.
 
 presented to the 
 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
 by 
 
 CAPT. JOHN SINKANKIS 
 
 C LIBRARY | 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN 
 
 I
 
 THE 
 
 LEWIS COLLECTION 
 OF GEMS AND RINGS 
 
 IN THE POSSESSION OF 
 
 CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
 
 SonDon: c. j. CLAY AND SONS, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 
 AVE MARIA LANE. 
 
 DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO. 
 !rtp>tfl: F. A. BROCKHAUS. 
 gorfc: MACMILLAN AND CO.
 
 THE 
 
 LEWIS COLLECTION 
 
 OF GEMS AND RINGS 
 
 IN THE POSSESSION OF 
 
 CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON ANCIENT GEMS 
 
 BY 
 
 J. HENRY MIDDLETON, 
 
 SLADE PROFESSOR OF FINE ART, DIRECTOR OF THE FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM, 
 
 AND FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; 
 
 AUTHOR OF "ANCIENT ROME IN 1888," "THE ENGRAVED GEMS OF CLASSICAL 
 TIMES, 1891," &c., &c. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 C. J. CLAY AND SONS, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE. 
 
 1892 
 
 [All Rights reserved.}
 
 PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AND SONS, 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 List of illustrations p. 6 
 
 Preface . . .' . . . . . . pp. 7 to 9 
 
 Introductory Essay , pp. n to 43 
 
 Page n, importance of signets, methods of fraud; p. 12, use of badges by 
 the Greeks; p. 13, oldest forms of signet, scarabs and cylinders; p. 15, early 
 Greek signets; p. 16, scarabaeoids and later scarabs; p. 18, portraits on gems; 
 p. 19, representations of sculpture; p. 20, early Roman gems; subjects repre- 
 sented; p. 22, Grylli and Egypto-Roman gems; p. 23, styles of Roman gems; 
 p. 24, Sasanian gems; p. 25, cameos; p. 26, ancient collections of gems; p. 27, 
 characteristics of gems ; p. 28, Greek and Roman styles ; p. 30, detection of 
 forgeries; p. 30, technique of gem-engraving; p. 31, the drill; p. 33, the wheel; 
 p. 34, the diamond point ; p. 36, the file, the final polish and the manufacture of 
 paste gems; p. 38, stones used for ancient gems; p. 39, silica-stones; p. 40, jasper; 
 p. 41, sard, lapis lazuli, and paste; p. 42, ancient rings; p. 43, styles of rings, 
 hollow poison-rings. 
 
 List of works on ancient gems pp. 43 to 45 
 
 Abstract of the Catalogue p. 46 
 
 Descriptive catalogue of the Lewis collection . . pp. 47 to 93 
 
 CLASS A, Gems fixed for transmitted light . . . pp. 47 to 56 
 
 I. Deities pp. 47 to 50 
 
 II. Miscellaneous subjects pp. 50 to 56 
 
 CLASS B, Gems of the Roman period . . . . pp. 56 to 75 
 
 I. Deities pp. 56 to 64 
 
 II. Profile heads pp. 64 to 66 
 
 III. Miscellaneous subjects pp. 66 to 73 
 
 IV. Animals pp. 73 to 74 
 
 V. Egypto-Roman gems pp. 74 to 75 
 
 CLASS C. Gnostic gems and Grylli . .. . . pp. 76 to 82 
 
 CLASS D. Oriental gems pp. 82 to 84 
 
 CLASS E. Christian gems pp. 84 to 86 
 
 CLASS F. Paste gems . pp. 86 to 87 
 
 CLASS G. Cameos pp. 87 to 88 
 
 CLASS H. Modern gems pp. 89 to 91 
 
 CLASS J. Antique rings pp. 91 to 93
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 Fig. i ; Early Assyrian cylinder . . page 14 
 
 Fig. 2 ; Early Phoenician scarab . . . ... page 16 
 
 Fig. 3 ; Hero with bow and arrow ; Greek scarabaeoid of finest style . page 28 
 
 Fig. 4 ; Gem -engraver at work page 3 1 
 
 Fig. 5 ; Late Phoenician scarab page 33 
 
 Fig. 6 ; Lenticular gem, showing tool-marks page 33 
 
 Fig. 7 ; Head of Zeus, finest Greek style page 35 
 
 CATALOGUE OF THE LEWIS GEMS. 
 
 CLASS A, No. 22 ; Standing figure of Athene, from a statue. 
 
 Do. No. 40 ; A winged Victory reading from a scroll ; the signet of Eros. 
 
 Do. No. 48 ; Christ the Good Shepherd, of unusually fine style. 
 CLASS B, No. 1 2 ; Mercury riding on a ram. 
 
 Do. No. 19 ; Aphrodite Epitragia, riding on a ram. 
 
 Do. No. 46 ; Victory of Samothrace, copied from a statue. 
 
 Do. No. 79 ; Portraits of Nero and Poppaea, of fine contemporary workmanship. 
 
 Do. No. 8 1 ; Portrait of Caracalla, with a small figure of Victory. 
 
 Do. No. too ; The death of Capaneus at the siege of Thebes. 
 
 Do. No. 101 ; Victory erecting a trophy ; the signet of Kallistos. 
 
 Do. No. 133 ; Greek warrior at a spring, of fine Greek style. 
 CLASS C, No. 13 ; The Abraxas deity ; a Gnostic amulet. 
 
 Do. No. 17 ; Large Gnostic amulet with the Abraxas and Chnoubis deities. 
 CLASS D, No. 16 ; Portrait of the Sasanian king Sapor the Great. 
 CLASS E, No. i ; The Crucifixion ; a very early representation of this subject. 
 
 Do. No. 2 ; Men in a ship fishing ; of the Christian period. 
 CLASS F, No. 7 ; Portrait of Domitia, in paste ; fine Graeco-Roman work. 
 
 It should be observed that these illustrations represent in each case, not the matrix, 
 but the impression from the gem.
 
 PREFACE*. 
 
 THE large collection of engraved gems and rings 
 which are described in the following catalogue was 
 formed by the late Rev. Samuel Savage Lewis, M.A., 
 Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, during 
 many years which he spent as an enthusiastic collector 
 of ancient works of art of many different kinds t. 
 
 Many of these gems were acquired by Mr Lewis in 
 the course of his frequent journeys into Italy, Greece 
 and more distant Oriental countries. An inscription cut 
 on the modern ring-setting of some of the gems records 
 the place and the date of their acquisition. 
 
 A still larger proportion of the collection was pur- 
 chased from various dealers in Smyrna, Naples, Paris 
 and elsewhere, between whom and Mr Lewis a constant 
 intercourse was kept up. Many times in the course of 
 each year Mr Lewis received from these dealers parcels 
 of gems which were sent to him on approval to select 
 any which he might wish to buy. 
 
 For many years Mr C. W. King, whose valuable 
 works on gems are mentioned at page 45, gave constant 
 help to Mr Lewis in the formation of this collection by 
 
 * I have to thank the Syndics of the University Press for their kind permission to 
 use seven wood-cuts of gems which had originally appeared in my work on The 
 engraved gems of classical times, and also the Council of the Cambridge Antiquarian 
 Society for the use of five cuts of gems in the Lewis collection, which had previously 
 illustrated articles in the Communications of the Society. 
 
 t Mr Lewis was born in 1836: in 1869 he was elected to a Fellowship at Corpus 
 Christi College, and from 1870 he held the office of Librarian. He died suddenly in 
 1891, having bequeathed to his college his whole collection of coins, gems, vases and 
 other objects of antiquarian interest, together with a small but valuable library of 
 books mostly dealing with archaeological subjects.
 
 8 PREFACE. 
 
 his sympathetic encouragement, his discriminating advice 
 and in many other ways. The full value of this assist- 
 ance can only be realized by those who were personally 
 acquainted with Mr King's intense kindness of heart and 
 wonderfully wide range of learning. 
 
 With regard to the general character of the collection 
 it may be remarked that as a rule the gems are more 
 remarkable for their interesting subjects than for any 
 exceptional beauty as works of art. 
 
 Fine gems of the autonomous period of Greelc art 
 are almost wholly wanting from the collection, and by 
 far the majority consist of examples of Roman work 
 of Imperial date. Some of these are, however, works 
 of much beauty and interest, as, for example the fine 
 contemporary portraits of Nero and Poppaea (CLASS B, 
 No. 79), and the very beautiful eikonic head of a Roman 
 lady (CLASS B, No. 78). 
 
 Others, as is indicated in the following Introduction, 
 are of great interest from the fact that they represent 
 important works of Greek sculpture, and a large number 
 of the gems are of value from the way in which they 
 illustrate the myths and the ritual of classical times. 
 
 Among the gems with Christian devices one (CLASS 
 A, No. 48), is of very exceptional beauty and importance, 
 and another (CLASS E, No. i), though very poor as a 
 work of art, is of unusual interest from its supplying 
 what is probably one of the earliest known representa- 
 tions of the Crucifixion of our Lord. 
 
 The Gnostic gems in this collection form an important 
 part of the whole. Some of them, such as CLASS C, 
 Nos. 14 and 17, are exceptionally fine and interesting 
 examples of this curious class of amulets, and together 
 with several others supply a valuable list of the mystic 
 names of the Supreme Deity and the Angels of the
 
 PREFACE. 9 
 
 Aeons to which such strange magical virtues were attri- 
 buted by the credulous and superstitious believers in 
 the Gnostic Faith, which was a fanciful mixture of 
 the Graeco-Roman, the Mithraic, the Jewish and the 
 Christian religions. 
 
 In CLASS G, cameos (or gems cut in relief) there are 
 several fine examples of the work of Italian artists of the 
 Renaissance, when the keen revival of interest in all 
 forms of classical learning and art led to the production 
 of fine glyptic works, of antique style, designed with 
 much grace and executed with an amount of technical 
 skill which is hardly surpassed by that of the best Roman 
 or Graeco-Roman engravers. 
 
 Among the ancient rings (CLASS J) there are several 
 interesting specimens of antique metal-work. One heavy 
 gold ring of late date (No. 16) is noticeable for its dedi- 
 catory inscription ITT dyaffq), followed by the name of 
 the donor who hoped to receive a blessing in return for 
 his offering. 
 
 Regarded as a whole this collection contains much 
 that will be of value not only to the student of the 
 glyptic art, but also to all who are interested in classical 
 learning in the development of Christianity, in the 
 mystic lore of the Gnostics or in the Renaissance of 
 classical art ; and the College of which Mr Lewis was a 
 member may be congratulated on the possession of so 
 large and in many respects so interesting a collection of 
 engraved gems, including examples of many different 
 periods and styles. 
 
 J. HENRY MIDDLETON. 
 
 KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF SIGNETS. II 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 IN ancient times, owing to the fact that writing was either 
 an unknown art or else was practised only by a few professional 
 scribes or members of some sacred priesthood, hard stones en- Use of 
 graved with a name, a badge, or some other device, were of'"-^^' 
 special importance from their use as signets, the impressions of 
 which in clay or wax gave that authenticity and authority to 
 documents, such as royal decrees, contracts, private letters and 
 the like, which at the present day is more usually conferred by 
 a written signature. We frequently read of royal personages 
 delegating their authority to a friend or an official, by lending 
 him their signet, with permission to attach its seal to decrees, 
 which thus gained the validity of a direct royal command. 
 
 The importance which the Greeks attached to signet gems Solon's 
 is borne witness to by one of Solon's laws, promulgated about ' 
 600 B.C., which forbade gem-engravers (SaKTv\ioy\v(f)oi) to keep 
 in their possession an impression of any gem they had sold, for 
 fear lest they should be tempted to make another exactly like it 
 for fraudulent purposes ; see Diog. Laertius, i. 57. 
 
 One common form of fraud in ancient times seems to have Modes of 
 been the manufacture of a fresh matrix by pressing on the sva\-' orgery ' 
 of a document some soft composition, which afterward grew 
 hard and allowed a fresh impression to be made from it exactly 
 like that of the original seal. With the help of this the sealed 
 letter might be broken open and then re-sealed by an unscru- 
 pulous person in such a way as to make detection almost im- 
 possible. 
 
 Hippolytus (Refutatio omnium haeresium, iv. 34) describes 
 the best method of making and using these temporary signets, 
 though he rather needlessly adds that he has hesitated to divulge
 
 12 METHODS OF FORGERY. 
 
 the process for fear lest evil-doers should make a bad use of 
 his information. 
 
 Materials One method, Hippolytus says, was to warm and knead 
 
 s ' together equal parts of pitch, resin, sulphur and asphalt. The 
 
 seal on the document was then to be moistened with an oily 
 
 tongue and the composition gently pressed upon it : when hard, 
 
 this new matrix could be used to make a fresh seal. 
 
 Another method was to make a mixture of two parts of 
 mastic-gum to one of dry asphalt, of wax and of resin from the 
 pine-tree, adding, to give it hardness, a small proportion of 
 finely powdered marble. 
 
 Somewhat similar directions for this fraudulent trick are 
 given by Lucian, Alex. 21, who also mentions another method 
 by which a seal could be cut off and then replaced on the letter 
 which it had secured. 
 
 To provide against a letter being broken open and then 
 re-sealed with a different signet it was not uncommon for writers 
 of letters to mention at the end of their communication what the 
 device was with which they were about to seal it; see Pliny, 
 Epis. x. 74 (16). 
 
 Greek In early time.s, both among the Greeks and the Romans, 
 
 ga ' a special badge (0-77/40, or eViur^oi/) was adopted by each indi- 
 vidual, and used both as a heraldic device on his shield and also 
 on the signet which he used on written documents ; see Aesch. 
 Sept. con. Theb. 384 and 427. 
 
 This badge might be arbitrarily selected by its bearer, or 
 it might have reference to his favourite deity, or again it might 
 be of the nature of what, in heraldic language, is called "canting 
 arms " (Fr. parlant). 
 
 "Canting" Of this latter kind many examples are known, as, e.g. the 
 custom of various members of the Roman Gens T/wria, who 
 used as their badge a bull (taurus) on account of the resemblance 
 in the sound of the two words. 
 
 A probable example of this is mentioned in the following 
 catalogue, CLASS B, No.' 167. 
 
 Among the Greeks it appears to have been more usual for 
 each man to select an arbitrary badge. Of this we have ex- 
 amples in the celebrated inscribed bronze tablets from Heraklea 
 in Magna Graecia, usually known as the tabulae Heracleenses, on
 
 SHAPES OF SIGNETS. 13 
 
 which is a long list of magistrates, the name of each being fol- 
 lowed by that of his distinguishing badge, such as a bunch of 
 grapes, an ear of wheat, a dolphin or some other object. 
 
 In many cases, however, the device on a signet gem had 
 no special appropriateness or relation to its owner, and then it Owners' 
 was not uncommon, especially in later times, for the initials 
 or the full name of the owner to be added in a conspicuous 
 place in the "field "* of the gem. 
 
 During the best Greek period this was rarely done, but 
 owners' names occur very frequently on gems of Roman times. 
 Many examples of this will be found in the following catalogue. 
 
 With regard to the shapes of signet gems it should be Scarabs. 
 observed that the oldest known form of signet is the sacred 
 scarabaeus beetle of ancient Egypt, examples of which exist 
 dating from nearly 3800 years B.C. As a rule the Egyptian 
 scarab is made either of soft steatite or of a paste hardened 
 by fire, and therefore does not, strictly speaking, fall under the 
 head of engraved gems. 
 
 In later times, however, signet gems made of carnelian, agate 
 or chalcedony were largely cut either in the form of the Egyp- 
 tian scarab or else in the modified scarab-shape which is now 
 known as the scarabaeoid; see page 16, and Catalogiie, CLASS D, 
 No. 1 8, and ib. No. 3. 
 
 Next in point of antiquity come the cylinder signets of Cylinders. 
 Assyria and Babylon, the oldest examples of which date, as 
 far as is now known, from nearly 3000 years B.C. Of the 
 cylinder signets only one example is contained in the Lewis 
 collection (CLASS D, No. i); this is a good and characteristic 
 specimen, cut in hard steel-grey haematite. Its device, as is 
 very commonly the case on these cylinders, represents a scene 
 of worshippers adoring an enthroned figure of a deity no doubt 
 the special god whose cult commended itself the most to the 
 owner of the signet. 
 
 Fig. i shows a very fine example of a cylinder of the oldest 
 and artistically the finest class. The vigour of the action and 
 the crisp precision of the modelling show an extraordinary 
 amount of technical skill. 
 
