the cast ; let it dry for half an hour, when it will 
 be easily separated from the stone, and a perfect impression 
 will be produced. This is the regular and somewhat tedious 
 process ; but I have found the two first steps of oiling and 
 coating the gem may be dispensed with, by breathing for a 
 few moments upon the gem, so as to make it thoroughly hot 
 and moist before laying on the plaster, which if carefully
 
 . III. PLASTER CASTS. ,-{87 
 
 worked into the intagli with the end of the instrument (a fine 
 wooden spatula is the best), will be found to yield a cast 
 quite free from bubbles, and easily detached from the intaglio 
 
 ^ O 
 
 without risk of fracture. If the cast be dipped, when dry, 
 into strong tea, it will take a light brown tint, much more 
 agreeable to the eye than the glaring white of the plaster 
 itself. I have also found that by laying upon the cast a coat 
 of a strong solution of gum arabic, which it will soon absorb, 
 a considerable degree of hardness as well as a pleasing 
 marble-like gloss is imparted to the otherwise tender 
 material; a valuable addition to casts that are exposed to 
 much handling from the careless. 
 
 Casts of sulphur, coloured with vermilion, are made by 
 melting it slowly in a ladle, and pouring it into plaster moulds 
 made from the impressions of the gems in sealing wax. 
 These are useful when one has no opportunity of taking casts 
 from the gems themselves ; otherwise the sulphur does not 
 show the minute details of the intaglio so faithfully as the 
 cast in plaster. 
 
 A lump of modelling wax is the indispensable companion 
 of every collector in the examination of gems before making 
 a purchase or passing judgment upon them, as by its aid 
 alone can the work upon opaque substances be accurately 
 examined. It is made by dissolving beeswax with one-tenth 
 of its weight of tallow, adding a little powdered rosin to the 
 melted mixture, and stirring all well together ; when of the 
 proper consistency it will not adhere to the fingers when 
 handled. It may be coloured red or black, according to what 
 colour is preferred, by adding vermilion or lamp-black to 
 the mass when liquid. This composition, when moulded 
 between the fingers, readily softens, so as to take the most 
 accurate impression from an intaglio previously moistened by 
 breathing upon it for a short time. These impressions, if 
 
 2 c 2
 
 388 SUBJECTS. SECT. III. 
 
 protected from friction, will remain perfect for any length of 
 time, whereas those taken in sealing wax waste away with 
 the heat of summer. For immediate use modelling wax may 
 be made by adding a few drops of turpentine to wax melted 
 and coloured to taste ; this answers well enough for a few 
 days, before the spirit has all evaporated, when it becomes too 
 hard for use. It is, however, an excellent substance for 
 preserving impressions in, as it resists the effects of heat and 
 light, and looks remarkably well when made up into a series 
 of casts arranged under glass. This was the wax employed 
 for the mediaeval seals, which have come down to us un- 
 injured from very remote times. Our present sealing wax, 
 or more properly sealing lac, as the Germans call it, was un- 
 known in Europe until brought by the Dutch from India in 
 the seventeenth century. Alexander, the prophet of Aboni- 
 tichos, used, as Lucian tells us, to take casts of the seals of 
 the letters deposited upon the altar of his temple, in a mix- 
 ture of quicklime and glue. With this extemporised stamp he 
 resealed the letters after having opened them ; and thus was 
 enabled to return answers adapted to the questions they con- 
 tained, while the letters were returned to his dupes, to all 
 appearance unopened. 
 
 Death of Eschylus.
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDAEIUM OF MARBODUS. 38<J 
 
 Polyphemus. Said. 
 
 SECTION IV. MYSTIC VIETUES. 
 
 THE LAPIDAEIUM OF MARBODUS. 
 
 THIS poein was probably composed by the abbot Marbodus 
 (Marbceuf), when master of the Cathedral School of Anjou, 
 an office he held from 1067 to 1081, in which last year he 
 was made Bishop of Henries. The substance of it is taken in 
 part from Pliny, but chiefly from Solinus, of whom he para- 
 phrases entire sentences. He also borrows largely from the 
 so-called Orpheus, a work composed probably in the third 
 century. This acquaintance of Marbodus with a Greek 
 author is somewhat at variance with the prevailing opinion of 
 the state of western literature at that period ; but it is evident 
 that he both understood that language, and was very proud 
 of his knowledge, to judge from the number of Greek words 
 he introduces into his text, and his careful interpretations of 
 the names of gems derived from the Greek. It is my belief 
 that Greek as a spoken tongue must have lingered in the 
 south of France long after the fall of the Eoman Empire. To 
 its very close we find that language still flourishing there ; 
 thus, Ausonius says of his father, a physician of Bordeaux,
 
 390 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 that he could not express himself fluently in Latin, but was a 
 ready speaker in Greek, 
 
 " Sermone impromptus Latio verum Attica lingua 
 Suffecit culti vocibus eloquii." 
 
 All the Gauls of this and later periods whose names are 
 not Latin bear Greek cognomina, apparently translations of 
 their own Celtic designations, as having generally a sylvan 
 or rustic meaning ; as, for instance, Agrius Cimarus for 
 A.yptof Xifj^ocpos, the wild goat, to be seen on a sepulchral 
 tablet at Caerleon, Syagrius, the last Roman prince of 
 Soissons; Drepanius, Staphylius, Aeonia, Calippio, Dryadia, 
 Euromius, Talisius, Cataphronia, Melania, Idalia ; these latter 
 all relations of the poet of Bourdeaux, Ausonius. Charle- 
 magne, though quite illiterate, is said to have understood and 
 spoken Greek, which would imply that it was necessary in 
 his intercourse with some of his own subjects. In fact, as the 
 large Greek cities of Provence, such as Marseilles, retained 
 their independence under the Gothic kings to a very great 
 extent, the extinction of their cherished language must have 
 been both gradual and slow. 
 
 Marbodus indeed ascribes the original of his poem to Evax, 
 and gives his dedicatory letter to Tiberius, written in very 
 mediaeval Latin, which last is evidently a composition of his 
 own. But this attribution must be regarded merely as a 
 poetical license, to give credit to the work in the eyes of the 
 learned of those times ; for he makes no difficulty of men- 
 tioning Nero (the sixth from Julius), when speaking of the 
 properties of the emerald. Doubtless many ancient authors ' 
 
 1 Such as Metrodorus, whom lie dates, in which he defined their 
 
 quotes by name under " Coral " influence over human destiny, 
 
 and Zachalias of Babylon, who is " gemmis humana fata attribuit." 
 
 mentioned by Pliny as having dedi- xxxvii. 60. 
 cated a treatise on gems to Mithri-
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDAR1UM OF MARBODUS. 391 
 
 were extant when he wrote besides Solinus and Orpheus, 
 from whom he gleaned the rest of the curious superstitions as 
 to the mystic and medicinal virtues of gems, in addition to 
 those detailed by these two writers. Camillo Leonardo has 
 borrowed largely from Marbodus in his treatise on the 
 qualities of the gems in themselves, but the latter makes no 
 mention in this poem of the virtues of the sigils cut upon 
 them. 
 
 THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARBODUS. 
 
 TH*: lore of Evax, rich Arabia's king, 
 Addressed to Nero in these lines I sing ; 
 Tiberius Nero who, so willed it Fate, 
 Next to Augustus ruled the Eoman state. 
 Their different kinds, their varying hues I teach, 
 What land produces, what the power of each. 
 Thus while the bulky volume I compress, 
 In more commodious form the sense I dress. 
 This precious lore I from the crowd conceal, 
 But to few friends, and those the best, reveal : 
 For he that mysteries publishes profanes 
 Known to the vulgar secret nought remains. 
 
 10. Let three at most this sacred volume know, 
 A holy number, holy things we show ; 
 Who honour heaven and its commands attend, 
 Whom manners grave, whom holy lives commend. 
 For sure the hidden powers of gems to know, 
 What great effects from hidden causes flow, 
 A science this, to be to few confined 
 And viewed with admiration by mankind. 
 Hence may the healing art new aid derive. 
 Taught by their virtue plagues away to drive ; 
 For sages tell that by creative heaven 
 
 20. Distinctive potency to gems is given. 
 And hoar experience surely doth attest 
 The native virtue by each stone possessed.
 
 392 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV 
 
 Though in the herb a potent virtue lurks 
 Greatest of all that which in jewels works. 
 
 I. 
 
 Foremost of all amongst the glittering race 
 Far India is the Diamond's native place ; 
 Produced and found within the crystal mines, 
 Its native source in its pure lustre shines : 
 Yet though it flashes with the brilliant's rays 
 A steely tint the crystal still displays. 
 Hardness invincible which nought can tame, 
 Untouched by steel, unconquered by the flame ; 
 
 30. But steeped in blood of goats it yields at length, 
 Yet tries the anvil's and the smiter's strength. 
 With these keen splinters armed, the artist's skill 
 Subdues all gems and graves them at his will. 
 Largest at best as the small kernel shut 
 Within th' inclosure of the hazel nut. 
 Another stone the swart Arabians find, 
 Broke without blood, of less obdurate kind : 
 Of duller lustre and of lower price, 
 In weight and bulk it yet the first outvies. 
 A third gives Cyprus, girdled by the main ; 
 The fourth Philippi's iron mines contain : 
 
 40. Yet all alike the obedient iron sway 
 
 As does the magnet, if this gem 's away ; 
 
 For in the presence of this sovereign stone 
 
 Robbed of its force an idle mass 'tis thrown. 
 
 In magic rites employed, a potent charm, 
 
 With force invincible it nerves the arm : 
 
 Its power will chase far from thy sleeping head 
 
 The dream illusive and the goblin dread ; 
 
 Baffle the venom'd draught, fierce quarrels heal, 
 
 Madness appease and stay thy foeman's steel. 
 
 Its fitting setting, so have sages told, 
 
 Is the pale silver or the glowing gold ; 
 
 And let the jewel in the bracelet blaze 
 
 Which round the left arm clasped attracts the gaze.
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARBODUS. yi 
 
 II. 
 
 50. Achates' stream, which through Sicilians plains 
 Winds his soft course renowned in pastoral strains, 
 Named from himself the Agate first disclosed 
 A jet black stone by milky zones inclosed : 
 With figured veins its varied surface strew'd, 
 Painted by nature in a sportive mood. 
 Now regal shapes, now gods its face adorn ; 
 Such the fam'd Agate by King Pyrrhus worn, 
 Whose level surface the nine Muses graced, 
 Kound Phoebus with his lyre in order placed. 
 Strange to relate, 'twas to no artist due, 
 
 00. Nature herself the wondrous picture drew. 
 Another Agate yields the Cretan shore, 
 As coral red, with gold-dust sprinkled o'er ; 
 An antidote against the poisoned draught, 
 And for the treach'rous viper's venom'd shaft. 
 Whilst on that Agate which dark Indians praise 
 The woods arise, the sylvan monster strays : 
 Placed in the mouth 'twill raging thirst appease, 
 And its mild radiance the tired eyeballs ease. 
 One fumes like myrrh if on the altar strewed ; 
 Another is besprent with drops of blood : 
 Whilst those which, like the comb, with yellow gleam, 
 Are most abundant, but in least esteem. 
 
 70. The Agate on the wearer strength bestows, 
 
 With ruddy health his fresh complexion glows ; 
 Both eloquence and grace are by it given, 
 He gains the favour both of earth and heaven : 
 Anchises' son, by this attendant saved, 2 
 O'ercame all labours, every danger braved. 
 
 III. 
 
 Not least the glory of the gem renowned 
 Within the belly of the capon found, 
 
 A curious perversion this of Virgil's ' Fidus Achates.'
 
 394 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 Which, made an eunuch when three years have flown, 
 Through twice two more in swelling bulk has grown ; 
 Its utmost size no larger than a bean, 
 Like purest water or the crystal's sheen ; 
 
 80. Hence Alectorius is the jewel hight, 
 
 Fpr gifts of strength extolled, and matchless might. 
 If parched with thirst place this within thy mouth, 
 'T will in a moment quench thy burning drouth ; 
 Aided by this on many a well-fought day 
 Crotonian Milo bore the palm away : 
 And many a prince, with laurel on his brow, 
 Eeturned victorious o'er a mightier foe. 
 The weary wretch who in far exile pines, 
 Kestored to home, with pristine honours shines. 
 It gifts the pleader with persuasive art 
 To move the court and touch the hearer's heart : 
 Th' exhausted frame with youthful vigour filled 
 Exults once more with love's high rapture thrilled. 
 From this the bride full powerful aid may gain 
 
 90. To bind her spouse's heart with triple chain. 
 Borne in the mouth the virtues of the stone 
 And all its mighty works are quickly shewn. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Of seventeen species can the Jasper boast 
 Of differing colours, in itself a host. 
 In various regions is this substance seen : 
 The best of all, the bright translucent green ; 
 The greatest virtue is to this assigned ; 
 Fevers and dropsies feel its influence kind. 
 Hung round the neck it eases travail's throes, 
 And guards the wearer from approaching woes. 
 100. Power too it gives when blest by magic rite : 
 And drives away the phantoms of the night ; 
 But let the gem enchased in silver shine, 
 And fortify thereby its force divine.
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDAKIUM OF MARBODUS. 
 
 V. 
 
 Fit only for the hands of kings to wear, 
 With purest azure shines the Sapphire rare : 
 For worth and beauty chief of gems proclaimed, 
 And by the vulgar oft Syrtites named. 
 Oft in the Syrtes midst their shifting sand 
 Cast by the boiling deep on Lybian strand : 
 The best the sort that Media's mines supply, 
 
 110. Opaque of colour which excludes the eye. 
 By nature with superior honours graced, 
 As gem of gems above all others placed ; 
 Health to preserve, and treachery to disarm, 
 And guard the wearer from intended harm : 
 No envy bends him, and no terror shakes ; 
 The captive's chains its mighty virtue breaks ; 
 The gates fly open, fetters fall away, 
 And send their prisoner to the light of day. 
 E'en Heaven is moved by its force divine, 
 To list to vows presented at its shrine. 
 Its soothing power contentions fierce controls, 
 And in sweet concord binds discordant souls ; 
 
 120. Above all others this Magicians love, 
 
 Which draws responses from the realms above : 
 The body's ills its saving force allays 
 And cools the flame that on the entrails preys. 
 Can check the sweats that melt the waning force 
 And stay the ulcer in its festering course : 
 Dissolved in milk it clears the cloud away 
 From the dimmed eye and pours the perfect day ; 
 Relieves the aching brow when racked with pain 
 And bids the tongue its wonted vigour gain. 
 But he who dares to wear this gem divine 
 Like snow in perfect chastity must shine. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Between the Hyacinth and Beryl placed, 
 130. With lustre fair is the (Jalcedon graced ;
 
 396 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SKCT. IV 
 
 But pierced, and worn upon the neck or hand, 
 A sure success in lawsuits 'twill command. 
 Unlike the Jasper, of this precious stone 
 Three hues alone are unto merchants known. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Of all green things which bounteous earth supplies 
 Nothing in greenness with the Emerald vies ; 
 Twelve kinds it gives, sent from the Scythian clime, 
 The Bactrian mountain, and old Nilus' slime ; 
 And some from copper mines of viler race 
 Marked by the dross drawn from their matrix base : 
 The Carchedonian from the Punic vale 
 To name the others were a tedious tale. 
 
 140. From all the rest the Scythian bear the palm 
 Of higher value and of brighter charm, 
 From watchful gryphons in the desert isle 
 Stol'n by the vent'rous Arimaspian's guile. 
 Higher their value which admit the sight, 
 And tinge with green the circumambient light : 
 Unchanged by sun or shade their lustre glows, 
 The blazing lamp no dimness on it throws. 
 Such as a smooth or hollow surface spread 
 Like slumbering ocean in its tranquil bed, 
 These like a mirror the beholder's face 
 Exactly image with reflected rays : 
 And thus did Nero, if report say true, 
 The mimic warfare of the arena view. 
 But best the gem that shews an even sheen, 
 Lustrous with equal never-varying green. 
 Of mighty use to seers who seek to pry 
 
 150. Into the future hid from mortal eye. 
 
 Wear it with reverence due, 'twill wealth bestow 
 
 And words persuasive from thy lips shall flow, 
 
 As though the gift of eloquence inspired 
 
 The stone itself or living spirit fired. 
 
 Hung round the neck it cures the ague's chill, 
 
 Or falling sickness, dire mysterious ill ;
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARBODUS. 397 
 
 Its hues so soft refresh the wearied eye, 
 And furious tempests banish from the sky : 
 So with chaste power it tames the furious mood 
 And cools the wanton thoughts that fire the blood. 
 1 60. If steeped in verdant oil or bathed in wine 
 Its deepened hues with perfect lustre shine. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Sard and Onyx in one name unite, 
 And from their union spring three colours bright, 
 O'er jetty black the brilliant white is spread 
 And o'er the white diifused a fiery red : 
 If clear the colours, if distinct the line, 
 Where still unmixed the various layers join, 
 Such we for beauty and for value prize, 
 Rarest of all that teeming earth supplies. 
 Chief amongst signets it will best convey 
 170. The stamp impressed, nor tear the wax away. 
 The man of humble heart and modest face, 
 And purest soul the Sardonyx should grace ; 
 A worthy gem, yet boasts no mystic powers : 
 'T is sent from Indian and Arabian shores. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Called by the Onyx round the sleeper stand 
 Black dreams, and phantoms rise, a grisly band : 
 Whoso on neck or hand this stone displays 
 Is plagued with lawsuits and with civil frays ; 
 Round infants' necks if tied, so nurses shew, 
 Their tender mouths with slaver overflow. 
 This the Arabian, this the Indian sends, 
 And five the sorts to which its name it lends : 
 Which name of Onyx, as grammarians teach, 
 1 80. Comes from the usage of the Grecian speech, 
 For what the name of nails amongst us bears 
 Expressed in Greek as Onyches appears ; 
 Yet if a Sardian on thy finger shine 
 'T will quash the Onyx' influence malign.
 
 398 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SKCT. IV. 
 
 X. 
 
 The blood-red Sardian to its birthplace owes 
 Its name, to Sardis, whence it first arose. 
 Cheapest of gems, it may no share of fame 
 For any virtue save its beauty claim : 
 Except for power the onyx' spell to break : 
 190. Of this old sages five divisions make. 
 
 XI. 
 
 The golden Chrysolite a fiery blaze 
 
 Mixed with the hue of ocean's green displays ; 
 
 Enchased in gold its strong protective might 
 
 Drives far away the terrors of the night : 
 
 Strung on the hairs plucked from an ass's tail, 
 
 The mightiest demons neath its influence quail. 
 
 This potent amulet, of old renowned, 
 
 Wear like a bracelet on thy left arm bound. 
 
 'T is brought by merchants from those far off lands 
 
 Where Ethiopia spreads her burning sands. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Cut with six facets shines the Beryl bright, 
 Else a pale dulness clouds its native light ; 
 The most admired display a softened beam 
 
 200. Like tranquil seas or olives' oily gleam. 
 
 This potent gem, found in far India's mines, 
 With mutual love the wedded couple binds ; 
 The wearer shall to wealth and honours rise 
 And from all rivals bear the wished-for prize : 
 Too tightly grasped, as if instinct with ire, 
 It burns th' incautious hand with sudden fire. 
 Lave this in water, it a wash supplies 
 For feeble sight and stops convulsive sighs. 
 Its species nine, for so the learned divide, 
 
 210. Avail the liver and the tortured side.
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARBODUR. 399 
 
 XIII. 
 
 From seas remote tlie yellow Topaz came, 
 Found in the island of the self-same name ; 
 Great is the vahie for full rare the stone, 
 And but two kinds to eager merchants known. 
 One vies with purest gold, of orange bright ; 
 The other glimmers with a fainter light : 
 Its yielding nature to the file gives way 
 Yet bids the bubbling caldron cease to play. 
 The land of gems, culled from its copious store, 
 Arabia sends this to the Latian shore ; 
 One only virtue Nature grants the stone, 
 Those to relieve who under hemorrhoids groan. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Three various kinds the skilled as Hyacinths name, 
 Varying in colour, and unlike in fame : 
 One, like pomegranate flowers a fiery blaze ; 
 
 220. And one, the yellow citron's hue displays. 
 One charms with paley blue the gazer's eye 
 Like the mild tint that decks the northern sky : 
 A strength 'ning power the several kinds convey 
 And grief and vain suspicions drive away. 
 Those skilled in jewels chief the Granate prize, 
 A raver gem and flushed with ruby dyes. 
 The blue sort feels heaven's changes as they play- 
 Bright on the sunny, dull when dark the day : 
 But best that gem which not too deep a hue 
 O'erloads, nor yet degrades too light a blue ; 
 But where the purple bloom unblemished shines 
 
 230. And in due measure both the tints combines. 
 No gem so cold upon the tongue can lie, 
 With greater hardness none the file defy ; 
 The diamond splinter to th' engraver's use 
 Alone its hardened stubbornness subdues. 
 The citron-coloured, by their pallid dress, 
 Their baser nature openly confess ;
 
 400 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV 
 
 With any kind borne on thy neck or hand, 
 Secure from peril visit every land. 
 On all thy wand'rings honours shall attend 
 And noxious airs shall ne'er thy health offend ; 
 AVhatever prince thy just petition hears 
 Fear no repulse, he'll listen to thy prayers. 
 Midst other treasures to adorn the ring 
 240. This gem from Afric's burning sands they bring. 
 
 XV. 
 
 Parent of gems, rich India from her mines 
 The Chrysoprase, a- precious gift, consigns, 
 As leaves of leeks in mingled shadows blent, 
 Or purple dark with golden stars besprent ; 
 But what its virtue, rests concealed in night : 
 All things Fate grants not unto mortal sight. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 The Tyrian purple the rich Amethyst dyes, 
 Or darker violet charms the gazer's eyes ; 
 Bright as the ruby wine another glows, 
 Or fainter blush that decks the opening rose ; 
 Another yet displays a lighter shade, 
 Like drops of wine with fountain streams allayed. 
 250. All these supplied by jewelled India's mart, 
 Easy to cut, yield to the graver's art : 
 The gem, if rarer, were a precious prize, 
 But now too common it neglected lies ; 
 Famed for their power to check the fumes of wine, 
 Five different species yields the bounteous mine. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 The rapid swallow swifter than the airs 
 
 Within her breast the Chelidonian bears, 
 
 A fatal gift, deep in her bowels pent, 
 
 AVhich with her life is from the owner rent. 
 
 The Chelidonian is of might supreme, 
 
 Though not of those which shoot a brilliant gleam :
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARBODUS. 401 
 
 Yet many a gem that men for beauty praise, 
 Unshapen, small, and dull, its worth outweighs. 
 
 260. The feather'd victims in their bowels stored 
 
 Two different sorts the white and red afford : 
 The pining sickness feels their influence mild, 
 The moonstruck idiot, and the maniac wild. 
 With force persuasive orators they arm, 
 And grace the hearts of multitudes to charm : 
 Wrapped in a linen cloth this present rare, 
 Under thy left arm tied ne'er fail to wear ; 
 The black, in woollen cloth thus too suspend, 
 And bring thy measures to the wished-for end. 
 It blunts the threats and cools the ire of kings, 
 
 270. And to the wearied sight refreshment brings. 
 This in a yellow cloth of linen laid 
 Will banish fevers that thy limbs invade, 
 Or watery humours that with current slow 
 Obstruct the veins and stop their healthy flow. 
 
 v 
 XVIII. 
 
 Lycia her Jet in medicine commends ; 
 But chiefest, that which distant Britain sends : 
 Black, light, and polished, to itself it draws 
 If warmed by friction near adjacent straws. 
 Though quenched by oil, its smouldering embers raise 
 Sprinkled with water a still fiercer blaze : 
 It cures the dropsy, shakey teeth are fixed 
 Washed with the powder'd stone in water mixed. 
 The female womb its piercing fumes relieve, 
 Nor epilepsy can this test deceive : 
 From its deep hole it lures the viper fell, 
 And chases far away the powers of hell ; 
 It heals the swelling plagues that gnaw the heart 
 And baffles spells and magic's noxious art. 
 This by the wise the surest test is styled 
 Of virgin purity by lust defiled. 
 Three days in water steeped, the draught bestows 
 290. Ease to the pregnant womb in travail's throes. 
 
 2 D
 
 402 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 The Magnet gem-crowned India brings to light 
 
 Where lurks in caves the gloomy Troglodyte ; 
 
 Coloured like iron and by nature's law 
 
 Appointed iron to itself to draw. 
 
 The sage Deendor, skilled in magic lore, 
 
 First proved in mystic arts its sov'reign power ; 
 
 Next far-famed Circe, that enchantress dread, 
 
 To help her magic spells invoked its aid. 
 
 Hence 'mongst the Medes hath long experience shown 
 
 The wondrous powers inherent in the stone. 
 
 300. For should'st thou doubt thy wife's fidelity 
 Unto her slumbering head this test apply ; 
 If chaste she'll seek thy arms, in sleep profound 
 Though plung'd : th' adultress tumbles on. the ground : 
 Hurled from the couch, so strong the potent fume, 
 Proof of her guilt, diffused throughout the room. 
 If a sly thief slip through the palace door 
 And strew unseen hot embers on the floor, 
 And powder'd loadstone on these embers spread, 
 The inmates flee possessed with sudden dread : 
 Distraught with horrid fear of death they fly 
 
 310. While from the square the vapour mounts on high. 
 They fly : within the house no soul remains, 
 And copious spoils repay the robber's pains. 
 The loadstone peace to wrangling couples grants 
 And mutual love in wedded hearts implants : 
 It gives the power to argue and to teach ; 
 Grace to the tongue, persuasion to the speech ; 
 The bloated dropsy taken in mead it quells, 
 
 320. And sprinkled over burns their pain dispels. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Whilst rooted 'neath the waves the Coral grows, 
 Like a green bush its waving foliage shews : 
 Torn off by nets, or by the iron mown, 
 Touched by the air it hardens into stone ;
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARBODUS. 403 
 
 Now a bright red, before a grassy green, 
 And like a little branch its form is seen ; 
 Of measure small, scarce half a foot in size, 
 A useful ornament the branch supplies. 
 Wondrous its power, so Zoroaster sings, 
 And to the wearer sure protection brings. 
 Its numerous virtues Metrodorus sage 
 Has told to mankind in his learned page : 
 330. How, lest they harm ship, land, or house, it binds 
 The scorching lightning and the furious winds. 
 Sprinkled 'mid climbing vines or olives' rows, 
 Or with the seed the patient rustic sows, 
 'T will from thy crops avert the arrowy hail 
 And with abundance bless the smiling vale. 
 Far from thy couch 't will chase the shades of hell 
 Or monster summoned by Thessalian spell ; 
 Give happy opening, and successful end, 
 
 And calm the tortures that the entrails rend. 
 
 v 
 
 XXI. 
 
 From Asia's climes rich Alabanda sends 
 340. The Aldbandine and its name extends ; 
 In fiery lustre with the Sard it vies 
 And leaves in doubt the skilled beholder's eyes. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Let not the Muse the dull Carnelian slight 
 Although it shine with but a feeble light ; 
 Fate has with virtues great its nature graced, 
 Tied round the neck or on the finger placed. 
 Its friendly influence checks the rising fray, 
 And chases spites and quarrels far away : 
 That, where the colour of raw flesh is found, 
 Will stanch the blood fast issuing from the wound ; 
 Whether from mangled limbs the torrents flow, 
 350. Or inward issues, source of deadly woe. 
 
 2 D 2
 
 404 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 The Carbuncle eclipses by its blaze 
 
 All shining gems, and casts its fiery rays 
 
 Like to the burning coal ; whence conies its name, 
 
 Among the Greeks as Anthrax known to fame. 
 