 * The " field " of a gem is the flat, unengraved surface which forms the ground 
 of the device.
 
 ASSYRIAN CYLINDERS. 
 
 One of the commonest subjects on the Assyrian and Baby- 
 lonian cylinders and throughout the whole artistic productions 
 
 Early 
 
 cylinder. 
 
 FIG. i. Impression from an early Babylonian cylinder of the finest style of 
 about 2800 B.C. ; with the name of the owner and his deity in cuneiform characters, 
 between two representations (reversed) of the same subject Gistubar strangling a 
 lion : real size. The original is in the British Museum. 
 
 Favourite of the Euphrates valley represents two winged deities or "cheru- 
 
 subject 
 
 Mode of 
 wear. 
 
 Method of 
 use. 
 
 bim " standing, one on each side of the conventionally treated 
 sacred tree (Horn). In one hand each figure holds a basket 
 full of fruit, and with the other hand he applies a fruit to the 
 branches of the sacred tree. The real meaning of this interesting 
 and constantly recurring subject has only recently been pointed 
 out by Dr E. B. Tylor of Oxford. 
 
 In order to secure a good crop of dates it was (and is still) 
 an annual custom among the dwellers in the valley of the Great 
 Rivers to shake on to the female palm trees pollen from the 
 blossom of the male trees, thus ensuring the fertilization of the 
 fruit. A custom of such importance for the welfare and food of 
 the inhabitants naturally assumed a sacred character, and thus 
 became a favourite subject for plastic art on a large scale as 
 well as for the minute intaglios on the cylinder-signets. 
 
 These cylinders are always pierced longitudinally, so as to 
 receive a woollen cord by which the signet was fastened round 
 the neck or the wrist of the owner. Mr Lewis' cylinder shows 
 the marks of hong wear and constant use, as the hard haematite 
 is much worn down and the device blunted by the many im- 
 pressions it has made. 
 
 The method of using these cylinders was this a lump of soft 
 clay, or in some cases wax was laid on the document or other 
 object which was to be sealed; the cylinder was then used to
 
 GREEK SIGNETS. 15 
 
 roll out the lump into a flat tablet, which at the same time 
 received the imprint of the device engraved on the cylinder. 
 
 The fine clay used for this purpose was called by the Greeks Sealing 
 777 a-riiiavTpls (from <rtj/jiaiv(0 to seal); see Herod, ii. 38. T\\e cay ' 
 same sort of clay was also used for scarabs and other forms of 
 signet; Herodotus (loc. cit.) describes how the Egyptian priests 
 used it to mark with their signets the victims which they had 
 accepted as fit for sacrificial purposes. 
 
 It should be observed that signet gems of all classes were 
 frequently used in ancient times not only to seal documents, 
 but also to close the doors of rooms, the lids of caskets, the 
 stoppers of wine amphorae and for many other similar purposes ; 
 see Aristoph. Thesm. 424 428; Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxiii. 2>; and 
 Horace, Epis. II. ii. 134. 
 
 Various words are used by the Greeks to denote an engraved Names for 
 gem, which was primarily intended for a signet, and usually was Sl & tets ' 
 set in a ring (SaTvXto?). S^poryt?, tyf)<f)o<>, 8aKrv\iKr) tyrj<j)o<; and 
 ?; X/009 (Latin gemma) are all employed with this meaning, 
 though the last of these words did not necessarily imply an 
 engraved stone ; it might mean a simple jewel. An engraved 
 gem set in a gold ring was also called <r$>pa<yl<; %pucroSeT09. The 
 art of gem-engraving was called BaKrv\ioy\v<f)ia or \i6ovp'yiKij, 
 and the act of engraving the gem was y\v<j>eiv (Latin scalpere) 
 whence we have the English phrase glyptic art. Collections of 
 engraved gems were called SafcrvXiodr/Kai (Latin dactyliothecae). 
 The names of the tools used by gem-engravers (8aKTv\to<y\v(j)o<f 
 or \i0oy\v $09, Lat. gemmarum scalptor) are mentioned below, 
 see page 30 seq. 
 
 Among the Greeks of early times, from about the twelfth Earliest 
 to the ninth or eighth century B.C., the signet gems were mainly 
 of a circular bean-like form, what are called lentictdar gems, or 
 else of an oblong oval shape like the lead bullets (glandes) used 
 by Greek slingers and hence commonly known as glandular 
 gems. 
 
 The devices on these archaic gems are usually animals, cut 
 with varying degrees of spirit or clumsiness, and frequently de- 
 signed in a conventional heraldic fashion ; see fig. 6 on page 33. 
 
 These gems were first largely found in the Greek islands and "island 
 therefore were called by archaeologists "island gems," but 
 L. G. 2
 
 i6 
 
 SCARAB AEOIDS AND 
 
 Oriental 
 influence. 
 
 have since been found at Mycenae, Spata, Baphion and other 
 places on the mainland of Greece associated with objects of the 
 Tirynthian and Mycenae type, and also, as at Baphion, with 
 gold cups of very similar style but showing a later development 
 than the very primitive works of art from Tiryns and Mycenae. 
 
 They apparently belong to a more purely native strain of 
 art development than the gems of the next period, the eighth 
 and seventh centuries B.C., which by their scarab form and the 
 style of their devices indicate a strongly-marked Egypto-As- 
 syrian influence which to a large extent appears to have resulted 
 from the extensive Phoenician trade with Greece, and also from 
 
 Scara- 
 baeoid 
 gems. 
 
 FIG. 2. Phoenician scarab of exceptionally delicate workmanship, dating pro- 
 bably from the 8th century B.C. The device consists of various sacred Egyptian and 
 Assyrian symbols, arranged, without regard to meaning, simply as a decorative 
 device. In the centre is the Egyptian god Horus seated on a lotus flower, between 
 two winged cherubim of Assyrian style : at the top is the winged orb of the sun, the 
 symbol of the sun-god Ra. One and a half times full size. 
 
 the establishment of the Greek trading colony of Naucratis in 
 the Egyptian Delta. 
 
 Fig. 2 shows a characteristic example of a Phoenician scarab 
 in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, cut in carnelian. 
 
 During the finest period of Greek art, from the sixth to the 
 fourth century B.C., gems were mostly cut in what is called the 
 scarabaeoid form; that is they have the general form of the 
 Egyptian or Egypto-Phoenician scarab without the details of 
 the beetle's wings and head being cut on the convex back. 
 
 Fig. 3 on page 28 illustrates a Greek scarabaeoid gem of the 
 very finest class dating from the first half of the fifth century, B.C. 
 
 In the fourth century B.C. gem engravers began to use thinner 
 slices of stone than the old scarabaeoid, and this shape lasted 
 throughout the Roman period as the usual shape for gems of 
 translucent character.
 
 LATER SCARABS. I/ 
 
 Some Roman gems are cut in the form of what may be 
 called a reversed scarabaeoid ; that is the back of the gem is 
 flat and the front, on which the device is sunk, is convex or 
 what would now be called cut en cabochon. In the case of 
 carbuncles and other finely coloured transparent stones this 
 thick rounded form increases both the richness of colour and 
 the brilliance of the gem*. 
 
 To a certain extent true scarabs cut in carnelian or other Late use of 
 hard stone were used by the Greeks till the fifth century B.C., SCt 
 but these gems were mostly of Phoenician workmanship, and 
 have devices which combine in a decorative though meaning- 
 less manner the sacred symbols and deities of Egypt and 
 Assyria. 
 
 In Phoenician colonies, such as Tharros in the island of 
 Sardinia, large numbers of these hard stone scarabs are found 
 extending to as late a period as the third century B.C. CLASS 
 D, No. 1 8 in the following catalogue supplies an example of this 
 later kind of scarab. 
 
 Another large class of scarab- gems comes from the tombs Etruscan 
 of Etruria. Like Phoenician scarabs they are mostly cut in scaja s ' 
 carnelian; but the devices on the flat side are not Oriental 
 in style. In most cases the Etruscan scarabs, both in subject 
 and design, show a strong Greek influence, and the finest of 
 these scarabs, dating from the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., 
 appear in many cases to be actually the work of Greek en- 
 gravers, probably made expressly for the Etruscan market. 
 
 The method of setting scarab-gems for use in signet-rings Setting of 
 was unlike that employed for the thinner forms of stone. The 
 scarab is drilled longitudinally with a hole to receive a gold 
 wire which formed part of the hoop of the ring and acted as 
 a swivel on which the stone could revolve. 
 
 When worn on the finger the scarab was turned with its flat 
 side inwards, but when taken off to use as a seal the scarab 
 
 * Both the Greeks and the Romans, and in fact all gem-cutters down to the 
 fifteenth century A.D., used the rounded cabochon form for all unengraved, ornamental 
 jewels. The modern system of cutting jewels into many facets gives increased bril- 
 liance or "fire", but at the expense of depth and beauty of colour. As a rule, for 
 decorative purposes the rounded form is best for any stone except the diamond. The 
 gem-cutters of India and other Oriental countries still mainly adhere to the old system, 
 and with excellent results. 
 
 2 2
 
 i8 
 
 PORTRAITS AND 
 
 Period of 
 ' 
 
 Graeco- 
 Roman 
 gems. 
 
 Portraits 
 on gems. 
 
 Alexander. 
 
 Portraits 
 of the 
 Emperor. 
 
 Philo- 
 sophers. 
 
 was made to revolve so that the flat side with the engraved 
 device was brought outwards. 
 
 During the Alexandrine period and later the character of 
 Greek gems, like that of other works of art, changes very 
 much ; the type of figure becomes softer and more feminine 
 in beauty, Homeric scenes are no longer represented, and deities 
 such as Aphrodite or Dionysus, with subjects relating to the 
 theatre or musical contests, become the favourite motives for 
 representation. 
 
 Greek gems of this later period and good Graeco-Roman 
 work of the time of the early Roman Empire are usually almost 
 indistinguishable, either in workmanship or in subject. This is 
 frequently the case even with large sculpture in marble, and with 
 work so minute as that of the gem-engraver it is harder still to 
 arrive at any certainty. 
 
 With the time of Alexander portraits appear for the first 
 time on gems: a little earlier, that is, than the introduction of 
 coin-portraits, which commence with the Diadochi, Seleucus I. 
 King of Syria, and Ptolemy I. of Egypt. Lysimachus of 
 Thrace used on his coins, instead of his own portrait, a mag- 
 "nificent head of the deified Alexander, an idealized portrait of 
 the noblest type. 
 
 Though Alexander never committed the impiety of placing 
 his own head in the place of that of a deity on his coins, he 
 employed the celebrated Pyrgoteles to engrave it upon gems 
 using for that purpose an emerald, according to Pliny, Hist. Nat. 
 XXXVII. 8*. 
 
 In Roman Imperial times portraits were very frequently 
 cut on gems, especially that of the reigning Emperor, which 
 was commonly worn by his courtiers as a compliment to 
 him. 
 
 Portrait heads of Greek philosophers were also very largely 
 worn by the Romans in their rings: Cicero (De Fin. V. i) 
 ridicules the Epicureans for their habit of using their master's 
 head as a signet. Heads of Socrates and Plato are specially 
 common on gems ; see CLASS B, Nos. 70 and 71 in the following 
 catalogue. 
 
 * For an account of Pyrgoteles and other ancient gem-engravers, see Middleton, 
 Engraved Gems, chap. vi. and vii.
 
 STATUES ON GEMS. 19 
 
 Pliny (Hist. Nat. XXXIII. 41) tells us that a portrait of Courtiers 1 
 Claudius in a gold ring was worn as a sort of entrance ticket rtng3 ' 
 by those privileged persons who had the right of access to 
 the Imperial presence. 
 
 The later Greek and Graeco-Roman gems are in many cases Statues 
 of exceptional value and interest from the fact that their device on 8 em 
 represents some important work of Greek sculpture in some 
 cases one which can be identified by descriptions as being some 
 celebrated, but now lost statue or group. Thus, for example, 
 a gem in the Lewis Collection, CLASS D, No. 19 appears to 
 be copied from the famous bronze statue of Apollo holding a Apollo of 
 stag by its fore-legs, at Branchidae by the sculptor Kanachos of 
 Sicyon, who worked in the early part of the fifth century B.C., 
 see Proceed. Soc. Ant. 2nd series, Vol. XI. p. 253*. 
 
 CLASS B, No. 46 is interesting for its representation of the 
 famous Victory of Samothrace and many other gems in the 
 following catalogue are noted as showing the design of celebrated 
 Greek or Graeco-Roman statues. 
 
 Another gem not in this Collection (Brit. Mus. No. 722) has 
 a representation of the Apollo Sauroctonos of Praxiteles, of 
 which several ancient copies exist both in bronze and marble; 
 and (Brit. Mus. No 790) a badly cut gem of late Roman date, is 
 interesting for its group of Aphrodite and Ares with Eros at Mars and 
 their feet a noble Greek design of probably the third century 
 B.C., of which more than one Roman copy in marble still exists^. 
 
 It should, however, be observed that gems which bear 
 designs copied from important works of sculpture are in most 
 cases productions of the Roman Imperial period, when the 
 decay of good taste and judgment allowed designs to be cut 
 on gems which were quite unsuited for such a purpose. 
 
 The reasons for this unsuitability are obvious; in the first Requisites 
 place a design of high merit must be specially suited to the 
 scale on which it is meant to be executed, and therefore no 
 
 * The finest extant representation of this celebrated statue is on an engraved paste 
 gem in the collection of Mr A. J. Evans at Oxford. 
 
 t This is the motive of the group to which the Aphrodite of Melos is supposed by 
 some writers to have belonged. The Capitoline Museum possesses a rather ludicrous 
 copy, in which the heads of Ares and Aphrodite are replaced by those of Hadrian and 
 his wife Sabina.
 
 2O 
 
 EARLY ROMAN GEMS. 
 
 Greek 
 artists in 
 Rome. 
 
 The ring 
 of Scipio. 
 
 Deities 
 on gems. 
 
 design could be greatly enlarged or diminished without a serious 
 loss of beauty and fitness. Again, a gem design, being a variety 
 of bas-relief, should be most strictly kept to- one plane, quite 
 unlike the natural composition of a piece of sculpture in the 
 round; and, last of all, in copying a statue it was usually im- 
 possible to make the design occupy the field of the gem in that 
 complete way which was thought so desirable by the engravers 
 during the best period of Greek art. 
 
 As is the case with the other arts, the best " Roman gems" 
 are Greek either in design or workmanship, if not in both. 
 The finest gems under the Empire were produced by Greek 
 engravers, in some cases probably slaves or freedmen, or else 
 by Romans who were Greeks by training. 
 
 There are however a very large number of gems of inferior 
 style which can be called Roman in a fuller sense of the word. 
 Under the Republic the use of engraved gems by the Romans 
 seems to have been comparatively limited partly, no doubt, 
 on account of sumptuary laws, written and unwritten, like those 
 which so strictly limited the jus annuli aurei during the early 
 days of Rome. 
 
 A very characteristic example of a Roman gem is that in 
 a signet-ring (formerly in Lord Beverley's collection*) which 
 can be dated about the year 300 B.C. owing to its having been 
 found in the great peperino sarcophagus (now in the Vatican) 
 of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus who was consul in 298 B.C. 
 This is a gold ring set with a sard on which is cut, in a dry, 
 wiry manner, a standing figure of Victory, winged and holding 
 a palm-branch. The same figure treated in a similar way 
 occurs on a very large number of Roman gems : CLASS B, 
 No. 47 in the Lewis collection is a good typical example of 
 the design, and of the style of the early Roman gem-engravers 
 generally. 
 
 The most frequently recurring subjects on Roman gems of 
 this class are figures of Jupiter enthroned (see Lewis collection, 
 CLASS B, Nos. I to 3) Minerva, Juno and other deities such as the 
 Dioscuri, who were specially worshipped in Rome and are repre- 
 
 * This historical ring was inherited, with the rest of Lord Beverley's gems, by 
 Mr Heber Percy, and has since been purchased by the Duke of Northumberland ; it 
 is preserved, with the rest of the Percy collection, at Alnwick Castle.
 
 DEITIES AND PORTRAITS. 21 
 
 sented on the earliest of the Roman denarii. Another very 
 favourite subject is the goddess Roma, enthroned a type which 
 was adapted from certain Greek representations of Athene, as, for 
 example, that on the tetradrachms of Lysimachus with the head 
 of the deified Alexander on the obverse ; see Lewis collection, 
 CLASS B, No. 55. 
 