 Not e'en by darkness quenched its vigour tires ; 
 
 Still at the gazer's eye it darts its fires ; 
 
 A numerous race, within the Lybian ground 
 
 Twelve kinds by mining Troglodytes are found. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Voided by lynxes, to a precious stone 
 Congealed the liquid is Lyncurium grown ; 
 360. This knows the lynx and strives with envious pride 
 'Neath scraped up sand the precious drops to hide. 
 Surpassing amber in its golden hue 
 It straws attracts if Theophrast says true : 
 The tortured chest it cures, their native bloom 
 Through its kind aid the jaundiced cheeks resume ; 
 And let the patient wear the gem, its force 
 Will soon arrest the diarrhoea's course. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Chief amongst gems the JEtites stands 
 370. Borne by the bird of Jove from farthest lands : 
 As safeguard to his nest, and influence good 
 To ward off danger from the callow brood. 
 Shut in the pregnant stone another lies 
 Hence pregnant women its protection prize ; 
 With this gem duly round her left arm tied 
 Need no mischance affright the teeming bride. 
 Sober the wearer too shall ever prove, 
 Shall wealth amass, and reap his people's love : 
 Victory shall crown his brows ; his offspring dear, 
 380. Shall healthy live nor fate untimely fear. 
 The epileptic wretch, saved by its worth, 
 No more shall fall and writhe upon the earth.
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARBODUS. 405 
 
 Should'st thou suspect thy friend of treason foul, 
 The privy poisoner lurking in the bowl, 
 Thus prove his mind : him to thy banquet bid 
 And let this stone beneath the dish be hid, 
 When, if he harbour treachery in his thought, 
 Whilst there the stone lies he can swallow nought : 
 Remove the gem, delivered from its power 
 The tasted meats he'll greedily devour. 
 The stone they say is found, with .scarlet dyed, 
 Hid on the margin of old ocean's tide. 
 390. In Persian lands, in eagles' nests concealed, 
 And by the Twins its virtues first revealed. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Nor must we pass the Selenites by 
 Whose hues with grass or verdant jasper vie, 
 With the lov'd moon it sympathetic shines, 
 Grows with her increase with her wane declines ; 
 And since it thus for heav'nly changes cares 
 The fitting name of sacred stone it bears. 
 A powerful philtre to ensnare the heart, 
 It saves the fair from dire consumption's dart. 
 400. Long as the moon her wasted orb repairs 
 To pining mortals these effects it bears ; 
 Yet ne'ertheless, when Luna 's on the wane 
 Men from its use will divers blessings gain. 
 This stone, a remedy for human ills, 
 Springs, as they tell, from famous Persia's hills. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Gagatromceus, differing in dye, 
 Like brindled skin of kids delights the eye. 
 Worn by the leader who to battle goes 
 By sea and land he '11 crush his vanquished foes. 
 'T was thus Alcides every danger braved 
 And scaped unharmed by its protection saved, 
 But lost the talisman (so sages tell), 
 410. The mighty victor soon a victim fell.
 
 406 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 When flash the levin bolts from pole to pole, 
 When tempests roar, when awful thunders roll, 
 From clashing clouds the wondrous gem is thrown 
 Hence styled in Grecian tongue the Thunderstone. 
 For in no other spot this treasure 's found 
 Save where the thunderbolt has struck the ground : 
 Hence named Ceraunias by the Grecians all, 
 For what we lightning they Ceraunus call. 
 Who in all purity this stone shall wear 
 Him shall the bolt of heaven ne'er fail to spare ; 
 Its presence too protects from all such harm 
 His city mansion and his blooming farm. 
 420. Nor if he voyage o'er the briny deep 
 
 Shall lightnings strike or whirlwinds whehn his ship. 
 
 Thy foes in law, in battle, it confounds, 
 
 And with sweet sleep thy grateful slumbers crowns. 
 
 Two different species of this potent stone, 
 
 Two different colours, are to mortals known : 
 
 One, like the crystal bright, Germania sends, 
 
 Which with its red an azure colour blends. 
 
 The Lusitanian with the pyrope vies 
 
 In flamy radiance, and the fire defies. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 The Heliotrope, or " gem that turns the sun," 
 
 From its strange power the name has justly won : 
 
 For set in water opposite his rays 
 
 As red as blood 'twill turn bright Phosbus' blaze. 
 
 And, far diffused the inauspicious light, 
 
 With strange eclipse the startled world affright. 
 
 Then boils the vase, urged by its magic power, 
 
 And casts far o'er the brim the sudden shower ; 
 
 As when the gloomy air to rain gives way 
 
 It storms evokes, and clouds the fairest day ; 
 
 It gifts the wearer with prophetic eye 
 
 Into the Future's darkest depths to spy.
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OP MARBODUS. 407 
 
 A good report 't will give and endless praise, 
 440. And crown thy honour'd course with length of days. 
 
 It checks the flow of blood, the wearer's soul 
 
 Shall laugh at treason or the poison'd bowl. 
 
 Though with such potent virtues grac'd by heaven 
 
 One yet more wondrous to the gem is given. 
 
 This with the herb that bears its name unite 
 
 With incantation due and secret rite, 
 
 Then shalt thou mortal eyes in darkness shroud 
 
 And walk invisible amidst the crowd. 
 
 The stone for colour might an emerald seem, 
 
 But drops of blood diversify the green. 
 
 'T is sent sometimes from Ethiopia's land, 
 450. Sometimes from Afric or the Cyprian strand. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Experience old the Geranites' praise, 
 Though dark of hue, amongst the first doth raise ; 
 For put this in thy mouth first rinsed ^and lo ! 
 What others of thee think thou straight shalt know : 
 Implanted in it is imperious sway 
 To make all women to thy wish give way. 
 To test its force thy naked body smear 
 With milk and honey, and this jewel wear ; 
 Still shall it keep the greedy swarms at bay, 
 Nor shall the airy host approach their prey : 
 460. Eemove the stone, instant the hostile brood 
 
 Plunge myriad stings and suck the gushing blood. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 In Corinth's Isthmus springs the -Hephcestite, 
 More precious than its brass, and ruddy bright. 
 The seething caldron bubbling o'er the blaze, 
 Cast in the stone, its fervent fury stays ; 
 Tam'd by the virtue of the gem, as cool 
 It falls as water in a tranquil pool. 
 Nor flights of locusts, nor the scourging hail, 
 Nor whirlwinds fierce shall thy fair fields assail ;
 
 408 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SKCT. IV. 
 
 Nor felling rust the growing crops shall blight 
 That stand defended by its saving might. 
 470. Held to the sun it shoots out fiery rays 
 
 Dazzling the eye as with the furnace blaze : 
 This burning stone sedition's fury charms 
 And 'gainst all danger its possessor arms. 
 But let this precept in thy mind be borne 
 Eight o'er the heart this mineral must be worn. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 The Haematite named by the Greeks from blood 
 Benignant nature formed for mortals' good : 
 Its styptic virtue many a proof will shew 
 To heal the tumours that on th' eyelids grow. 
 
 480. And rubbed on darkening eyes it clears away 
 The gathering cloud and gives to see the day : 
 Eubbed in a mortar with tenacious glaire 
 And juice of pomegranates, an eye-salve rare. 
 Those who spit blood its healing power will own, 
 As those who tinder cankering ulcers groan. 
 It stays the flux that drains the female frame, 
 And, powdered fine, proud flesh in wounds can tame : 
 Dissolved in wine the oft repeated dose 
 Will stop all looseness that excessive flows ; 
 Dissolved in water 't will allay the smart 
 
 490. Of poisonous serpents' bite or aspic's dart. 
 If mixed with honey 't is an unction sure 
 All maladies that pain the eyes to cure. 
 This potent draught, as by experience shewn, 
 Within the bladder melts the torturing stone. 
 Of red and rusty hue, in Afric found, 
 Or in Arabian, or in Lybian ground. 
 
 XXXI1L 
 
 Of steely colour and of wondrous might 
 Arcadia's hills produce th' Asbeston bright ; 
 For kindled once it no extinction knows 
 But with eternal flame unceasing glows :
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MAKBODUS. 409 
 
 500. Hence with good cause the Greeks Asbeston name, 
 Because once kindled nought can quench its flame. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 The mountains of the Macedonian bold 
 Within their mines the Pceanites hold, 
 Unknown the cause, with imitative throes 
 It heaves, and all the pangs of childbirth knows. 
 From some mysterious seed the wondrous earth 
 Conceives, and in due time excludes the birth ; 
 Hence teeming females its protection bless 
 In that last moment when their dangers press. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Barest the Sagda saw the light of day 
 Did it not yield itself a willing prey : 
 Sprung from the womb of the remotest deep 
 510. By some strange force it seeks the passing ship 
 Cleaves to the keel as to the port she ies, 
 (The crew unconscious of their priceless prize,) 
 But grasps the timber with so firm a fold 
 If that's not cut, it will not loose its hold. 
 Dark green its colour like the verdant Prase, 
 Its virtues high the learned Chaldeans raise. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 The Median Stone dug up in Media's plains 
 At once a source of health and death contains : 
 This in a mortar of green marble brayed 
 With woman's milk now first a mother made, 
 Will to the blinded eye restore the sight 
 520. Although for many a year denied the light. 
 
 Mixed with ewe's milk that once has borne a male 
 It remedies the gout's tormenting ail : 
 It heals the liver in the panting breast, 
 Or injured reins by racking pains opprest ; 
 Store it in glass or else in silver pui-e, 
 And take it fasting 't is a sovereign cure.
 
 410 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 But yet if them to harm thy fueman seek, 
 530. With it a deadly vengeance canst them wreak : 
 Do thou a fragment of the mortar take 
 And mix with this and both together break, 
 Then dropped in water offer it thy foe 
 And bid him bathe as with a wash his brow ; 
 Forthwith eternal darkness seals his eyes, 
 Or if he drink, with riven lungs he dies. 
 Black is the stone, not so its virtue shews : 
 'Tis white to heal us, black to slay our foes. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 No force of blows can thee, Chalazia ! tame ; 
 White as the hailstone and in form the same : 
 Which potent nature with such coldness arms 
 540. No furnace flame its icy crystal warms. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 True to its name, the Hexacontalite 
 In one small orb doth sixty gems unite ; 
 With numerous hues for scanty size atones 
 And singly shews the tints of many stones. 
 Mid Lybia's deserts parched by burning winds 
 The Troglodyte this rainbow jewel finds. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 The Indian tortoise yields a gem full bright 
 With varying purple, Chelonttes hight : 
 Placed 'neath the tongue, as learned Magians shew, 
 It gives the power the future to foreknow. 
 To the sixth hour endures the magic boon 
 Whilst fills her crescent horns th' increasing moon ; 
 550. But at new moon the prescient power, they say, 
 Lasts from the opening to the close of day. 
 When at her fifteenth day she rides through heaven 
 The same extent as at her prime is given ; 
 But while her narrowing crescent nightly wanes 
 Not past the break of day this gift obtains.
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARRODUS. 411 
 
 Like the Chalazias it the fire defies 
 
 And cold remains where hottest flames arise : 
 
 XL. 
 
 Midst precious stones a place the Prase may claim, 
 Of value small, content with beauty's fame. 
 No virtue has it ; but it brightly gleams 
 With emerald green, and well the gold beseems ; 
 Or blood-red spots diversify its green, 
 560. Or crossed with three white lines its face is seen. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 Crystal is ice through countless ages grown 
 (So teach the wise) to hard transparent stone : 
 And still the gem retains its native force, 
 And holds the cold and colour of its source 
 Yet some deny, and tell of crystal found 
 Where never icy winter froze the ground ; 
 But true it is that held against the rayk 
 Of Phoabus it conceives the sudden blaze, 
 And kindles tinder, which, from fungus dry 
 Beneath its beam, your skilful hands apply : 
 Dissolved in honey, let the luscious draught 
 570. By mothers suckling their lov'd charge be quaffed, 
 Then from their breasts, as sage physicians shew, 
 Shall milk abundant in rich torrents flow. 
 
 XLIL 
 
 The ashy Galactite, if mixed with mead, 
 Has likewise power milk in the breasts to breed : 
 Yet let the dame just rising from the bath, 
 Before she eats, the strength'ning potion quaff : 
 Or let the perforated stone be strung 
 On thread made from the wool of ewe with young ; 
 Thus, round the neck of nursing mother bound, 
 It makes her breasts with plenteous milk abound. 
 Tied round the thigh in parturition's pains 
 580. The trembling wife an easy labour gains.
 
 412 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 This, mixed with salt and lustral water, bear 
 Around thy fold, ere Phoebus first appear, 
 Then thy ewes' udders shall with milk abound 
 And murrains fell be banished from thy ground. 
 So high the ancients do its virtues raise 
 That all the rest combined its worth outweighs : 
 Yet, melted in the mouth, with frenzies blind 
 And hideous fancies it disturbs the mind. 
 From the bruised stone exudes a milky dew 
 Of milky savour if report be true. 
 This potent gem Egyptian Nilus sends, 
 590. Which Achelous by its birth commends. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Whene'er the savage beast with goring horn 
 Or deadly fangs thy tender limbs has torn, 
 Mix'd with rose oil th' Orites, black and round, 
 An unguent sure, will heal the fatal wound ; 
 Or if through desert wilds thy footsteps stray, 
 'Mid tigers fell, 't will turn their teeth away. 
 Another, green with spots of white o'erspread, 
 Averts all dangers from the wearer's head ; 
 Another, yet more famed, its surface shews 
 As 't were with studs inlaid in bristling rows ; 
 A smoother face the underside displays, 
 Like plate of polished steel it meets the gaze 
 600. Wearing this stone a woman ne'er conceives, 
 Which of its load the burdened womb relieves. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 Torn from the eyes of the hyaena fell 
 
 The fJyceneia, so the ancients tell, 
 
 On mortals can prophetic gifts bestow 
 
 And give the power the future to foreknow : 
 
 Clear to his soul futurity appears 
 
 Who 'neath his tongue this potent substance bears.
 
 SKCT. IV. THE LAPIDARIUM OF MARBODUS. 4LS 
 
 XLV. 
 
 In Scythia's wilds the Liparea springs, 
 Which all the sylvan tribes around it brings ; 
 Whate'er the huntsmen chase with patient toil, 
 610. Nor need they hounds or snares to take the spoil. 
 Enough 'mid woods this talisman to wear 
 The game will rush spontaneous on thy spear. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 As from full sources gush the rapid rills, 
 So the EnJiydros ceaseless tears distils : 
 Obscure the cause ; for if the substance flows, 
 How is 't the stone no diminution knows ? 
 Nor melts away ? And if external dew 
 Sink down within and thus the fount renew, 
 Would not its stream upon itself retreat 
 620. When in the pores opposing currents meet ? 
 
 s. 
 XL VII. 
 
 By the Eed Sea the swarthy Arabs glean 
 Th' Iris resplendent with the Crystal's sheen ; 
 Its form six-sided, full of heav'n's own light, 
 Has justly gained the name of rainbow bright ; 
 For in a room held 'gainst the solar rays 
 It paints the wall with many-colour'd blaze, 
 And where the crystal its reflection throws 
 The heav'nly bow in all its splendour glows. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 Th' Androdamas, in figure like a die, 
 In whiteness may with silver's lustre vie : 
 Hard as the Diamond, found in shifting sand, 
 630. Tossed by the wind along the Red Sea's strand ; 
 As Magians teach endued with mighty power, 
 To cool the soul with fury boiling o'er.
 
 414 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. TV. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 Though from the eyes each ail th' Opthalmius chase 
 
 Yet 't is the guardian of the thievish race : 
 
 It gifts the bearer with acutest sight 
 
 But clouds all other eyes with thickest night ; 
 
 So that the plunderers bold in open day 
 
 Secure from harm can bear their spoil away. 
 
 L. 
 
 The sea-born shell conceals the Union round, 
 
 Called by this name as always single found. 
 640. One in one shell, for ne'er a larger race, 
 
 Within their pearly walls the valves embrace. 
 
 Prized as an ornament its whiteness gleams, 
 
 And well the robe, and well the gold beseems. 
 
 At certain seasons do the oysters lie 
 
 With valves wide gaping towards the teeming sky, 
 
 And seize the falling dews, and pregnant breed 
 
 The shining globules of th' ethereal seed. 
 
 Brighter the offspring of the morning dew, . 
 
 The evening yields a duskier birth to view ; 
 
 The younger shells produce a whiter race, 
 
 We greater age in darker colours trace. 
 
 The more of dew the gaping shell receives, 
 650. Larger the pearl its fruitful womb conceives : 
 
 However favoring airs its growth may raise, 
 
 Its utmost bulk ne'er half an ounce outweighs. 
 
 If thunders rattle through the vaulted sky 
 
 The closing shells in sudden panic fly ; 
 
 Killed by the shock the embryo pearls they breed, 
 
 Shapeless abortions in their place succeed. 
 
 These spoils of Neptune th' Indian ocean boasts ; 
 
 But equal those from ancient Albion's coasts. 
 
 LI. 
 
 In the Pantheros varying colours meet, 
 660. Where black and red, and green and white compete :
 
 SECT. IV. THE LAPIDARTUM OF MARBODUR. 415 
 
 Here rosy light, there brilliant purples play, 
 And blooms the gem with varying patterns gay. 
 At dawn of day its potent beauties view 
 So shall success thy doings still pursue, 
 For all that day, defended by the charm, 
 No foe shall e'er prevail to work thee harm. 
 All travellers tell how 'midst far India's groves 
 Beauteous in spotted hide the panther roves. 
 How furious lions dread his piercing cry 
 And trembling at the sound in terror fly. 
 Marked like the beast that can the lion tame 
 670. The spotted gem obtains the self-same name. 
 
 LII. 
 
 Mid gems Apsyctos is not last in place, 
 And sanguine veins its ebon surface grace : 
 A pond'rous stone, once heated at the flame, 
 
 The fire conceiv'd scarce seven full days can tame. 
 
 v 
 
 LIII. 
 
 Like tinkling bronze the Chakophonos rings 
 And to the pleader vast advantage brings : 
 For chastely worn it gives melodious notes 
 And from rough hoarseness guards their straining throats. 
 The stone conspicuous for its sable hue 
 680. These gifts bestows if borne with reverence due. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 The Malachites' virtue keeps from hurt 
 The infant's cradle, all mischance to avert, 
 Lest spiteful witchcraft blast the tender frame. 
 Virtue with beauty joined exalt its fame. 
 Opaque of hue, with th' Emerald's vivid green 
 It charms the sight, first in Arabia seen. 
 
 LV. 
 
 Of humble aspect, but of virtue rare, 
 Like olive stones the Tecolites appear :
 
 416 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 Powdered, in water by the patient quaffed, 
 690. The torturing stone dissolves the potent draught. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 Named from the fire the yellow Pyrite spurns 
 The touch of man and to be handled scorns : 
 Touch it with trembling hand and cautious arm, 
 For tightly grasped it burns the closed palm. 
 
 LVII. 
 
 If e'er thou seek where deep the rivers flow 
 To force the water sprites the Fates to shew, 
 Take the Diadochus within thy hand, 
 No gem more potent doth the fiends command ; 
 Within its orb to thine affrighted eyes 
 Will myriad shapes of summon'd demons rise ; 
 But if once brought in contact with a corse, 
 Forthwith the stone shall lose its native force. 
 700. Like to the Beryl shines the potent stone 
 
 Which shuns the touch of one by death o'erthrown. 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 The Dionysia, black as ebon found, 
 With ruddy spots diversifies its ground. 
 In water steeped, fragrant of wine it smells, 
 And yet the fumes of wine its force dispels. 
 A thing opposed to nature's wonted course, 
 Water to wine converted by its force : 
 And yet the madness rising OTit of wine 
 Completely vanquished by this gem divine. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 The Chrysolectrus shines with golden rays 
 Still verging on the brightest Amber's blaze ; 
 710. At early morning pleasing to the eye 
 
 But fading still as Phoebus mounts the sky ; 
 
 Of purest fire its hasty nature made, 
 
 In flames bursts forth if near a fire 'tis laid.
 
 SECT. TV. THE LAP1DARIUM OF MARBODUS. 41' 
 
 LX. 
 
 In Afric springs the Chrysoprasion bright, 
 Which day conceals but darkness brings to light : 
 By night a shining fire, it lifeless lies 
 Like golden ore when day illumes the skies. 
 Reversed is Nature's law where light reveals 
 Whate'er in darkness shrouding night conceals. 
 
 LXI. 
 
 720. To adorn the finger-ring with inlaid stone 
 
 Was first to men by wise Prometheus shewn, 
 
 Who from Caucasian rock a fragment tore 
 
 And, set in iron, on his finger wore. 
 
 Next following ages hooped the precious gold 
 
 And graced the ring with gems of worth untold : 
 
 Then added Art ; thus luxury's course unchecked 
 
 The unwonted hand with triple honours decked. 
 
 Now, human fraud, which nought untouched can leave, 
 
 Art aping Nature, eager to deceive, 
 
 730. Has learnt to imitate the jewel true, 
 
 With lying glass, and thus beguile the view. 
 
 Hence hard the real gems from false to know 
 
 When pastes with imitative colours glow. 
 
 Their boasted virtues soon as tested fail, 
 
 And hence discredit does the true assail : 
 
 Yet the true gem, by sages duly blest, 
 
 In wondrous works its power will manifest. 
 
 The name of gem of yore from gum arose, 
 
 For like to gum its lucid clearness shews. 
 
 Those not transparent have been named the " Blind." 
 
 The name of stone is to each sort assigned ; 
 
 Hence, gems describing and their virtues famed, 
 
 The Book of Stones this work is rightly named. 
 
 Gleaned from unnumbered hoards with patient toil, 
 
 Let this suffice thee with the precious spoil : 
 
 Where stones, their titles, colours, virtues rare, 
 
 In sixty chapters duly ranged appear. 
 
 2 E
 
 418 
 
 MYSTIC VIRTUES. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 , signet of Saufeius. Sard. 
 
 VIRTUES ASCRIBED TO GEMS IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 
 
 We have already noticed how Pliny laughs at the " im- 
 pudent lies" (infandam vanitatem) of the Magicians of his 
 day, who ascribed supernatural properties to a few among 
 the precious stones, and to certain figures engraved upon 
 them. 3 The list of their virtues was considerably augmented 
 in the few centuries intervening between him and Solinus, 
 who apparently believed in their possessing the numerous 
 properties which he details. But the fourteen " ages of 
 faith " and of ignorance, which had elapsed between the epoch 
 of Pliny and that of the sage physician of Cesare Borgia, had 
 amazingly extended the number of magic and potent gems, 
 
 3 " The lying Magi pretend that 
 these gems (Amethysts) prevent 
 intoxication, and hence derive their 
 name. Moreover, if the name of the 
 Moon or of the Snn be engraved upon 
 them, and they be thus worn on the 
 neck suspended by the hair of a 
 baboon, or the feathers of a swallow, 
 they will baffle all witchcraft. That 
 they are also advantageous to persons 
 having suits to monarchs ; and that 
 they keep off hailstorms and nights 
 of locusts, by the employment of a 
 certain prayer which they prescribe. 
 
 To emeralds also they promise 
 similar effects, if engraved with 
 figures of beetles, or of eagles ; all 
 which stories I believe they must 
 have concocted out of sheer con- 
 tempt for, and in ridicule of, man- 
 kind." xxxvii. 40. There can be 
 little doubt that in the first sentence 
 we should read " numen," instead of 
 "nomen," and thus have the 
 " figure or symbol of the goddess 
 Lima, or of Sol," which occur plenti- 
 fully on gems of this date, whereas 
 " names " of these deities do not.
 
 SECT. IV. VIRTUES ASCRIBED TO GEMS. 419 
 
 and, at the same time, removed all disposition to sneer at or 
 doubt their asserted virtues. Camillo Leonardo, in his 
 alphabetical list of precious stones, carefully describes the 
 peculiar virtues of each ; of these I shall here give a few of 
 the most extraordinary only, as they do not come so directly 
 within the scope of this work as the interpretations he gives 
 of the intagli engraved upon them. I may notice by the 
 way, that his accounts of the gems and their origin are taken 
 from Pliny and Solinus, but chiefly from Marbodus, whose 
 meaning he often mistakes, and still oftener improves upon. 
 
 Diamond has the virtue of resisting all poisons, yet if taken in- 
 wardly is itself a deadly poison. (This notion, though quite 
 ungrounded, long prevailed. Cellini details at length how his 
 enemy P. L. Farnese, son of Paul III., attempted to poison him 
 in Castel S. Angelo by causing diamond powder to be mixed in 
 his salad, and attributes his escape solely tb the fact that the 
 lapidary employed to pulverize the stone had kept it for himself 
 and substituted glass for it. Diamond powder is also enumerated 
 among the poisons administered to Sir T. Overbury in the Tower.) 
 It baffles magic arts, dispels vain fears, and gives success in law- 
 suits. It is of service to lunatics and those possessed by devils, 
 and repels the attacks of phantoms and nightmares, and renders 
 the wearer bold and virtuous. 
 
 Balais Ruby represses vain and lascivious thoughts, appeases 
 quarrels between friends, and gives health of body. Its powder 
 taken in water cures diseases of the eyes and pains in the liver. 
 If you touch with this gem the four corners of a house, orchard, 
 or vineyard, they will be safe from lightning, storms, and blight. 
 
 Crystal worn by sleepers drives away evil dreams and baffles 
 spells and witchcraft : powdered, with honey, it fills the breasts 
 with milk. Its chief use is for making cups. 4 
 
 4 This remark is interesting, as vases of rock-crystal has been re- 
 showing the early period of the introduced into Italy. 
 Revival at which the making of 
 
 2 E 2
 
 420 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SHOT. IV. 
 
 Chi-ysolite takes its name from the Greek crisis, gold, and oletus, 
 entire, i. e. all golden. The Ethiopian kind is fiery in the morn- 
 ing, golden by day. (Here the modern topaz is clearly intended.) 
 Set in gold and worn on the left hand it drives away the demons 
 of the night, also terrors and gloomy visions. Its chief virtue is 
 to avail against the spells of detestable hags, and to overthrow all 
 their witchcrafts. If bored through and strung on an ass's hair 
 it is of more potency in expelling devils, and if held in the hand 
 cools the burning heat of fevers. 
 
 Garatromeus, a yellow stone, with reddish spots like the skin of 
 a roe, has the virtue of making the wearer invincible, wherefore 
 Achilles always carried it about with him. The people of the 
 East make their sword-hilts of this stone, that they may never be 
 without it in battle. (This is the Gagat Bomseus, or Greek Jet of 
 the Arabians.) 
 
 One of the most wonderful of all was the Liparean stone, 
 which gave the power of understanding the language of birds and 
 beasts after the performance of certain rites, thus described by 
 
 Orpheus (v. 685) : 
 
 " Dolon, 
 
 My kindness to requite, a present brought, 
 The Liparaean stone with virtues fraught, 
 Which erst his sire, directed by my lore, 
 Envoy to Memnon, from Assyria bore ; 
 More precious far than gold the prize he gained, 
 From learned Magians with rich gifts obtained. 
 Treasure my words in thy believing heart 
 Whilst I my own experience thus impart. 
 First shouldst thou to the bloodless altar haste 
 On which no living victim must be placed ; 
 With pious hymns to radiant Phoebus call, 
 And Earth, great Mother, giving suck to all. 
 Next melt this stone within the rising flame 
 Whose odorous fumes the long-drawn dragon tame. 
 These, as they mark the vapour mount on high, 
 Forth issuing from their holes towards it fly, 
 And hastening onward in a long array 
 The altar seek nor shun the light of day.
 
 SECT. IV. VIRTUES ASCRIBED TO GEMS. -ii.'l 
 
 There let three youths robed in white vestments stand, 
 
 Each bear a sword two-edged in his hand, 
 
 And seize that snake which nearest to the blaze 
 
 Sniffing the fumes his spotted coils displays : 
 
 Then cut his body, as he slaughtered lies, 
 
 Into nine portions all of equal size. 
 
 Three, of all-seeing Sol the portions call, 
 
 And three of Earth, the mother of us all ; 
 
 And three the portions of the goddess dread, 
 
 The omniscient prophetess, th' unsullied maid. 
 
 Next, place the portions in a blood-red bowl 
 
 And add the gift of Pallas to the whole ; 
 
 The ruddy liquor of the jolly god, 
 
 And sparkling salt th' attendant of our food ; 
 
 And, brought from foreign lands, the pungent spice, 
 
 Kough-coated, black, and of enormous price ; 
 
 All other condiments which serve to excite 
 
 The dormant powers of jaded appetite. v 
 
 Whilst seethes the caldron o'er the tripod's flame 
 
 Invoke each godhead by his secret name ; 
 
 Full well the powers above are pleased to hear 
 
 Their mystic names rise with the muttered prayer. 
 
 Pray that Megsera, aye contriving hurt, 
 
 Far from the bubbling caldron they avert, 
 
 But that the Spirit from the fount of light 
 
 Upon the sacred portions wing his flight. 
 
 When boiled the flesh, the solemn feast prepare, 
 
 But off the tripod each must eat his share. 
 
 All that is left, let earth close cover o 'er, 
 
 Then on the hallowed spot libations pour 
 
 Milk, and the ruddy wine, and fragrant oil, 
 
 With these combine the bee-hive's flowery spoil : 
 
 And last with chaplets woven from the boughs 
 
 Dear to the virgin-goddess crown your brows. 
 
 Nor let it shame you, though in open day, 
 
 Stripped of your robes to take your homeward way : 
 
 Nor once turn back as from the place ye come, 
 
 But with your eyes bent forward hasten home ;
 
 422 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IA r . 
 
 And if a traveller meet you as ye go, 
 
 Beware no greeting on him ye bestow ; 
 
 But offered to the gods on your return 
 
 Let fragrant spices on their altars bum. 
 
 These rites performed : all future things I know 
 
 What airy birds by all their warblings show ; 
 
 What beasts of prey as through the woods they prowl 
 
 Denote while answering with responsive howl." 
 
 Lyncunas is of three kinds ; one fiery, like a Carbuncle, another 
 dark saffron, the third green. They come from Germany, and 
 cure the colic, jaundice, and king's-evil. 
 
 Ligurius is like the Alectorius, and attracts straws. It cures 
 pains in the bowels, fluxes, jaundice, and sharpens the sight : 
 hence by some physicians it is used in eye-salves. (This name 
 is evidently a corruption of Lyncurium, and means some kind of 
 Jargoon or Jacinth.) 
 
 Nicolas, if of good colour, has a blue surface, and the under 
 part black ; sometimes it is entirely black. Some consider it to 
 be a kind of Calcedony. It is said to take its name from the 
 Greek (NicoXaoe). Its virtue is to render the wearer victorious, 
 and beloved by his people. (Here we may notice the early use 
 of the name Nicolo for this stone, and its strange derivation from 
 the Greek to suit the virtue ascribed to it, as if it meant Victor of 
 Nations. It is curious that Camillo, both in this place and in 
 speaking of the Sapphire and Turquois, uses flav us as synonymous 
 with ccelestis, azure. Hence the German, Blau.) 
 
 Opal is good against all diseases of the eyes, and preserves and 
 strengthens the sight. It is not unfitting to ascribe so many 
 properties to this stone, which shows itself the partaker of the 
 colours and nature of so many different gems. (The most extra- 
 vagant laudation ever passed upon any gem is to be found in 
 the description of an Opal given by Petrus Arlensis, writing in 
 1610, whose words are as follows: " The various colours in the 
 Opal tend greatly to the delectation of the sight ; nay, more, they 
 have the very greatest efficacy in cheering the heart and the in- 
 ward parts, and specially rejoice the eyes of the beholders. One 
 in particular came into my hands, in which such beauty, loveli-
 
 SECT. IV. VIRTUES ASCRIBED TO GEMS. 423 
 
 ness, and grace shone forth, that it could truly boast that it 
 forcibly drew all other gems to itself, while it surprised, asto- 
 nished, and held captive, without escape or intermission, the 
 hearts of all who beheld it. It was of the size of a filbert, and 
 clasped in the claws of a golden eagle wrought with wonderful 
 art, and had such vivid and various colours that all the 
 beauty of the heavens might be viewed within it. Grace 
 went out from it, majesty shot forth from its almost divine splen- 
 dour. It sent forth such bright and piercing rays that it struck 
 terror into all beholders. In a word, it bestowed upon the 
 wearer the qualities granted by Nature to itself, for by an in- 
 visible dart it penetrated the souls and dazzled the eyes of all 
 who saw it ; appalled all hearts, however bold and courageous ; in 
 fine, it filled with trembling the bodies of the by-standers, and 
 forced them by a fatal impulse to love, honour, and worship it. 
 I have seen, I have felt, I call God to witness, of a truth such a 
 stone is to be valued at an inestimable amount !") 
 
 Obtalmius, said by some to be a stone of many colours, is of 
 wonderful virtue in preserving the eyes frorn^ all complaints : it 
 sharpens the sight of the wearer, but clouds that of the by- 
 standers so that they cannot see him, if it be set with a bay -leaf 
 under it, and with the proper incantation a most admirable 
 property ! 
 
 Okitokius is a smaller stone than the Echites, but like it rattles 
 inwardly ; it is smooth to the touch and easily broken. If dis- 
 solved in the juice of the herb Ocyma (basil), and the blood of an 
 Okiteris (swift), and a head of Omis and a little water, this mix- 
 ture set in a glass vessel will be able to give a proof of its virtue. 
 For if you dip your fingers therein and so anoint the strongest 
 wood, metal, or stone, you will immediately break it. 
 
 Quirinus is a magical stone found in the nest of the Hoopoe ; it 
 has the virtue that if placed on the breast of a person asleep it 
 will force him to confess his crimes. 
 
 The origin and the virtues of the Coral Are thus given by 
 Orpheus in one of the most poetical passages of his work 
 (v. 505) : 
 
 " The Coral too, in Perseus' story famed, 
 Against the scorpion is for virtue named ;
 
 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 This also a sure remedy will bring 
 
 For murd'rous asps, and blunt their fatal sting. 
 
 Above all gems in potency 't is raised 
 
 By bright-haired Phoebus, and its virtues praised : 
 
 For in its growth it shews a wondrous change 
 
 True is the story though thou 'It deem it strange. 
 
 A plant at first it springs not from the ground, 
 
 The nurse of plants, but in the deeps profound. 
 
 Like a green shrub it lifts its flowery head 
 
 Midst weeds and mosses of old Ocean's bed. 
 
 But when old age its withering stem invades, 
 
 Nipped by the brine its verdant foliage fades ; 
 
 It floats amid the depths of Ocean tossed, 
 
 Till roaring waves expel it on the coast. 
 
 Then in the moment that it breathes the air 
 
 They say, who 've seen it, that it hardens there. 
 
 For as by frost congeal'd and solid grown, 
 
 The plant is stiffened into perfect stone ; 
 
 And in a moment in the finder's hands 
 
 Late a soft branch, a flinty coral stands. 
 
 Yet still the shrub its pristine shape retains, 
 
 Still spread its branches, still the fruit remains. 
 
 A sweet delight to every gazer's eye, 
 
 My heart its aspect fills with speechless joy. 
 
 My longing gaze its beauty never tires 
 
 But yet the prodigy with awe inspires. 
 
 Though to the legend I full credit give, 
 
 Scarce do I hope it credence will receive : 
 
 But yet to men, 1 ween, no lying fame 
 
 Has sung the terrors of the Gorgon's name ; 
 
 No idle tale the feat of Perseus, high 
 
 On airy wings careering through the sky. 
 
 Or how the hero slew 'neath Atlas' rocks 
 
 The dire Medusa tressed with snaky locks : 
 
 Monster invincible, with eyes of Hell, 
 
 Fatal to all on whom her glances fell ; 
 
 Who under that intolerable eye 
 
 To marble statues stiffen as they die.
 
 SECT, IV. VIRTUES ASCRIBED TO GEMS. 
 
 E 'en Pallas shrunk, indomitable Maid, 
 
 To meet the terrors of that look afraid ; 
 
 And warned her brother of the golden glaive 
 
 To avert his eyes as he the death-blow gave. 
 
 Hence by a wile he won the monster's head, 
 
 And severed from the neck her serpents dread, 
 
 And stealing from behind, with crafty skill, 
 
 Drew round her neck the curved Cyllenian steel. 
 
 Though slain the Gorgon, yet her face retains 
 
 Its ancient terrors, and its force remains, 
 
 And many yet were fated through its might 
 
 The realms to enter of eternal night. 
 
 Dripping with blood the hero seeks the shore ; 
 
 And while he cleanses from his hands the gore, 
 
 Still warm, still quivering, lays his trophy down 
 
 On the green sea-weeds all around him strown. 
 
 "Whilst, tired by toil and by his weary way, 
 
 His limbs he strengthens in the cooling sea, 
 
 Pressed 'neath the head the plants upon the shore 
 
 Soaked by the stream, grow drunk with dripping gore. 
 
 The rushing breezes, daughters of the flood, 
 
 Upon the boughs congeal the clotted blood, 
 
 And so congeal they seem a real stone ; 
 
 Nor only seem, to real stone they are grown. 
 
 What, of its softness though no trace remains, 
 
 The withered plant its pristine form retains : 
 
 Tinged by the blood that from the trophy flows, 
 
 Instead of green, with blushing red it glows. 
 
 Struck with surprise the dauntless hero stares, 
 
 E'en wise Minerva his amazement shares, 
 
 And that her brother's fame may last for aye 
 
 Gives lasting virtue to the coral spray, 
 
 Ever its ancient nature thus to change. 
 
 She next endows the stone with influence strange : 
 
 For to the gem protective force she lent 
 
 To guard mankind on toilsome journeys bent ; 
 
 Whether by land their weary way they keep, 
 
 Or brave in ships the perils of the deep :
 
 426 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 Of furious Mars to 'scape the lightning sword, 
 
 Or murderous onslaught of the robber horde : 
 
 Or when vexed Kerens tosses all his waves, 
 
 The potent Coral trembling sailors saves. 
 
 If they with vows the warlike, blue-eyed Maid, 
 
 Invoke, and claim in deep distress her aid. 
 
 The hid pollution which brings ruin down 
 
 On all the house, e 'en to its lord unknown, 
 
 All baleful practice wrought by sorcery dire 
 
 Against thy weal when envious foes conspire ; 
 
 For all these evils by benignant heaven, 
 
 The Coral surest antidote is given. 
 
 Pound this, and mix it when thou so west thy grain 
 
 It shall avert all damage from the plain : 
 
 The drought which parches with destruction sere 
 
 The milky juices of the swelling ear ; 
 
 The million darts which, flung by driving hail, 
 
 With hopeless wound thy smiling crops assail ; 
 
 Destructive insects too it scares away, 
 
 The caterpillars' troop, the worms' array ; 
 
 The rust which, falling on thy corn from high, 
 
 Reddens the ear, and burns its substance dry ; 
 
 The host of flies, the locust's countless swarms, 
 
 E 'en Jove's dread lightnings from thy land it charms ; 
 
 Such honour pays he to the glorious deed 
 
 Of his great son, and grants the worthy meed. 
 
 And this, returning from earth's furthest shore, 
 
 His choicest boon to man sage Hermes bore : 
 
 But thou, still mindful of the powerful charm, 
 
 Drink this in wine and murderous asps disarm." 
 
 Amber has the same virtues as Jet, but in a higher degree. It 
 is a preservative against all complaints of the throat, for which 
 reason the ancients made their women and children wear amber 
 necklaces. If placed upon the left breast of your wife when she 
 is asleep, it will force her to confess all the naughty things she 
 has committed. Its fumes drive away venomous animals. If 
 you wish to know whether a woman has been debauched, steep
 
 SECT. IV. VIRTUES ASCRIBED TO GEMS. 427 
 
 amber in water for three days and make her drink the water : if 
 she is unchaste she will be immediately forced to void it. 
 
 Selenites, Moonstone, sympathises with the waning moon, its 
 colour increasing or diminishing as the moon waxes or wanes. 
 During the increase of the moon its virtue is to cure consump- 
 tion. During her wane it hath wonderful potency, catising 
 people to predict future events. If washed in water and the 
 water taken in the mouth, if you think on future events, whether 
 they are to happen or not : if they must happen, they will be so 
 fixed in your mind, that it will be impossible for you to forget them ; 
 but if they are not fated to take place they will immediately 
 vanish away from the mind. 
 
 Topazius, a gem of golden colour tending to green, and of very- 
 great lustre (the Peridot). The Oriental kind despises the file ; 
 the Occidental, of a greener hue, yields to it. 5 If thrown into 
 boiling water the water cools immediately ; hence this gem cools 
 lust, calms madness and attacks of frenzy, cures the piles, augments 
 wealth, averts sudden death, and gives favour with the great. 
 
 Turquois is useful for riders. As long as one wears it his horse 
 will not tire, nor throw him. It is also good for the eyes and 
 averts accidents. 
 
 ffydrinus, called also Serpentine, is good against rheumatism 
 and all complaints arising from excess of moisture. It restores 
 dropsical persons to health, if they stand in the sun, holding it in 
 the hand, for three hours, as it makes them discharge all the 
 water in the form of a very stinking sweat. But great care must 
 be had in using it, as it extracts not merely the foreign moisture 
 but also the natural and radical moisture of the body. Taken 
 inwardly it cures the stone, and venomous bites, likewise it 
 drives away serpents. 
 
 Zumemo lazuli, or Zemech, or Lapis-lazuli, called for its beauty 
 lapis ccelestis and stellatus, as prepared by physicians, cures melan- 
 choly. From this also is made the colour called Azure Ultra- 
 marine. 
 
 Ziazia, so called from the place of its discoveiy, is black, white, 
 
 5 This is an exact definition of and yellower Chrysolite, and the 
 the difference between the harder softer and greener Peridot.
 
 428 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 and other colours mixed together. It renders the wearer liti- 
 gious, and makes him see terrible things in his sleep. 
 
 Camillo, though copying Marbodus, mentions for the first time 
 of any author I know, the name Sapphirine as applied to the 
 Hyacinth. Like Marbodus, he divides the Jacinthus into three 
 classes the Citrini, of lemon colour; the Granatici, of the colour 
 of the pomegranate flower ; and the Veneti, of a sky-blue, which 
 feel colder in the mouth than the other two sorts, and are also 
 called Water-gems, Aquatici. (The French still call the pale 
 Sapphire, Saphir d'eau.) Some also added a variety named Sap- 
 phirine ; and this was considered the best, being of a brilliant and 
 coerulean colour. The Citrini showed a slight tinge of red. The 
 Veneti were the least valuable of all, having a little red mixed 
 with a faint lemon colour ; but yet they were the hardest of all, 
 and could scarcely be cut by the Diamond. This description shows 
 a strange confusion of some sorts of pale Sapphires with Balais 
 and Spinel Rubies, Oriental Topazes, and in fact all the varieties 
 of the precious Corundum, all added to the blue Hyacinth of the 
 Romans, which we see in this passage distinguished by the epithet 
 Sapphirinus, or azure, which afterwards became its sole designation. 
 
 GEMS OF THE APOCALYPSE. 
 
 In St. John's vision of the New Jerusalem, the walls of the 
 City are built out of twelve courses of precious stones. These 
 are not arranged in the order of the gems in the High 
 Priest's breastplate, as one would have naturally expected 
 from so truly Hebrew a writer, but according to their various 
 shades of colour, in the following succession, beginning from 
 the foundation : 
 
 1. Jaspis, dark opaque green. 
 
 2. Sapphirus, Lapis-lazuli, opaque blue. 
 
 3. Chalcedon, an Emerald of a greenish blue. 
 
 4. Smaragdus, bright transparent green. 
 
 5. Sardonyx, white and red. 
 
 6. Sardius, bright red.
 
 SECT. IV. GEMS OF THE APOCALYPSE. 429 
 
 7. Chrysolite, our Topaz, bright yellow. 
 
 8. Beryl, bluish green. 
 
 9. Topazion, or Peridot, yellowish green. 
 
 10. Chrysoprasus, 6 a darker shade of the same colour. 
 
 11. Hyacinthus, Sapphire, sky-blue. 
 
 12. Amethystus, violet. 
 
 This arrangement of colours is not taken from that of the 
 rainbow, the order of which is red, orange, yellow, green, 
 blue, purple, violet. This minute acquaintance with the 
 nicest shades of colour of the precious stones will strike the 
 reader with the greater force if he should endeavour to 
 arrange from memory, and by the aid of his own casual 
 knowledge, twelve gems, or even a smaller number, according 
 to their respective tints. He will find his attempt result in 
 error, unless he has had a long and practical acquaintance 
 with the subject. This image, however, qf the Holy City 
 built of precious stones is not original, as it is found in the 
 prayer of Tobias (certainly a much older composition than 
 the Apocalypse, whatever may be its date). In our version it 
 stands thus : " Jerusalem shall be built up of emeralds, 
 sapphire, and all precious stones ; her walls, and towers, and 
 battlements of most fine gold .... The streets of Jerusalem 
 shall be paved with carbuncle, beryl, and stones of Ophir." 
 
 St. John frequently alludes elsewhere to the colours of 
 gems in a very technical manner. " He that sat on the 
 great throne" was like the Jaspis and the Sardius, and 
 crowned by a rainbow like the Smaragdus ; and the light of 
 the City is like a " very precious stone, a jaspis crystallized," 
 that is, the green of the Jasper, brilliant and transparent as 
 crystal, by which he probably means to express the true 
 Emerald. Such allusions, such exact knowledge of points 
 
 6 Chrysoprasus is probably an understood it, by which substitution 
 error for Chrysopaston, a dark blue all the shades of Hue will follow each 
 studded with gold, as Marbodus has other.
 
 430 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 only to be acquired by persons dealing in such articles, or 
 otherwise obliged to acquire a technical knowledge of them, 
 could not have been found in a Galilean fisherman, unless we 
 choose to cut the knot with the sword of verbal inspiration. 
 Here then may be another argument in support of the 
 opinion that St. John the Evangelist and St. John Theologus 
 were two different persons. It is hardly possible that the 
 writer could have had in view any tradition derived from the 
 Persians (the former masters of his native country), of the 
 seven concentric walls of Ecbatana, coloured in the following 
 order black, white, red, blue, yellow, silver, gold, which 
 probably had reference to the several planets, so important in 
 the religious system of the Chaldees. The twelve colours 
 were no doubt intended to have some fanciful analogy to 
 the names of the twelve tribes ; but Marbodus ingeniously 
 applies them to the several virtues of the members of the 
 Christian Church in the following poem, of which I give the 
 original, as an interesting example of mediaeval Latin verse. 
 
 MARBODI REDONENSIS EP1SCOPI, 
 
 Prosa de xii lapidibus pretiosis in fundamento Cselestis Civitatis positis. 
 
 Gives caslestis patrise Kegi Regum concinite 
 Qui supremus est opifex civitatis Uranicae, 
 In cujus edificio consistit hsec ftmdatio. 
 
 Sapphirus habet speciem caelesti throno sirnilem, 
 Designat cor simplicium spe certa praestolantium 
 Quorum vita et moribus refulget et virtutibus. 
 
 Jaspis colore viridi praefert virorem fidei, 
 
 Quaa in perfectis omnibus nunquam marcescit penitus, 
 
 Cujus forti praasidio resistitur diabolo. 
 
 Pallensque Calcedonius ignis habet effigiem : 
 Subrutilat in publico, fulgorem dat in nubilo, 
 Virtutem fert fidelium occulte famulantium.
 
 SECT. IV. GEMS OF THE APOCALYPSE. 4.31 
 
 Smaragdus virens nimium dat lumen oleaginnm : 
 Est Fides integerrima ad omne bonum patnla 
 Quee nunquam scit deficere a pietatis opere. 
 
 Sardonyx constat tricolor, homo fertur interior, 
 Quern denigrat humilitas, per quern albescit castitas, 
 Ad honestatis cumulum rubet quoque martyrium. 
 
 Sardius est puniceus cujus color sanguineus 
 Decus ostendit martyrum rite agonizantium, 
 Est sextus in catalogo ; Crucis hseret mysterio. 
 
 Auricolor Chrysolitus scintillat velut clibanus. 
 Prsetendit mores hominum perfecte sapientium 
 Qui septiformis Gratiae sacro splendescit jubare. 
 
 Beryllus est lymphaticus ut sol in aqua limpidus, 
 
 Figurat vota mentium ingenio sagacium, 
 
 Quo magis libet mysticum sacrse quietis ostium. 
 
 Topazius quo carior eo est pretiosior ; 
 Exstat colore griseo 7 nitore et setherio v 
 Contemplative solidum vitse prsestat officium. 
 
 Chrysoprasus purpureum imitatur concilium : 
 Est intus tinctus aureis miscello quodam guttulis 
 Hsec est perfecta Caritas quam nulla sternit feritas. 
 
 Jacinthus est coeruleus colore medioximus, 
 Cujus decora facies mutatur ut temperies 
 Vitam signat angelicam discretione prseditam. 
 
 Amethystus praecipuus decore violaceus ; 
 Flammas emittit aureas notulasque purpureas, 
 Praetendit cor humilium Christo commorientium. 
 
 Hi pretiosi lapides carnales signant homines, 
 Colorum est varietas virtutum multiplicitas ; 
 His qui cunque floruerit concivis esse poterit. 
 
 Jerusalem pacifera haec tibi sunt fundaminea ; 
 Felix, Deo et proxima, quse te daretur anima ! 
 Ctistos tuarum turrium non dormit in perpetuum. 
 
 Griseo for Chryseo, golden.
 
 432 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 Concede nobis Agie Rex civitatis 
 
 Post cursum vitae labilis consortium in superis, 
 
 Inter sanctorum agmina cantemus tibi cantica. 
 
 The following passages of this author (which are appended 
 in the original MS. to the above poem) are curious, as 
 showing that the art of engraving upon gems was still prac- 
 tised in his age, the latter part of the eleventh century; 
 unless we suppose that he had transcribed these rules from 
 some more ancient writer. 
 
 The Calcedony if blest and tied round the neck cures lunatics. 
 Moreover, he that wears it will never be drowned or tempest- 
 tossed. It also makes the wearer beautiful, faithful, strong, and 
 successful in all things. One ought to engrave upon it Mars 
 armed, and a virgin robed, wrapped in a vestment and holding 
 a laurel branch; with a perpetual blessing. 
 
 Aristotle, in his book on gems, says that an Emerald hung from 
 the neck, or worn on the finger, protects against danger of the 
 falling sickness. We therefore command noblemen, that it be 
 hanged about the necks of their children that they fall not into 
 this complaint. The Emerald is approved in all kinds of divina- 
 tion, in every business if worn it increases its owner's import- 
 ance both in presence and in speech. 
 
 A Sard of the weight of twenty grains of barley, if hung round 
 the neck or worn on the finger, the wearer shall not have terrible 
 or disagreeable dreams, and shall have no fear of incantations or 
 of witchcraft. 
 
 The Beryl is a large and transparent stone. Engrave upon it 
 a lobster and under its legs a raven, and put under the gem a 
 vervain leaf enclosed in a little plate of gold ; it being conse- 
 crated and worn, makes the wearer conqueror of all bad tilings, 
 and gives protection against all diseases of the eyes. And if you 
 put this stone in water, and give this water to one to drink, it 
 cures stoppage of the breath and hiccups, and dispels pains of 
 the liver. It is useful to be worn, and he that hath this gem 
 upon him shall be victorious in battle over all his foes. It is 
 found in India like unto the Emerald, but of a paler cast. (I
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 MAGICAL SIGILLA. 
 
 may here observe that the lobster, with the bird corniccia beneath 
 him, is the Oriental device of a scorpion seizing a bird in his 
 claws ; with two stars in the field, one of these intagli, of appa- 
 rently Sassanian work on a large Sardonyx, was once in my pos- 
 session. The perpetual flow of pilgrims to the East must have 
 made these astrological gems familiar to the ecclesiastics of that 
 age.) 
 
 The Sard is good to be worn, and makes the person beloved 
 by women ; engrave upon it a vine and ivy twining round it. 
 
 The Casteis (Callais, Turquois) is good for liberty, for he that 
 hath consecrated it and duly performed all things necessary to 
 be done in it shall obtain liberty. It is fitting to perfect the 
 stone when you have got it, in this manner. Engrave upon it a 
 beetle, then a man standing under it ; afterwards let it be bored 
 through its length and set on a gold fibula (swivel) ; then being 
 blest and set in an adorned and prepared place, it will show forth 
 the glory which God hath given it. 
 
 Psyche mourning the flight of Cupid. 
 
 MAGICAL SIGILLA. 
 
 We have seen how, in the days of Pliny (though he loses 
 no opportunity of laughing at the superstition), the Magi 
 ascribed extraordinary and supernatural properties to gems, 
 and to various figures engraved upon them. As civilization 
 
 2 F
 
 434 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 declined, these notions came more and more into vogue, 
 so that even a learned physician, Alexander of Tralles, re- 
 commends the wearing of the intaglio of Hercules strangling 
 the Nemean lion, as a charm against the colic ; and such 
 intagli do occur inscribed on the back with four Ks, to make 
 assurance doubly sure. Gnostic stones frequently present 
 inscriptions specifying the part of the body they were in- 
 tended to protect from malignant influences, as <puX*ov 
 vyi-n CTTOJM.X OV n^oxXoy, "Preserve in health the chest of 
 Proclus ; " as well as the others of a more general character 
 already noticed, praying Abraxas lao to protect the wearer 
 from every evil spirit. A stone thus inscribed was called 
 ATroTsXsovxa, " an influence," a word originally signifying the 
 influence of the stars on man's destiny ; hence, ^ AsroTEXeff- 
 /xa-nxo), the name for astrology in classic writers ; and the 
 same word is corrupted into our talisman. As the spirits of 
 the Gnostic mythology presided over the planets, their re- 
 presentations exerted their proper influence on the wearers 
 of the gems, and thus the word came to signify exclusively 
 the magic stone itself. Marbodus, in the eleventh century, 
 has already greatly improved upon Pliny's list of wonder- 
 working gems, and their sigilla, or intagli ; but the suc- 
 ceeding ages, from the perpetual intercourse of Europeans 
 with the Arabian schools, (from which the knowledge of all 
 the useful sciences, as medicine, chemistry, and mathematics, 
 not to mention astrology and alchemy, was again introduced 
 into the West) ; these next four centuries brought the science 
 of talismans to perfection, and laid down exactly what was 
 the virtue of each particular representation to be found 
 engraved on each particular kind of gem. The received 
 doctrine on this subject is clearly enunciated by Camillo 
 Leonardo, in his Speculum Lapidum, dedicated to Cesare 
 Borgia, 1503, of whose Third Book I subjoin a summary, as it
 
 SECT. IV. MAGICAL SIGILLA. 
 