 Most of the Roman deities are represented in forms taken Greek 
 from Greek art Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, the great triad of^ es ' 
 early Latin worship, have the dress and the symbols of Zeus, 
 Hera and Athene: and it only rarely happens that any deities 
 are represented in a more native and un- Hellenic fashion. One 
 of these exceptional cases of a native Italian deity, who some- 
 times occurs upon gems and coins of the republican period, is Latin 
 Juno Sospita with a serpent by her side, wearing a head-dress e 
 made of goat's skin the special cultus-deity of Lanuvium. 
 
 Under the Roman empire, gems of all kinds, cut on a great 
 variety of stones, and with every degree of excellence of work- 
 manship, were extremely common. 
 
 Apart from the Graeco-Roman gems, which had little or Portrait 
 nothing about them that was really Roman, the finest class sem 
 is on the whole that with portrait heads either of the Emperor 
 or some member of the Imperial family, or else that of the 
 private owner of the gem; a large number of this latter class 
 must have been engraved for wealthy Romans, judging from the 
 frequent occurrence of well executed portraits, which cannot now 
 be identified. Even these portraits of Romans are in many 
 cases evidently the work of Greek artists, as their noble and 
 refined treatment clearly shows; see CLASS B, Nos. 78 and 79. 
 
 Under the Empire, as the old restrictions with regard to Cheap 
 wearing rings gradually passed away, enormous quantities oi sem 
 cheap gems seem to have been engraved. Among the common- 
 est subjects are single figures of the various deified abstractions, 
 which the Romans invented very freely, and also adapted from 
 the Greeks. 
 
 Figures of Salus with her serpent, Fortuna with cornucopiae 
 and rudder, Abundantia, Indulgentia, Felicitas, Bonus Eventus 
 and many others are constantly repeated on the inferior Roman Roman 
 gems, in exactly the same forms as on the reverses of the 
 Imperial denarii and aurei. The Lewis collection contains a
 
 22 
 
 GRYLLI AND EGYPTO-ROMAN 
 
 Grylli. 
 
 Antiphilos, 
 
 Egyptian 
 deities. 
 
 Astrologi- 
 cal gems. 
 
 large number of this class of representation. The older deities, 
 such as Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Roma and others are no less 
 common, and have the same close relation to the reverse types of 
 Roman coins. 
 
 Another favourite Roman device for signet-gems is some 
 form of what is usually called a gryllus, a composite monster 
 made up with much ingenuity by joining together masks and 
 various animals: see Lewis collection, CLASS C, Nos. 24 to 30. 
 
 According to Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxv. 114) the famous 
 Graeco-Egyptian painter Antiphilos, who executed a number 
 of fine pictures which were brought to Rome to adorn the 
 Porticus of Philip and that of Pompey in the Campus Martius, 
 also painted a ludicrous figure known as the Gryllus. Hence, 
 Pliny says, the name grylli was given to pictures of that comic 
 class. The word also means a grass-hopper or a cricket. It is 
 still used in modern Italian for fanciful and grotesque figures. 
 
 In the first century A.D. Pliny says (Hist. Nat. XXXIII. 41), 
 the fashion came in to Rome of wearing gems engraved with 
 a figure of Harpocrates or some other Egyptian deity. Among 
 the many new sects which flourished under the Roman Empire, 
 that of the worship of Isis and Serapis was the most popular; 
 and even as early as the time of Augustus it was an important 
 cult in Rome. A large number of Romano-Egyptian Gems now 
 exist: see Lewis collection, CLASS B, Nos. 170 to 181. Figures 
 of Horus or Harpocrates, the god of Silence, of which CLASS C, 
 Nos. i to 4 and 12 in the same collection are good examples, 
 were much used for signets, probably as a hint for discretion and 
 silence with regard to the contents of the letter or other docu- 
 ment that they were used to seal*. 
 
 Astrological gems, engraved with a lucky horoscope, were 
 also very largely used under the Roman Empire, when super- 
 stitions of all kinds were specially rife. 
 
 In the second and third centuries A.D. Mithraic and Gnostic 
 types were very common; especially gems engraved with the 
 mystic sun-god Abraxas and the Demiurgus Cnoubis: see Lewis 
 collection, CLASS C, Nos. I to 23. 
 
 * A mediaeval analogy is the common type of seal engraved with the words 
 'lecta tege : tecta lege."
 
 GEMS AND TALISMANS. 23 
 
 These and many other devices were highly valued through- Talismans 
 out the Imperial period as having talismanic or magical powers ^" tt( / e(s . 
 of protection and good luck ; the power of the talisman de- 
 pending partly on the device, partly on the stone it was cut 
 upon, and lastly on the season or planetary hour when the gem 
 was engraved. Such gems were called by the Greeks TereXeo-- 
 yu-ei/ot or (frappaKtrai, and amuleta by the Romans ; see Pliny, 
 Hist. Nat. xxxvu. 1 1 8. 
 
 The Lewis collection is especially rich in gems of the Gnostic 
 class, many of which are inscribed with mystic names and phrases 
 of supposed magical power. 
 
 With regard to the dates of Roman gems, the finest, both Various 
 in intaglio and in cameo, were prodticed under Greek influence,^ ' 
 if not by Greek artists during the Augustan age. It is notice- 
 able, as has been already remarked, that in many cases fine 
 gems of the Roman Imperial period are engraved with copies 
 of statues, whereas during the best Greek time the designs 
 on gems were specially devised for glyptic purposes. During 
 the Flavian period the work was, as a rule, inferior in style 
 and coarser in execution*; but a few years later, in the time 
 of Hadrian, there was a remarkable revival both of good 
 taste and of technical skill, which came to a very sudden end 
 about the close of the second century A.D. in the reign of 
 Septimius Severus. 
 
 The rapid decadence of all the fine arts, which took place 
 during the second half of the second century A.D., appears to 
 have been largely due to that fearful plague which devastated Effect of 
 the Roman world in the reign of Marcus Aurelius ; see Niebuhr, e P a S ue 
 Lectures on Ancient History, Vol. ii. p. 53 seq. A very similar 
 blow to the arts of England was given by the Black Death 
 about the middle of the fourteenth century, but no other period 
 quite equals the reign of Severus for the completeness and 
 rapidity of the artistic decay which then commenced. 
 
 After that, the decadence of gem engraving, like that of the Coins set 
 other arts, continued without intermission. Hence arose, in '" 
 the third or fourth century, the not uncommon fashion of wear- 
 
 * The portrait of Julia the daughter of Titus by Euodos, in the Paris Bibliotheque, 
 is a remarkable exception to this rule. This is a magnificent portrait head, cut on a 
 large and brilliant aquamarine, a pale variety of the beryl or emerald.
 
 24 LATE ROMAN GEMS. 
 
 ing in rings and other ornaments fine gold coins (anrci} of the 
 earlier Emperors, instead of a badly engraved contemporary 
 
 Decadence, gem, a custom which was imitated by people of Celtic and 
 Teutonic race in much later times. 
 
 This however did not bring the engraving of gems to an 
 end : the art still was largely practised, though the old skill was 
 lost, both in technique and design. 
 
 Byzantine By the time of Constantine, at the beginning of the fourth 
 1 ' century, gem engraving in Rome had, like all the other arts, 
 sunk to its lowest ebb; and the craftsmen of Byzantium, skilful 
 as they were in enamelling and working in the precious metals, 
 seem not to have very largely developed the glyptic art, even 
 during the wonderful outburst of technical skill and artistic 
 excellence which took place in the time of Justinian, in the 
 early part of the sixth century A.D. 
 
 Christian Christian gems of the Roman period are, as a rule, of very 
 poor workmanship. 
 
 The commonest subjects are Christ the good Shepherd, 
 represented after the old pagan types of Hermes Psychopom- 
 pos or Orpheus playing to the listening beasts subjects which 
 frequently occur among the early Catacomb paintings. The 
 Christian monogram . , the dove and olive branch, and other 
 symbols of this kind were very often cut on gems of the 
 fourth and fifth century; see Lewis collection, CLASS E. 
 
 One of Mr Lewis' gems (catalogued in CLASS A, No. 48) 
 is a very exceptionally fine example of a gem with a Christian 
 design ; most gems of this type are very inferior as works of art 
 to this remarkable sard. 
 
 Gems of the Sasanian period. 
 
 Sasanian During the lowest period of artistic decadence in Rome, a 
 great many large but feebly cut gems were executed in Persia 
 under the successors of the Achaemenidae, from the third 
 century A.D. down to the Moslem conquest of Persia in 632. 
 The finest of these have portrait busts of the king, frequently 
 a Shapur or a Hormizd, or of the Queen, with name and titles 
 in Pehlevi characters. The name Sasanian is derived from a
 
 SASANIAN GEMS AND CAMEOS. 25 . 
 
 man called Sasan, a supposed ancestor of Ardashir, the first Origin 
 king of this dynasty, who began to reign about 212 A.D. 
 
 In the Lewis collection, CLASS D, No. 16 is a specially fine 
 example of a Sasanian royal portrait gem. 
 
 The Persian gems of this period are frequently large and 
 decorative in style, though poor in the details of the design 
 and coarsely cut. A great part of their beauty depends on 
 the fact that usually they are cut on carnelian, rock crystal, Materials 
 amethyst or carbuncle of very fine and brilliant quality. In a " d f rms 
 most cases the gems are convex, either in front or at the back. 
 
 The annular and the hemi-spherical forms were commonly 
 used in Persia, even at this late period, especially when the 
 material employed was chalcedony or bloodstone. The Lewis 
 collection contains many examples of these late Persian signets 
 executed at a period of extreme artistic decadence; see CLASS 
 D, 4 to 14. 
 
 Cameos or gems cut in relief (ectypae). 
 
 In addition to the usual signet-gem with its device sunk Gems cut 
 (intaglio di cavo}, there were, especially under the Roman "' 
 Empire, a certain number of gems cut in relief, which were in- 
 tended, not for impressing seals, but for use as ornaments. This 
 is what is meant by the modern word cameo*, a name which is 
 probably of Arabic origin. Such works in relief were included 
 by the Greeks under the name TVTTOI eyyey\v/j,fji,evoi, and were 
 called by the Romans ectypae words, which, however, were Ectypae. 
 applied to reliefs in metal and other materials as well as to 
 cameo gems. 
 
 Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxvil. 173) describes certain stones as 
 being especially suited for cameo cutting " Gemmae quae ad 
 ectypas scalpturas aptantur." One of the earliest examples 
 of the mention of a ring-cameo by a classical author is in a 
 passage of Seneca (De Benefidis, III. 26), who speaks of a man 
 wearing a cameo portrait of the Emperor " Tiberii Caesaris 
 imaginem ectypam atque eminente gemma." 
 
 The earliest cameos are mostly cut in sard, carnelian or Cameos 
 some other stone of homogeneous colour, but the later cameos m 
 
 * In mediaeval documents spelt also camahutum, c/iamah, camaut, camahieu and 
 in many other ways.
 
 26 DACTYLIOTHECAE. 
 
 of Roman date are mostly cut on some stratified stone, such 
 as the onyx or sardonyx, in order that the design may be 
 cut in one stratum, and be set off by having its background of 
 another colour. 
 
 One of the most important classes among the Roman 
 cameos consists of large, full-faced heads, usually of Medusa or 
 Jupiter, carved in a thick piece of onyx or chalcedony, and used 
 Phalerae to ornament the phalerae in the middle of the bronze cuirass 
 eos ' of an emperor or general of an army. The Medusa's head was 
 often inlaid in the aegis which formed a principal ornament 
 on the Imperial cuirass. A very good example of this is con- 
 tained in the Lewis collection, CLASS G, No. I ; it is perforated 
 with holes for attachment to its bronze background. 
 
 Ancient collections of engraved gems (dactyliothecae). 
 
 Many of the wealthy Romans formed cabinets of engraved 
 gems, containing examples both of antique and contemporary 
 workmanship, but the gems which were thought worthy of 
 the dactyliotheca were probably the work of Greek not Roman 
 artists. 
 
 Ring of Pliny (Hist. Nat. XXXVII. 4) mentions the dedication by the 
 
 Polycrates. Emperor Augustus in the Temple of Concord in the Roman 
 Forum of a gold horn containing a sardonyx, popularly supposed 
 to be the original gem which Polycrates, Tyrant of Samos, in 
 vain threw into the sea to appease his Nemesis : older records 
 however tell us that this celebrated stone, engraved by Theo- 
 dorus of Samos, was an emerald ; see Herod. III. 39 seq. The 
 Temple of Concord contained an important collection of gems, 
 among which the so-called " ring of Polycrates " made, Pliny 
 tells us, but a poor figure. 
 
 Gems of The earliest gem collector, Pliny says (Hist. Nat. XXXVII. 1 1), 
 
 Scaurus. was ^ Aemilius Scaurus, the stepson of Sulla ; a man of 
 enormous wealth, whose temporary theatre, built during his 
 aedile-ship in 58 B.C., was one of the costliest and largest build- 
 ings in Rome. 
 
 Gems of The next collection of Greek gems brought to Rome was 
 
 ompey, fa^ which had belonged to Mithradates, and was dedicated in 
 
 the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter by Pompey the Great, whose
 
 STYLES OF GEMS. 27 
 
 victory and its consequent spoils created, Pliny says, the taste 
 for gem-collecting in Rome (Hist. Nat. XXXVII. 12). 
 
 Pliny also mentions that Julius Caesar gave a collection of Caesar's 
 ring-gems (dactyliotliecd) to the temple of Venus Genitrix, which sems ' 
 he built in the centre of his new Forum Julium. Suetonius also 
 tells us (y. Caes. 47) that Julius Caesar was always ready to give 
 high prices for gems which were the work of any of the famous 
 old Greek engravers. 
 
 Marcellus, the favourite nephew of Augustus, dedicated Gems in 
 another collection of gems in the Temple of Apollo on the ^/Apollo * 
 Palatine Hill the most magnificent of the many public build- 
 ings with which Augustus enriched the city of Rome ; see Pliny, 
 Hist. Nat. xxxvn. u. 
 
 It was not, however, till comparatively late times that 
 engraved gems were regarded as objects to place in a collec- 
 tion of works of art or even to set in jewellery as personal 
 ornaments. Their real use was for long a purely practical one, Seals used 
 that of signets, either to give authority to a document, or else, as lockSf 
 instead of a lock, to secure doors, box-lids and the like. 
 
 The styles and characteristics of antique gems. 
 
 With regard to the style of ancient gems it should be ob- 
 served that the design on Greek gems of the best period is Greekstyie. 
 always suited most exactly to the size and the shape of the 
 stone it is cut upon. Great skill is shown in making the figure 
 occupy as fully as possible the " field " or flat surface of the 
 stone, so as to leave the least possible quantity of empty margin. 
 In gems of archaic style, executed in the sixth century B.C., this 
 principle is sometimes carried rather too far, and the figures are 
 occasionally bent into somewhat strained attitudes in order to 
 bring them within and yet close up to the curved limits of the 
 field. But in the best work of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. 
 the highest skill and taste are shown in designing the com- 
 position so as to fall easily and gracefully within the necessary 
 boundary lines. 
 
 Fig. 3 shows a good example of this, a Greek scarabaeoid Finest 
 gem of the most beautiful workmanship and a perfect marvel o 
 skill in the rendering of the muscles. It represents an archer
 
 28 GREEK STYLE. 
 
 Finest feeling the point of one of his arrows. He wears long hair, tied 
 up behind his head like the marble statues of athletes, which 
 
 FIG. 3. Greek scarabaeoid of the best period of art about 480 460 B.C., and of 
 the finest workmanship: one and a half times full size. In a private collection. 
 
 have recently been found on the Athenian Acropolis among the 
 debris caused by the Persian sack of Athens. The general 
 design of the figure and the modelling of the nude flesh are 
 magnificent in style, combining truth to nature with nobility of 
 treatment in a way that could hardly be surpassed even in work 
 on a much larger scale. As an example of largeness of style 
 combined with extreme minuteness and accuracy of detail, 
 nothing could surpass this wonderful scarabaeoid. 
 
 Large Gems of the Roman period are very inferior in this respect 
 
 \argin. ^ Q fa ose o f fa e best Greek engravers. As is the case with the 
 Roman coin reverses, the design by no means always fills up or 
 fits the stone on which it is cut. A considerable amount of 
 plain margin is left, and this is also the case with gems of the 
 Renaissance and modern times. Again the best Greek gems 
 are remarkable for the delicacy of their " relief," the sinking 
 being usually very slight and yet vigorous in effect, treated in 
 the most skilful way, with admirable spirit and delicacy of 
 
 Slight touch. This shallowness or, more correctly, flatness of relief* 
 tM S' (French mfylaf) is one of the most striking characteristics of 
 early Greek intaglio and relief work of the best period. The 
 figure is not treated like a statue sawn in half and then applied 
 to a background, but, like the best Florentine reliefs of the I5th 
 century, is modelled with a peculiar delicacy of surface, and more 
 
 stilted relief than actually exists is, as it were, suggested. In some 
 
 intaglio. cases the edges of the Design are, what is called " stilted," that is 
 
 * The word 'relief is used as referring to the impression from the gem, not to the 
 intaglio itself.
 
 ROMAN STYLE. 29 
 
 to say the intaglio or relief outline is bounded by a flat rim at 
 right angles to the ground, as if the whole figure had been 
 slightly pushed out from behind, so that the depth of sinking at 
 the outline is nearly as deep as in the central part of the figure. 
 
 Roman gems on the other hand are frequently very deeply 
 cut, giving an excessive roundness .of form in the impression, far 
 inferior to the delicate sinking of the finest Greek gems. 
 
 It should also be observed that many Graeco-Roman and Copies of 
 Roman gems are copied from some large work of sculpture, s "' l P ture - 
 which is frequently quite unsuited for reproduction on a small 
 scale ; whereas fine Greek gems have their design exactly suited 
 to the minute scale on which they are executed, and never look 
 like a reduced copy of a larger work. 
 
 Another point in which Roman gems are inferior to those of 
 the Greeks is that they are sometimes treated in a pictorial Pictorial 
 manner, with an attempt to suggest different planes in the com- sty 
 position. This class of gem has often a too elaborate and 
 crowded composition, unlike fine Greek gems, which are always 
 simple in design and have, as a rule, not more than three 
 figures at the most. In fact a single figure is most commonly 
 used on Greek gems of the best period. 
 
 In point of workmanship fine gems executed under the Fine 
 Roman Empire by Greek artists are equal to work of any te ' 
 period, especially in the case of portrait heads ; but in purity of 
 taste nothing can rival the gems of the Greek autonomous 
 period such work, for example as the nude hero which is 
 illustrated in fig. 3. 
 
 It must not, however, be supposed that all Greek gems, even 
 of the best period, are of this high quality of work. A large 
 proportion are slight and even careless in execution, and in a 
 great number of cases it is impossible, owing partly to a certain 
 rudeness of execution, to be at all certain as to whether they are 
 the work of the earlier Greek or of the Graeco-Roman period. 
 
 Such a gem as that shown in fig. 3 tells its own story with Doubtful 
 the utmost clearness, but it is often very difficult to arrive at any st y les - 
 certainty as to the date and the workmanship of ancient gems. 
 Coarseness of execution occasionally gives a look of greater 
 antiquity than the gem really possesses, especially in the case of 
 Roman gems ; and the work of the most skilful copyists of the
 
 30 TESTS FOR GEMS. 
 
 eighteenth century is sometimes quite indistinguishable from 
 that of an ancient Graeco-Roman artist. 
 
 Forgeries. \\\ no other branch of art is it so difficult to distinguish the 
 genuine antique from the modern forgery ; partly because age 
 does nothing to alter or decompose in any way the surface of a 
 hard gem, and secondly because, owing to the hardness of the 
 material and the laborious method of working it, there is neces- 
 sarily something mechanical in the cut and bite of the graving 
 tools, and this diminishes the prominence of the artist's personal 
 peculiarities and touch. 
 
 Absence of Hence it happens that in many cases no archaeologist, how- 
 ever learned, can attain to real certainty about the age of a gem. 
 A trustworthy test or criterion has not and probably never will 
 be discovered. 
 
 Fortunately, however, imitations of antique gems are, as a 
 rule, the work of forgers who break down in some point either 
 of style or of technique ; the requisite amount of antiquarian 
 knowledge and manual skill being seldom combined in the 
 same person. 
 
 A minute and careful study of many examples of ancient* 
 gems, especially those which from their known provenance are of 
 undoubted antiquity, will enable the student by degrees to 
 detect with a constantly increasing amount of certainty any 
 forgeries except those which are of the most skilful kind. 
 
 THE TECHNIQUE OF GEM-ENGRAVING (SarcTv\.ioy\v<t>ia* or 
 
 Tools for \i0ovpyitcri). The tools used by the ancient gem-engravers were 
 
 rtw"* mainly of three different sorts, namely the drill, the wheel and 
 
 the "diamond-point-^." In using all these the gem itself was 
 
 firmly fixed in a bed of cement made of pitch and pounded 
 
 pottery (testae tunsae). The tools were held in the engraver's 
 
 hand, who thus had a greater freedom of touch than a modern 
 
 * The word y\6tj>eiv is used by the Greeks for the process of engraving gems : 
 hence the modern phrase " glyptic art." In Latin scalpere has the same meaning, but 
 it is also used for other processes, such as carving in marble, equivalent, that is, to the 
 word sculpere ; see Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 15. 
 
 t Some interesting details about gems and the methods of working them are given 
 in a treatise written by Theophrastus about 315 B.C. ; see Middleton, Engraved gems, 
 p. 1 06.
 
 USE OF THE DRILL. 31 
 
 gem -engraver, who usually works in the reverse way, having his 
 drills and wheels fixed, and the gem loose in his hand. 
 
 I. THE DRILL (rpviravov, hence mod. Italian drepano)* was The drill. 
 worked in the old fashion, which still survives in Italy and in the 
 East : the string of a small bow was wound round the stick 
 of the drill, which was made to revolve by moving the bow 
 rapidly backwards and forwards. The butt end of the drill 
 revolved inside a cap or tube, which the engraver held in his 
 hand, and so directed the point to the right place ; he could not, 
 of course, hold the drill by its revolving part. 
 
 Fig. 4, a very interesting Greek gem of the fifth century B.C. Greek 
 represents an engraver using the bow and drill on some small ** 
 
 FIG. 4. Gem in the British Museum which shows an engraver at work using the 
 bow and drill. Dotibleftill size. 
 
 object, probably a gem, which is fixed to a table or stand. By 
 it another drill is represented leaning against the wall. 
 
 It is only long practice that enables a workman to manage 
 successfully the difficult task of carrying on simultaneously a 
 distinct movement with each hand ; so in some cases, especially Sculptor's 
 when working larger sculpture, an assistant worked the bow, 
 leaving the engraver free to direct the point of the drill. This 
 is indicated in some of the reliefs found in Egyptian tombs 
 which represent sculptors at work on statues of porphyry or 
 granite, materials of such hardness that they could only be 
 worked by drills and emery. 
 
 In gem-engraving the point of the drill, which cut into the Gem-cnt- 
 stone, was of soft metal, usually bronze, and varied in size from tersdrtll '> 
 
 * The word rdpvos (Latin tornus) appears to be used for any revolving tool ; thus 
 it means both the drill and the wheel of the gem-engraver, as well as the lathe used in 
 many different crafts. 
 
 L. G. 1
 
 USE OF THE DRILL 
 
 rpvira.voi'. 
 
 Wooden 
 drill. 
 
 Emery. 
 
 Pliny on 
 gem -cut- 
 ting. 
 
 Blunt 
 drill. 
 
 that of an ordinary pin to a good sized knitting needle or even 
 larger. The actual cutting of the drill was done, not by the 
 metal, but by the fine emery powder (oyivpt?, Naxiuiri) which, 
 mixed with oil, was kept constantly smeared upon it. The 
 minute particles of emery, which is a form of corundum, stick in 
 the soft metal under the pressure, and so give a steady cutting 
 surface. If hard steel were used the emery powder would not 
 adhere to the drill, and the cutting would go on much slower*. 
 Even wood or bone in connection with emery will make an 
 excellent drill. Some of the Hill-tribes of India even now drill 
 quartz-crystal with a piece of bamboo and emery or sand and 
 water, using the bow to make the drill revolve. 
 
 Pliny (Hist. Nat. XXXVI. 54) speaks of the Naxium, or emery 
 of the island of Naxos, as being the best for cutting and polish- 
 ing gemsf. 
 
 He gives (Hist. Nat. XXXVII. 200) an interesting list of 
 the different tools used in gem-engraving. Speaking of the 
 varying hardness of stones, he says, "tanta differentia est ut 
 aliae ferro scalpi non possint, aliae non nisi retunso, omnes 
 autem adamante : plurimum vero in iis terebrarum proficit 
 fervor." 
 
 His meaning appears to be this "only the softest signet- 
 stones (such as steatite) can be engraved by the unaided iron 
 graver ; some require the (comparatively) blunt point of a metal 
 drill (used with emery). All stones can be cut with the adamas- 
 point (that is by diamond or sapphire); but the tool which is 
 the most effective of all is the rapidly revolving drill." 
 
 The blunt drill (retunsmri) was specially used for blocking 
 out roughly the figures on gems, which were afterwards com- 
 pleted and the details added with other tools. Some of the late 
 Etruscan scarabs, executed at a period of decadence, have very 
 little of this finishing work, and have merely rude figures almost 
 wholly worked with the blunt drill. Fig. 5 gives a character- 
 istic example of this class of scarab, which is usually cut in 
 carnelian. 
 
 * It is for this reason that modern diamond-cutters use, not a steel, but a copper 
 wheel for forming the facets when they are cutting a brilliant, rose- or table-diamond. 
 
 t The Naxian emery at the present day affords to the Greek government a revenue 
 of more than ,30,000 a year.
 
 AND THE WHEEL. 33 
 
 Another instrument used for straight cutting or slitting Wire saw. 
 was a wire strung on a bow. The spring of the bow kept the 
 
 FIG. 5. Etruscan scarab mainly executed with the blunt drill. Real size. 
 
 wire taut while it was being drawn backwards and forwards 
 with the usual supply of emery and oil, thus cutting like a saw 
 into the gem. On a large scale this sort of wire saw (serra) was 
 used by the Romans in cutting the thin slabs of coloured marble 
 (crustae) used so much under the Empire for wall decoration. 
 For the softer marbles, sharp sand and water were used instead 
 of emery. 
 
 2. THE WHEEL (ropvos, rotula)*: this was a minute disc The wheel. 
 of bronze which was set on a long, slender shaft of wood or 
 metal and worked with a bow and tube like the drill ; emery 
 and oil being applied to it in the same way. The wheel cut, 
 of course, at right angles to the shaft, not in the same direction 
 as the drill did. According to the direction in which the work- 
 man moved the little wheel it could cut either a long line or 
 a broad sunk surface*^. 
 
 Fig. 6, a lenticular gem, in the British Museum, dating 
 
 FIG. 6. Early "lenticular" gem, showing the use of the wheel, the drill and the 
 diamond-point. Real size. The material is rock crystal. 
 
 * See note, p. 31. 
 
 + This sort of wheel and the drill are both among the most important instruments 
 of the modern dentist ; but he uses hard steel, instead of copper and emery, having a 
 less refractory substance to deal with. 
 
 32
 
 34 THE WHEEL AND 
 
 probably from the thirteenth or the twelfth century B.C., allows 
 the method of its execution to be clearly seen owing to the 
 want of skill of its engraver, who has not softened down the 
 harsh cuts of his wheel and drill. The eye, mouth and joints 
 of this strange animal are each represented by a drill-sunk hole, 
 and the mane on the neck is produced by a row of wheel-cut 
 lines. 
 
 Whteldisc. Another kind of wheel was used in later times for quite a 
 different purpose, namely for cutting slices of gems, \i0ofr /H'CTTT/?. 
 This was a very thin disc of metal, several inches in diameter, 
 which was fixed as it revolved, the stone being pressed against 
 its edge, like the circular saw of the modern timber-merchant. 
 In this case, as with the other wheel, the actual cutting was 
 done, not by the metal of the wheel, but by the emery and oil 
 with which it was kept constantly charged. 
 
 Stone Another, quite different sort of wheel was used, not for 
 
 engraving the designs on gems, but merely for shaping roughly 
 the stone. 
 
 This was a wheel made of fine whetstone, such as the black 
 "Lydian jasper," shaped and fitted and supplied with water 
 
 Cotes. exactly like an ordinary grindstone for sharpening knives, but 
 on a much smaller scale. It was probably worked with a 
 treadle, like a lathe, and the gem was pressed against it as it 
 revolved. The flat field of a signet gem and its rounded edges 
 were probably, as a rule, formed with this instrument, the polish- 
 ing being done afterwards with dry powdered ochre. 
 
 Adamas 3. THE DIAMOND-POINT : this tool was not used with the 
 
 bow, but was held in the hand like a pencil, or like the "dry- 
 point" of a modern etcher. 
 
 It consisted simply of a natural crystal of adamas, set in 
 a bronze or iron handle. This instrument is mentioned in the 
 Old Testament, Jerem. xvii. i,"The sin of Judah is written with 
 a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond." Pliny describes 
 this tool in his paragraph on the adamas {Hist. Nat. xxxvn. 60), 
 under which name is included both the true diamond and the 
 white sapphire, which comes next to it in hardness. 
 
 He says "expetuntur hae (crustae, chips) scalptoribus, ferro- 
 que includuntur nullam non duritiam ex facili cavantes." 
 
 The truth is that whole crystals, not crustae, have the best
 
 THE DIAMOND POINT. 35 
 
 cutting power, and it is probably these that were mostly used by 
 gem engravers*. 
 
 Less hard substances than the adamas were used sometimes Flin 
 in the same way. Herodotus (VII. 69) speaks of the Aethiopians 1 ^ 
 pointing their arrows with the same sort of hard stone or flint 
 that was used for engraving signets ; Xt$o<? of 1)9 TreTroirjuevos rw 
 fcal rds o-</??77t8a5 y\v$ov<ri. The steatite scarab-signets of 
 Egypt are soft enough to be cut by obsidian or flint. Many 
 arrows tipped with these stones have been found in Upper Egypt, 
 and even in the tombs of Thebes. 
 
 Most of the details and all the artistic finish of a well Finish 
 engraved gem was given by the use of the diamond-point, which f^ ems ' 
 allowed an amount of freedom of touch in the artist's hand far 
 beyond what could be got with any of the other more mechani- Use of 
 cal tools. It was however much more laborious to use it, and 
 required great technical skill on the part of the engraver. By 
 working over and over the same place with the point its scratchy 
 lines could be got rid of, but on some of the gems of finest style 
 and period the artist has not troubled to do this completely, and 
 has left some of the original lines in a way that adds to the 
 spirited beauty of the gem, though at a sacrifice of high finish. 
 This is a point in which the mediaeval or modern forger is 
 specially liable to fail; he is usually too careful to leave no trace 
 of the actual tool- work. 
 
 Fio. 7. Head of Zeus, of finest Greek work, illustrating the use of the diamond 
 point, especially for the hair. In the British Museum. One and a half times full size. 
 
 Fig. 7 shows a Greek gem of the finest style and period, Finest 
 about the middle of the fifth century B.C. The delicate lines style ' 
 
 * The modern glazier's diamond is always a natural crystal ; a splintered or cut bit 
 of diamond will readily scratch glass, but would not make the deep slit which is 
 necessary to divide a sheet of glass neatly.
 
 36 THE FILE AND THE FINAL POLISH. 
 
 cut by the diamond point can be clearly distinguished in the 
 hair and beard of this noble head. The material used is green 
 jasper. It should be noticed that whole figures rather than 
 heads most frequently occur on Greek gems of this early date. 
 The file. 4. THE FILE (lima}: a very useful tool for smoothing 
 
 level surfaces on gems, such as the flat field of a signet, was 
 made by a mixture of emery and melted resin*; when hard this 
 mixture has a very keen cutting power. This is probably the 
 tool that Maecenas alludes to in his letter to Horace 
 
 " Nee quos Thynica lima perpolivit 
 Anellos, neque jaspios lapillos." Anth. Lat. I. p. 413. 
 
 As is mentioned by Pliny (H. N. XXXIV. 83) the lima was the 
 tool held by the statue of the bronze-sculptor and gem-engraver 
 Theodores as a symbol of his craft. 
 
 5. THE FINAL POLISH : after the sunk design of an en- 
 graved gem was completed, it was necessary, both for the sake 
 of its beauty, and also to prevent the wax or clay of the seal 
 from adhering to it (see Pliny, H. N. XXXVII. 104), to polish, as 
 completely as possible, the internal sunk part. 
 