 435 
 
 will frequently serve to explain the legends accompanying 
 many antique intagli, set in jewellery during the Middle 
 Ages, as well as the value then placed upon many stones, 
 quite irrespective of their beauty or workmanship. These 
 " stones of virtue " were believed to have been engraved in 
 the " times of the Israelites," a notion no doubt grounded 
 upon the Hebrew words so frequent on the Gnostic intagli ; 
 those of the Eoman times are only " voluntaria3," or fancy 
 subjects, and have no other influence than that natural to the 
 gem itself. All things material have a proper form, and are 
 subject to certain influences ; stones, being material, derive a 
 virtue from a specific form, and are likewise subject to the 
 universal influence of the planets. Hence, if they are 
 engraved by a skilful person, under some particular influence, 
 they receive a certain virtue, as if they were endued with life 
 through the engraving ; just as man's wilfis free, yet it is 
 drawn by reason to do some determinate thing, to which it 
 would not be drawn if reason were taken away. Similarly, 
 the virtue of the gem is directed by the engraving upon it to 
 a certain determinate effect, to which it was not directed 
 before being engraved. But if the effect intended by the 
 figure engraved be the same as that produced by the natural 
 quality of the stone, its virtue will be doubled, and the effect 
 strengthened. This virtue remains for ever, unless the stone 
 be broken to pieces, and the figure totally destroyed. For 
 the engraving, to be efficacious, must be made by " election ; " 
 that is, we elect a certain hour in which the influence of the 
 particular planet is strongest, under which we design to 
 engrave the stone, and thus, by election, the planetary 
 influence is infused into the stone, and continues as long 
 as the figure continues. For all astronomers agree that 
 the starry influences acting by election are permanent in 
 all things. And Ptolemy says, that virtue infused into a 
 
 2 F 2
 
 436 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 thing at its first origin abides in the thing as long as itself 
 endures. 
 
 Engravings are either Universal, or Particular, or Signifi- 
 cative of the virtue of the stone. 
 
 Universal, are such as produce the same effect on whatever 
 stone they are cut; such as the Signs of the Zodiac. Thus 
 Aries, being of a fiery nature, induces heat on whatsoever 
 kind of stone he may be engraved, though this effect is in- 
 creased or diminished by the natural virtue of the stone itself. 
 
 Particular, are figures of the planets and constellations, 
 and also magical figures, since these all tend to a particular 
 or determinate effect. 
 
 Significative figures are of two classes, one denoting the 
 nature of the stone by conjecture, the other denoting the 
 same virtue, and having also a heavenly influence derived 
 from a constellation. For it is indubitable that figures were 
 cut on the stones to augment their potency, as well as merely 
 to signify the nature of the virtue of the stone. Thus there 
 are several kinds of Agates, and on each kind figures are 
 found, denoting its specific virtue. Thus the property of the 
 Sicilian Agate is to counteract the poison of the viper ; you 
 will therefore find engraved upon it the figure of a man 
 holding a viper, the quality of the stone being thus denoted 
 by the figure it presents. But if the engraving represented 
 the Serpentarius (Ophiuchus), a constellation which has the 
 virtue of resisting poisons, then, by knowing the constellation, 
 you would recognise the virtue of the gem : and besides, its 
 power would be doubled by the effect of the engraving upon 
 it ; and this rule holds good for all other gems. 
 
 Magical and necromantic figures bear no resemblance to 
 the Signs of the Zodiac, or to the Constellations, and there- 
 fore their virtues are only to be discovered by persons versed 
 in these particular sciences ; yet it is most certain that the
 
 SECT. IV. SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC. 437 
 
 virtue of the figure may be partly learnt from the property of 
 the stone. And as the same stone often possesses different 
 properties, so figures are found made up of parts of different 
 animals, expressive of the various virtues of the gem itself. 8 
 This appears on a Jasper of my own, which represents a 
 figure with the head of a cock, a human body clad in 
 armour, a shield in one hand, a whip in the other, and 
 serpents instead of legs, all expressive of the various virtues 
 of the J asper, which are to drive away evil spirits, fevers, and 
 dropsies, check lust, prevent conception, render the wearer 
 victorious and beloved, and stanch the flowing of blood. All 
 such figures are of the greatest virtue and potency. 
 
 SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC. 
 
 Astrologers divide the Signs of the -^odiac into four 
 Trines, each composed of three, agreeing in their active and 
 passive qualities. They assign one triplet to each of the 
 four elements, as also a lord presiding over each. 
 
 First Trine, of Fire ; Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, belongs to the 
 East. Its lords are Sol by day, Jupiter by night, Saturn at dawn. 
 Hence a gem engraved with any of these signs is good against 
 all cold diseases, as lethargy, palsy, and dropsy, and makes the 
 wearer eloquent, ingenious, and cheerful, and exalts him to 
 honour and dignity. The figure of the Lion is the most potent 
 amongst these, as this sign is the house of the Sun. 
 
 Second Trine, of the Earth ; Taurus, Virgo, Capricormis, 
 belongs to the South ; of a cold and dry nature. Its lords are 
 Venus by day, Luna by night, Mars at dawn. These figures are 
 good against all hot and moist diseases, such as quinsy and cor- 
 ruption of the blood. Their wearers are inclined to rural occu- 
 pations and the laying out of gardens and vineyards. 
 
 8 This is an ingenious explanation of the Chimerae, or grylli, which 
 have been already described.
 
 438 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 Third Trine, of the Air ; Gemini, Libra, Aquarius, belongs 
 to the AVest. Its lords are Saturn by day, Mercury by night, 
 Jupiter at dawn. Hence a gem engraved with one of these 
 signs is good against all cold and diy complaints depending on 
 a melancholy humour, such as ague, hydrophobia, and loss of 
 memory. From the nature of the lords of this triplet, its wearers 
 are inclined to justice, friendship, concord, and the observance 
 of the laws. 
 
 Fourth Trine, of the Water ; Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces, belongs 
 to the North ; of a cold and moist nature. Its lords are Venus 
 by day, Mars by night, Luna at dawn. From its cold and moist 
 complexion it is good against all hot and dry diseases, such as 
 consumption, inflammation of the liver, and bilious complaints. 
 Its wearers are inclined through the nature of its lords to fickle- 
 ness, injustice, and lying, and it is said that Scorpio was the 
 sign of Mahomet. (When Camillo was writing this he must 
 have smiled inwardly at the thought that this Trine was cer- 
 tainly the ruling influence over the career of his redoubtable 
 patron, the Lord of Eomagna.) 
 
 Phenician Spbinx. Spotted Onyx. 
 
 FIGUKES OF THE PLANETS. 
 
 1. Saturn, engraved on a stone, is an old man with a not very 
 bushy beard, seated, and holding a scythe. If this figure be 
 found on a stone of the same nature as Saturn, it renders the 
 wearer powerful, and his power will go on increasing. 
 
 2. Jupiter is a man seated on a throne, holding in one hand a 
 wand, in the other a globe, or an idol, or a crab, or a fish, and 
 an eagle at his feet. Magicians figure him differently, with a
 
 SECT. IV. FIGURES OF THE PLANETS. 439 
 
 ram's head and slender body, and wrinkled legs. If found on a 
 gem, especially a Kabres (a kind of crystal), it secures success 
 in one's wishes, procures love, and exaltation to honours. 
 
 3. Mars is figured on gems in a variety .of ways, sometimes 
 holding a lance, sometimes a standard, also on horseback, but 
 always in armour. It makes the wearer bold and successful in 
 whatever he undertakes. 
 
 4. Sol is represented as the sun with rays, sometimes as a man 
 with long hair seated on a throne, sometimes in a quadriga, sur- 
 rounded by the Signs of the Zodiac. It makes a man powerful, 
 fit to command, and fond of hunting, and lucky in getting 
 wealth. 
 
 5. Venus, a woman in long robe and stole, and holding a laurel 
 branch. It gives lightness in action, success in business, pro- 
 tects against fear of drowning, and produces authority. 
 
 6. Mercury, a slender man with a fine beard, but sometimes 
 without one, with winged sandals and caduceus, often a cock at 
 his feet, or a serpent beneath them. Its virtue increases know- 
 ledge and eloquence, and is of great benefit to traders. 
 
 7. Luna is variously figured, sometimes as a crescent, less than 
 the half ; sometimes as a maid in a car with horses, and a quiver ; 
 or a nymph with quiver, and hounds following a stag. This 
 image gives success in embassies, and speed and facility in the 
 execution of all business. 
 
 8. The Bear is represented by two bears entwined by a ser- 
 pent, and is of a composite nature, for the Greater Bear belongs 
 to Mars and Venus, the Lesser to Saturn, the Serpent to Saturn 
 and Mars. This engraving makes the wearer cautious, crafty, 
 and powerful. 
 
 9. The Crown is figured as a royal crown with many stars, and 
 sometimes as the crowned head of a king. It is placed in the 
 North, in the sign Sagittarius, and is of the nature of Venus and 
 Mercury. It gives success and honour in kings' courts. 
 
 10. Hercules, a man killing a lion ; sometimes a man with a 
 lion's skin in his hand, or on his shoulders, with a club. It is 
 placed in the North, in the Scorpion, and is of the nature of Mer- 
 cury. If cut on a stone of similar virtue, such as the Agate, it 
 gives victory in pitched battles.
 
 440 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 11. Swan, or Hen, is the figure of a swan, with wings spread 
 and neck bent back. Its place is the North, and its nature that 
 of Venus and Mercury. It makes the wearer beloved by the 
 people, augments wealth, and cures palsy and ague. 
 
 12. Ceplieus, a man girt with a sword, and with his hands and 
 legs stretched out, is held by Aries, and is placed in the North. 
 It has the nature of Saturn and Jupiter, makes the wearer cau- 
 tious and prudent ; and placed under the head of a sleeping 
 person makes him see delightful visions. 
 
 13. Cassiopea, a woman seated in a chair with her arms ex- 
 tended in the form of a cross, or sometimes with a triangle upon 
 her head. It is situated in the North in the sign Taurus, and 
 has the nature of Saturn and Venus. If cut upon a proper stone 
 it produces health, restoration from fatigue, and causes refreshing 
 sleep. 
 
 14. Andromeda, a virgin with loose hair and hands hanging 
 down, is contained in Taurus in the North. It is of the nature 
 of Venus, and has the virtue of appeasing quarrels between mar- 
 ried people. 
 
 15. Perseus, a figure holding in one hand a sword, in the 
 other the Gorgon's head, is placed in the northern part of 
 Taurus. It has the power of Saturn and Venus, and defends not 
 merely the wearer, but the place he is in, from lightning and 
 tempest. 
 
 16. Serpentarius, a man encircled by a serpent, and holding its 
 head in one hand and tail in the other, is situated in Scorpio in 
 the North, and is of the nature of Saturn and Mars. It is good 
 against poisons and the bites of reptiles, and steeped in water 
 causes one to cast up the poison he may have swallowed without 
 any injury. 
 
 17. The Eagle, or Falling Vulture, is the figure of an eagle 
 flying with an arrow in his claws: placed in Cancer in the 
 northern part. It is of the nature of Jupiter and Mars ; but the 
 arrows are of Mars and Venus. The virtue of this figure is to 
 preserve the ancient honours of the wearer and to make him 
 gain fresh ones. 
 
 18. The Dolphin is the figure of a hump-backed fish, in the 
 sign Aquarius, in the North ; having the nature of Saturn and
 
 SECT. IV. FIGURES OF THE PLANETS. 441 
 
 Mars. If tied to a net it causes it to be filled with fishes, and 
 gives good luck in angling. 
 
 19. Pegasus, a winged horse ; or the forepart of one with wings 
 and without a bridle : placed in Aries, is of the nature of Mars 
 and Jove, and gives victory in battle. If hung round a horse's 
 neck, or put in the water he drinks, it will protect him from 
 many diseases. 
 
 20. Cetus, the figure of a big fish with bent tail and wide 
 mouth, placed in Taurus in the South, is of the nature of 
 Saturn. If cut on a stone, with a large crested serpent with a 
 long mane above it, it gives good luck at sea and restores lost 
 things. 
 
 21. Orion, a man in armour or without, with a sword or a 
 pruning-hook in his hand, placed in Gemini in the South, is of 
 the nature of Jove, Saturn, and Mars. It gives the wearer 
 victory over all his enemies. 
 
 22. The Ship, with lofty prow and swelling sail, both with and 
 without oars ; placed in Leo in the South, is of the nature of 
 Saturn and Jove, and protects from danger or loss at sea. 
 
 23. The Dog, Alabor, a figure of a greyhound with curled 
 tail, in Cancer in the South, of the nature of Venus, gives the 
 power, they say, of healing those lunatic, raving, and possessed 
 by devils. 
 
 24. The Hare, a figure of a hare running, in Gemini in the 
 South, has the nature of Mercury and Saturn, and defends against 
 the wiles of the devil ; and protects the wearer against being 
 hurt by any evil spirit. 
 
 25. Centaur, a man with a bull's head, holding in the left 
 hand a spear resting upon his left shoulder, with a hare hanging 
 from it. In his right he holds a little beast, back downwards, 
 with a kettle hung to it. Its place is in Libra in the South, and 
 it is of the nature of Jupiter and Mars, and has the virtue of 
 keeping the wearer in perpetual health ; whence some fable that 
 a Centaur was the preceptor of Achilles, because he always 
 carried about him the engraving of a Centaur upon a stone. 
 
 26. The Dog, Alabor, is the figure of a dog seated ; in Cancer 
 in the South. It is of the nature of Jupiter, and protects from 
 dropsy and the bites of dogs.
 
 442 
 
 MYSTIC VIRTUES. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 27. Thurible, or Well, is the figure of an altar (or well), with a 
 fire burning upon it. Its place is in Sagittarius in the South. 
 It has the nature of Venus and Mercury, and makes the wearer 
 able to call up spirits, to converse with them, and have them to 
 obey him. It is also said to endow the wearer with perpetual 
 virginity, inasmuch as it induces chastity. 
 
 28. Hydra, is the figure of a serpent having an urn about the 
 head and a raven about the tail. Placed in Cancer in the South. 
 It has the nature of Saturn and Venus, makes the bearer rich, 
 and defends against all noxious heat. 
 
 29. Southern Crown, is like a crown imperial, placed in Libra 
 in the South. Of the nature of Saturn and Mars, its virtue lies 
 in augmenting riches and making the man cheerful and merry. 
 
 30. Charioteer, the figure of a man in a chariot, holding a goat 
 on the left shoulder. Placed in Gemini in the North. It has the 
 virtue of Mercury, and gives success in hunting. 
 
 31. Banner, the figure of a banner spread out on the top of a 
 spear : is placed in Scorpio in the South, and gives victory in 
 war. 
 
 Silenus placing a crater on its stand : Kcmau. Sard. 
 
 ARBITRARY SIGILLA. EAGIEL. 
 
 Having thus gone through the astronomical figures, we 
 give a list of those for whose effect no reason can be assigned, 
 but which rest on the authority of various learned doctors. 
 Thus Eagiel, in his " Book of Wings," a work indispensable 
 to all students of magic, ascribes the greatest potency to the 
 following figures, if observed and kept with due reverence. 
 
 1. Dragon, cut on a Ruby or stone of like nature, has the
 
 SECT. IV. ARBITRARY SIGILLA. RAGIEL. 443 
 
 power to increase the goods of this world, and to give cheerful- 
 ness and contentment. 
 
 2. Falcon, on a Topaz, gives favour with kings, princes, and 
 nobles. 
 
 3. Astrolabe, on Sapphire gives wealth and the gift of prophecy. 
 
 4. Lion, on Garnet preserves in wealth and honour, and from 
 danger on a journey. 
 
 5. Ass, on Chrysolite gives the power of prognosticating future 
 events. 
 
 6. Earn, or Bearded Man's head, on Sapphire defends from 
 many infirmities, from poison and oppression. 
 
 7. Frog, on Beryl reconciles people at variance if you touch 
 them with it. 
 
 8. Camel's Head, or the Heads of Two Goats among Myrtles, 
 cut on Onyx has the power of convoking and constraining demons, 
 and makes one see terrible things in sleep. 
 
 9. Vulture, on Chrysolite has power over demons and winds, 
 and defends places from them, and from the attacks of evil spirits, 
 who are obedient to the wearer of the stone. 
 
 10. Bat, on Heliotrope gives power over demons, and is useful 
 in incantations. 
 
 1 1. Griffin, on Crystal has the greatest virtue to fill the breasts 
 with milk. 
 
 12. Man well dressed and holding something pretty in his 
 hand, on Carnelian has the virtue to stop the flow of blood. 
 
 13. Lion, or Sagittarius, on Jasper is good against poison and 
 fevers. 
 
 14. Man armed with bow and arrow, on Iris protects from 
 harm the wearer and his abode. 
 
 15. Man with sword in hand, on Carnelian protects the wearer 
 from witchcraft and the place he is in from lightning and 
 tempest. 
 
 16. Bull, on Prase is good in working of spells, and gives 
 grace in the Magisteria (proceedings of Alchemy). 
 
 17. Hoopoe, with the herb dragon in front, on Beryl has the 
 virtue to evoke the water-spirits and to force them to speak. It 
 also can call up the dead of your acquaintance and oblige them 
 to give answers to questions.
 
 444 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 18. Swallow, on Chelonite, gives peace and concord. 
 
 19. Man, with right hand raised to heaven, cut on Calcedony 
 gives success in law-suite, and protects from danger on a journey. 
 
 20. Names of GOD, cut on Thunderbolt, preserve places from 
 tempest, and give power and victory over one's enemies. 
 
 21. Boar, on Amethyst puts demons to flight and preserves 
 from intoxication. 
 
 22. Armed Man, on Magnet assists in incantations, and gives 
 victory in war. 
 
 SIGILLA OF CHAEL. 
 
 Chael, a most ancient doctor of the Children of Israel in 
 the Wilderness, saw and engraved many figures after the 
 figures of the signs and stars, and composed the following list 
 of their powers. Blessed be the Lord, who hath given to 
 the world such virtues for the safety of the human race. 
 
 1. Man, with long face and beard, and eyebrows raised, sitting 
 behind a plough, and holding a fox and a vulture, with four men 
 lying on his neck : such a gem being placed under your head 
 when asleep, makes you dream of treasures and of the right 
 manner of finding them, and the water in which it is steeped 
 cures all diseases of cattle. 
 
 2. Man armed with sword and shield, trampling upon a dragon, 
 if cut on red Jasper and hung round the neck, gives victory in 
 battle, especially on a Tuesday. 
 
 3. Horse, with crocodile over him, on Jacinth gives success in 
 lawsuits ; but ought to be set in gold, as gold increases its virtue. 
 
 4. Man seated, and a woman standing before him with her 
 hair loose hanging down to her loins, and the man looking up- 
 wards : if cut on Carnelian has the virtue that whoever are touched 
 therewith they will be led to do the will of him that toucheth 
 them. Under the stone, when it is figured, a little terebinth and 
 ambergris ought to be put. 
 
 5. Horse foaming and at full speed, with a rider holding a 
 sceptre, cut on Haematite gives the power of reigning and the 
 recovery of lost favour ; and must be set in an equal weight of 
 gold and silver.
 
 SECT. IV. SIGILLA OF CHAEL. 445 
 
 6. Man seated, with a lighted candle in his hand, on Chrysolite 
 makes the wearer rich ; and should be set in the finest gold. 
 
 7. Stag, Hunter, Dog, or Leopard, on any stone, have the 
 virtue to curb demons, lunatics, and madmen, and those that war 
 in the night season. 
 
 8. Woman, holding a bird in the one hand, in the other a fish, 
 has the virtue of taking birds and fishes. 
 
 9. Horned Beast thus formed : the fore part of a horse con- 
 joined with the hinder part of a goat, on any stone, is good in the 
 breeding of cattle, and must be set in lead. 
 
 10. Woman with trumpet, on horseback, or Soldier with a 
 horn ; on any stone, gives good luck in hunting. 
 
 11. Man kneeling and looking back, and holding a cloth, is 
 lucky for buying and selling. 
 
 12. Vulture with a branch in his beak, cut on Pyrites and set 
 in a silver ring : if you carry this with you, you will be invited 
 to many feasts ; and being there all persons will gaze at you, 
 and leave oft 7 eating. v 
 
 13. Scorpion and Sagittary fighting together, cut on any stone : 
 if you make an impression in wax of it, and touch therewith 
 persons at variance, you will restore them to concord. It must 
 be set in silver. 
 
 14. Earn and Lion : half-figure, if cut on any precious stone 
 will pacify persons quarrelling if they be touched therewith. 
 This also must be set in silver. 
 
 15. Woman, the upper part of the body, the lower part a 
 fish, holding a mirror and a branch in her hands : if cut on a 
 Jacinth, set it in a gold ring and keep it on your finger : when 
 you wish to become invisible, turn the bizzle of the ring round 
 towards the palm of your hand, shut your hand and you will 
 become invisible, 
 
 16. Man in armour, having in his right hand a cross with 
 stars, on any precious stone, is good for the safeguard of fruits 
 and harvests, and protects places from damage by storms. 
 
 17. Basilisk or Syren, half woman, half a serpent; on any 
 precious stone has the power of putting to flight all venomous 
 animals. 
 
 18. Basilisk fighting with a Dragon, and above them a man's
 
 446 MYSTIC YIKTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 head, on Carnelian, and worn round the neck, gives the power of 
 overcoming all beasts both of land and sea. 
 
 19. Man seated, and of bloated figure, with another man well 
 clad, holding in one hand a cup, in the other a branch; if cut 
 on Jet will cure all fevers, if worn for three days. 
 
 20. Man with bull's head and eagle's legs ; cut on any stone, 
 and carried about with you, will hinder people from speaking 
 ill of you. 
 
 21. Man of great stature cut on the Diadochus (a sort of Beryl), 
 holding in his right an obolus, in his left a serpent, with the 
 sun above his head and a lion beneath his feet ; set this in a lead 
 ring, with a little wormwood and fennel under it ; carry this 
 with you to the banks of a river, and call up the evil spirits 
 and you shall receive answers to all your questions. 
 
 22. Man with broad shoulders and thick loins, standing, and 
 holding in his right hand a bundle of herbs ; engraved on green 
 Jasper is good against fevers ; and if a physician carries it about 
 with him, it will give him skill in distinguishing diseases and 
 knowing the proper remedies. It is also good for hemorrhoids 
 and instantly stops the flow of blood. 
 
 23. Sea-turtle, if cut on the stone of which touchstones are 
 made, prevents the wearer from being injured by any one, and 
 makes him beloved by his elders and his superiors. 
 
 24. Aquarius, on green Jasper, gives good luck in buying and 
 selling, and affords good counsel to traders. 
 
 25. Bird with a leaf in its beak, and a man's head looking at 
 it, cut on Jasper ; set this in gold and carry it about with you, 
 and you shall be rich, and worshipful in the sight of all men. 
 
 26. Jupiter seated on a chair with four legs, and four men 
 standing before the chair ; the hands of Jove raised towards 
 heaven, and a crown upon his head ; if cut on Jacinth and set in 
 gold and worn, or even a wax impression hung around the neck, 
 it shall obtain for the wearer whatever he may ask from 
 princes and wise men. 
 
 27. Man with lion's head and eagle's legs, and below him a 
 two-headed dragon with tail extended, and in his hand a staff, 
 with which he smites the dragon's heads : this engraved on 
 Crystal, or any precious stone, and set in aurichalcum (red
 
 SECT. TV. SIGILLA OF CHAEL. 447 
 
 gold), with musk and ambergris under the stone ; whoever 
 carries about with him such a gem, all people of both sexes will 
 incline to him, the Spirits shall be obedient unto him, he shall 
 augment his substance and gather together great riches. 
 
 28. Man seated on an eagle, with a wand in his hand ; if cut 
 on Hephasstite, or on Crystal, must be set in a brass or copper 
 ring. Whoso looketh upon this stone on a Sunday before sun- 
 rise shall have the victory over all his enemies. If he look 
 upon it on a Thursday all men shall obey him willingly. But 
 the wearer must be clothed in white garments and abstain from 
 eating pigeons. 
 
 29. Man on horseback, holding a bridle and a bent bow ; en- 
 graved on Pyrites makes the wearer irresistible in battle. 
 
 30. Woman with her hair hanging loose over her breasts, and 
 a man approaching and making a sign of love to her ; if cut on a 
 Jacinth or Crystal, must be set in gold, and put under the stone 
 ambergris, aloes, and the herb called polium : him that carrieth 
 this stone in a ring all shall obey ; and if yxm touch a woman 
 with it she shall do your will forthwith. When you go to sleep 
 put this under your head, and you shall see whatever things 
 you desire in your dreams. 
 
 31. Man seated on a fish, and on the man's head a peacock, 
 engraved on a red stone : if you put this under the table, no man 
 that eateth with his right hand shall be able to satisfy himself. 
 
 32. Man, naked, with his arm round the shoulders of a maid 
 whose hair is gathered round her head, and with his other hand 
 upon her breast, the man looking into her face while she looks 
 down upon the ground ; cut on any stone, and set in an iron ring 
 and under the stone a bit of the tongue of a sparrow, of a hoopoe, 
 alum, and human blood in equal quantities, renders the wearer 
 invincible by man or beast, and cures epilepsy. Also red wax 
 stamped with it and hung round a dog's neck will prevent him 
 from barking. 
 
 33. Man holding flowers ; engraved on Carnelian, and set in a 
 tin ring made on a Monday or Friday, at the first, eighth, or 
 twelfth hour : touch whomsoever you will with this ring, and he 
 shall obey you. 
 
 34. Man, bearded, with long face and arched eyebrows, sitting
 
 448 
 
 MYSTIC VIRTUES. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 upon a plough, between two bulls, with a vulture on his hand, 
 has virtue in the planting of trees and the finding of hid treasure, 
 drives away serpents, and delivers from the fear and troubling 
 of evil spirits. It must be set in an iron ring, and so worn. 
 
 35. Man holding a hook over his head, and under his feet a 
 crocodile, set in a leaden ring with a little of the herb squill 
 under the stone : whoever carries this gem will be secure from 
 robbers on a journey. 
 
 36. Man holding a sword, and seated on a dragon, cut on 
 Amethyst : being set in an iron or leaden ring, and worn on the 
 finger, all spirits shall be obedient unto him, shall reveal the 
 place of hidden treasures, and shall answer all his questions. 
 
 37. Eagle standing, engraved on Ethica (astites), being set in 
 a lead ring gives good luck in fishing. 
 
 38. Man standing, and holding a spike (dart) ; engraved on 
 Onyx makes the wearer to be honoured by all lords and princes. 
 
 39. Hare, on Jasper, preserves the wearer from the shade of 
 demons, so that it hurts him not. 
 
 40. Man, carrying a palm, on any gem, makes the wearer 
 agreeable to princes and great men. 
 
 lartliian king, between two crowned asps. Sard. 
 
 THE WORM SAMIK. 
 
 There is a Eabbinical legend that Moses engraved the 
 names of the tribes upon the precious stones of the High 
 Priest's breastplate, by means of the blood of the worm 
 Samir, a liquid of such wonderful potency as immediately to 
 corrode and dissolve the hardest substances. Solomon, there- 
 fore, when about to build his Temple out of stones upon which 
 no tool was to be lifted up, was naturally desirous of obtaining
 
 SECT. IV. OBSERVATIONS UPON THESE SIGILLA. 449 
 
 a supply of this most efficient menstruum, the source whence 
 Moses had obtained it having been lost in antiquity. He, 
 therefore, had recourse to the following ingenious expedient : 
 he inclosed the chick of an ostrich, or, as some say, of a 
 hoopoe, in a glass bottle, and placed trusty persons to watch 
 it. The parent bird, finding all her efforts to liberate her 
 young in vain, flew off to the desert, and returning with the 
 miraculous worm, by means of its blood soon dissolved the 
 glass prison, and escaped with the captive. By repeating 
 this process as occasion required, Solomon obtained the 
 needful supply of this most useful solvent. 
 