 Method of This was done in a laborious way by working the finest 
 tng ' powder of some metallic oxide, such as haematite or ochreous 
 earth, into all the depressions of the work with a soft point of 
 wood, a bird's quill, or some other yielding and slightly elastic 
 substance. The flat field of a gem was polished with much 
 greater ease by rubbing it on the surface of woollen stuff 
 sprinkled at first with emery and then finally with the finer 
 powdered ochre. The revolving drum (tympanum} already men- 
 tioned was used for this purpose. 
 
 Paslegems. THE TECHNIQUE OF "PASTE" GEMS, <r<f>payi&<; vd\ivai. 
 Paste-^, which is only another word for the finest sort of glass, 
 was made with great skill by most classical nations especially 
 by the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Romans. In splendour 
 of colour, in luminous texture, in hardness and durability, the 
 ancient pastes are very superior to those made in modern times. 
 One reason is that modern pastes or false jewels are largely 
 composed of oxide of lead, the object being to increase the 
 
 * The modern method is to mix melted shell-lac and diamond dust. 
 
 t The materials used in making ancient pastes are mentioned below, see page 41.
 
 PASTE GEMS. 37 
 
 "fire" or lustre of the paste, though at the expense of its 
 hardness and durability. In ancient times, before the modern 
 custom of facetting jewels had been invented, fine deep colour 
 was the first requisite, and sparkle or lustre was but little 
 regarded. 
 
 In making a paste signet the process was this a mould Moulding 
 was made from an engraved gem by pressing it against SL jP ases - 
 mixture of clay which had been ground in a mortar, together 
 with a large proportion of finely powdered pottery, till it was 
 a perfectly smooth, plastic and homogeneous mass. The clay 
 mould, with the impression of the original intaglio in relief, 
 was then carefully baked in a potter's kiln, and then a red-hot 
 lump of the glass or paste, in a soft plastic state, was gently 
 pressed upon the mould till it received the complete imprint 
 of the original gem. If done carefully, by a skilful glass- . 
 worker, the result was an almost exact facsimile of the original 
 intaglio. 
 
 When it had cooled, its ragged edges and the rough back Wheel 
 were cut smooth and polished by the lapidary's wheel and w 
 emery powder, till it was ready for setting in a ring. 
 
 Paste signets (crtypayiSes vaXivai) seem to have been made 
 in great numbers for the poorer classes, both among the Greeks 
 and the Romans of the Empire. As a rule they were not 
 mounted in gold rings, but in silver, bronze or iron in many 
 cases the inferior metals were plated with gold*. The signets 
 which cost only 3 obols (Aristoph. Thesm. 424: see p. 37) were 
 probably paste copies, set in bronze. 
 
 Paste gems very frequently were set with a backing of Foil 
 polished metal, which, by reflecting the light through the paste, backm s- 
 gave it increased brilliance and depth of colour. 
 
 The same method of setting was often adopted for real 
 stones : Pliny (Hist. Nat. XXXVII. 106) speaking of one sort 
 of sard, says "argenteis bratteis sublinuntur"; while sards of 
 a different colour "brattea aurea sublinuntur." At Hist. Nat. 
 XXXVII. 126, Pliny describes two methods of setting gems, 
 either with an open bezel, or with a backing of gold-coloured 
 
 * In England and France, during the i4th and isth centuries, it was usual for 
 the jewellers' Guild in each town to have a rule prohibiting its members from setting 
 paste gems in real gold, or real gems in plated metal.
 
 38 METAL SIGNETS AND 
 
 foil "hae funda includuntur perspicuae, ceteris subicitur auri- 
 chalcum." 
 
 False A colourless paste or crystal was sometimes made to imitate 
 
 a carbuncle by backing it with a crimson foil. Many other 
 tricks were known to the ancient jewellers, and Pliny gives 
 various directions how to tell true from false gems (see page 42). 
 
 Bezels of METAL SIGNETS (8aKTV\iOt a-^tjQoi or a\i6oi): those rings 
 
 which have the device sunk in a metal bezel were formed in 
 various ways. The finest have the design cut with tools in the 
 same way as if they had been of stone. CLASS J, No. i, supplies 
 a good example of a signet-ring made wholly of pure gold. 
 Others, especially the gold Etruscan rings, have the device 
 stamped from a die on a thin plate of gold, which was then 
 soldered by the goldsmith into its place on the ring. 
 
 Cast rings. A third method, used for the cheaper class of bronze rings, 
 was to cast the bezel in a relief mould; but this plan left the 
 impression blunt and spiritless, unless afterwards touched up by 
 tooling. 
 
 THE MATERIALS USED BY ANCIENT GEM-ENGRAVERS. The 
 stones most frequently used by the ancient gem-engravers were 
 some of the many forms of quartz (silica), either in the crystal- 
 line form or else in amorphous or sub-crystalline forms. 
 
 Crystalline The most important stone of all for glyptic purposes was the 
 sard(La.t. sarda\ a very fine, transparent, yellow crystalline variety 
 of quartz; a slightly different variety which is of a deep red or 
 orange-red colour is usually called carnelian> from caro, carnis, 
 flesh. 
 
 Colourless quartz crystal was also used for gems, but not 
 very commonly; see CLASS A, Nos. 4 and 36. 
 
 In Roman times a brilliant green variety of crystalline quartz 
 was often used ; this is called plasma, a corruption of prasina, 
 leek-green ; CLASS H, No. 36, supplies a specially fine example 
 of ihep/asma. Less frequently a fine lemon-yellow quartz called 
 citrine was used; see CLASS A, No. 7, and B, Nos. 5 and 144. 
 
 Chal- In all periods chalcedony, a sub-crystalline form of quartz, was 
 
 largely used ; chalcedony is translucent but not transparent ; the 
 finest kind is of a blue tint, and hence it is called sapphirine 
 chalcedony. This beautiful stone is often used for gems of very
 
 MATERIALS OF GEMS. 39 
 
 fine workmanship. Examples of it in the Lewis collection are 
 CLASS A, Nos. 10 and 16, and B, No. 2. 
 
 Many stratified varieties of quartz were also largely used by the Stratified 
 Roman gem-engravers, such as the agate (L,z\.. achates), sardonyx, qua 
 onyx and nicolo, named from the Italian diminutive onycolo. 
 
 The agate consists of layers or strata of brown, white and 
 yellow, or any two of these tints; the word is now used vaguely for 
 many different varieties of stratified quartz. The sardonyx, as Sardonyx. 
 its name implies, resembles a layer of sard applied on to a layer 
 of onyx. The onyx usually consists of two layers, white and 
 brown. A variety of the onyx called the nicolo also consists of Nicolo. 
 two layers, one white and the other blue ; see CLASS B, Nos. 8 
 and 39. This is probably the stone which Pliny {Hist. Nat. 
 XXXVII. 148) calls Aegyptilla from its being largely found in 
 Egypt. All these stratified forms of quartz, and above all the 
 sardonyx, were valued very highly by the Romans, not only for 
 signet-gems (in intaglio), but more especially for cameos or 
 gems in relief, the design on which was cut in one light-coloured 
 stratum, while another darker stratum formed the ground of the 
 relief. CLASS G supplies several examples of this, though mostly 
 of post-classical date. 
 
 The finest, however, of the antique cameos in the Lewis Cameo 
 collection (CLASS G, No. i) is cut in chalcedony, not in a stratified 
 material, as is frequently the case with the large pJialerae which 
 were inserted in the breast of Roman cuirasses of Imperial date. 
 
 Some of the finest of these phalerae gems are cut in amethyst 
 or in colourless rock crystal, which had a very splendid effect 
 when it was backed with a highly reflective plate of gilt metal 
 or foil. Others, on the other hand, are cut in onyx or sardonyx, 
 having the face in a white layer set off by a background of dark 
 brown or yellow. 
 
 What are now called "precious stones" were rarely used Precious 
 by ancient gem-engravers. The Lewis collection, however, sf ' 
 possesses what appears to be an antique gem cut in emerald 
 (Lat. smaragdns); see CLASS B, No. 108. 
 
 Other varieties of the emerald, such as the beryl and the 
 aquamarine, occasionally occur among ancient gems of the 
 Graeco-Roman or Roman period, but not very often. One of 
 the finest of all ancient gems, the head of the Flavian Julia
 
 4O MATERIALS USED 
 
 signed by the engraver Euodos, is cut on a very beautiful aqua- 
 marine or pale green beryl; see page 23, note. 
 
 The carbuncle (Lat. carbunculus)* occurs less rarely than the 
 emerald; and the amethyst, a purple variety of quartz, is not 
 at all uncommon among Roman gems, especially for subjects of 
 a Dionysiac type; see CLASS B, 119 and B, 22 and 140. 
 
 The very hard precious stones, such as the diamond (Lat. 
 adamas), ruby (Lat. anthrax), and sapphire, were never used by 
 the Greeks, and the last two only very rarely by Roman 
 engravers. 
 
 Among the opaque stones which were used by ancient en- 
 gravers the coloured varieties of amorphous silica are the most 
 common, especially the fine blood-red jasper (Lat. iaspis], and 
 the green jasper speckled with crimson, which is now known as 
 Jaspers, the bloodstone. Jasper also occurs of many other colours, yellow, 
 brown, grey, white and black. The black jasper, known as 
 Lydian stone, was used by goldsmiths as a touch-stone, coticula, 
 to show the quality of gold by the colour of its streak marked 
 upon the stone: see Pliny, Hist. Nat. XXXIII. 126. The red 
 jasper appears to be what Pliny in one passage calls haematites 
 {Hist. Nat. XXXVII. 169); but he elsewhere uses the same word 
 for what is now called red haematite, an oxide of iron : see H. N. 
 
 XXXVI. 129. Pliny tells us that one fine variety of jasper was 
 called a-(f>paryi<;, as being /car' e^o-^v the signet-stone ; see H. N. 
 
 XXXVII. 17. 
 
 Talis- These varieties of jasper, when engraved with certain devices, 
 
 were believed to have great magical powers of bringing health 
 and good fortune and of protecting the wearer against accident. 
 For this reason they are very commonly used on gems of the 
 Egypto-Roman and Gnostic classes, in combination with mystic 
 words and symbols and especially with a figure of Serapis or 
 
 Amulets, some other Egyptian or Persian deity. As Pliny tells us "Totus 
 oriens pro amuleto gestare eas traditur," H. N. XXXVII. 118. 
 Magical qualities were specially attributed to the. green jasper, 
 on which figures of Horus or Harpocrates were frequently en- 
 graved during the Imperial period : see CLASS C, No. 12, in the 
 Lewis collection. 
 
 Magnetite and haematite, which consist chiefly of hard 
 
 * When the carbuncle is cut in a flat or facetted form it is called a garnet.
 
 FOR ANCIENT GEMS. 41 
 
 metallic oxides of iron, were used very frequently for Assyrian 
 cylinders and for other signets of an early period. CLASS D, 
 No. i, affords a good example of the dark grey haematite. Like 
 the red jasper, haematite is also occasionally used for late gems 
 with devices of magical power. 
 
 On the whole the sard is the most beautiful stone and the Sard. 
 one which occurs most frequently among ancient gems. Its 
 beauty of colour and clear transparency make it especially 
 effective when held up to receive transmitted light. Its hard- 
 ness and toughness of grain give it great power both of receiving 
 the most delicate engraving and of resisting wear. Moreover 
 the sard was famous for the clear impression it gave and from 
 the fact that the wax of the seal was not so liable to adhere 
 to the gem as is the case with some other stones. 
 
 The special beauty of the sard when held up to the light can 
 be seen in many of the gems of CLASS A, which are arranged to 
 be seen by transmitted light. 
 
 Lapis lazuli, the sappirus* of Pliny (Hist. Nat. XXXVII. 120), Lapis 
 was occasionally used for gems of the Roman Imperial period, 
 and especially for those of Egyptian workmanship; see CLASS C, 
 No. i. The finest lapis lazuli, which came from Persia, is of 
 a magnificent deep blue tint ; it was of importance as being the 
 substance from which the finest blue pigment (cyanus or ultra- Cyanus. 
 marine} was made. 
 
 This pigment was quite unrivalled for the splendour of its 
 colour and also for its durability, which made it available even 
 for painting on fresh stucco (fresco). It was commonly sold for 
 about its weight in gold, and that was the usual price which it 
 fetched throughout the mediaeval period, when it was of great 
 importance for all decorative wall painting. 
 
 Paste gems, cr^paylSe^ vd\ivai, gemmae fictitiae or vitreae, Paste 
 were made by the Greeks and Romans with very great skill. 
 The material of which they were composed was a pure, hard 
 glass, without any admixture of lead what is now called "flint 
 glass," a pure alcaline silicate with the addition of lime. Roman 
 pastes usually contain, in 100 parts, about 70 of silica, 18 of soda, 
 
 * The ancient name of the sapphire is doubtful ; it appears to have been frequently 
 included with the diamond under the name adamas. Sappirus appears always to 
 mean lapis lazuli.
 
 42 PASTE GEMS AND 
 
 8 of lime, 2 of alumina, and small quantities of metallic oxides, 
 to which the colour is due. Modern pastes are usually made 
 with nearly 50 per cent, of oxide of lead ; and they are therefore 
 much softer and more liable to decomposition than the old ones. 
 A fragment of an antique paste will scratch a modern one, as 
 easily as rock crystal will scratch flint glass. 
 
 The colours of ancient pastes are often very magnificent, 
 especially the ruby red, the sapphire blue, the emerald green, 
 and the orange yellow. Ancient pastes in Italy are often 
 bought by jewellers to sell, when cut in facets, as real gems. 
 The chief pigments used to colour the ancient pastes were 
 various metallic oxides and salts. Blue, green and ruby red 
 were produced by different oxides and salts of copper. Man- 
 ganese produced an amethyst-purple. Another blue was given 
 by cobalt; yellow was produced by carbon. 
 
 Opaque white, used in making the white stratum of imitation 
 onyx, was produced by oxide of tin. The various colours used 
 for glass are mentioned by Pliny, Hist. Nat. XXXVI. 198. 
 Tests for Pliny gives directions for distinguishing between pastes and 
 
 Eterf**' real gems (Hist. Nat. xxxvn. 198 to 200); the chief of these 
 tests depend on the superior hardness, weight and coldness of the 
 true gems. 
 
 A splinter of obsidian (natural volcanic glass) or a file will, 
 he tells us, scratch a paste, but will not touch a real stone: 
 unfortunately, he goes on to say, dealers in gems (mangones 
 gemmanmi) usually will not allow purchasers to put their stones 
 to the scratching test (litnae probationent) ; and if they did, there 
 was always the risk of deception by means of a slice of real 
 Backed stone fitted at the back of the paste. Some good examples of 
 ancient pastes are contained in CLASS F of the Lewis collection. 
 
 ANCIENT RINGS. Among the rings in the Lewis collection, 
 CLASS J, some are of much interest, though they are mostly of late 
 date. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, the engraved gems 
 in these ancient rings are not remarkable for any beauty of 
 Gold workmanship. It is an extremely rare thing for a really fine 
 gem to be found still fixed in its original ring-setting. No. I in 
 the collection has been a very good specimen of a ring not 
 set with a stone, but made wholly of gold (
 
 ANCIENT RINGS. 43 
 
 but it has unfortunately suffered much from long wear. No. 16, 
 a massive gold hoop-ring, is of interest for its dedicatory inscrip- 
 tion with the name of the donor. 
 
 Some of the ring-settings are good specimens of goldsmith's 
 work under the late Empire, when the "shoulders" of the ring 
 and the framing (funda) of the gem were treated in a somewhat 
 elaborate way. 
 
 In earlier times, both among the Greeks and the Romans, it Plain 
 was the custom to set even the finest gems in rings of very plain de3t s ns - 
 design. In some cases the ring was costly from the massiveness 
 of the gold hoop and " shoulders," but, almost invariably, it was 
 left quite un-enriched by any of that delicate surface ornament 
 which the Greek gold-smiths executed with such marvellous skill 
 and taste. More commonly, however, the earlier gold rings were 
 made hollow, of metal of thin substance, which had the advantage Hollow 
 not only of making a good show at a moderate cost, but also, nngs ' 
 as Pliny points out (Hist. Nat. XXXIII. 25), diminished the risk of 
 injury to the gem by its lightness in case of a fall. Examples 
 of these hollow gold rings will be found in the Lewis collection, 
 CLASS J, Nos. 7, 8 and 9. 
 