 This legend is entirely based on the fact of the Smir, or 
 Smiris (emery) used by the antique engravers ; the name 
 Samir being merely the Hebrew form of the Greek word. 
 Hence, the fanciful rabbis having heard of the smir as the 
 indispensable agent of the gem engraver, without further 
 inquiry invented this ingenious legend as a most satisfactory 
 solution of the question. They may, however, have been 
 influenced by some faint tradition derived from Egypt, as 
 to the existence of some solvent capable of rendering the 
 hardest stones easy to be worked upon ; a secret which, as we 
 have already noticed, there are some grounds of believing 
 was possessed by the ancient Egyptians. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS UPON THESE SIGILLA. 
 
 In looking over the foregoing list we recognise, as might 
 naturally be expected, many of the usual Gnostic types, as in 
 the " Man with vipers for legs " the Pantheistic deity 
 Abraxas ; the " Winged Man upon a serpent," probably 
 the Athor or Sate of the same class; as is likewise the 
 "Man standing on a serpent and holding its head in his 
 hand." The "Names of God" on a gem must mean the 
 
 2 G
 
 450 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 invocations usually occurring on the reverses of these stones. 
 It will be also observed how large a proportion of these 
 potent sigils are specified as occurring on Jasper, a stone 
 which the slightest acquaintance with these intagli shews to 
 have been the favourite material for the talismanic engravings 
 of the Lower Empire. 
 
 There is, however, an omission of one class of subjects 
 from the list which appears at first extremely unaccountable ; 
 a class too which one would have thought the most likely 
 to strike the fancy of the mediaeval astrologer or alchemist, 
 as fraught with the deepest mysteries of antiquity. These 
 are the so-called chimerae or monsters, made up of the parts 
 of various animals united into one consistent whole, which 
 represents the outline of a bird or horse ; and usually (how- 
 ever various the manner of combination) composed of nearly 
 the same elements : the ram's head, Silenus' mask, elephant's 
 trunk, rabbit, cornucopia, and lizard. In fact, since the 
 .Revival, these very stones have been commonly looked upon 
 as amulets, and are still frequently described in catalogues 
 as " Basilidan Gems," although in reality they have no con- 
 nexion with that family ; a point which their good and early 
 style of work would alone be sufficient to prove, not to men- 
 tion the invariable absence of the peculiar legends accom 
 panying the sacred emblems of those religionists. But as we 
 cannot suppose that the mediaeval doctors were influenced 
 by any such archaeological motives in their distinction between 
 the potent and magical, and the merely fanciful or, as they 
 termed them, "voluntary" designs of ancient artists, there 
 must have existed some well grounded reason for rejecting 
 engravings, the very appearance of which is the perfection of 
 all that is mystic and magical. Can it be that at the close 
 of the Empire, when gems began to be prized for their 
 supernatural properties alone, a tradition still existed that
 
 SECT. IV. OBSERVATIONS UPON THESE SIGILLA. 451 
 
 these well-defined subjects were mere grylli or caprices of 
 the artist's fancy ? 
 
 It will also be remarked that many of these talismanic 
 figures have a real or supposed relation to the various Signs, 
 and Constellations from which they derived their virtue ; 
 whilst others represent the ancient gods who were still 
 believed by the astrologers to rule the planets in the character 
 of Genii, although the unaccommodating orthodoxy of the 
 age had summarily converted them into the demons of the 
 new Tartarus. 
 
 The origin and invention of these Sigilla were naturally 
 assigned to the ancient Israelites, on account of the numerous 
 Hebrew words and titles of the Deity that occur on the 
 Gnostic intagli, which the mediaeval adept very consistently 
 inferred could not have been the work of a race so degraded 
 as the Jews had become, after that the sceptre had departed 
 from Israel. It is very amusing to notice the curious inter- 
 pretations put by these writers upon many of the common 
 representations of ancient mythology, as on the group of 
 Hercules and lole, and of Hercules and the Hydra. The 
 " King on a chair, his hands outstretched, and borne up by 
 four figures," is the Manichean Ormuzd, supported by the 
 angels of the elements : a type not unfrequent on Gnostic 
 gems. The Lancer also is a favourite late Persian subject, 
 which often bears the legend of " The Seal of God." But it 
 is needless to point out more instances of the original mean- 
 ing of these common subjects: the odd interpretation of 
 many of them by the mediaeval sages will amuse the reader 
 who has any knowledge of antique gems ; and this has been 
 my chief motive for transcribing a portion of the somewhat 
 tedious catalogue of the worthy physician of Pesaro. 9 
 
 9 The Ortocides Sultans of Amida of Irak, put on the obverse of their 
 and Mardin, as well as the Atabeghs coins the types of the reverses of 
 
 2 G 2
 
 452 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 It will be noticed that the doctors who so exactly laid 
 down the precise influence of each sigil and gem have left 
 themselves a loophole for escaping whenever the promised 
 result failed to follow their prescriptions : for the stone was to 
 be worn " in all honour and purity," and thus any miscarriage 
 could always be ascribed to the wearer's own transgression 
 of the necessary conditions of success. 
 
 Strange to say, the sole nation of the present day, amongst 
 whom a belief in the virtue of magic stones still exists, are 
 the Irish ; who place the greatest faith in the medical 
 properties of certain round pebbles which have been pre- 
 served from time immemorial upon the altars of certain 
 chapels. The water in which these stones have been steeped 
 is considered a sovereign remedy for all the diseases of 
 cattle. But, consistently with the respective degrees of 
 civilization of the two races, the gem of the Italian astrologer 
 engraved with the mystic sigil, which aided and multiplied 
 its native potency, is replaced among the Celts by a round 
 pebble of the most ordinary quality, with nothing but 
 antiquity and faith to recommend it. A ball of crystal was 
 lately in the possession of the chief of a Highland clan, 
 which was famed for possessing the same virtue, and which 
 had been for unknown ages in the hands of the same family. 
 Such crystal balls are sometimes found in ancient tombs : 
 
 Greek, Roman, and Sassanian me- and. with the legend VICTORIA, 
 dais, evidently selected as figures CONSTANTINI. AVG. The inge- 
 possessing some talismanic virtue ; nious Arabs had doubtless inter- 
 and copied as literally as the skill preted these, to them mysterious 
 of the barbarous die-sinker would devices, as symbols of mystic ini- 
 allow. Thus a piece of Faker- port, according to the same rules as 
 Eddin, who reigned in the early they, and the doctors of the West 
 part of the twelfth century, bears on after their guidance, adopted in their 
 its obverse an exact copy of a explanation of the purpose of en- 
 reverse of Constantine, a Victory graved gems, 
 holding a tablet inscribed VOTXXX,
 
 SECT. IV. OBSERVATIONS UPON THtiSE S1GILLA. 453 
 
 we have seen that Orpheus ascribes great efficacy to their 
 presence at sacrifices ; doubtless they were interred with 
 the corpse as a propitiation to the deities of the Shades. 
 Dr. Dee's divining ball, so famous in the seventeenth century, 
 and now in the British Museum, was probably a sphere of 
 this class, which had accidentally come into the possession of 
 that " egregious wizard." 
 
 I have seen two spherical gems of Roman date which must 
 have been made for some magical use, as not being perforated 
 they could not have been intended for ornaments, for which 
 also their size and weight rendered them inappropriate. 
 The first, a ball of red Jasper, 1^ inch in diameter, was 
 engraved with a small medallion containing various symbols ; 
 the second, formed of green Jasper (in the Herz Collection), 
 had on the centre an engraving of Osiris and Isis, inscribed 
 * A, probably for Pharia (compare the Isis Faria of the coins 
 of Julian), and this was surrounded by twelve intaglio busts of 
 deities, of very good execution. The Sphere was one inch in 
 diameter. We perpetually meet in the poets with allusions to 
 the lvy%, Khombus, Turbo, or magic wheel used by the ancient 
 witches in their operations, and more especially figuring fore- 
 most in the list of philtres as possessing the power of in- 
 spiring love when spun in one direction, and of freeing the 
 heart from its spell when made to revolve in the opposite one, 
 as appears from Horace's prayer to Canidia : 
 
 " Eetro potenten, retro, solve turbinem." 
 
 " Eeverse thy magic wheel and break the spell." 
 
 The Crystal Spheres now under consideration may have been 
 the very instruments referred to by the poet : at least that 
 employed by the famous sorceress Nico is expressly described 
 as cut out of Amethyst in the dedicatory inscription given 
 in the Anthology, v., 205.
 
 454 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 " That magic wheel which power to Nico gave 
 To draw the lover o'er the distant wave, 
 And from her couch, half willing, half afraid, 
 At dead of night to lure the trembling maid, 
 Cut in bright Amethyst by a skilful hand, 
 And nicely balanced on its golden stand, 
 Lies strung on twisted wool of purple sheen 
 A grateful offering to the Cyprian cjueen : 
 Which erst the sorceress from Larissa brave, 
 A precious keepsake, to her hostess gave." 
 
 Damis saw four Ivyyss suspended from the dome of the judg- 
 ment hall of the Parthian king. They were called " Tongues 
 of the Gods," and placed there to remind him of Nemesis, 
 and repress his pride. These may be supposed to be golden 
 images of Ferouers, or Protecting Genii, of the Magian re- 
 ligion, for this term is used as synonymous with the Platonic 
 " Ideas " in the Zoroastrian oracles 
 
 Noov/iewt Ivyycs irarpodev vofovai KCU avrai. 
 
 For the Ferouers are the Ideas conceived in the mind of 
 Ormuzd previous to, and the Architypes of, the visible 
 creation. 
 
 Indian Sacred Bull, with Pehlevi legend. Calcedony. 
 
 OVUM ANGUINUM. 
 
 Before we quit the subject of Magic Spheres we must not 
 forget the famed Ovum Anguinum of the Druids, especially
 
 SECT. IV. OVUM AXGUINUM. 455 
 
 as it is the present practice to call by that name the largo 
 beads of variegated glass so frequently found in this country, 
 although these are in reality nothing more than the central 
 ornaments of Boman, British, or Saxon necklaces. Very 
 different was the true Ovum Auguinum which Pliny had 
 seen worn as a badge of office by a Druid. He describes it 
 as round, of the size of an apple, enclosed in a cartilaginous 
 crust and covered with protuberances like the suckers on the 
 arms of a cuttle-fish. It was evidently some natural pro- 
 duction, not an ornament made by art, and the description 
 of it resembles more that of a large echinus than anything 
 else ; could it have been some fossil species of that shell ? 
 The legend told by the Druids of its production was, that at 
 a certain season an innumerable host of snakes collected 
 together, and intertwining with each other produced from 
 their collected foam this substance, and borev 
 
 " The mystic egg aloft in air ;" 
 
 where it was necessary to catch it in a cloak before it fell to 
 the ground, otherwise it lost its virtue. The captor was 
 immediately pursued by the whole troop of serpents until 
 he could cross a running stream, and unless enabled by the 
 swiftness of his steed to escape his followers, woe unto him ! 
 
 " Ah Tarn, ah Tain, thou 'It get thy fairing, 
 In hell they '11 roast thee like a hen-ing." 
 
 The possession of this wondrous egg was supposed to give 
 success in law-suits. To Pliny's own knowledge, a Gallic 
 knight who had carried one in his bosom during the hearing 
 of his cause, probably before the emperor himself, was 
 executed for this attempt to pervert justice, by order of that 
 " wisest fool " Claudius Caesar. The opinion that this amulet 
 was some sort of echinus is in some measure supported by
 
 456 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SFCT. IV. 
 
 the fact, that a variety of this shell is still popularly called 
 the Mermaid's Egg. 
 
 Though we are thus obliged to degrade these large paste 
 beads from their sacred character of Druidical insignia, we 
 must still award them the merit of being frequently extra- 
 ordinary specimens of the taste and skill of the Gallic or 
 British workers in glass. Some exhibit the most vivid 
 colours, arranged in elegant wavy patterns equal to any pro- 
 ductions in a similar style by the factories of Murano : others, 
 probably intended to be worn on the little finger, are thick 
 rings of blue or green glass, with small spheres of spiral and 
 different coloured threads, like variegated snail shells, stuck 
 on the outer circumference at regular intervals. Others 
 again are merely circles of a bluish green glass, or of a 
 vitrified clay. It is curious that whenever discovered in 
 modern times they have always been regarded by the pea- 
 santry as amulets productive of good luck to the wearer. 
 
 This famous talisman of the Druids has a singular analogy, 
 both in name and in its reputed virtues, to the " Ophites " 
 or Serpent-stone of the Asiatic Greeks, of which Orpheus 
 sings (v. 355). 
 
 " To him 1 " had Phoebus giv'n the vocal stone, 
 Hight Sideritis, for true answers known ; 
 The ' Living Ophite' some the wonder call, 
 Black, hard, and weighty, a portentous ball. 
 Around the stone, in many a mazy bend, 
 In wrinkles deep the furrowed lines extend. 
 For thrice seven days the mighty wizard fled 
 The bath's refreshment and his spouse's bed ; 
 For thrice seven days a solemn fast maintained, 
 Xo flesh of living thing his strength sustained. 
 Then in the living fount the gem he laves, 
 And in soft vestments like an infant swathes ; 
 
 10 Helenus.
 
 SECT. IV. MAGIC KINGS. 457 
 
 As to a god he sacrifices brings, 
 
 And potent spells in mystic murmurs sings, 
 
 Till, moved by offered prayer and mighty charms, 
 
 A living soul the prescient substance warms ; 
 
 Then in his arms he bears the thing divine 
 
 Where kindled lamps in his pure mansion shine ; 
 
 And as her infant son a mother holds, 
 
 So in his arms the talisman he folds. 
 
 And thou when thou wouldst hear the mystic voice, 
 
 Thus do ; and in the wondrous charm rejoice. 
 
 For, when thou long hast dandled it on high, 
 
 'T will utter forth a faint and feeble cry 
 
 Like to a suckling's wail, when, roused from rest, 
 
 It seeks refreshment from the nurse's breast. 
 
 But with courageous heart perform the rite 
 
 Lest thou the anger of the gods excite, 
 
 If from thy hand, unnerved by sudden fear, 
 
 Down to the ground thou dash the vocal sphere. 
 
 Be bold, and dare the oracle to test, 
 
 A true response 't will yield to each request. 
 
 Then having bathed it hold it near thine eye, 
 
 And mark in wondrous mode its spirit fly. 1 
 
 Through this the Trojan to the Atridse'bold 
 
 The coming ruin of his race foretold." 
 
 MAGIC EINGS. 
 
 The Gnostic rings of stone covered with incantations, 
 already described, remind us of the Magic Eings mentioned 
 by Clemens Alexandrinus, who quotes Aristotle to the effect 
 that "Execestus, tyrant of the Phocians, used to wear two 
 enchanted rings, by the clinking of which against each 
 
 1 One might almost conclude from because, when steeped in water, it be- 
 
 this line that the stone was the Hy- comes bright and opalescent, though 
 
 drophane, or Oculus Mundi, of won- naturally dark and dull, 
 derail reputation in the Middle Ages,
 
 458 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT IV. 
 
 other he used to discover the fitting season for his enter- 
 prises ; he nevertheless perished by assassination, though 
 previously warned by the magic sound." Lucian, in the 
 * Philopseudes,' makes Eucrates say, " Is Ion then the only 
 person that has seen such things? Have not many other 
 persons also met with spirits some by night, some by day ? 
 I, for my part, have seen such, not once only, but thousands 
 of times. And at first indeed I used to be alarmed at them, 
 but now, from constant habit, I do not seem to myself to see 
 anything extraordinary in such apparitions, especially now 
 ever since the Arabian gave me the ring made out of the 
 iron nails got from crosses, and taught me the incantation of 
 many names." A clear allusion to the practice of the 
 Gnostics, whose amulets are covered with long strings of 
 Coptic and Hebrew titles, addressed to the spirits presiding 
 over the several planets. Orpheus also says (720) that the 
 gods are well pleased when addressed by their secret names 
 during the sacrifice offered to them. I have already quoted 
 Caylus' description of the gold ring (probably the ornament 
 of some French Manichean of the twelfth century), com- 
 pletely covered with Gnostic formula. I have myself seen 
 a broad ring of pure gold, probably of Indian origin, and 
 evidently of considerable antiquity \ the outer circumference 
 of which bore in relief the hieroglyphics of the Signs of the 
 Zodiac; executed in a most ingenious and artistic style. 
 This ring had doubtless been the distinctive badge of some 
 high astrologer of the olden time. Lofty too must have been 
 the station (considering the immense value of the gem in 
 mediaeval times) of the wearer of the large opal set in another 
 cabalistic gold ring, with shank covered with astrological 
 figures and the usual legend ADKOS MADEOS, &c.
 
 SECT. IV. PROPHYLACTIC RINGS PLANETARY KINGS. 450 
 
 PROPHYLACTIC KINGS. 
 
 Aristophanes, long before this, had humorously alluded to 
 the practice of wearing rings as charms against evil spirits 
 and serpents, in the reply of the honest man to the common 
 informer : Plutus, 883. 
 
 " I care not for thee : for I wear a ring 
 
 For which I paid one drachma to Eudemus. 
 But 'tis no charm against th' informer's bite." 
 
 And Antiphanes in Athenaeus m., 96, speaks of another kind 
 exactly answering to the galvanic rings of to-day, a preserva- 
 tive against all manner of aches and pains : for the miser is 
 introduced saying 
 
 " In a kettle, 
 
 Beware lest I see any one boil water. 
 For I've no ailment : may I never have v one ! 
 But if perchance a griping pain should wander 
 Within my stomach or around my navel, 
 I'll get a ring from Phertatus for a drachma." 
 
 Alexander of Tralles recommends from his own practice, as a 
 sure preservative against the colic, an iron ring, with this 
 
 figure iXJ on the f ace ' an d cu t with eight sides, on which 
 
 OOD 
 must be engraved the words, two syllables on each side, 
 
 (frevye lov x^ r , V Kopv8a\os <re j^ret." 
 
 " Fly, fly, Ho ! bile, the lark is after thee." 
 
 PLANETAKY KINGS. 
 
 Planetary rings, to which wonderful virtues were ascribed 
 in the Middle Ages, were formed of the gems assigned to the 
 several planets, each set in its appropriate metal, in the fol- 
 lowing manner :
 
 460 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 Sun ; Diamond or Sapphire, in a ring of gold. 
 
 Moon ; Crystal, in silver. 
 
 Mercury ; Magnet, in quicksilver (how fixed ?) 
 
 Venus ; Amethyst, in copper. 
 
 Mars ; Emerald, in iron. 
 
 Jupiter ; Carnelian, in tin. 
 
 Saturn ; Turquois, in lead. 
 
 GIMMEL KINGS. 
 
 These jewels, so often mentioned by our early poets, were 
 formerly used very generally as love pledges and betrothal 
 rings. The name is a corruption of Jumelle, or Twin, as they 
 are formed of two flat hoops of gold, the one fitting nicely 
 inside the other and kept in its place by a projecting rim on 
 the edge of the exterior circle : so that both form apparently 
 but one body. On each is engraved a name, or sometimes 
 one line of a distich in old French : 2 the two hoops could be 
 separated and worn singly, and thus could serve as cre- 
 dentials to the bearer, as well as for their original desti- 
 nation. The names found on them are those of the parties 
 between whom they were interchanged ; thus the denoue- 
 ment of Dryden's ' Don Sebastian ' turns upon a ring of this 
 kind. 
 
 " Those rings, when you were born and thought another's, 
 Your parents glowing yet in sinful love 
 Bade me bespeak : a curious artist wrought them, 
 With joints so close as not to be perceived, 
 Yet are they both each other's counterpart. 
 His part had Juan inscribed and hers had Zayda ; 
 You know these names are theirs ; and in the midst 
 A heart divided in two halves was placed. 
 
 * "The posy on a ring," Shakespear's synonym for something utterly trite 
 and commonplace.
 
 SECT. IV. DIVINATION BY RINGS. 461 
 
 Now if the rivets of these rings inclosed 
 Fit not each other I have forged this lie, 
 But if they join you must for ever part." 
 
 DIVINATION BY KINGS. 
 
 The long list of the magical properties of gems and of the 
 figures engraved upon them, believed in as indisputable 
 truths during the times of the Lower Empire and of the 
 Middle Ages, may be fitly concluded by the following curious 
 account of a mode of ascertaining the future by means of a 
 ring, a species of divination called Dactyliomancy. It is the 
 confession under torture of Hilarius and Patricius, accused 
 of conspiring to raise to the Empire a certain Gaul, Theodorus, 
 in the reign of Valens, A.D. 371. 
 
 " We constructed, illustrious judges, this ill-omened little 
 table which you see before you, out of twigs of bay tree, 
 under direful auspices, after the pattern of the Delphic 
 tripod. And after it had been consecrated according to the 
 rites prescribed, by the repetition of mystic verses over it, 
 and by many and tedious ceremonies, at last we put it in 
 motion. Now the method of using it whenever it was con- 
 sulted on matters of secrecy, was the following: It was 
 placed in the middle of the house (which had been previously 
 purified by burning Arabian incense in all parts), with a 
 round dish placed purely upon it, which was composed of 
 various metals combined together : on the outer edge of the 
 rim of this dish the twenty-four letters of the alphabet were 
 skilfully engraved, at equal distances from each other. Then 
 one of us clothed in a linen garment, with linen slippers on 
 his feet, a fillet round his head, and a branch of a fruit tree 
 in his hand, stood over this tripod according to the mystic 
 science, having first propitiated by the proper form of in- 
 cantation the deity that is the author of the knowledge of
 
 462 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 the future ; while he balanced over the tripod a ring tied 
 to a very fine thread of Carpathian flax, and consecrated by 
 magical ceremonies. This ring, striking in its vibrations at 
 regular intervals against the single letters that attracted it, 
 formed heroic verses, in answer to our questions, composed 
 perfectly as to metre and numbers, such as the Pythian 
 oracles we read of or the responses given at Branchidae. 
 Thereupon, just as we were enquiring who should succeed 
 the present emperor ; inasmuch as the answer returned was 
 that he would be a prince in every respect perfect, and also 
 as the ring while swinging to and fro had touched the two 
 syllables e E o, with the final addition of another letter ; one 
 of those present exclaimed that Theodoras was meant by the 
 inevitable appointment of Destiny. Nor was the inquiry on 
 the subject any further pursued, we all being quite satisfied that 
 he was the man about whom we were consulting the oracle. 
 
 " When he had thus distinctly laid the account of the whole 
 affair before the eyes as it were of the judges, he added out 
 of consideration for him that Theodorm was entirely ignorant 
 of the matter. After which, being asked whether they had 
 learnt beforehand from the oracle which they had employed 
 the fate that awaited themselves, they disclosed those well 
 known verses clearly announcing that this enterprise of 
 prying into things too high for them would be fatal to the 
 inquirers, and that speedily : but yet that the Furies demand- 
 ing fire and slaughter, threatened also the emperor and their 
 judges ; of which it will suffice to quote the three last verses : 
 
 ' Not unaveng'd, seer, thy blood shall flow, 
 Tisiphone prepares the fatal blow 
 For thy fell judges ; all on Mimas' plain 
 Aila Ear ! by fire devouring slain.' 
 
 Having repeated which, they were cruelly tortured with the 
 pincers, and then carried off in a fainting condition."
 
 SECT. IV. THE TOAD-STONE. 403 
 
 It may be observed here that the mysterious words " A'ila 
 Kar " are either Sclavonic a language often appearing in 
 the oracles of Byzantine date (see that given by Procopius as 
 predicting' the death of Mundus and his son) or else they 
 may contain the Greek numerals giving the date of the event 
 foretold. This took place A.D. 378, for Valens having been 
 wounded by an arrow in a battle with the Goths, was carried 
 by his officers into a cottage near the field, the door of which 
 the enemy not being able to force piled straw against the 
 building and consumed it, with all who were inside. 
 
 This mode of divination is now degraded to the humble 
 office of ascertaining the time of day : a wedding ring, or a 
 coin suspended from a thread passing over the ball of the 
 thumb, and held within a glass tumbler, the hand being sup- 
 ported steadily about a foot above it, soon begins to vibrate 
 from the action of the pulse, and the strokes against the in- 
 side of the glass will be equal in number to the nearest hour, 
 whether past or coming. I have myself tried this experi- 
 ment, and often found it to succeed in a most extraordinary 
 manner. 
 
 THE TOAD-STONE. 
 
 A notion prevailed, both in the Middle Ages and down to 
 a recent period, that 
 
 " the toad, ugly and venomous, 
 Wears yet a precious jewel in his head." 
 
 Camillo Leonardo describes the stone under the names of 
 Borax, Nosa, and Crapondinus, and as being found in the 
 brain of a toad newly killed. He says that there are two 
 kinds, the white, which is the best, and the dark of a bluish 
 tinge, with the figure of an eye upon it : and if swallowed, 
 it is a sure antidote against poison, in its passage through the
 
 464 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 bowels driving out all noxious matters before it. It was also 
 good for complaints of the stomach and kidneys, even when 
 merely worn set in a ring. Vossius De Physiologia Christiana, 
 vi., 19, asserts of it that the Bufonites or Toad-stone is 
 accustomed to be taken in drink before meals to baffle the 
 effect of poison. It is said to burn the skin of the finger at 
 the very presence of poison, if worn in an open setting in 
 a ring. Chinese porcelain at this period (the time of its 
 first introduction into Europe), was believed to fly to pieces 
 if a poisoned liquid were put into it. Erasmus in his 
 ' Peregrinatio Religionis ergo,' thus describes a famous Toad- 
 stone placed at the feet of the statue of Our Ladye of Walsing- 
 ham. "At the feet of the Virgin is a gem to which no 
 name has yet been given amongst the Greeks or Eomans, 
 but the French have styled it after the toad, inasmuch as it 
 represents the figure of a toad so exactly, that no art of man 
 could do as well. And the wonder is so much the greater, 
 that the stone is very small : the figure of the toad does not 
 project from the surface, but shines through as if inclosed in 
 the gem itself. And some, no mean authorities, add that 
 this kind of gem being put into vinegar the toad will swim in 
 it and move its legs." 3 
 
 Some of these Toad-stones, set in their original rings, are 
 still preserved, but the gem appears at present to be nothing 
 more than a common black pebble. I am not aware if any 
 substance of a stony nature is ever now discovered within the 
 head or body of the toad. Probably the whole story origi- 
 nated in the name Batrachites (Frog-stone as \vell as Toad- 
 stone), given in Pliny to a gem brought from Coptos, and so 
 called from its resemblance to that animal in colour. Of 
 this there was also an ebony, and a reddish-black variety. 
 
 3 This was probably a lump of amber inclosing some large insect.
 
 SECT. IV. THE TOADSTONE. 485 
 
 Pliny, however, says nothing of its being found inside the 
 toad, nor does he mention its medicinal virtues ; but the 
 name alone was sufficient to induce the fertile imagination of 
 the mediaeval doctors to invent all the other particulars. 
 He does indeed specify several gems as being found inside 
 various animals: such as the Bronte in the head of the 
 tortoise, and supposed to have the property of extinguishing 
 fires caused by lightning ; the Cinaedia in the head of the 
 fish so-called, a transparent stone, which by its change from 
 a clear to a turbid colour foreshewed a coming storm at sea 
 (a useful marine barometer) ; the Chelonites of a grass 
 green colour, and found in a swallow's belly, which being 
 set in an iron ring possessed wonderful power in magic ; the 
 Draconites, a brilliant white gem, which must be cut out of 
 the head of the serpent when alive, otherwise it loses its 
 lustre, for which reason the Indians strewed v the ground with 
 an opiate, in order to catch the dragon asleep and so safely 
 extract the prize ; 4 the Hyaenia existing within the eye of the 
 hyaena, and which placed under the tongue conferred the 
 gift of prophecy ; and lastly, the Saurites procured from the 
 bowels of a green lizard, dissected by a knife made of a 
 sharp reed. The Scorpius and the Echites (Viper-stone) are 
 praised as antidotes by Orpheus : 
 
 4 Philost. III. 8. " These dragons upon him as he lies, cut off his head 
 
 are taken thus : having woven letters with their axes, and make prize of 
 
 of gold into a scarlet robe, they lay the gems within it, for in the heads of 
 
 it before the den ; but first of all these mountain-dragons are secreted 
 
 magically infuse a soporific power gems bright-coloured to the eye and 
 
 into these letters by which the dragon reflecting all kinds of hues, of virtue 
 
 has his eyes overcome, having no moreover indescribable like the 
 
 power to turn them away. They famous ring of Gyges. Often too 
 
 also sing over him many charms of does the dragon seize the Indian, 
 
 their mystic art, by which he is axe, charm, and all, and escape with 
 
 drawn forth, and putting his neck him into his den; all but making 
 
 out of his den falls asleep upon the the mountain tremble." 
 letters. Then the Indians falling 
 
 2 H
 
 466 MYSTIC VIRTUES. SECT. IV. 
 
 " Named from the Scorpion fell, the potent stone 
 To huge Orion was, I ween, unknown ; 
 Else had he, tortured by the fiery pain, 
 Given all his stars the remedy to gain." 
 
 Favourite Racehorse, Sycxius. Jacinth, 
 
 TREATISES ON ANTIQUE GEMS. 
 
 Books treating upon antique gems, either generally or else 
 of particular examples, are very numerous in Itab'an and 
 German. A few also exist in French, but none that I am 
 acquainted with in the English language, with the exception 
 of a series of articles headed " Old Kings," which appeared 
 in 'Eraser's Magazine' for 1856, in which the subject of 
 the rings themselves was most amply and learnedly dis- 
 cussed, and then followed a series of excellent disquisitions 
 upon the several species of gems known to the ancients. The 
 design is cleverly carried out, and gives a vast amount of 
 information in a very entertaining style. It would be a great 
 service to English collectors if these papers were republished 
 in a separate form, to supply in some measure the total 
 deficiency of English works upon this subject a want which 
 I have endeavoured to meet in some degree in the foregoing 
 pages. I subjoin a few remarks on the treatises in different 
 languages which I have myself perused, and of which I have 
 availed myself in the compilation of this work :
 
 SECT. IV. TREATISES ON ANTIQUE GEMS. 467 
 
 1. The 'Apistopistus' of Macarius (Canon L'Heureux), 
 with Appendix by Chiflet, 1610; an excellent and rational 
 work for so early a period, treating exclusively of Gnostic 
 gems, with a profusion of admirably engraved plates of the 
 intagli. It contains everything that can be discovered in 
 ancient writers relative to this mysterious subject, and is 
 much more intelligible than Matter's ' Histoire Critique du 
 Gnosticisme,' which treats upon the same class of representa- 
 tions, although he appears to have borrowed largely from 
 Macarius. The plates of the intagli are very correct, and 
 though so early may be reckoned among the best of the kind, 
 having been drawn from the originals by Jacques Werde, a 
 military engineer and a clever draughtsman, with a taste for 
 antique art. 
 
 2. Mariette's ' Pierres Gravees ' is a description of the best 
 gems in the French Collection. The Introduction contains a 
 large amount of useful information with respect to gems and 
 the processes of the glyptic art, together with a clear and 
 complete summary of all that is known about the most emi- 
 nent gem-engravers of all countries who have flourished since 
 the Eevival. Mariette, however, does not appear to have 
 possessed much practical acquaintance with gems themselves, 
 and often makes many assertions that cannot be substan- 
 tiated ; but in spite of this defect, his book is the best manual 
 that I have met with. Another recommendation of the book 
 is the great number of plates of gems contained in it, which 
 however are too much in the loose and flowing style of the 
 last century (published 1750) to give a very accurate idea of 
 the originals. 
 
 3. Winckelmann's < Catalogue of Stosch's Gems ' is doubt- 
 less the best work on the subject ever written, as far as the 
 plan allows ; for in addition to a most learned and interesting 
 elucidation of the subjects of the intagli, he incidentally gives 
 
 2 H 2
 
 468 MYSTIC VIRTUES, SKCT. IV. 
 
 much information relative to the science itself, so that the 
 work is not a dry catalogue, but rather a series of disser- 
 tations on matters relating to art, history, and antiquities. 
 It is of the utmost value to the collector of gems, in 
 consequence of its containing so extensive a series of sub- 
 jects, Stosch having admitted into his collection not merely 
 antique pastes, but also modern ones of all the celebrated 
 intagli existing in other cabinets, to make his list of repre- 
 sentations as complete as possible. Hence any uncommon 
 design that may occur on a gem will be likely to find 
 an explanation in Winckelmann's description of something 
 analogous amongst the endless varieties brought together 
 by Stosch. 
 
 4. Mawe 'On the Diamond' gives brief but very clear 
 descriptions of the various kinds of precious stones in use at 
 the present day. 5 
 
 5. Caylus' ' Recueil d'Antiquites ' is valuable for the nume- 
 rous engravings it gives of antique rings in all metals, 
 very accurately represented by the pencil of that enthusi- 
 astic antiquary himself. But the camei and intagli, of which 
 he presents many plates, are somewhat roughly executed, 
 and his explanations of them often erroneous ; but yet, from 
 the great variety of subjects described, they are still of con- 
 siderable value. Many of his drawings of gems are of great 
 interest, as representing stones still preserved at the time he 
 was writing (1758) on the old plate and jewellery of the 
 sacristy of Troyes Cathedral. 
 
 6. Lessing's ' Antiquarische Briefe ' contain a series of dis- 
 quisitions on various branches of the glyptic art, full of in- 
 
 5 A very unpretending old - fa- the best popular description of stones 
 shioned book, Bingley's 'Useful and minerals of any that have ever 
 Knowledge,' gives in its third volume come in my way.
 
 SECT. IV. TREATISES ON ANTIQUE GEMS. 469 
 
 formation conveyed in a most amusing and piquant style, in 
 the form of criticisms on a work on gems published by an 
 unlucky pretender, Dr. Klotz, whose ignorance he playfully 
 exposes, displaying at the same time his own knowledge. 
 More may be learnt from these letters, by the student of 
 this science, than from any author I have met with, 
 always excepting Winckelmann, who however deals more 
 with the subjects of the gems, whilst Lessing treats more 
 of the technical portion of the art, so that the two com- 
 bined form a complete manual for the amateur. As might 
 be expected in a German author, Lessing displays now and 
 then some very odd crotchets, apparently recommended to 
 him by their very absurdity, as for instance when he de- 
 rives the name Cameo from gemma onychina, and a few 
 similar flights of imagination. 
 
 7. The ' Catalogue des Artistes de 1' Antiquity,' by the 
 Count de Clarac (1848), contains, in the Introduction, a very 
 good sketch of the history of the art, as well as useful re- 
 marks upon the mechanical processes employed in it. His list 
 of artists' names is of great value, as he gives a minute de- 
 scription of the gems bearing their signatures, and specifies 
 the collections in which they at present exist, thus supplyiug 
 a safeguard against copies. 
 
 8. Raspe, ' Catalogue des Impreintes des Pierres Gravees.' 
 After Stosch's death in 1757, Tassie, a London gem-engraver, 
 obtained all his sulphur casts, and from these made sets of glass 
 pastes. These are in truth very poor, both in colour and in 
 finish, and bear but little resemblance to real stones. Tbe 
 total number of antique and modern amounts to 15,833. They 
 are catalogued and described by Raspe, whose remarks are 
 usually very sound and of great utility to a collector ; and the 
 arrangement of his matter is very convenient for reference. 
 The plates are however so badly executed and incorrect,
 
 470 
 
 MYSTIC VIRTUES. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 being taken from the pastes and not from the original, as to 
 be entirely useless. 6 
 
 9. Millin ' Sur 1'Etude des Pierres Gravees ' is little more 
 than the skeleton of a manual, very well planned, but not car- 
 ried out in any single department, having evidently been 
 composed in great haste. The object of the present Treatise 
 has been to supply flesh to the bones of Millin's skeleton, the 
 outline of which I have in great measure kept in view in the 
 arrangement of the preceding articles. 
 
 8 The two last volumes of the served in the gallery of the Uffizi ; 
 
 Museum Florentinum, by the Ab- and therefore will be found of the 
 
 bate Gori, give very faithful engrav- greatest service to the collector in 
 
 ings of all the most important gems identifying the subjects of obscure 
 
 contained in the Collection pre- meaning. 
 
 Homuua. Sard. 
 cornu fu&iebat Somnus iuani. 1
 
 Death, in a ilonument : Cameo. Onyj 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Instruments of the ancient Engravers, p. 107. 
 
 IN the earliest attempts to engrave figures upon stones to be 
 used as seals we may conclude from the common analogy of such 
 processes that the tools first employed were the splinters of flint 
 or Obsidian of which all their other cutting implements were 
 formed, and which continued, long after the use of metal had 
 become general, to furnish the cheaper and easily -lost class of 
 articles, such as arrow-heads, &c. The words of Herodotus de- 
 scribing those of the Ethiopians in Xerxes' army are, " arrows 
 headed with a stone brought to a point, the same sort by means 
 of which they engrave their seals." Now, inasmuch as every art 
 known to this barbarous people must have been introduced 
 among them from their neighbours the Egyptians, and all 
 remains both small and great in Ethiopia plainly discover an 
 Egyptian origin, their signets, likewise, could hardly have 
 differed from those of their instructors in all the arts, as innu- 
 merable specimens sufficiently prove. Hence we may conclude 
 that all the scarabs so plentiful in Steaschists, Syenite, and other 
 soft stones, were worked out by means of flint-flakes fashioned 
 into rude graving tools and mounted in handles, as the diamond- 
 splinters subsequently were. In addition to this instrument the 
 softness of the stones worked upon would allow the engravings 
 to be executed by means of a narrow bronze chisel, which an 
 examination of the cutting of the intaglio will often indicate as 
 the sole tool employed, the lines and hollows having evidently
 
 472 INSTRUMENTS OF THE ANCIENT ENGRAVERS. AFP. 
 
 been scooped out by some such tool, not scratched into the stone 
 by the fine edge of a flint-flake. The same observation applies 
 equally to the first essays of the Assyrians in this line, for the 
 cylinders assigned to the earliest times of that monarchy are 
 almost invariably made out of green Serpentine, a stone readily 
 worked by a metal chisel. In addition to this, the engravings 
 upon them are though the outline is often correct and spirited 
 enough ragged and deeply cut, and evidently chiselled into 
 the mass by a cutting tool of metal ; neither being scraped out 
 by a sharp point, nor ground out by attrition with a hard powder, 
 processes of which unmistakeable traces remain in all intagli 
 executed by the more recent methods, hereafter to be discussed. 
 The discoveiy of these improved processes must with certainty 
 be assigned to the Assyrian engravers of the age of Sargon (B.C. 
 729), or a little earlier ; for, besides the numerous specimens 
 extant of designs in the taste of this period cut on cylinders of 
 Crystal, Agate, and Onyx, that in Amazon-stone ascribed, with 
 much probability, to Sennacherib himself shows that the 
 mechanical part of the art had been already perfected, which 
 supposes the practice of many years ; for the execution of this 
 intaglio would stand a comparison with any gem in the similar 
 taste of the archaic Greek school. Now it is certain that no 
 Egyptian scarabs in "hard stones" are of anything like this 
 antiquity, for all such discovered amongst Assyrian remains 
 numerous though they were (as at Arban) are all of the soft 
 stones already mentioned. The very royal signet of Sabaco is 
 shown by its impression upon the same seal as that of Senna- 
 cherib to have been in metal (gold no doubt), like the famous 
 one of the Meyer Collection ; whilst that of the Assyrian king's 
 was evidently from a well-cut intaglio in hard stone. Theophras- 
 tus (On Stones, chap. 44) states that the best sort of the stone 
 used by the Greeks for gem-engraving came from Armenia. The 
 Armenian mountains supplied the Assyrians with their building- 
 stones, metals, and gems, and at the same time, no doubt, with the 
 means of working upon the latter ; and probably a happy accident 
 soon revealed to some observant eye amongst the numerous signet- 
 makers of Nineveh the property of the emery-stone to bite into 
 the very hardest gems then known to them. From Nineveh to
 
 APP. INSTRUMENTS OF THE ANCIENT ENGRAVERS. 473 
 
 Babylon the transition of the discovery was rapid, and thence, 
 through the Phenicians, it became diffused throughout Asia 
 Minor. 
 
 All the operations hitherto considered were effected upon the 
 surface of the intended signet by a scratching out or filing into 
 the substance the scalptura of the Eoman writers. The exact 
 mode of applying the piece of emery has, unluckily, not been 
 handed down to us by any author. Theophrastus, in the chapter 
 just quoted, says, "And again, the stone with which they 
 engrave signet-stones is the same as that of which whetstones 
 are made, or similar to it, and the best is brought from Armenia." 
 This very chapter (44), in which he had given some details as to 
 the process, is unhappily one of the most defective in his trea- 
 tise ; but he appears to express his surprise that the material in 
 question was capable of being split up and shaped by a steel 
 tool and yet could bite on a gem that steel would not touch. 
 Pliny (xxxvi. 10) has, " For polishing nwble statues, and even 
 for engraving and filing down gems, the Naxium (emery) long- 
 held the first rank : thus are termed the whets\ones (cotes) pro- 
 duced in the isle of Cyprus. Afterwards those brought from 
 Armenia bore away the palm." Again (chap. 47), when enume- 
 rating the whetstones used for steel tools, he mentions the Naxian 
 as the most in repute of those used with water, until afterwards 
 surpassed by the Armenian. Again (in xviii. 67, 5) he speaks 
 of these water- whetstones acting upon the scythe-blade after the 
 manner of a file. Dioscorides, writing in the first century, says, 
 the " Smyris is a stone with which gem-engravers polish their 
 gems." He also speaks of " the substance rubbed off a Kaxian 
 whetstone from the steel sharpened against it" (v. 165, 167) ; all 
 showing the use of a piece of emery to sharpen steel tools. All 
 these expressions demonstrate that the emery still the chief 
 export of Xaxos was employed in gem-cutting not merely in 
 powder, as at present, applied to the point of a drill but in a 
 solid piece, shaped into a convenient form, and working after the 
 manner of a file upon the gem. Another reason this for the 
 ancient preference for highly convex ring-stones, a form to which 
 anything in the shape of a file could be much more conveniently 
 applied than to a plane surface. The use of the diamond has
 
 474 INSTRUMENTS OF THE ANCIENT ENGRAVERS. APP. 
 
 already been discussed (p. 105). It could not, however, have 
 been known until late in the Greek period, when the trade with 
 India had been opened, and no traces of it are to be discovered 
 on the intagli now under our consideration. Thus far notice has 
 only been taken of the means of gem- engraving consisting in 
 cutting or scratching instruments ; but another invention, much 
 more expeditious in its operations, remains to be considered the 
 drill, the terebarum fervor of Pliny, and the drepano of the Quattro- 
 Cento engravers. The use of the drill in its primitive form may 
 be detected in those earliest implements of mankind, the stone 
 axes and hammers, to be seen in all collections of Celtic antiqui- 
 ties ; that is to say, in those of the improved type, bored through 
 with a hole for a handle. This hole must have been made by 
 turning rapidly and continuously a stick upon the same spot, 
 constantly supplied with sharp sand and water. This rude in- 
 strument may also have been turned by means of a bow, a con- 
 trivance which would easily suggest itself to the mind of any 
 ingenious savage, as calculated to produce a much more rapid, 
 as well as more steady, motion of the stick, besides saving the 
 vast labour and time wasted in keeping it revolving by the un- 
 aided hand alone. The form of these orifices plainly indicates 
 the means by which they were sunk, the openings being much 
 wider on each side than in the centre, owing to the unsteady 
 action of the primitive drill. This powerful agent once obtained, 
 improvements upon it were easy ; and by substituting a bronze 
 wire and emery powder for the stick and sand the Assyrian 
 gained at once an implement capable of piercing speedily the 
 hardest of the gems with which he had to do. Another proof 
 that the use of emery for this purpose was the discovery of the 
 Assyrian engravers may be found in the name by which it was 
 known to the Greeks, their smyris being merely the Chaldean 
 smir slightly modified. 1 Though the early Assyrians made but 
 little use of the drill in sinking the intagli on the outside of 
 their cylinders, yet the holes passing through their length, as 
 well as those through the sides of their conical seals, show by 
 their accuracy the expertness already attained by the workmen 
 
 1 Heiice our emery, from emeril, esmeril, smeriglio.
 
 APP. INSTRUMENTS OF THE ANCIENT ENGRAVERS. . 475 
 
 in the use of this implement. In the cylinders, indeed, the per- 
 forations are of considerable size to admit the soft and thick cord 
 that tied them round the wrist, but the holes through the seals 
 are often fine as a thread, and drilled with an evenness that it 
 would puzzle the best German lapidary to equal. The same may 
 be said of the holes traversing the Etruscan scarabs, usually very 
 accurately and truly bored. As before observed, the intagli also 
 upon these scarabs are entirely sunk by means of a blunt drill 
 ending in a hemispherical point. The hollows made by this 
 button sunk to various depths, and brought into contact or over- 
 laying each other, produce the rude figures of men and animals 
 that adorn fully three-fourths of the scarabs termed Etruscan ; 
 and but rarely in this class is the outline assisted by the use of 
 the diamond-point or any such scratching instrument. 
 
 As regards the action of the drill, the metal point does not 
 immediately come in contact with the gem, but serves as a ve- 
 hicle in which the excessively hard particles of the emery imbed 
 themselves, and thus present a perpetually renewed cutting sur- 
 face to the stone on which it is brought to bear. This is the 
 meaning of Pliny in saying that " some stones cannot be cut at 
 all by steel, others only by a blunt steel tool (though all can by 
 the diamond) ; in the latter, however, the rapid revolution of the 
 drill is of the greatest efficacy" (xxxvi. 76). The Phenicians 
 learnt the art from their Assyrian masters, and soon diffused it, 
 with its processes, through all the regions where they had 
 colonies. This nation, placed midway between the two great 
 foci of civilization, and in constant communication with each, 
 lost no time in adopting every discovery amongst either people 
 that recommended itself to their taste, and thus we find them 
 adopting the form of the scarab from the Egyptians, but the 
 hard stones to cut them in from the Assyrians, together with the 
 superior style of intaglio which the newly-discovered method 
 had enabled the latter to produce. Hence was communicated 
 both the form of the signet and the means of engraving it to the 
 Etruscans, unless we suppose which is more probable that 
 the predominant caste introduced these, with other arts, from 
 Asia Minor when they first settled as colonists in Central Italy. 
 These drill-worked intagli must have been finished off with the
 
 476 BASSAN1AN ALPHABET. APP. 
 
 utmost rapidity, to judge from the thousands now extant ; yet 
 how small a portion these of what still remains beneath the soil 
 entombing the cities of their ancient wearers. The designs 
 were added upon the bases of the scarabs often, it would appear, 
 as mere ornaments, and not for signets, for the scarabs strung on 
 necklaces are equally adorned with engravings as those set in 
 swivel finger-rings. 
 
 Sassanian Alphabet, p. 141. 
 
 The earliest form of this alphabet is met with on the coins of 
 the Arsacidae whenever the Greek language is not used for the 
 legends and had currency in but two localities, the region 
 around Persepolis, where it forms the original text and occupies 
 the post of honour in the explanatory inscriptions cut upon the 
 numerous rock-sculptures there ; and, secondly, about Shahrzor, 
 in the bilingual inscriptions upon the fire-temples. Thus it 
 appears to have been current under the Parthian empire through- 
 out the provinces of Kurdistan, Khuzistan, and Fars (Persia 
 Proper), and to have had a Mesopotamian or Babylonian source, 
 and thus a common origin with the modern Hebrew, from which 
 it only difiers in a few forms (see Thomas, Num. Chron. xii. 93). 
 This alphabet is usually termed the Parthian, but can claim no 
 special Parthian attribution, any more than the Bactrian Pali on 
 their contemporaneous Indian currencies or the Greek on their 
 Asiatic. It is also termed Persepolitan, but ought more justly to 
 be called Clwldee the designation bestowed upon the identically 
 same character, the square Hebrew. The only Sassanian king 
 who uses this character on his coins is Ardeschir I., of whom a 
 very clearly-struck silver piece is figured in the Num. Chron. 
 xv. 180. Of gems bearing inscriptions in this early letter I have 
 only met with a single example an Amethyst of middling size
 
 APP. SASSANIAN ALPHABET. 477 
 
 where it encircles a king's head with flowing hair and long 
 beard a portrait of the customary Arsacid type but the name 
 as yet undeciphered. The extreme rarity of gems of this 
 dynasty has been already noted. Another example, however, I 
 have lately discovered among the Herz intagli a Sard with 
 a regal portrait, but of the rudest work. 
 
 The second form of alphabet is found holding the inferior 
 place in the inscriptions of Nakshi-Boustan ; and is exclusively 
 adopted on the coinage of Sapor I. and his sticcessors for some 
 centuries. This is the character also by far the most common 
 upon the gems. Thus it is used on the famous Devonshire 
 Amethyst of Sapor I., as well as upon a Sard of nearly equal 
 size and merit, a bust of Hormisdas, now in the possession of 
 Mr. Boocke. 
 
 The third and latest form of the Pehlevi alphabet is the parent 
 of the old Syriac, and of its modification the Cuphic. As the 
 latter took its name from the fact of its having been adopted by 
 the transcribers of the Koran at Cupha in Mesopotamia it is a 
 natural inference that it was the usual cursive writing of the age 
 and country, and adopted by the Arabian conquerors, who, up 
 to that time had possessed no literature or alphabet of their own. 
 So slight is the difference between the letters used on the coin- 
 age of the last Sassanian kings and that of the first caliphs, who 
 continued the old types for some years after the conquest, that 
 Longperier reads the names of Sarparaz, Pouran, and Zerni, in 
 the very Fame legends explained by Thomas as giving those of 
 Omar, Farkhan, and Hani, in the usual Cuphic character. 
 
 This third alphabet is a modification of the second, produced 
 by running the letters into each other, after the modern Oriental 
 fashion, and appears on the coins of Chosroes and his successors. 
 Gems with legends in this letter are common enough ; and in all 
 that have fallen in my way I have observed that the inscriptions 
 round the royal portrait all begin with the characters for AP, 
 usually read as Apad, or Afzud, the " Most High," a title first 
 assumed on his medals by Chosroes I. 
 
 From the discoveries made in the topes of Cabul it is ascer- 
 tained that, concurrently with the usual Sassanian coinage, 
 another was issued in or for the Indian provinces of their em-
 
 478 BERYL. COLDORfi. IRON RINGS. APP. 
 
 pire, with its legends in the Baotrian Pali letter, but of this no 
 traces, to my knowledge, have ever been observed upon the 
 seals bearing the heads of these sovereigns. 
 
 Beryl, p. 38. 
 
 An antique paste of this Taras is described by Winckelmann, 
 who was unacquainted with the gem itself, then in the Praun 
 Collection. One of the rare instances this of the preservation of 
 the original and of its ancient copy. 
 
 Coldort, p. 268. 
 
 I have seen this summer (1860) a bust of Henri IV. by this 
 artist ; a three-quarter face intaglio on a large octagonal pale 
 Sapphire. On the section of the shoulder is the usual signature, 
 C. D. F. The likeness is admirable, and full of spirit; the 
 execution perfect ; and the intaglio highly polished within. 
 Taking into account the quality of the stone and the excellence 
 of the work this gem may be ranked amongst the finest of the 
 Renaissance. 
 
 Iron Rings, p. 284. 
 
 Iron rings were long worn by the Eomans "ut virtutis bel- 
 li cae insigne." Pliny (xxxiii. 4), after stating that the use of 
 gold rings was first brought into Italy from Greece, expresses 
 his surprise that the statue of Tarquinius Priscus should be 
 represented without this ornament, seeing that his father Dema- 
 ratus was a Corinthian. But it may be observed, that if the tra- 
 dition be true that Demaratus was banished from Corinth by 
 Cypselus, B.C. 660, there is good reason to suppose that finger- 
 rings were as yet unknown in that city. 2 For many ages, how- 
 ever, not even the Eoman senators wore gold rings in private 
 
 8 Lessing boldly asserts that they were not used in Greece before the times of the 
 Peloponnesian War: but this is merely to support a paradox.
 
 APP. IRON RINGS. 479 
 
 life ; they were given by the Treasury to such as were de- 
 spatched as ambassadors to foreign nations, as a mark of distinc- 
 tion, nor could any others wear them except those thus commis- 
 sioned by the State ; and even these only put them on in public ; 
 at home they continued to wear their old signet-rings of iron. 
 Even when they rode in triumph they were not permitted to 
 assume this, it would seem, exclusive privilege of an ambassador, 
 but, like Marius, had on their finger a ring of iron, just as the 
 attendant slave. This general never wore a gold one until his 
 third consulship having probably served the office of ambas- 
 sador in the mean time. As a relic of ancient usages the bride's 
 betrothal-ring, in Pliny's time, was of iron and without a stone. 
 One such has come under my notice, found at Rome. Its head 
 was formed as two clasped hands, the whole strongly plated 
 with gold, and its antiquity beyond suspicion. The ancient 
 Latin name for a ring was ungulus, a diminutive of unguis ; 
 perhaps because its bizzel covers the third joint of the finger in 
 the same way as the nail covers the first. 
 
 It has been already remarked that the earliest gold rings are 
 invariably of thin and hollow metal. Amongst the numerous 
 restrictions laid upon the Flamen Dialis, Fabius Pictor (quoted 
 by A. Gellius, x. 15) states, "item annulo uti nisi pervio cas- 
 soque fas non est " he must not wear a ring that has not a 
 hollow shank cassus properly signifying a hollow shell, like 
 that of a rotten nut. 
 
 The jewellers of the Cinque-Cento have lavished as much taste 
 and labour upon the chasing and carving of rings in steel and 
 bronze as upon those in the precious metals. It may be that the 
 very worthlessness of the material has saved these from the 
 melting-pot, to which the changes of fashion have remorselessly 
 consigned the most exquisite specimens of those possessing any 
 intrinsic value. Certain it is that many in steel now preserved 
 surpass in originality of design and elaborate beauty of chasing 
 any similar gold ornaments of the same date. Exquisite ex- 
 amples of such, as well as in bronze, met my eye in a magnifi- 
 cent collection of ancient rings of all periods formed at Vienna 
 and lately acquired by Lord Braybrooke.
 
 480 HOUSES OF THE PLANETS. APP. 
 
 Houses of the Planets, p. 335. 
 
 Each planet has two houses, a diurnal and a nocturnal. Thus 
 of 
 
 Saturn, the houses are Capricorn and Aquarius. 
 
 Jupiter, the houses are Pisces and Sagittarius. 
 
 Mars, the houses are Aries and Scorpio. 
 
 Venus, the houses are Libra and Taurus. 
 
 Mercury, the houses are Gemini and Virgo. 
 
 Of Sol, one diurnal, Leo ; of Luna, one nocturnal, Cancer. 
 
 Manilius (b. iv.) thus specifies the parts of the body under the 
 influence of the respective signs 
 
 " Hear how each Sign the body's portions sways, 
 How every part its proper lord obeys ; 
 And what the member of the human frame, 
 Wherein to rule their several forces claim. 
 First, to the Ram the head hath been assigned ; 
 Lord of the sinewy neck the Bull we find : 
 The arms and shoulders joined in union fair 
 Possess the Twins, each one an equal share. 
 The Crab as sovereign o'er the breast presides ; 
 The Lion rules the shoulder-blades and sides, 
 Down to the flank the Virgin's lot descends, 
 And with the haunches Libra's influence ends. 
 The fiery Scorpion in the groin delights, 
 The Centaur in the thighs exerts his rights ; 
 Whilst either knee doth Capricornus rule ; 
 The legs, the province of Aquarius cool. 
 Last, the twin Fishes, as their region meet, 
 Hold jurisdiction in the pair, the feet." 
 