 In some cases these hollow rings were made to hold poison, Poison 
 as, for example, the ring, " Cannarum vindex," with which rm s s - 
 Hannibal is said to have committed suicide; see Juv. Sat. X. 164. 
 Pliny tells us that the guardian (aedituus) of the Temple of 
 Capitoline Jupiter killed himself with the poison in his ring 
 when the gold, for which he was responsible, was stolen from its 
 sacred treasury in the throne of the statue of Jupiter. This 
 happened during the second* Consulship of Pompey the Great, 
 and it was his colleague M. Licinius Crassus who is supposed to 
 have been the robber; see Pliny, H. N. xxxill. 15. 
 
 WORKS ON ANTIQUE GEMS. 
 
 A large number of the most valuable monographs on gems 
 are scattered through the volumes of the chief archaeological peri- 
 odicals of England, France, Germany and Italy; with the names 
 of which classical students will be familiar. 
 
 * Not the third Consulship as Pliny states.
 
 44 WORKS ON ANTIQUE GEMS. 
 
 Books on gems of the I7th and i8th centuries are now of 
 but little value except for the records they supply, showing, 
 in certain cases, that a special gem is not, at least, one of quite 
 modern production. 
 
 The chief works of this class are these : 
 Agostini, Gemme anticJic figurate, 2 Vols., Roma, 1686. 
 De la Chausse, Gemme antiche di Michelangelo Causeo de la 
 
 C/tausse, Roma, 1700. 
 Mafifei, Gcmmc antiche di Dom. de Rossi colle sposizioni di P. A. 
 
 Maffei, Roma, 1707. 
 Stosch, Gemmae antiquae caelatae, Amsterdam, 1724, and the 
 
 same collection described by 
 Winckelmann, Pierres gravies du feu Baron de Stosch, Florence, 
 
 1760. 
 
 Zanetti, Dactyliotheca, Rome, 1747. 
 Mariette, Traite des pierres gravies, Paris, 1750; and Museum 
 
 Odescalchum, sive thesaurus gemmarum, Rome, 1751. 
 Gori, Museum Florentinum, Florence, 1731 1762. 
 Natter, Traite des pierres gravtes, London, 1761. 
 Gori, DactyliotJieca Smithiana, Venice, 1767. 
 Worlidge, Antique gems, London, 1768. 
 Cipriani, Drawings of 100 gems in the Marlborough Collection, 
 
 engraved by Bartolozzi, 2 Vols. folio, 1780 1791. 
 Raspe, Catalogue of gems cast in paste by James Tassie, 
 
 London, 1791. 
 
 Many other large and costly works with illustrations of 
 antique gems were published in the i8th century, but the 
 engravings of that time give little or no notion of the real 
 character of the gems they represent, the main object of the 
 artist being to give a pretty picture rather than a faithful copy. 
 
 Among more recent works the following should be re- 
 ferred to 
 Toelken, Erkldrendes Verzeichniss der antiken vertieft gescJinit- 
 
 tenen Steine, Berlin, 1835. 
 Kohler, Gesammelte Schriften, herausgegeben von L, Stephani, 
 
 St Petersburg, 18501853. 
 Panofka, Gemmen mit Inschriften, printed in Abhandlungen der 
 
 Konig. Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1851, pp. 385 
 
 519.
 
 WORKS ON ANTIQUE GEMS. 45 
 
 Brunn, GescJiichte der Griechischen Kunstler, Brunswick, 1859, 
 Vol. II. pp. 444 637; and new edition, 1889, Vol. n. 
 
 PP- 303433- 
 Chabouillet, Catalogue des cam^es et pierres gravies de la Biblio- 
 
 theque Impe"riale, Paris, 1858. 
 Stephani and others, Compte-rendti de la Commission Imperiale 
 
 Archeologique, St Petersburg, 1860 to the present time; 
 
 and, dealing with the same subject, Antiquity's dn BospJiore 
 
 Cimme'rien, St Petersburg, 1854. 
 Gerhard, Gesammelte akademische Abhandlungen tend kleine 
 
 Schriften, Berlin, 1866. 
 M tiller- Wieseler, Denkmaler der alien Kunst, Theil II., Gottingen, 
 
 1869. 
 H. N. Story-Maskelyne, Catalogue of the Marlborough gems, 
 
 privately printed, London, 1870. 
 Milchhoefer, Die Anf tinge der Kunst in Griechenland, Leipzig, 
 
 1883, pp. 78 to 90. 
 
 Furtwangler and others, Mykenische Vasen, Berlin, 1886. 
 A. H. Smith, Catalogue of gems in the British Museum, with an 
 
 Introduction by A. S. Murray, London, 1888. 
 J. H. Middleton, The engraved gems of classical times, Camb. 
 
 Univ. Press, 1891. 
 
 A large number of interesting works on engraved gems of 
 all kinds were written by the late Charles William King, M.A., 
 Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge ; and Mr King 
 gave much assistance to Mr S. S. Lewis in the formation of his 
 collection. 
 
 Mr King's chief works on gems were the following Antique 
 gems, 1866; Precious Stones and Metals, 1865; reprinted in Bohn's 
 Series in 1883; Handbook of engraved gems, 1866; Antique gems 
 and rings, 2 Vols. 1872; The Gnostics and their remains, enlarged 
 edition, 1887. And also a large number of articles on gems 
 published in the Archaeological Journal, Vols. XVIIL, XIX., and 
 others. All these works are full of valuable matter, and are 
 written in the most interesting style.
 
 4 6 
 
 ABSTRACT OF THE CATALOGUE 
 
 SHOWING THE NUMBER OF GEMS IN EACH CLASS. 
 
 CLASS A ; Gems fixed for transmitted light 48 
 
 CLASS B; Gems of the Roman period 181 
 
 CLASS C ; Gnostic gems and Grylli 30 
 
 CLASS D ; Oriental gems 19 
 
 CLASS E ; Christian gems 8 
 
 CLASS F ; Paste gems 14 
 
 CLASS G ; Cameos 1 1 
 
 CLASS H ; Modern gems 36 
 
 CLASS J ; Antique rings 22 
 
 Total number of gems and rings . . . 369
 
 47 
 
 THE LEWIS GEMS. 
 
 CLASS A*. 
 
 GEMS FIXED FOR TRANSMITTED LIGHT. 
 I. DEITIES. 
 
 1. Radiated head of Apollo Helios; very fine Graeco- 
 
 Roman work on carnelian. 
 
 It was in comparatively late times that the god 
 Apollo was identified with the sun-god and represented 
 with rays of light round his head, as we see him on the 
 coins of Rhodes of the third century B.C. 
 
 2. Laureated head of Apollo with long ringlets, of the late 
 
 feminine type, boldly cut on carnelian ; unset. 
 
 3. Standing figure of Apollo playing on the lyre ; his 
 
 chlamys hangs from his shoulder leaving the body nude. 
 This probably represents Apollo Musagetes, the com- 
 panion and leader of the Muses. On carnelian, unset. 
 
 4. Statue of Abundantia or Fortuna holding a cornu- 
 
 copiae and a rudder; the goddess stands in a small 
 shrine or aedicula, in the pediment of which there is a 
 dolphin. Minute but rude work on quartz crystal. 
 
 5. Standing figure of Venus, draped below the waist, hold- 
 
 ing in one hand a sceptre and in the other a corner of 
 her drapery. Good work on orange-brown sard. 
 
 6. Standing figure of Venus, draped below the waist, hold- 
 
 ing in one hand a mirror and in the other a lock of her 
 hair. Good work on orange sard. 
 
 * In the following catalogue every gem except some of the Gnostic amulets, unless 
 otherwise described, is set in a modern ring. Gems in ancient ring settings are 
 catalogued by themselves in CLASS J. 
 
 L. G. 4
 
 48 CLASS A. 
 
 7. A nude figure of Aphrodite slipping a sandal on to one 
 
 upraised foot; her knee rests against a cippus or short 
 pillar. In the field is rudely cut A4>POAITHC. Slight 
 work on a brilliant citrine. 
 
 This gem is copied from a Greek statue of the 
 Praxitelean school of the fourth century B.C. The 
 design is repeated in a great many extant statuettes. 
 
 8. A Triton wearing a crested helmet, holding in one hand 
 
 a dolphin and in the other a trophy of arms. Good 
 Graeco- Roman work on carnelian. 
 
 9. Full-faced bust of Cupid, very finely and deeply cut on 
 
 a rich golden-red sard. 
 
 10. Cupid riding on a dolphin ; very finely cut on sapphirine 
 
 chalcedony. 
 
 11. Cupid seated on a rock, playing with a dog ; behind the 
 
 dog is a tree ; good work on dark orange sard. 
 
 12. Nude figure of the youthful god Harpocrates standing, 
 
 with his finger on his lips, and holding a cornucopiae, 
 which he rests on a short pillar. On dark orange sard. 
 This device is evidently copied from a statue. 
 
 13. Bust of Serapis, full faced ; by it a small figure of Isis, 
 
 holding in one hand a situla or bucket for holy water, 
 extends a wreath with the other hand towards the head 
 of Serapis. Good work on orange sard. 
 On Serapis see CLASS B, No. 173. 
 
 14. The conventional representation of the cultus statue of 
 
 Diana of Ephesus, on dark orange sard. 
 
 This famous statue was of an Oriental and un- 
 Hellenic character. It represented the universal mother 
 of all things that live upon the earth and had no real 
 relationship to the Artemis of the Greeks or the Diana 
 of the Romans. 
 
 15. Bust of the Greek Artemis, with bow and quiver slung 
 
 over her shoulder ; in front is a branch of a tree. Bold 
 work on dark orange sard. 
 
 16. Nude standing figure of Apollo leaning against a tree at 
 
 the foot of which his lyre is resting. Very fine Graeco- 
 Roman work on sapphirine chalcedony. This design is 
 evidently taken from a statue of Praxitelean type.
 
 DEITIES. 49 
 
 17. Three conjugated heads of Diana between Castor and 
 
 Pollux. Over Diana's head is a crescent and over the 
 Dioscuri are stars. Good work on brown agate. 
 
 18. Rude standing figure of Abundantia holding a cornu- 
 
 copiae ; on orange sard. 
 
 19. Standing figure of the three-formed Hecate, with six 
 
 hands ; holding a torch in each ; on chalcedony. 
 
 The triple form of Hecate indicates her power in 
 heaven, on earth and in the realms under the earth. 
 
 20. Draped standing figure of the Oriental bearded 
 
 Dionysus holding in one hand a thyrsus and in the 
 other an oenochoe, from which he is pouring wine to a 
 panther at his feet. Very fine work on dark orange sard. 
 
 This Oriental conception of Dionysus, said to have 
 come from India, represents an effeminate, self-indulgent 
 type of deity, devoted to excessive use of wine, and 
 utterly unlike the nude, athletic type of figure by which 
 the earlier Greeks represented the Hellenic Dionysus. 
 
 Nor had either of these types any original relationship 
 to the stern chthonian Dionysus of the Mysteries, who, 
 as Plutarch points out in his tract on Osiris, was simply 
 the Hellenized form of the ancient Egyptian Osiris. 
 
 21. Draped standing figure of the Dionysus of the 
 
 Mysteries, who is bearded and holds in one hand a long 
 sceptre and in the other a bunch of wheat and poppies, 
 which he extends over a small altar. Deeply cut on 
 chalcedony. On the setting is engraved SMYRNA 1888. 
 
 No. 22; one and \\ l7H J a half times full size. 
 
 22. A very noble standing figure of Athene leaning on a 
 large shield and holding a spear. Fine Graeco-Roman 
 work on carnelian. This device is adapted from the 
 Parthenon statue of Athene by Pheidias. 
 
 42
 
 50 CLASS A. 
 
 23. Hermes Psychopompos, as a nude bearded man holding 
 
 a caduceus, raising from out of the grave a human soul 
 in the form of a youth. In the field is cut FEL. Fine 
 and interesting Graeco-Roman work on orange sard. 
 
 24. Full-faced bust of Hermes, of Praxitelean type ; on one 
 
 side is a caduceus and on the other an arrow and some 
 cylindrical object. Very fine Graeco-Roman work on 
 orange sard. 
 
 II. MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 
 
 25. Battle of a Pygmy and a crane ; the Pygmy is nude, 
 
 armed with a sword and shield. The exergual line is 
 formed by a thyrsus. Good work on orange sard. On 
 the setting is cut HERTZ-MAYER 15. 3. 1888. 
 
 26. A Greek warrior wearing only a chlamys and a crested 
 
 helmet, holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the 
 other, stands in front of a tall pillar on the top of which 
 is a bird ; a serpent is twined round the column, thus 
 suggesting the notion that it is a sepulchral stele over a 
 grave. Good work on carnelian. 
 
 27. A wreath enclosing a palm branch, on sard. 
 
 28. An Amazon on horseback, wearing the Phrygian cap and 
 
 holding a double axe (securis). Minutely cut on sard. 
 
 29. A cornucopiae between a pomegranate and a palm branch ; 
 
 on cJtalcedony. 
 
 30. A nude youth leaning against a tree, playing on the pipes, 
 
 rudely cut on sard. 
 
 31. A draped female seated on the back of a centaur who 
 
 is blowing an arrow from a blow-tube (?). Rude work 
 on brown orange sard. 
 
 32. Nude figure of a dancing girl playing on the double 
 
 pipes ; good work on brown sard. 
 
 33. Silenus standing under a tree, playing on the double 
 
 pipes ; in front of him is a Nymph, draped below the 
 waist, bending in front of a statuette on a column. 
 Coarse work on cJialcedony. 
 
 34. A youth seated on a rock at the foot of a tree milking a 
 
 goat, which holds in its mouth a branch of a tree. 
 Coarse work on very pale carnelian ; unset.
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 5 I 
 
 35. Nude figure of Perseus standing, holding in one hand 
 
 the hooked sword (liarpe) and in the other, upraised, the 
 head of the Gorgon Medusa. In the field is cut P-VA-M-, 
 probably the name of the owner of the signet Publius 
 Valerius Maximus. Fine but mannered work on orange 
 sard. 
 
 36. Very fine nude figure of Meleager leaning against a 
 
 short column or cippus, holding in one hand a spear. 
 At the foot of the column is a hound, which looks up at 
 his master. Well executed work of Graeco- Roman style 
 cut on quartz crystal. The design is evidently copied 
 from a Greek statue of noble style, resembling the 
 Meleager of the Vatican Belvedere. 
 
 37. A horned sheep standing; over it is a star. Finely 
 
 executed work on chalcedony. 
 
 38. Betrothal or marriage signet. Two draped figures, 
 
 male and female, stand with clasped hands. On. plasma. 
 
 39. A large crater with open lid out of which a skeleton is 
 
 issuing. The skeleton leans over to touch a plant which 
 is growing out of a tall vase. At the foot of the crater 
 is a shield, spear and helmet. Of doubtful antiquity; 
 minutely cut on brown sard. Fanciful, allegorical de- 
 signs such as this were frequently produced during the 
 Renaissance period. 
 
 No. 40 ; double full size. 
 
 40. A draped winged figure of Victory stands, reading from 
 a scroll. Behind, in the field, is a club ; and in front the 
 owner's name EROS. Under the Roman Empire EROS 
 was a common name for Greek slaves and freedmen. 
 On olive-green plasma.
 
 52 CLASS A. 
 
 In the Cambridge Antiquarian Society's Communica- 
 tions, Vol. V., 1884 6, page 363367, Mr C. W. King 
 has published a paper on this gem, in which he points 
 out that the club was used as a device on coins struck 
 by Marc Antony to commemorate his supposed descent 
 from Anthon, a son of Hercules ; and that the Eros who 
 owned this gem may possibly have been a freedman 
 of the Antonian Gens perhaps the same Eros who 
 willingly died with his master when Marc Antony had 
 determined that death was the only refuge left for him. 
 
 41. Kneeling figure of a Greek warrior, fully armed, holding 
 
 a spear and a round shield decorated with a Gorgon's 
 head. Of doubtful antiquity, on carnclian. 
 
 42. A winged griffin holding in its paws a circular object 
 
 like a shield; in the field above is cut NCOCIMHC. On 
 orange sard. 
 
 43. Heads of Commodus and the Empress Crispina set 
 
 facing each other. Good Roman work on carnelian. 
 
 44. Three masks conjoined. Two, placed back to back, are 
 
 Tragic and Comic masks ; above them is a third mask 
 of the bearded Dionysus. Coarse work on pale sard. 
 On the setting is cut CONSTANTINOPLE 1884. 
 