 Ceraunias, p. 406. 
 
 " Amongst the colourless gems is that called the Ceraunias, 
 which has snatched its lustre from the stars. It is crystalline, 
 tinged with a brilliant blue, and produced in Cannania. Zeno- 
 themis allows it to be colourless, but says there is within it a 
 moveable star. This must be the Girasol Sapphire. Sotacus 
 makes out two more kinds of the Ceraunias, a black and a red, 
 and says that they are like axes in shape, and that fleets and 
 cities can be captured by the aid of the black and round kind,
 
 A HP. MAGIC SIGILS. 48 L 
 
 which are called Betuli ; the long sort, according to him, being 
 named the Ceraunias. They make out also a third variety, 
 excessively rare, and much, sought after by the Magi, since it is 
 only found in places that have been struck by lightning " (Plin.- 
 xxxvii. 51). It is a strange coincidence that in the present day 
 the popular German name for the stone-axes of the Celtic period 
 is " donner-keil," or thunderbolt, which they also believe are 
 only found in places struck by lightning, and to be a remedy for 
 all diseases in cattle. Probably these primeval stone-axes con- 
 tinued long to be used by the Romans in their sacrifices as a 
 relic of ancient religious usages. We find that in the ratifica- 
 tion of a treaty the contracting parties killed the victim, a pig, 
 with a flint " silice percussit." From the very nature of 
 things, and the tenacity of life in the animal operated upon, this 
 "flint" could not have been a mere stone, casually picked up, 
 but must have been sharpened and fitted to a handle, so as to be 
 capable of dealing at once a mortal blow. Hence the saying, 
 "Inter sacrum et silicem stare" to be in harm's way /'. e. 
 standing between the victim and the descending weapon of 
 flint. 
 
 Magic Sigils, p. 444. 
 
 Thetel Rabanus says that " the sigil of a man with a bundle of 
 herbs on his neck, if found on a Jasper, gives the power of dis- 
 tinguishing diseases and stops the flow of blood from any part. 
 This stone Galen is said always to have carried about with him." 
 
 Among the sigils of Solomon we find, " Head, with neck, cut 
 on green Jasper, set in a brass or iron ring, engraved with the 
 letters B. B. P. P. N. E. N. A. Wear this and thou shalt in no 
 wise perish, but be preserved from many diseases, especially 
 ague and dropsy. It likewise gives good luck in fowling. Thou 
 shalt also be reasonable and amiable in all things ; in battle and 
 in lawsuits thou shalt be victor. It helps women in conceiving 
 and in childbirth ; it gives peace and concord and many good 
 things to the wearer, but he must do so in all justice and 
 honesty." 
 
 2 i
 
 482 COLLECTIONS IN PARIS. A PP. 
 
 " Capricorn on Carnelian ; set in a silver ring and carry about 
 with thee. Thou shalt never be harmed in purse or person by 
 thine enemies, neither shall a judge ever pass an unjust sentence 
 against thee ; thou shalt abound in trade and in honour and gain 
 the friendship of many, and all enchantments made against thee 
 shall be of none effect, and no foe, however mighty, shall be able 
 to resist thee." 
 
 Collections in Paris. 
 
 The Fould Cabinet of Gems, so often referred to in this work, 
 has been sold by auction this summer (1860) in Paris, in conse- 
 quence of the death of the proprietor, together with his magnifi- 
 cent collection of antiquities. All the gems of importance and 
 they were many realised the highest prices known in this cen- 
 tury. The Bacchante on Euby, quoted p. 56, was selected by 
 Baron Rothschild, to whom the choice of any one gem had been 
 bequeathed. 
 
 The finest private collections of gems are all now centered in 
 Paris. An excellent authority, who knows them all thoroughly, 
 places at their head the Cabinet of M. Turk ; next that of Baron 
 Roger, now divided between his two sons ; then the Blacas 
 (once the first), and that of the Due de Luynes. 
 
 The Devonshire Gems. 
 
 \Vhilst these sheets were in the press, I have availed myself 
 of the opportunity to spend a morning in glancing over the 
 entire collection of the Devonshire Gems, recently lent by the 
 Duke to the South Kensington Museum, where they have been 
 excellently arranged for the convenience of consultation. The 
 cabinet I found fully to bear out the observation of a connoisseur 
 (whose taste is equal to his experience in this branch of art), 
 that were the choice of any fifty gems to be offered to him out 
 of all the collections of Europe, he would prefer the Devonshire, 
 limited as it is, from which to select them. I therefore subjoin 
 a few remarks upon those that specially arrested my attention 
 in the cursory examination that could be given to so large a
 
 A PP. THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. 483 
 
 number (528) in a single morning : first premising that my 
 judgments upon them are subject to the drawback and the 
 amount of unavoidable inaccuracy arising from the circumstance 
 of having to examine gems that could not be held against the 
 light, nor yet were accompanied by casts, the only compensation 
 possible for such a disadvantage. 
 
 To commence with those inscribed with names (supposed of 
 artists^, in which the cabinet is singularly rich : the actual 
 inspection here of several quoted in Clarac's list has enabled 
 me to rectify Ids notices, copied as they were from various 
 authorities at second-hand. 
 
 No. 1. Theseus standing, regarding his father's sword; a 
 glorious intaglio on a large red Sard ; has the name KA.SCAK 
 divided on each side of the figure, in the huge bold lettering- 
 used on. the bronze coinage of the last times of the Republic and 
 of the early Csesars ; and most decidedly denoting the owner's 
 name, perhaps the "envious Casca" himself, for the work is 
 that of his times the mature Greek style just entering upon its 
 Roman phase. 
 
 No. 27. The M. Aurelius, ascribed to the artist JEpoliau, 
 shows by the magnitude of the lettering of the name, as well as 
 by its Latin form, that it merely designates the owner ; doubt- 
 less some official of that prince, for imperial portraits, accompa- 
 nied by private names, are sufficiently abundant to warrant the 
 conclusion that such an adjunct does not necessarily denote the 
 engraver ; which theory alone must have been the grounds for 
 enrolling .^polianus in the list of ancient Roman artists. 
 
 No. 23. The Achilles Citharoedus of Pamphilus is an antique 
 ruby paste, a cast from an intaglio of considerable size, worked 
 out in a style manifesting much of the Greco-Italian feeling ; 
 the same delicate touch, careful detail, and flat relief, marking 
 the entire composition : differing greatly from the purely Roman 
 manner of the Cupid and Psyche, ascribed to the same engraver, 
 among the British Museum gems. There is, however, a won- 
 derful resemblance in the appearance of the signature .upon 
 both the characters in each equally minute and elegant. 
 
 No. 32. The " Diomede Master of the Palladium," by 
 
 2 I 2
 
 484 THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. APP. 
 
 cut upon a large, white-banded, black Agate, is, as to the design, 
 exactly identical with that of Dioscorides in the same cabinet, 
 and perhaps superior to it as to the actual execution. This may, 
 however, be due to the greater effectiveness of the opaque stone 
 on which it is cut. 
 
 No. 186. The head of Socrates, called the work of Elpenor, is a 
 good bit of Eoman engraving ; bold, and deeply sunk : but the 
 name in conspicuous letters, and running half round the stone, 
 shows, by the prominence given to it, that it refers to the owner, 
 not to the engraver, of the signet. 
 
 No. 18. A pretty bust of a young lady, with her hair wreathed 
 above the head, like Faustina Senior (which, as well as the style 
 of the work itself, fixes its date), has her name, POY*EINA, at 
 the side : perhaps the very same who chose for her signet the 
 singular caprice figured at page 201. This is one of the few 
 good portraits occurring in red Jasper. 
 
 No. 195. Another lady, PAVLINA, represents herself as a dimin- 
 utive figure under the protection of Castor and Pollux, who 
 stand as guardians on each side. The stone seems a Magnet. 
 
 No. 22. A huge Hercules reposing, surrounded by the trophies 
 of his labours : green Jasper, with a long, unintelligible legend 
 in the field, is clearly a Renaissance work, betrayed, amongst 
 other indications, by the mediaeval form of his bow. A most 
 vigorous production nevertheless, and a gem modern pastes from 
 which are frequently to be met with. 
 
 No. 46. This struck me as perhaps the most perfect work 
 amongst this perfect assemblage, a Seated Muse tuning her Lyre : 
 the composition full of the truest Greek taste, treated with vast 
 care, yet retaining no trace of Archaic stiffness ; the whole 
 enclosed in an Etruscan bolder. Upon a large black Jasper, a 
 stone evidently, as before remarked, as much a favourite with the 
 engravers of the best times as the Red was with those of the 
 decline. 
 
 No. 8. A Medusa's head in profile, on brown Sard, shows by 
 its amazing boldness and broadness of touch, a later date of Greek 
 taste, already in its full maturity, and disputes the palm of excel- 
 lence with the gem just described.
 
 APP. THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. 485 
 
 No. 14. Also a glorious group, on red Sard, Scylla destroying 
 a Mariner, but of the best Eoman style. 
 
 No. 5. This is one of the few exceptions to the rule that 
 picture-like compositions never do occur on antique intagli ; for it 
 gives a group of no fewer than six persons, backed by the facade 
 of a temple : a veiled and seated female, attended by a maid and 
 boy, listening to an aged man and a warrior ; the design closed 
 by a youth holding a cornucopia. The work, as well as stone 
 (a fine and large Sard) have all the appearance of antiquity. 
 This gem merits particular attention, both for the rarity of the 
 subject, and as an admirable example of Imperial Koman art. 
 
 No. 28. A seated Victory chained and struggling to rise, her 
 hands bound behind her back, is remarkable for the truth of the 
 action, and the vigour and depth of the engraving. A large, 
 brown Sard. 
 
 The foregoing were selected almost at random from the class 
 of Mythological subjects : but to pass on to the other divisions, 
 we find the series of imperial portraits to include some unri- 
 valled examples. Here, as in many of those above quoted, the 
 dimensions of the gems are especially noteworthy, considering 
 the small size of the mere signet stones to which truly antique 
 works are generally confined. These, therefore, from their 
 importance, must have served some special object, and have 
 commanded for their execution the utmost artistic powers of the 
 age that produced them. 
 
 The list may be headed with (52), Head of Augustus, treated 
 in the Greek manner, in flat relief, upon a splendid red Sard. 
 Of great merit, also, is the. rarely-seen portrait of his successor, 
 but taken when still a young man, on brown Sard, of very large 
 size (196). Two heads confronted, the youthful Caligula and 
 his Mother (38), on the same kind of gem as the last, is also full 
 of life and expression. A smaller head of this prince, from the 
 very peculiar treatment of the hair (expressed by semi-circles), 
 seems to proceed from the same hand as the head (of him as 
 Mercury) in Stosch's Collection, and that figured at page 176. 
 
 It may here be noticed that, by a singular coincidence, the 
 Bacchante (30) appears identical in style and execution with
 
 486 THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. Apr. 
 
 that given in Plate IV. ; indeed, I have slight hesitation in 
 pronouncing both originals, and of the same engraver. 
 
 Besides the paste of Pamphilus above described, another bear- 
 ing the portraits of Nero and Poppeea is remarkable for the 
 extreme beauty and lustre of its colour, even surpassing the 
 finest Emerald which it was intended to imitate. Of the true 
 Emerald there are no less than three antique rings set with 
 oblong and rudely polished stones (171, 172, 175), none of them 
 engraved, confirming Pliny's statement " iis parcitur, scalpi 
 vetitis." The other specimens of antique settings are numerous 
 and important one distinguished for its enormous bulk ; but 
 the most interesting is that bearing cut upon the metal a head 
 of Domitia, and hence probably a ring of office. Another, 
 Etruscan, is covered with elegant and intricate patterns in 
 filigree, and perfectly preserved. 
 
 The camei are quite equal to the intagli in importance, from 
 the beauty of their work, the size and quality of the stones, and 
 lastly, the extreme elegance of the Cinque-Cento mountings, with 
 which several of them have their perfection enhanced and dis- 
 played to the fullest advantage. Of this combination of the ex- 
 quisite taste marking two widely separated epochs of artistic re- 
 finement, a matchless example may be adduced in (292) a head 
 of Diana, in a broad frame, designed as a pendant for a chain, 
 and enriched wiih chasings and enamels in the purest style. 
 Apollo and Diana busts, side by side : a magnificent Roman 
 work, is set in an elaborate and singularly designed framework 
 of interlaced serpents. Another cameo, a head, has a very 
 massy setting of ruder form, and enriched with four large Rubies, 
 a mounting apparently of some medieval jeweller. But, in the 
 point of view of art, perhaps the first place must be assigned 
 to (425) an unfortunately burnt and discoloured Onyx, offering 
 the bust of the Minerva of Phidias in flat relief ; one of those 
 rarest of the rare a cameo, of whose pure Grecian origin not 
 the slightest doubt can assail the mind, if ever so slightly 
 acquainted with genuine productions of that school. This may 
 be confidently put down to the times immediately succeeding 
 Alexander. As an example of what Roman art could produce
 
 An>. THE DEVONSHIRE GEMS. 487 
 
 in this department, we may notice a bust of Cornmodus (488) : 
 a good portrait, though already displaying the stiff manner of 
 the decline ; but the Onyx, of extraordinary quality, its strata 
 rendering the hair in brown, the flesh in a pearly white, and 
 the field transparent; the whole enclosed in the usiial reserved 
 rim. A Vintage-scene : a satyr lifting a nymph on his shoulders 
 to gather the grapes, is well drawn, and singular as being cut 
 in relief upon the Peridot, probably an unique example. Another 
 rarity is an antique gold ring of elegant form, set with a minute 
 cameo, a seated Cupid ; to be added to the scarce instances 
 already quoted of such works actually found employed in ancient 
 jewellery. 
 
 Worthy also of special notice are the works of the Eenaissance 
 here exhibited : some for beauty, others for their historic in- 
 terest. Of these, the earliest and most important is a large 
 oval crystal, about 4 inches wide (390), inscribed with the name 
 of Giovanni del Castel Bolognese ; the subject a lion hunt 
 consisting of many figures ; in the background, a triumphal arch. 
 The intaglio is shallow, of the highest finish and internal polish ; 
 the drawing stiff from its very correctness; and the whole a master- 
 piece of that early period, and the most characteristic example of 
 the school that I have ever met with. The same remark applies 
 to (483), also a Crystal of the same date and of considerable 
 size, a Venus and Cupid, but the drawing more free than in the 
 preceding; and though uninscribed with any name, probably 
 due to Valeric Belli, being altogether in his style. All lovers 
 of works that stand as it were authenticated landmarks in the 
 history of art, will view with the same interest as I did (on its 
 unexpected discovery amongst these treasures), the very me- 
 dallion of Hercules and Antaeus, a gold chasing applique to an 
 oval field of Lapis lazuli, made for one of his patrons by Cellini 
 himself, and respecting the process of executing which he gives 
 full details in his ' Orifeceria.' 
 
 A magnificent cameo of his age is the Judgment of Paris 
 (368), on an immense single-coloured Onyx ; the grouping of the 
 three principal figures is admirable, and extraordinary skill is 
 manifested in the one detached, the Juno unrobing herself, her 
 back being turned to the spectator.
 
 488 
 
 THE DEVONSHIRE UKMS. 
 
 AIT. 
 
 A bust of Oliver Cromwell (255) is evidently a contemporary 
 work, and much in the style of the famous medallist Simon, 
 though it is not stated that he ever worked in gems. 
 
 And to conclude this hasty sketch, the seal (433) deserves 
 notice for its very elegant and novel form, the shank being a 
 coiled serpent rising from an altar. 
 
 Bahyloniim Cylinder.
 
 Fauna playing. Mioolo. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ABLATHANABLA. 
 
 A. 
 
 ABLATHANABLA, 344, 354. 
 Abraxas, 342, 347, 354. 
 Acmon, 235. 
 Adadunephros, 98. 
 Admon, 211. 
 Adonai, 354, 365. 
 Adoni, 268. 
 Adonis, 365. 
 JSgyptilla, ii. 
 -(Elius, 240. 
 Aetites, 404. 
 Africa, province, 172. 
 Agates, ii, 19, 393. 
 
 , German, 12. 
 
 , vases, 85, 87. 
 
 , Ste.-Chapelle, 258. 
 
 Agathangelus, 234. 
 Agilulph, crown of, 28. 
 Aio, 365. 
 Alabaster, 88. 
 Alabandine, 403. 
 Alardus, 26. 
 Alaricus, signet of, 324. 
 Albigenses, 369. 
 Alectorius, 394. 
 Alessandro Cesati, 232. 
 Alexa, 21,!. 
 Alexamenos, 346. 
 Alexander, portraits of, 320, 322. 
 Alexander of Tralles, 434,459. 
 Alexandrians, 302, 341. 
 Allassontes calices, 74. 
 Allion, 212. 
 Almandine, 2 r . 
 Amber, 178. 
 Amethyst, 41, 400. 
 , Oriental, 44. 
 Ammianus, 144, 281. 
 Animonius, 240. 
 Amulets, 349, 358. 
 Amymone, Emerald, 320. 
 Analysis of gems, 100. 
 
 Anathauabla, 344. 
 
 Andreuccio da Perugia, 298. 
 
 Androdamas, 4:3. 
 
 Angels, planetary, 348. 
 
 Anichini, 265. 
 
 Animals, Persian, 139. 
 
 , Etruscan, 169. 
 
 Anspach Collection, 259. 
 
 Antipater, epigram of, 43. 
 i Antiphanes, 259. 
 
 Anthracium, 4. 
 
 Antiquity, tests^of, 188. 
 ; Anubis, 345, 368, 371. 
 Apan, Afzud, 477. 
 i Apistopistus, 46 7, 
 
 Apocalypse, gems of, 428. 
 
 Apollo in car, 331. 
 
 Apollonides, 213. 
 
 Apollonius Tyaueus, 338. 
 , artist, 211. 
 
 Apomyios, Jupiter, lix. 
 
 Apotelesmata, 332, 434. 
 
 Apoxyomenos, xi. 
 
 Apsyctos, 415. 
 
 Apuleius, 366. 
 
 Arabs, types of coinage, 45 2. 
 
 Archaic Greek style, 168. 
 
 Arduisher, 347. 
 
 Areius, signet of, 134, 322. 
 i Arellius Fuscus. 289. 
 \ Aretias, island, 330. 
 
 Aristotle's rings, 281. 
 on gems, 432. 
 
 Aries, 179. 
 
 Arlensis, Petrus, 422. 
 
 Armenian mines, 472. 
 
 Arsinoe, statue of, 57, 192. 
 , crystal of, 93. 
 
 Artashir, Ardeshir, 141. 
 
 Artists' names, 200. 
 , principal, 227. 
 
 Asbeston, 408. 
 
 Aspasius, 213, 240. 
 
 Aspus, 214.
 
 490 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ASSYBIAN GEMS. 
 
 Assyrian gems, 127, 737. 
 Astarte, 129. 
 Astrological gems, 331. 
 Ateius Capito, 277. 
 Athenion, 214, 321 
 Athor, 128, 347. 
 Augustus, 1 60, 249, 305, 332. 
 
 , letter to Maecenas, 320. 
 
 Aulus, 202, 214, 235. 
 Aurelian, head of, 163. 
 Aurifices, 234. 
 Ausonius, 390. 
 Australian gems, 71. 
 Austrian Diamond, 69. 
 Aventurine, 63. 
 Axes, stone, 480. 
 Azara Collection, 261. 
 
 B. 
 
 Baal-zebub, lix. 
 Babylon, mines of, 7. 
 
 , cylinders of, 128. 
 
 Bacchus, lao, 356, 378. 
 Bactrian Greeks, 152. 
 
 , Pali, 477. 
 
 Badoura, Princess, 349. 
 
 Bait, Athor, Achori, 358. 
 
 Balais, 53, 419. 
 
 Balsamus, Barbelus, 355. 
 
 Baphomet, 352. 
 
 Barbarian camei, 198. 
 
 Barier, 272. 
 
 Basilisk, 445. 
 
 Basilides, 355. 
 
 Basilidan stones, 328.. 
 
 Bas-relief, cameo, 183. 
 
 Bat, sigil of, 443. 
 
 Batne, fair of, 3. 
 
 Batrachites, 464. 
 
 Beasts and birds, 443. 
 
 Becker, 272. 
 
 Beetles, 418. 
 
 Beetle-stones, 113. 
 
 Bel, 128. 
 
 Belli, Valerio, 264. 
 
 Berenice, 209. 
 
 Berlin Collection, 259. 
 
 Bernardi, 262. 
 
 Beryl, 38, 398. 
 
 Beryllus, brille, 40. 
 
 Betuli, 480. 
 
 Bigemmeus annulus, 282. 
 
 Birago, 266. 
 
 Bird, caprice, 327. 
 
 Blacas Collection, 261, 482. 
 
 Bloodstone, 17. 
 
 Boniface, Pope, ring, 299. 
 
 Bonus Eventus, 193. 
 
 Borgia, Cesare, 438. 
 
 Borders, Etruscan, 119, 168. 
 
 CHALAZIAS. 
 
 Borgognone, 268. 
 Bracci, 231. 
 Bracteates, 352. 
 Brandenburgh Collection, 259. 
 British Museum, 238. 
 Britons, rings of, 283. 
 Bronte, 465. 
 Bronze, Etruscan, 120. 
 
 rings, 290. 
 
 stamps, 375. 
 Buddha, 150. 
 Buddhist topes, 149. 
 Bufonites, 464. 
 Bulgarians, 369. 
 Bull, Mithraic, 128. 
 Burch, R. A., 274. 
 Burning-glass, 25, 94. 
 Byzantine camei, 196. 
 statues, 293. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cabalistic gems, 370, 442. 
 Cabul, cameo found in, 200. 
 Caerleon, 289, 390. 
 Caesar, Julius, 239. 
 Cairngorum, 94. 
 Caligula, 171. 
 Calcedony, 7, 395. 
 Cameo, 181. 
 
 , mode of wearing, 185, 256. 
 
 , rarity of antique, 190. 
 
 , Renaissance, 187, 189. 
 
 shell, 191. 
 
 Canachus, xii. 
 Canino Collection, 122. 
 Canon of Callicrates, xi. 
 Caprices, 327. 
 Capricorn, 332, 481. 
 Caracalla, heads of, 146, 241. 
 Caradosso, 262. 
 Caraglio, 264. 
 Carbuncle, 21, 404. 
 , cups of, 26. 
 
 , scarab in, 242. 
 
 Carchesium of St. Denys, 8 7. 
 Carlos, portrait of Don, 267. 
 Carnelian, 5, 403. 
 Carpocratians, 303. 
 Castel-Bolognese, Gio. di, 265, 487. 
 Casts, plaster, 384. 
 Caulonia, coin of, 210. 
 Caylus, Recueil of, 468. 
 Cellini, 28, 182, 419. 
 Cerachates, 8. 
 Ceraunias, 406, 481. 
 Cerbara, 165. 
 Cesati, not Cesari, 265. 
 Chaduc, 257. 
 Chael, sigils of, 444. 
 Chalazias, 410.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 491 
 
 CHALCOPHONOS. 
 
 Chalcophonos, 415. 
 
 Chama, 182. 
 
 Charles I, 248. 
 
 Charles V., 256. 
 
 Charlemagne, 70. 
 
 Chaucer, portrait, 317. 
 
 Cheliclonian, 400. 
 
 Chiflet, 467. 
 
 Chimerae, 327. 
 
 Chneph, Chnuphis, 344. 
 
 Chosroes, 148. 
 
 Christ, portraits of, '97, 303. 
 
 Christian gems, 277, 3,2. 
 
 Christodorus, xi. 
 
 Chryselectrus, 416. 
 
 Chrysocolla, 37. 
 
 Chrysolampis, 26. 
 
 Chrysolite, 56, 398. 
 
 Chrysopaston, Chrysoprasion, 417. 
 
 Chrysoprase, 56, 400, 431. 
 
 Cicada, 10, 381. 
 
 Cinsedias, 465. 
 
 Cinnamon-stone, 22. 
 
 Cinque-Cento art, xlvii. 90, 479. 
 
 Citrini, 428. 
 
 Clarac, 469. 
 
 Claudian, epigrams of, 61, 95. 
 
 Claudius Cassar, 279, 455. 
 
 Glaus, 273. 
 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, 276. 
 
 Cleopatra's signet, 43. 
 
 Clusius, 266. 
 
 Coal, Kimmeridge, 98. 
 
 Coin dies, 206. 
 
 Coldore, 252, 253, 268, 478. 
 
 Cologne, shrine at, 184, 303, 312. 
 
 Commodus, 172. 
 
 Comnenus, signet of, 325. 
 
 Conchylia, 297. 
 
 Conical Persian seals, 138. 
 
 Constantine, 163, 315. 
 
 Porphyrogenitus, 309. 
 
 Constantius, Sapphire of, 238, 324. 
 
 Constellation-stones, 335. 
 
 Copper-Emerald, 36. 
 
 Coptic legends, 346. 
 
 Coracica and Leontica, 340. 
 
 Coral, 402. 
 
 Corinthian bronze, 179. 
 
 Corpus Christi College, seals at, 
 
 33- 
 
 Costanzi, 269. 
 
 Cracherode Collection, 239. 
 Crawfish, 380. 
 Critias, 120. 
 Cromwell, portrait, 488. 
 Cronius, 205, 216. 
 Crystal, 90, 411. 
 
 , works in, 267, 419. 
 
 Cuphic legends, 153, 477. 
 Cupids, 377. 
 
 EGYPTIAN PEBBLES. 
 
 Cyanus, 45. 
 
 Cylinders, 125. 
 
 Cylinders, how used, 133. 
 
 Cylindri, Eoman, 37. 
 
 Cypselus, 193. 
 
 Gyrene, gem-engravers at, 29 r. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dactyliomancy, 461. 
 
 Damis, 454. 
 
 Darius, signet of, 320. 
 
 Death, antique representation of, Ixiv. 
 
 Decade rings, 296. 
 
 Decani, 335, 363. 
 
 Decebalus, 146. 
 
 Demetrius Soter, 159. 
 
 Demosthenes, 236. 
 
 Demons, to evoke, 446. 
 
 Denarii, types of, 207. 
 
 Denon, xxi. 
 
 Design, antique, 116. 
 
 Devonshire gems, 246, 482. 
 
 Diadochus, 416, 446. 
 
 Diamond, 67, 392, 419. 
 
 , false, 92. 
 
 , engraved, 266, 269. 
 
 point, use of^ 105. 
 
 Diamyson salve, 372. 
 
 Dies, 202, 321. 
 
 Diomede of Dioscorides, 248. 
 
 Dionysia, 416. 
 
 Dionysius Periegetes, i. 
 
 Dioscorides, 205, 217, 236. 
 
 , naturalist, 473. 
 
 Divining balls, 45 3 . 
 Domenico dei Camei, 261. 
 
 di Polo, 265. 
 
 Domitia, 382. 
 
 Donuer-keil, 480. 
 
 Dordoni, 267. 
 
 Dorotheus, 335. 
 
 Dorsch, 272. 
 
 Doublets, 76, 91. 
 
 Dracontias, Draconites, 465. 
 
 Drill, 105, 107, 474. 
 
 Druids' Bead, 456. 
 
 Dryden, 460. 
 