 45. Standing figure of a warrior, nude except for his 
 
 helmet, holding a spear and shield. Coarse work on 
 sard; unset. 
 
 46. A female Sphinx seated ; in front is a caduceus ; rudely 
 
 cut on chalcedony. On the setting is inscribed SMYRNA 
 1888. 
 
 47. The theft of the Palladium. Diomede, as a fully armed 
 
 Greek warrior, holding spear and shield, seizes the sacred 
 Trojan image of Athene, which stands on a large circu- 
 lar pedestal. Coarse work on yellow sard. 
 
 48. Very fine and large Christian gem of exceptionally good 
 
 execution. Christ the Good Shepherd stands on an 
 anchor, holding on His shoulders a horned sheep: at His 
 feet are two lambs, and in the field on each side is a 
 fish. Behind and extending over the figure of Christ is 
 a tree, on the topmost branches of which three birds are 
 seated. On a fine orange sard, chipped at the edges.
 
 CHRISTIAN GEM. 
 
 53 
 
 Said to have been found at Old Capua, and bought 
 from a Neapolitan dealer by Mr Lewis in 1888. 
 
 No. 48 ; the lines shmv the real size. 
 
 The following notes on this very important Christian gem 
 were originally written at Mr Lewis's request for the Cam- 
 bridge Antiquarian Society. 
 
 In many cases Pagan motives were adopted by the early 
 Christians for their representations of Christ. One of these, in 
 which Christ is represented as the Good Shepherd, is taken from 
 an early Greek design of Hermes Psychopompus ; Hermes, 
 that is, in the character of the conductor of souls to the realms 
 of Hades. 
 
 In Greek Art Hermes Psychopompus is represented in 
 various ways : in one of them, the original of the Good 
 Shepherd type, he is shewn standing, and bearing on his 
 shoulders a ram or sheep typifying the soul of the dead person. 
 This type is known as Hermes Criophorus the Sheep-bearer ; 
 Pausanias mentions an early and very sacred Criophorus statue 
 as existing in his time at Tanagra in Boeotia, the work of the 
 celebrated Athenian sculptor Kalamis, c. 500 460 B.C.: see 
 Paus. IX. 21. i. 
 
 Many bronze statuettes of this group have been found in 
 various places both in Greece and Italy. In other works of art 
 Hermes Psychopompus is represented escorting the soul in 
 human form to the banks of the Styx, where Charon the 
 ferryman waits to carry the ghost over the dark stream. In 
 this scene the soul is represented as a graceful human figure, 
 with nothing to indicate that it is not a living person. This
 
 54 CLASS A. 
 
 motive occurs on some very beautiful terracotta reliefs, and 
 also on some of the painted lecythi of Attica, and Eretria in 
 Euboea. Some recently discovered lecythi in the Central 
 Museum at Athens have a different method of representation of 
 the soul, which occurs in the often repeated subject of 
 mourners bringing offerings to the stele over the grave of a 
 dead friend. 
 
 On these the soul is represented as a minute winged figure, 
 hovering over the sepulchral stele, and extending its hands 
 towards the friend or relation who is standing by the grave. 
 
 In Greek art Death was never treated in a horrible or 
 painful way ; and among the early Christians there was the 
 same habit of avoiding any painful subjects in their painting 
 and sculpture. 
 
 On the Sarcophagi and in the Catacomb paintings of the 
 third and fourth centuries the scenes of Christ's life which are 
 selected are those which illustrate His power or His beneficence, 
 not His Death or Sufferings. In later times the case was very 
 different, and scenes of horror and torture of every kind became 
 the favourite subjects for the Mediaeval Artists. 
 
 If the personification of Death was represented in Greek 
 Art, Death (Thanatos) was treated in a graceful way, either, as 
 on the Attic lecythi^ as a handsome bearded man bearing the 
 corpse of the person commemorated, with the help of Sleep 
 (Hypnos), who is represented as a similar winged figure, but 
 without a beard ; or, as on the sculptured column from Ephesus, 
 as a beautiful winged youth, differing only from Eros in the 
 fact that he is armed with a sword. 
 
 Another variety of the Good Shepherd type was taken by 
 
 the early Christians from the Greek or Graeco-Roman con- 
 
 ception of Orpheus. In some of the earliest Catacomb paintings 
 
 this subject is adopted without any modification to suit its new 
 
 meaning. 
 
 The Christ-Orpheus is represented as a youth wearing the 
 Phrygian cap, seated, playing the lyre to a circle of listening 
 beasts and reptiles of all sorts. 
 
 In later representations sheep only surround the seated 
 figure, which thus becomes more distinctly that of the Good 
 Shepherd.
 
 THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 55 
 
 On Mr Lewis's gem we have the more frequent Criophorus 
 type of the Good Shepherd, which occurs in many forms in 
 Christian Art of the third to the fifth century. It especially is 
 found in the following connections : on the elaborate Sarcophagi 
 reliefs of the third and fourth centuries ; on the Catacomb 
 paintings of the same date ; on terra-cotta lamps ; on rings and 
 engraved gems ; and on those curious glass vessels with pictures 
 in gold leaf, of which so many examples have been discovered 
 in the Catacombs of Rome and Naples. Figures in the round 
 of this type are very rare. The most perfect example is a 
 statuette of about half life size, which was found during the 
 excavations of the lower Church of S. Clemente in Rome. 
 This latter figure seems to date from the second half of the 
 third century. It is closely similar in design to the figure on 
 Mr Lewis' gem, but is inferior to it as a work of art, being, like 
 all the sculpture of that date, clumsy in type and coarse in 
 execution. This is one among many examples of skill in the 
 lesser arts surviving long after the more important arts of 
 painting and sculpture on a large scale had fallen into a state 
 of decadence. 
 
 The workmanship, not only of gems, but also of coins and 
 ivory reliefs is, in many cases, very good even during the period 
 of the late Roman Empire. 
 
 Mr Lewis' signet-gem is a very beautiful sard, an oval 
 of about one inch by f inch wide, engraved with a figure of 
 Christ, bearded, in short tunic and long boots ; bearing a sheep 
 with curved horns on His shoulders. He stands on an anchor, 
 emblem of Faith ; two lambs leap up towards Him. Behind 
 Him is a tree, on which three birds are sitting. In the field 
 are two fishes the IX T2 being the well-known emblem of 
 Christ. 
 
 In the exergue, below the anchor, is a small cross on a disc. 
 
 The workmanship is unusually fine, both in proportions and 
 details. The design is pictorial in style, and an unusual amount 
 of the field is unoccupied. 
 
 On the whole it is the finest gem of the kind I have ever 
 seen. From its exceptionally fine workmanship it cannot be 
 later than the fourth century, and, if the figure of Christ had 
 not been bearded, I should have given it an earlier date. It
 
 56 CLASS B. 
 
 has unfortunately been damaged by re-polishing, which gives, 
 at first sight, a dubious look to the gem. 
 
 In point of technique it is an interesting example of very 
 skilful work with the wheel and the drill, as is described by 
 Pliny (H. N. XXXVII. 200), in an interesting passage which 
 gives the various methods of work employed by gem-engravers, 
 the most important being the use of tools driven by a bow and 
 drill " plurimum vero in iis terebrarum proficit fervor." 
 
 Perhaps the finest collection of gems of this type is that in 
 the possession of Dr Drury Fortnum, who has written some 
 interesting articles on them in the A rchaeolog ical Journal; see 
 Vol. XXVI., page 137 ; Vol. xxvill., page 266; Vol. XXIX., page 
 305 ; Vol. XXXIII., p. in ; and Vol. XLIL, p. 159. 
 
 Dr Fortnum's collection includes many rings, either wholly 
 of metal, or set with engraved gems, with figures of the Good 
 Shepherd represented by the Orpheus and the Hermes Crio- 
 phorus type. 
 
 The other Christian gems in the Lewis collection are cata- 
 logued below in CLASS E. 
 
 CLASS B. 
 
 ROMAN GEMS, MOSTLY OF IMPERIAL DATE. 
 
 I. DEITIES. 
 
 1. Jupiter seated in a throne with the left hand extended 
 
 (as if to hold a figure of Victory) and holding a long 
 sceptre (Jiasta purd) in his right hand, rudely cut in chal- 
 cedony. This type is derived from the statue of Zeus by 
 Pheidias at Olympia, probably not at first hand, but 
 indirectly from the reverse of a Greek coin such as the 
 common tetradrachms of Alexander the Great. The 
 setting is inscribed CHERCHELL XMAS 1888. 
 
 2. Jupiter enthroned; similar design to No. i, rudely cut on 
 
 pale sapphirine chalcedony. 
 
 3. Jupiter enthroned holding a long sceptre in one hand and 
 
 an eagle in the other (Zeus aetophoros); in the field is a
 
 DEITIES. 57 
 
 crescent moon and two stars. Rude Roman work on 
 pale striated carnelian. Unset. 
 4, 5 and 6. Three gems set on the hoop of one ring*. 
 
 4. Standing figure of Jupiter holding in one hand a long 
 
 sceptre and in the other a patera ; at his feet is an eagle. 
 Rude work on dark green jasper. 
 
 5. Standing figure of Minerva leaning on her shield and 
 
 holding a spear ; coarse work on citrine. This type is 
 derived from the chryselephantine statue of Athene by 
 Pheidias in the Athenian Parthenon. 
 
 6. Helmeted figure of Mars seated on a heap of armour, and 
 
 holding a statuette of Victory in his outstretched hand. 
 Coarse work on red jasper. 
 
 1. Standing figures of Jupiter holding sceptre and thunder- 
 bolt, Diana holding a branch and Minerva holding 
 spear and shield. Good work on carnelian. 
 
 8. Seated figure of Hygeia ; in front of her is a tripod on a 
 
 rock, and a tree round which a serpent is twined, 
 Coarse work on nicolo. 
 
 Hygeia or Salus was originally merely the abstract 
 conception of health. In later times she was personified 
 as the daughter of Aesculapius, while the state of con- 
 valescence after illness was personified as a son of 
 Aesculapius named Telesphorus. 
 
 9, 10 and 11 are set in one ring. 
 
 9. Standing figure of Mercury holding in one hand a 
 caduceus and in the other a purse and a cock, his usual 
 Roman emblems. At his feet is a ram, and in the field 
 is a scorpion and a mouse (?). Coarsely cut on chalce- 
 dony. 
 
 10. The cultus statue of the Oriental Diana of Ephesus : 
 
 at her feet are two stags and in the field above is a star 
 and a crescent moon. Carnelian. See above, CLASS A, 
 No. 14. 
 
 11. Small laureated head of Apollo. Rude work on car- 
 
 nelian. 
 
 * A considerable number of the Lewis gems are mounted in groups of three, and 
 this, of course, occasionally interferes with the scheme of classification which has been 
 adopted in this catalogue.
 
 $8 CLASS U. 
 
 12. Nude figure of Mercury riding on a ram : he holds in 
 one hand a purse and in the other a caduceus. In the 
 field in front of the ram is a cock. Very fine work on 
 carnelian. The cut shows it i times the real size. 
 
 13. Nude standing figure of Mercury holding in one hand a 
 
 caduceus and in the other a purse ; at his feet is a ram. 
 Rude work on carnelian. 
 
 14. Nude figure of Mercury seated on a rock, holding a 
 
 caduceus ; at his feet is a cock. Coarse work on red 
 jasper. 
 
 15. Mercury alighting from a flight through the air; he 
 
 holds a caduceus in his left hand, and wears the petasus 
 and winged sandals. On orange sard. 
 
 16. Mercury standing, holding a caduceus in one hand and a 
 
 purse in the other. A chlamys is hung over his right 
 arm. Dark carnelian. 
 
 17. Mercury, nude, except for a chlamys on his right arm, 
 
 offers a wreath to the statue of Diana of Ephesus, 
 represented as on No. 10, with a star and moon in the 
 field. Mercury holds the caduceus in his right hand. 
 Minutely cut on carnelian clouded with white. The gold 
 setting is inscribed SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 18. Nude figure of Venus Anadyomene, wringing the water 
 
 from her long hair with both hands. Minutely cut on a 
 carbuncle, the back of which is hollowed to receive a 
 piece of metallic foil (bratted). Of doubtful antiquity. 
 
 19. Aphrodite Epitragia riding over the sea on a ram. 
 
 Her veil is blown over her head. In front and behind 
 the ram is a flying Cupid. Minute work on clouded 
 carnelian. The gold setting is inscribed HERTZ-MAYER 
 1 6. 3. 1888. This represents a late Romanized form of 
 the Oriental Aphrodite, or Astarte, who was especially 
 worshipped in Cyprus. The ram was her sacred animal,
 
 DEITIES. 59 
 
 and Astarte herself is sometimes symbolized under the 
 form of a ram, as, for example, on some of the silver 
 staters struck in the fifth century B.C. by the Teucrid 
 Kings of the Cyprian Salamis. It is probable that in 
 its origin this cult was derived from the worship of a 
 sacred ram or sheep totem. The cut shows it \\ times 
 the real size. 
 
 20. Nude figure of Mars advancing, holding in one hand a 
 
 trophy and in the other a spear. A similar type occurs 
 on the reverses of many Imperial denarii of the first and 
 second century A.D. Burnt carnelian. 
 
 21, 22 and 23 are set in one ring. 
 
 21. Standing figure of Mars in full armour, holding spear and 
 
 shield. Dark orange sard. 
 
 22. A bird rudely cut on amethyst. 
 
 23. An ostrich ; coarse work on lapis lazuli. 
 
 24. This gem, a fine piece of chalcedony, has a device cut on 
 
 both sides. 
 
 (a) Standing figure of Abundantia holding in one 
 hand a cornucopiae and in the other some stalks of 
 wheat. At her feet is a corn-measure. 
 
 (&) On the other side is a similar female figure, but 
 without the cornucopiae, possibly representing Annona. 
 In the field is the inscription PANM. Annona was the 
 personification of the year's crop of corn. This concep- 
 tion was at first employed merely as an adjunct to 
 Abundantia and as a symbol of fertility, but by degrees 
 developed into a separate deified personality. 
 
 25. 26 and 27 are set in one ring. 
 
 25. Very rude figure of a monster, half human and half fish, 
 
 coarsely cut on carnelian. 
 
 26. A nude figure of a boy, probably the infant Bacchus, 
 
 bearing a skin full of grapes on his back. With one
 
 6O CLASS B. 
 
 hand he holds a bunch of grapes which a panther at his 
 feet looks up at. Good work on fine orange sard. 
 
 27. Very rude figure of Portuna holding a rudder and a 
 
 cornucopiae ; on carnelian. 
 
 28. Standing figure of Fortuna holding a cornucopiae and 
 
 rudder; very minute work on orange sard. 
 
 29. Standing figure of Portuna holding a cornucopiae and 
 
 rudder ; rude work on orange sard. 
 
 30. Standing figure of Fortuna holding a cornucopiae and 
 
 rudder ; in the field is a crescent moon and two stars. 
 Good work, boldly executed on carnelian. 
 
 31. Standing figure of Fortuna or Abundantia holding a 
 
 cornucopiae in one hand and in the other some stalks of 
 wheat and a rudder. Fairly good work on a fine green 
 plasma. 
 
 32. Standing figure of Fortuna holding a cornucopiae and a 
 
 rudder on carnelian. Good work of the first or second 
 century A.D. On the setting is inscribed SMYRNA 
 1890. 
 
 33. Nude figure of a worshipper kneeling before Abundantia, 
 
 who holds a cornucopiae ; on red jasper. On the back 
 of the gem is cut the word BOH06I expressive of a 
 prayer for divine aid. 
 
 The extreme frequency of the occurrence of these 
 figures of Fortune and Abundance on Roman gems was 
 occasioned by the belief that the wearer derived good 
 luck and wealth from the use of a signet with these 
 devices. 
 
 34. Very rudely cut female figure seated on a rock, holding 
 
 ears of wheat, on carnelian. Unset. 
 
 35. Enthroned figure of Cybele holding a long sceptre and a 
 
 patera (?). By her throne is a lion. Rude work on 
 orange sard. 
 
 36. Standing figure of the Sun-god with radiated head, 
 
 holding in one hand an orb and in the other a whip. 
 Coarse work on green jasper. 
 
 This type occurs frequently on the reverses of coins of 
 Constantine and his successors with the legend SOLI 
 
 INVICTO COMITI.
 