 Durer, "The Melancholy," 366. 
 
 B. 
 
 Eagle, Sardonyx, 317. 
 
 , intagli of, 418. 
 Ecbatana, 430. 
 Ecclesiazusse, 290. 
 Echites, 465. 
 
 Edward VI., portrait, 253. 
 Egyptian and Assyrian formulae, 346. 
 
 god-rings, 295. 
 
 Egyptian pebbles, 317.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ELAGABALUS. 
 
 Elagabalus, 138. 
 Elephants, obsidian, 64. 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 187, 205, 252. 
 Emeralds, 27, 396, 432. 
 
 GRACCHUS. 
 
 Freedmen, rings of, 287. 
 Freedmen, engravers, 235. 
 Freemasons, 351. 
 French Collection, 255. 
 Front-face, heads in, 1 70. 
 Frog of Maecenas, 3 1 9. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gagatromaeus, 443. 
 Galactites, 411. 
 Galba's signet, 318. 
 Galen, 364, 481. 
 Galitzin Collection, xxv. 
 Galla Placidia, 326. 
 Gallic gold, 283. 
 
 Emery, 107, 474. 
 Enamels, Byzantine, 309. 
 Eu cabochou cutting, 99. 
 Engelhart, 262. 
 Engravers-, list of, 205. 
 Enliydros, 413. 
 Epicurus, portraits of, 323. 
 Epic cycle, 174. 
 Episcopal rings, 297. 
 Epitynchanus, 234. 
 Equites, rings of, 286. 
 Erigone, 377. 
 Ernst Duke of Gotha, xxx. 
 Ethiopian stone, 114. 
 Etruscan scarabs, 118. 
 
 Gallienus and Salonina, 163. 
 Garnets, 20, 191. 
 
 legends, 201. 
 settings, 277. 
 Eucrates, ring of, 25 7. 
 Euripides, 124. 
 Europa, cameo, 251. 
 Eusebius, 106. 
 Eutyches, 218. 
 Evax, king, 390. 
 Evodus, 219. 
 Evre, St., gems of, 258. 
 Execestus, ring of, 45 7. 
 Eye-salves, Roman, 372. 
 
 F. 
 
 Facet-cut gems, 39. 
 Faker-Eddin, coins of, 452. 
 False gems, 92. 
 Farnese, P. L., 419. 
 Felix, 219. 
 Ferouer, 454. 
 Fibula, Roman, 310. 
 Field of gem, 167. 
 Figeac, Chapter of, 236. 
 Figure-rings, 295. 
 Finger-joints, rings for, 280. 
 Fish, figure of, 381. 
 Flamen Dialis, 479. 
 Flint arrow-heads, 114, 471. 
 Flora of Pistrucci, 244. 
 Florentine gems, 260. 
 Foils, ancient use of, 5 8. 
 Folleville, Abbot of, 298. 
 Forms of antique gems, 99. 
 Fortunata's ornaments, 287. 
 Fossil ivory, 59. 
 Fould Collection, 481. 
 Francia, 262. 
 Frangois I., 256. 
 
 Gamier, Bishop, 303. 
 Gaston d'Orleans, 257. 
 Gauranus, 237. 
 Geisa, King, 309. 
 Gelas river-god, 241. 
 Gems of the Greeks, 3 . 
 Gem-engraving, origin of, xxxiii. 
 
 
 Gem-engravers, ancient, 2rr. 
 , modem, 261. 
 Gems, how to exhibit, 245. 
 , subjects of antique, 376, 383. 
 Genesis Imperatoria, 332. 
 Genseric, 137. 
 Geranites, 407. 
 Gere"on, St., 98. 
 Germanicus, cameo, 282. 
 Gimmels, 460. 
 Ginghiaio, 270. 
 Gio. delle Carniole, 261. 
 Girasol, 480. 
 Girometti, 165. 
 Glass, antique, 74. 
 
 Glycera, 82. 
 Gnaeus or Cneius, 216. 
 Gnostic gems, 342. 
 
 stone rings, 176. 
 Gods, jewels of, 311. 
 Goethe on gems, xxiv. 
 Gold, antique, 277. 
 Goldsmith, ancient, 278. 
 Good Shepherd, 353. 
 Gorgon amulet, 377. 
 Gori, 260. 
 Gothicus, Claudius, 282. 
 Graaft, 271. 
 Gracchus, P. V., 313, 361.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 493 
 
 GRECO-EGYPTIAN. 
 
 Greco-Egyptian style, 115. 
 Italian, 162, 206, 265. 
 
 legends, 168. 
 
 Greek and Koinan style, 156. 
 
 language in France, 38^ 
 Griffin, 443. 
 
 Grylli, 327. 
 Guarnaccino, 22. 
 Guay, 272. 
 
 Guilloclie border, 168. 
 Guttu Gutta, 370. 
 
 H. 
 
 Habinna, 287. 
 Hadrian, 34, 74. 
 
 , letter to Servian, 302. 
 Hsematinon, 74. 
 Haematite, 17, 408. 
 Hair on gems, how treated, 159. 
 Halphen's Star of the South, 69. 
 Hancock, 246. 
 Hannibal, 179, 278. 
 Haruspices, Etruscan, 314. 
 Hawk, sacred, 241. 
 Hebrew Jacinth, 155. 
 Heius, 219, 231, 240. 
 Helena, Empress, 218. 
 Helenus, 456. 
 Heliotrope, 17, 406. 
 Hellen, 219. 
 Helmet, Poniatowsky, 203. 
 
 , Constan tine's, 307. 
 
 Hemsterhuis, xxv. 
 Henri IV., 256. 
 Henry VIII. and family, 254. 
 Hephsestites, 407. 
 Heracles, oculist, 372. 
 Hercules, 260, 379, 487. 
 Hermes Psychopompus, 367. 
 Herophili Opobalsamum, 371. 
 Herz Collection, 314, 382. 
 Hexacontalite, 410. 
 Hieroglyphics, astrological, 336. 
 High Priest's breastplate, 134. 
 Hilarius and Patricius, 461. 
 Hilliard, 246. 
 Hindoo gems, f,?, 198. 
 Hoopoe, 443. 
 Hope jewels, 317. 
 Horace, Maecenas to, 319. 
 Hormisdas, 477. 
 Horoscope, 332. 
 Horses, gems of, 18.1. 
 Horse, caprice, M.-S., 329. 
 Host, origin of the, 359. 
 Houses, Planetary, 335, 479. 
 Hungary, crown of, 309. 
 Hyacinth, fleur-de-lys, 50. 
 
 Hyacinthina, 297. 
 Hyacinthus, 44, 399. 
 Hydraulis, xviiL 
 Hydrinus, 427. 
 Hydrophane, 45 7. 
 Hydras, 220. 
 
 Hysenia, Hyseneia, 412,465. 
 Hyllus, 220. 
 
 I. 
 
 lamblichus, to Porphyrius, 346. 
 
 lao, 354, 369, 
 
 laos, 356. 
 
 larchas, rings of, 338. 
 
 Ildabaoth, 348. 
 
 Imperial portraits, 162, 307. 
 
 Indian gems, 149. 
 
 Ink, purple, 297. 
 
 Innocentius, Pope, 3 14. 
 
 Inscription, Camei, 195. 
 
 Instruments, engraving, 107. 
 
 Intagli, antique, 1 10. 
 
 , ancient price of, 320. 
 
 , magical, 443. 
 Invisible, to become, 444. 
 Ionia, Ruby, 53. 
 Ippolito, Cardinal, 265. 
 Iris, 413. 
 
 Iron rings, 284, 478. 
 Isis, 340. 
 Ismenias, 420. 
 Ivory rings, 179. 
 lynx, 453. 
 Ized Arduisher, 347. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jacinth, 22. 
 
 Jacopo da Trezzo, 205. 
 
 Jade, 97. 
 
 , tortoise in, 150. 
 Janus-portrait, 315. 
 Jaspers, 16, 344, 364. 
 Jaspar, or Caspar, Melchior, Baltazar, 
 
 370. 
 
 Jehan, Shah, 200. 
 Jerome to Laeta, 361. 
 Jerusalem, New, 429. 
 Jesus, Name of, 353. 
 Jet, 98, 401. 
 Jews' wedding-ring, 155. 
 Jews' stones, 370. 
 Job, 131. 
 
 Josephine, Empress, xxi. 
 Juba, King, rgz. 
 Judah's signet, 132. 
 Jugurtha, surrender of, 3 1 8. 
 Julian, 293.
 
 494 
 
 JTTL1A. 
 
 Julia Domna, 332. 
 Julia Titi, 382. 
 Julius Caesar, 239. 
 Julius, II., tiara of, 28. 
 Jupiter Olympius, 302, 379. 
 Justin Martyr, 359. 
 Justinian, art under, 293. 
 , Khinotmetus, 197. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kabres, crystal, 444. 
 Kaman, kakaman, 181. 
 Kimmeridge coal, 98. 
 Kings, Three, of Cologne, 184, 370. 
 Kirmanshah, inscriptions at, 142. 
 Knight, Payne, gems of, 239. 
 Knights, Koman, 285. 
 Koh-i-noor, 68. 
 KOINO2, Faun of, 230. 
 Krishna, and Kaduma, 152. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lacedaemonian rings, 286. 
 Lacydes, 290. 
 Landi, 270. 
 Lapidaria, 304, 389. 
 Lapis- lazuli, 44, 427. 
 Latest date of intagli, 369. 
 Lauthier, 257. 
 Legionary devices, 289. 
 Lehman, 266. 
 Leicester, Earl of, 253. 
 Leonardo da Milaiio, 262. 
 Leonardo Camillo, 181, 419. 
 Lessing, 468, 478. 
 Leucachates, 8. 
 Libanus, sects of the, 352 
 Ligurius, 422. 
 Lion, 168, 294, 443. 
 
 's head, signet of Theodoras, 
 
 168. 
 
 Liparaea, 413. 
 Lippert, 108. 
 Lithoglyptes, 228. 
 Little-finger, rings for, 280. 
 Loadstone, 60. 
 Lobster, 432. 
 Locust, 381. 
 Lodovico il Moro, 262. 
 Lollia Paulina, 306. 
 Lorenzo dei Medici, 109. 
 
 , camei of, 243. 
 
 Lotharius, cross of, 305. 
 Ludovisi Collection, 261. 
 Luynes, Due de, 482. 
 Lychnis, 25. 
 
 31. ANGELO. 
 
 Lychnites, 53. 
 Lyncurium, 33, 404, 422. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macarius, 460. 
 
 Machatas, 286. 
 
 Macriana gens, 322. 
 
 Macrinus, 315. 
 
 Maecenas, 24, 211, 319. 
 
 Magi, 418. 
 
 Magical sigilla, 433. 
 
 Magnet, 60, 402. 
 
 Magnifying glasses, r i o. 
 
 Magna Gra^cia, 119. 
 
 Mahomet, " The Persians," 147. 
 
 Malachite, 16. 
 
 Manetho, 335. 
 
 Manicheau gems, 45 1. 
 
 Manilius, 334. 
 
 Marbodus, 389, 432. 
 
 Marcus Argentarius, 316. 
 
 Marchant, 273. 
 
 Maria Honorii, 304, 350. 
 
 Maria Teresa, 270. 
 
 Marius, 285. 
 
 Mariette, 467. 
 
 Mannita, 265. 
 
 Maro, 183. 
 
 Marsfeld, cameo found at, 1 85 . 
 
 Martyrdom, gem, 352. 
 
 Mary, Queen of Scots, 324. 
 
 Masks on scarabs, 124. 
 
 combined, 327. 
 
 hollowed for poison, 278. 
 
 Massanissa, 285. 
 
 Matteo dei Benedetti, 262. 
 
 del Nazaro, 263. 
 
 Matter, Hist. Crit. du Gnostidsnic, 
 
 354- 
 
 Mauricius, 163, 304. 
 Maurice, 268. 
 Mawe, 468. 
 
 Medals set as gems, 292. 
 Medallions, glass, 294. 
 , astrological, 336. 
 Median stone, 40 >. 
 Mediaeval taste, xxii. 
 
 signets, 301. 
 Medusa, amulet, 377. 
 
 , Emerald, 249. 
 
 , black Jasper, 20. 
 
 Mercury, 378. 
 
 Mermaid, 445. 
 
 Mertens-Schaafhausen gems, liii., 383. 
 
 Metrodorus, 390, 403. 
 
 Michelino, 262. 
 
 M. Angelo's signet, 258, 325.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 495 
 
 MILITARY. 
 
 PHILIP. 
 
 Military rings, 282, 292. 
 
 Opthalmius, 414. 
 
 Millin, 470. 
 
 Orai, 348. 
 
 Minerva, 377. 
 
 Oratory of crystal, 264. 
 
 Misuroui, 266. 
 
 Oriental signets, 153. 
 
 Mithras, 128, 338, 365. 
 
 Orites, 412. 
 
 _____ _.p tf\r\ 
 
 Ormuzd, Gnostic, 451. 
 
 
 , symbols, 359. 
 
 Orphanus, 66. 
 
 Mithridates, 321. 
 
 Orpheus, on gems, 389. 
 
 Mnesarclms, 231. 
 
 
 , -/vguie, 19* 
 
 Mogul, ring of, 310. 
 
 , Coral, 423. 
 
 Molochites, 15. 
 
 , Liparsea, 420. 
 
 Monson Collection, 283. 
 
 Osculan at Egmund, 26. 
 
 Monza, iron crown of, 28. 
 
 Osiris in Ruby, 192. 
 
 Moretti, 262. 
 
 Ostia, temple of Castor and Pollux, 
 
 Morio, 23, 183. 
 
 313. 
 
 Mosaic, Egyptian, 74. 
 
 Ostracias, 108. 
 
 Murrhina, 83. 
 
 Ovidian subjects, 165. 
 
 Museum Florentinum, 260. 
 
 Ovum Anguinum, 45 4. 
 
 Myriogeneses Signorum, 336. 
 
 
 Mysteries, Mithraic, 359. 
 
 
 
 P. 
 
 
 Pacorus, 147. 
 
 N. 
 
 Pseanites, 409. 
 
 
 Paederos, 66. 
 
 Nanni di Prospero, 265. 
 
 Pallas, freedman, 288. 
 
 Napoleon's snuffbox, 243. 
 
 Palladius, 313. 
 
 Narses, 144. 
 
 Pamphilus, 232, 240. 
 
 Natalis, 267. 
 
 Panaeus, 222. \ 
 
 Nativity of Rome, 333. 
 
 Pantheros, 414. 
 
 Natter, xxviii., 216. 
 
 Papal rings, 296. 
 
 Naumachius, 48. 
 
 Parmeno's ring, 281. 
 
 Naxian stone, 107, 473. 
 
 Parthian king, 146,448. 
 
 Nechepsos, King, 364. 
 
 alphabet, 476. 
 
 Necromantic sigils, 436. 
 
 Pasiteles, xiii. 
 
 Nemesis, 377. 
 
 Pastes, antique, 72, 194. 
 
 Nero, Emerald of, 34. 
 
 TYii'frif*p'7 "fni" RT 
 
 
 Dortrciit3 i ** r IQ'* ^04- 
 
 Patroclus, 101. 
 
 
 Nico, sorceress, 453. 
 
 Paul II., ring of, 299. 
 
 Nicocreon, 502. 
 
 Paul III, 50. 
 
 Nicolo, ii, 422. 
 
 Paul V., portrait, 268. 
 
 Nicolas de Cusa, 40. 
 
 Pazalias, 222. 
 
 Niger, astrological coin, 337. 
 
 Pehlevi character, 141, 
 
 Niphus, Corax, Bromius, 361. 
 
 Peiresc, 257. 
 
 Noel, Emmanuel, 301, 
 
 Pepin's signet, 325. 
 
 
 Perforated Onyx, 102. 
 
 
 Periapta, 349. 
 
 0. 
 
 Peridot, 5 7. 
 
 
 Persepolitan character, 476. 
 
 Obscene subjects, 1 74. 
 
 Perseus of Cellini, xv. 
 
 Obsidian, 64, 192, 
 
 Persian gems, 131, 145. 
 
 Oculists' stamps, 371. 
 
 Peter, St., crystals of, 263. 
 
 Odescalchi cameo, 193. 
 
 Pescia, Maria da, 325. 
 
 Official rings, 292. 
 
 Petronius, trulla of, 75 . 
 
 Okitokius, 423. 
 
 Petros, 223. 
 
 Omphax, 3. 
 
 Phenician legend, 140. 
 
 Onesas, 222. 
 
 Philemon, 223. 
 
 Onyx, 8, 397. 
 
 Philinnion, 286. 
 
 Opal, 65, 422, 458. Philip's signet, 321. 
 
 Ophites, 456. Philip II., 69.
 
 496 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PHILOOTETES. 
 
 Philoctetes, 156. 
 
 Phloginum, Floginum, salve, 375. 
 
 Phocas, 293. 
 
 Phrygillus, 731. 
 
 Pichler, Ant., 270. 
 
 , John, 273. 
 
 , gem, 269. 
 Pictures, natural, 317. 
 Piso's ring, 277. 
 Pistrucci, 209, 275. 
 Plague, amulet against, 366. 
 Planetary rings, 460. 
 Planets, sigils of, 438. 
 Plasma, prase, 14, 382. 
 Plato, portraits of, how distinguished, 
 
 Iviii. 
 
 Pliny's signet, 147. 
 Poison in rings, 2 78. 
 Polemo, King, 1 7. 
 Polish of intaglio, 104. 
 Polycletus, 232. 
 Polycrates, 10, 291. 
 Pompey's signet, 318. 
 Pomphius, or Pompeius, 184. 
 Poniatowsky gems, 202. 
 Porcelain, 83, 182, 464. 
 Porphyry, 64, 117. 
 Portland vase, 193. 
 Portraits, Greek, 170. 
 
 , imperial, 172. 
 
 Prase, 14, 411. 
 
 Priapus, sacrifice to, 241. 
 
 Primaticcio, 256. 
 
 Procopius, 148. 
 
 Prosa, of Marbodus, 430. 
 
 Prometheus, 284, 417. 
 
 Provinces, heads of, 172. 
 
 Pseudolus, 82. 
 
 Ptolemaic style of art, 114. 
 
 Ptolemy V., gem, 1 15. 
 
 and Berenice, 193. 
 Pyrgoteles, 224, 232. 
 Pyrites, 416. 
 Pyroses, Pirouz, 144. 
 Pyrrhus, agate of, 316. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quattro-Cento gems, 164. 
 
 , artists of the, 205. 
 Quintilian, 280. 
 Quintus, 234, 
 Quirinus, 423. 
 
 R. 
 
 Ragiel, sigilla of, 442. 
 Raspe's Catalogue, 469. 
 Rationale, High-priests, 135. 
 Raven, 432. 
 
 SABDINIAN. 
 
 Ravens and lions, 340. 
 
 Receswinthus, crown of, 308. 
 
 Recoinage of 1816, 275. 
 
 Red Jasper, 1 7. 
 
 Rega, 270. 
 
 Regent Orleans' pastes, 75 . 
 
 Renaissance style, 90. 
 
 crystals, 267. 
 Retouching gems, 104. 
 Rey, 268. 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, xvii. 
 Richard Cceur de Lion, 304. 
 Richelieu, 268. 
 
 Rings burnt with the corpse, 38. 
 of stone, 176. 
 
 of metal, 276. 
 
 , minute and massy, 281. 
 
 , money, 284. 
 Rock-crystal, 90. 
 Roger, King, 300. 
 
 , Baron, 482. 
 
 Roma, on gems, 313, 371. 
 Roman-Egyptian style, 
 
 , inscribed gems, 201. 
 Roromandares, 378. 
 Rossi, 266, 270. 
 Rubellite, 62. 
 Ruby, 29, 52, 250. 
 Rudolph II., 52, 267. 
 Runjeet Singh, 35. 
 Rural subjects, 380. 
 Russian Diamond, the, 6y. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabaco, signet of, 81, 118. 
 Sabao, 348. 
 Sabazius, 365. 
 Sacro Catino, 33. 
 Sagda, 409. 
 
 Salonina's jeweller, 77. 
 Salarnis, satrap of, 146. 
 Samaritans, 352. 
 Samothracian rings, 286. 
 Sandaresus, 63. 
 Santerna, 279. 
 Sapor I., 248. 
 
 , cameo, 199. 
 ! Sapor II., Sardonyx, 142. 
 
 , titles of, 144. 
 
 Sapphire, 46, 49. 
 
 , of Constantius, 304. 
 Sapphirine, 7. 
 Sapphirus, 44, 395. 
 Sappho, 169. 
 Sard, 5, 398. 
 Sardonyx, 9, 397. 
 
 , artificial, 13. 
 Sardinian gems, 123.
 
 41)7 
 
 Sargon, 472. 
 
 Sassanian seals, 138, 141. 
 
 , latest character, 476. 
 
 Saufeius, signet of, 418. 
 Saurites, 463. 
 Scarabs, 113, 121. 
 
 , how set, 122. 
 
 Schwaiger, 267. 
 
 Scipio JSmilianus, duel of, 318. 
 
 Africanus, gems of, 1 2 . 
 
 Scymnus, 225. 
 Seatou, 273. 
 Seleuites, 405. 
 Seleucus, 225. 
 Semes Eilam, 344. 
 Sennacherib, signet of, 137. 
 . Serapis, colossus of, 33. 
 Serapis, 302, 340. 
 Serena, 311. 
 Severe da Eavenua, 262. 
 Shell-camei, 191. 
 Siderites, 48. 
 Signets, famous, 316. 
 Signorum decreta, 334. 
 Silice percussit, 480. 
 Silver rings, 289 
 
 Sassanian coin, 14^. 
 
 Siriam, not Syrian, Garnet, 21. 
 Smaragdus, 33. 
 
 , obelisks of, 36. 
 Smart, 273. 
 
 Sinir, Smyris, 149, 474. 
 Socrates, portraits of, 254. 
 
 , artist, 225. 
 
 and Silenus, Iviii. 
 
 Solinus, 47, 389. 
 
 Solders for gold, 279. 
 
 Solomon, 481. 
 
 Solon, 225. 
 
 Somnus, Ixiv. 
 
 Sonnica, 308. 
 
 Sosthenes, Sosicles, 225. 
 
 Sostratus, 226. 
 
 Sources of ancient gems, r. 
 
 Speckstein, 182. 
 
 Speculum Lapidum, 434. 
 
 Sphinx of Augustus, 319. 
 
 Sphragides, 19. 
 
 Sporus, ring of, 323. 
 
 Steaschist, Steatite, 113. 
 
 Stimmius Amato, 291. 
 
 Stobaj, mines at, 37. 
 
 Stone rings, 176. 
 
 Stosch, 231, 467. 
 
 Strozzi Collection, 260. 
 
 Strawberry-hill gems, 317. 
 
 Styles, Greek and Roman, 172. 
 
 Stymphalian bird, 330. 
 
 Sun and moon, names of, 4:8. 
 
 Surface, false, of gems, 104. 
 
 Swallow, 444. 
 Sybaris, coin of, 119. 
 Sylla, signet of, 318. 
 Symbolum, 82. 
 Symplegmata, 327. 
 Syria Dea, 26. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tabernacles, feast of, 357. 
 Table of Solomon, 33. 
 Tabula; lusorise, 318. 
 Tagliacarne, 262. 
 Talisman, 363, 434. 
 Talismanic rings, 3 70. 
 Tallow-drop cutting, 99. 
 Tauos, 15. 
 Taras, 39. 
 Tassie's Gems, 469. 
 Taverna, 267. 
 Tavernier, 27. 
 Tecolite, 415. 
 
 Templars, gnosticism of, 35 r. 
 Terebinthizusa, 19. 
 Terebra, 107. 
 Terra-cotta, seals in, 81. 
 Tertullian, 360. 
 Tests of antiquity, 101. 
 Teucer, 363. 
 
 Tharros, gems from, 123. 
 Theodosius, jewels of, 307. 
 Theophrastus, 3, 36. 
 Thetel Rabanus, 48 r. 
 Thoth, Priapean, 343. 
 QpLir^Seffra ff<ppayi8ia, \ 24. 
 Thunderbolt, 406. 
 Thynica lima, 1 14. 
 Thyosus, 227. 
 Tiara, 144. 
 Tiberius, 183, 252. 
 
 and Drusus, 25 i. 
 Titus, minute portrait, 171. 
 Toadstone, 463. 
 Topaz, 56, 399. 
 Tortorino, 267. 
 Tortoise in jade, 1 50. 
 Tortures, Mithraic, 359. 
 Tourmaline, 62. 
 Townley Collection, 239, 245. 
 Tragic subjects, 161. 
 Tribune's ring, 282. 
 Tricoloured Agate, 168. 
 Trimalchio, 179. 
 Trinity, representation of, 301. 
 Trinity College Library, 290. 
 Trines, 333,437- 
 Triune deity, 35 8 - 
 Troyes, cathedral, gems of, 303. 
 Tryphon, 38, 233. 
 
 2 K
 
 498 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 TURBO. 
 
 Turbo, magic, 453. 
 
 Turk, M., 482. 
 
 Turquois, 59, 427,433- 
 
 Tuscher, 271. 
 
 Tyrants, portraits of, broken, 176. 
 
 U. 
 
 Udder shaped vase, 368. 
 Unguentaria, 89. 
 Union, 4r4. 
 Universal sigils, 436. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valens, death of, 463, 
 Valentinian, portrait of, 315 
 Valeria gens, device of, 330. 
 Value of precious stones, 33. 
 Vasari's notices of gem-engravers, 205 . 
 Vases, cameo, 193. 
 
 , intagli of, 204. 
 
 , Isiac, 368. 
 
 Vatican Collection, 261. 
 
 Venice glasses, 96. 
 
 Venus, 377. 
 
 Vermeille, vermilion garnet, 2 1 . 
 
 Verres, a gem-collector, 83. 
 
 Verus, L., 382. 
 
 Vesta, necklace of, 311. 
 
 Vetton, 112. 
 
 Vicentino, II., 205. 
 
 Victory, intagli of, 3 70. 
 
 Virgilian subjects, 1 74. 
 
 Virgin Mary, betrothal ring of, 212. 
 
 Virgins, Black, 301. 
 
 Virtus, gold statue of, 313. 
 
 Virtues of gems, 418. 
 
 Visconti, 230, 384. 
 
 Voltaire, portrait, 317. 
 
 Vol terra, alabaster, 88. 
 
 Voluntariae gemmae, 435. 
 
 Vopiscus, 302. 
 Vossius, 296. 
 Vulture, 445. 
 
 W. 
 
 Waise, Opal, 66. 
 Walsingham, toadstone at, 464. 
 Walsh's Gnostic Gems, vi. 
 Water in crystals, 95. 
 Water-Sapphire, 428- 
 Water-spirits, 444. 
 Wax, modelling, 387. 
 Webb Collection, 199. 
 Westminster bell, 294. 
 Wheel, use of, 106. 
 Wickzay Collection, 230. 
 Winckelmann's Catalogue, 467. 
 Wings, Book of, 442. 
 Worm-eaten wood, seals of, 124. 
 Worm Samir, 448. 
 Worship, heathen, decline of, 313. 
 Wray, 274. 
 
 X. 
 
 Xanten, gem found at, 185. 
 Xerxes, signet of, 321. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zachalias, 390. 
 
 Zahara, emerald-mines, 29. 
 
 Zenodorus, 294. 
 
 Zenothemis, 480. 
 
 Ziazia, 427. 
 
 Zodiacal sigils, 437. 
 
 signs, influence of, 479. 
 
 Zoroaster, 403. 
 
 , oracles of, 454. 
 Zosimus, 311. 
 Zumemo lazuli, 427. 
 
 Canopio Va 1 
 
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