 DEITIES. 6 1 
 
 37. The Sun-god with radiated head driving a quadriga, the 
 
 chariot of the sun. Rude work of the fourth century 
 A.D. on a very large yellow mottled agate. Mounted 
 in silver as a seal ; on the setting is cut MONS PAGUS 
 SMYRNA 1891. 
 
 38. Standing figure of Isis, holding in one hand a sistrum 
 
 and in the other a bucket (situla}\ across the field is cut 
 BOM EVT. Good work on nicolo. The inscription looks 
 as if it were a blundered form of Bonus Eventus, placed 
 by mistake on a gem with a representation of Isis. 
 
 39. Standing figure of Bonus Eventus holding a cornucopiae 
 
 in one hand and a patera in the other. Good work on 
 nicolo. Unset. 
 
 40. Hercules strangling the Nemaean lion. The hero is 
 
 nude and has no club or other weapon. Of doubtful 
 antiquity, on sard. 
 
 41. Three-quarter figure of the youthful Hercules holding 
 
 his club over his shoulder. Of doubtful antiquity, cut on 
 a large orange sard. 
 
 42. Standing figure of Hercules holding a wine-cup with the 
 
 lion's skin over his left arm, on mottled chalce- BAA A 
 dony ; on the back these letters are cut 
 
 This inscription appears to be unintelligible. _ 'pjlr 
 The setting is inscribed MAYER. rPKOC 
 
 43. Profile laureated bust of a Roman wearing a mantle 
 
 fastened on the shoulder by a brooch ; bold work on 
 striated carnelian : unset. Broken. 
 
 44. Standing figure of winged Victory holding a palm- 
 
 branch and a wreath. Good work on sardonyx. 
 
 45. Winged Victory holding a palm-branch and placing a 
 
 wreath on a trophy of arms. Very coarse work on 
 carnelian. 
 
 46. Winged Victory standing on the prow of a ship, holding 
 
 in one hand a palm-branch and in the other a wreath. 
 Behind the ship is a dolphin. Very minutely cut on 
 agate. 
 
 This is a late copy of the device on the reverses of 
 coins of Demetrius Poliorcetes, adopted by him in
 
 62 CLASS B. 
 
 memory of his great naval victory over Ptolemy Soter 
 I., off the shores of Cyprus in 306 B.C., which gave him 
 command of the Mediterranean sea. 
 
 No. 46; one and a half times full size. 
 
 The very noble colossal statue, which is represented 
 on this gem and on the tetradrachms of Demetrius, 
 was discovered in 1863 by some French explorers in the 
 island of Samothrace, and is now placed at the top of 
 the principal staircase in the Louvre. It is one of the 
 finest extant examples of Greek art ; it is illustrated 
 by Rayet, Mon. de Fart ant. Part ii., plate I. It appears 
 probable that this statue is earlier than the time of 
 Demetrius Poliorcetes, and that he merely re-erected it 
 in a new position in honour of his victory. 
 
 47. Standing figure of winged Victory holding a palm- 
 
 branch and a wreath. Minutely cut on mottled plasma. 
 This interesting gem appears to be of Republican 
 date, probably of the second century B.C. It closely 
 resembles the famous gem in the gold ring of Cornelius 
 Scipio Barbatus, consul in 298 B.C., which was found on 
 his skeleton hand when his sarcophagus was opened in 
 1780. This valuable signet is now among the Percy 
 collection at Alnwick castle. 
 
 48. Winged Victory advancing, holding a palm-branch and a 
 
 wreath. Rude work on a thin slice of garnet, set with 
 foil behind it. 
 
 49. Three-quarter figure of Mars, with crested helmet and 
 
 round shield. Boldly executed work on carnelian. On 
 the setting is cut SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 50. Diana in short tunic, hunting with bow and arrow. At her 
 
 feet is a running hound. Dark orange sard. 
 
 51. 52 and 53 are set in one ring.
 
 DEITIES. 63 
 
 51. Standing figure of Minerva with spear and shield. 
 
 Coarse work on banded agate. 
 
 52. A Faun holding the pedum, a short curved stick, hunting 
 
 with his dog. Red jasper. 
 
 53. Standing figure of Mercury holding a caduceus, rudely 
 
 cut on carnelian. 
 
 54. Standing figure of Minerva, armed with spear and shield, 
 
 pouring a libation on to an altar. Minute work on a 
 fine plasma. On the reverse is cut a lion, walking. 
 
 55. The goddess Roma enthroned, with spear and shield ; in 
 
 her right hand she holds a statuette of Victory on an 
 orb. At her feet a ship is rudely indicated. Coarse 
 work of the fourth century A.D. on a large carnelian. 
 This common way of representing Roma was adapted 
 by the Romans from the Greek figures of Athene as she 
 is represented, for example, on the reverse of the fine 
 tetradrachms of Lysimachus of Thrace. On the setting 
 is cut SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 56. Profile bust of Athene or Roma, with crested helmet, 
 
 and with the aegis on her breast. Fine work of Greek 
 style on a pale onyx, with white and yellow layers. 
 
 57. Roma holding a spear, seated on a heap of armour; in 
 
 front of her is a statue of a male deity on a tall pedestal. 
 Between the statue and the figure of Roma is a large 
 serpent. Coarse work on orange sard. The presence 
 of the serpent suggests that this may possibly represent 
 not Roma, but Athene. 
 
 58. 59 and 60 are set in one ring. 
 
 58. A gryllus made up of a scorpion and a mask, on carnelian. 
 
 59. A locust cut on white jasper. 
 
 60. Standing figure of Aesculapius, leaning on a staff round 
 
 which a serpent is twined. Good work on redjasfier. 
 
 61. 62 and 63 are set in one ring. 
 
 61. Minute figure of Aesculapius leaning on a staff round 
 
 which a serpent is twined. Cut on a fine sardonyx. 
 
 62. Minute standing figure of Abundantia holding ears of 
 
 wheat and a cornucopiae ; at her feet is a rudder. Good 
 work on carnelian. 
 
 63. Profile eiconic bust of a Roman beardless youth with 
 L. G. 5
 
 64 CLASS u. 
 
 filleted head, in armour. In the field arc the letters 
 APICTA for Aristarchus. Very fine work on carnelian ; 
 the head looks very much like a portrait of one of the 
 later Ptolemies : it is not probable that it represents the 
 celebrated grammarian Aristarchus. More probably 
 Aristarchus is the name of the owner of the signet. 
 
 64. Standing figure of Aesculapius holding the serpent- 
 
 twined staff; in front of him stands Hygieia holding a 
 serpent. Good Roman work on red jasper. On the 
 setting is cut SMYRNA 1889. 
 
 65. Standing figures of Aesculapius and Hygieia as on No. 
 
 63. Round the field is cut AAEEANAPQC (sic}, probably 
 indicating that the gem belonged to a man named 
 Alexander. Coarse work on red jasper. 
 
 In early times the serpent was associated with As- 
 klepios (Aesculapius) to mark his chtJionian character as 
 a deity who gave help to the sick by means of advice 
 communicated in earth-born dreams. When, however, 
 in the fifth century B.C. Asklepios had grown into a 
 celestial deity the serpent was supposed to be a symbol 
 of regained health, on account of its habit of casting its 
 skin every year and appearing with a new skin of fresh 
 and glossy appearance. 
 
 II. PROFILE HEADS. 
 
 66. Large head of Juno wearing a diadem, deeply cut in 
 
 jacinth. A coarse Roman copy of a fine Greek original. 
 
 67. Profile bust of Diana in brown sard. 
 
 68. Very graceful profile bust of Apollo with long hair, wear- 
 
 ing a laurel wreath ; in the field is a branch of laurel or 
 olive ; finely cut on a yellowish brown sard. Of doubt- 
 ful antiquity, and injured by repolishing. On the setting 
 is cut SMYRNA. 
 
 69. Laureated head of a bearded man of the Hercules type. 
 
 Round the field is cut OeoreiMHC. Pinkish-yellow 
 agate. The name is probably that of the owner of the 
 gem, Theogenes. 
 
 70. Conventional portrait of Plato (so called), bearded, with 
 
 a fillet round the hair. Well cut work on carnelian.
 
 PROFILE HEADS. 65 
 
 71. Similar portrait head, but with a laurel wreath instead of 
 
 the fillet, deeply cut in fine orange sard. This supposed 
 portrait of Plato resembles the representations of the 
 Oriental Dionysus and is probably rather an ideal head 
 than a true portrait. 
 
 72. Laureated head of Hercules deeply cut in a burnt 
 
 cornelian. 
 
 73. Laureated bust of a youth holding a spear, on fine orange 
 
 sard. 
 
 74. Head of the youthful Hercules with the lion's skin over 
 
 the back of the head. Coarsely cut in mottled carnelian. 
 
 75. Laureated head of a youthful deity, probably Mercury, 
 
 in dark brown sard. 
 76 and 77 are set in one ring. 
 
 76. Laureated head of a female deity, cut in chalcedony. 
 
 77. Female head ; coarse modern work on carnelian. 
 
 78. Profile portrait of a Roman lady with her braided hair 
 
 wound round her head. Extremely fine Graeco-Roman 
 work of the best period, but injured by repolishing. On 
 carnelian. This is one of the finest gems in the collection. 
 
 No. 79; one and a half times full size. 
 
 79. Profile portrait of Nero and Poppaea facing each other. 
 Below the busts are the names NEP(&>) and TTOT7(7rata). 
 Fine work by a Greek gem-engraver on orange sard, 
 evidently executed in the lifetime of Nero and his mis- 
 tress and therefore a gem of exceptional artistic and 
 historical interest. In some cases portraits of revered 
 Emperors such as Augustus and Marcus Aurelius were 
 cut on gems after their death. But the hatred which 
 Nero had inspired and the memoriae damnatio which 
 was decreed as soon as he was dead would certainly 
 
 52
 
 66 CLASS B. 
 
 have prevented the production of postumous portraits 
 either of him or of his mistress Poppaea. 
 
 80. Large head of Hadrian very deeply cut. In front of the 
 face a minute winged Victory is flying, holding a wreath, 
 towards the Emperor. Good bold work on carnelian. 
 
 No. 8 1 ; one and I J^fikl &jH half times full size. 
 
 81. Laureated portrait of Caracalla, crowned by a winged 
 
 u 
 Victory ; in the field are the letters y . Bold work on 
 
 carnelian. On the setting is cut SMYRNA 1888. 
 
 82. Two laureated, bearded heads, facing. Very coarse 
 
 work on red jasper. 
 
 83. Two heads, facing, very rudely cut on red jasper. 
 
 III. MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 
 
 84. Minute head of an old man, bearded, on sardonyx. On 
 
 the setting is cut Ruines de Carthage. 
 
 85. Three Sirens represented as birds with women's heads, 
 
 on carnelian. 
 
 86. Very rudely cut figure holding a patera over an altar, 
 
 on lapis lazuli. 
 
 87. Female figure kneeling on one knee, looking at a circu- 
 
 lar casket from which some flying object is escaping. 
 On the other side a cloaked male figure leaning on a 
 staff looks downwards at the casket. On each side is a 
 conventional representation of a tree or plant ; in the 
 air above is a flying bird. Probably this subject repre- 
 sents Pandora opening the fatal box. Carnelian. The 
 setting is inscribed SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 88. The cultus statue of Diana of Ephesus and a nude male 
 
 figure with one hand on a tall cippus. With the other 
 hand he pulls his sandal on to his raised right foot. 
 Minutely cut on white jasper. The setting is inscribed 
 . SMYRNA 1 890.
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 6/ 
 
 89. Nude male figure standing, holding in one hand a patera 
 
 and in the other a branch, possibly representing Bonus 
 Eventus. Round the field is cut in large coarse letters 
 B6I0YOC, which is probably the name of the owner of 
 the signet. Good Roman work on carnelian. 
 
 90. Bellerophon riding on the winged horse Pegasus, slay- 
 
 ing the Chimaera with a spear. Mottled carnelian. 
 The setting is inscribed CASTELLANI 1884. 
 
 Castellani is a skilful Roman jeweller and dealer in 
 antiquities, from whom Mr Lewis bought this gem. 
 
 91. Three sacrificial implements, a jug (praefericulum) t a 
 
 lituus and a ladle for libations (simpulum). At the side 
 is a palm-branch. Round the field is cut in large letters 
 TRVRO. On sardonyx, unset 
 
 The other implements which are most frequently 
 represented are the securis, an axe with which the popa 
 slew the victim, the culter, a knife for exposing its 
 viscera, the aspergillum, a holy-water sprinkler, the 
 patera, a deep saucer-like dish for pouring libations, and 
 the galerum, the Flamen's cap surmounted by a wooden 
 spike (apex}. The lituus was a short staff with a crook 
 at the end, used by the Augurs to mark out the 
 imaginary divisions of the sky in which they watched 
 for the flight of birds. 
 
 These and other similar implements, which occur very 
 frequently on the reverses of Roman coins, were used as the 
 badges or symbols of the various priestly collegia of Rome. 
 
 92. Nude male figure leaning on a cippus and holding a 
 
 branch in one hand, possibly intended for Apollo. Very 
 minute and beautiful work on a fine green plasma. The 
 setting is inscribed SMYRNA 1889. 
 
 93. A hand holding a branch of a palm-tree and two blossoms 
 
 of the poppy, cut on orange sard. 
 
 94. Mutius Scaevola in full armour holding his hand in the 
 
 flame of an altar to exhibit his fortitude to the Etruscan 
 king Porsenna of Clusium. Orange sard. 
 
 95. Assembly of seven deities, seated in a semicircle ; be- 
 
 tween them is an orb. Minute but rude work on carne- 
 lian. On the setting is scratched VERNON.
 
 68 CLASS B. 
 
 96. A Roman war-ship with one bank of oars within a wreath 
 
 of laurel, on plasma. 
 
 97. Standing figure of the Oriental Artemis or Moon- 
 
 goddess between equestrian figures of Castor and Pollux, 
 each with a star over his head. Coarse but minute work 
 on came I i (in. 
 
 98. Nude figure of a bearded Dionysiac votary placing an 
 
 amphora on a low rock, well executed on olive-green 
 quartz, a variety of plasma. The setting is inscribed 
 SMYRNA 1889. 
 
 99. Very rude figure of Hercules or Omphale (?) wearing the 
 
 lion's skin and holding a club or some other object. 
 Barbarous work on carnelian. The setting is inscribed 
 CONSTANTINOPLE 1884. 
 
 100. Rudely cut figure of a helmeted warrior falling from 
 
 the walls of a conventionally represented fortress, against 
 which three ladders are leaning ; probably representing 
 Capaneus struck by lightning from Zeus while attempt- 
 ing to scale the walls of Thebes. Capaneus was one of 
 the " Seven against Thebes ;" see Aesch. Sept. con. Tlieb. 
 435 to 446. Coarse Roman work on chalcedony. 
 
 Mr C. W. King's last literary work was a paper on 
 this gem, published in the Cam. Ant. Soc. Comm., Vol. 
 VI, 1888, pp. 378 383. 
 
 No. 100 ; double full size. No. 101 ; one and a half times fitll size. 
 
 101. A winged Victory fixing a shield on to a trophy of arms ; 
 on the other side is a nude figure of a man seated, hold- 
 ing a spear. In the field is coarsely cut Qy , probably 
 the owner's name, Kallistos. The whole is enclosed in
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 69 
 
 a rudely-cut hatched border ; on carnelian. A small 
 piece is missing from each end of this interesting gem. 
 The setting is inscribed SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 102. Coarsely cut figure of a monster or marine deity ; the 
 
 upper half of the body is human, and the lower half is 
 formed by a fish's tail. On carnelian. 
 
 103. Two profile heads side by side of the youthful Hercules 
 
 and the bearded Hercules with lion's skin over his head. 
 Coarse work on onyx of two layers. On the setting is 
 
 CUt CORINTH 4. I 1888. 
 
 104. A nude figure of a youth seated on a rock under a tree, 
 
 milking a she-goat In front is another goat and three 
 kids, all running. Well cut on carnelian. The setting 
 is inscribed SMYRNA 1884. 
 
 105. Nude figure of a man working with a hammer on the 
 
 prow of a ship, representing Jason constructing the ship 
 Argo. Well cut on cream-coloured jasper. The setting 
 is inscribed MONTIGNY*. 
 
 106. Female figure draped in stola and pallium, leaning 
 
 with one elbow on a short column ; she holds in one 
 hand an arrow, which she is pointing towards her own 
 breast. Behind her is a tree, and in front a stag look- 
 ing upwards. This possibly represents Diana. Good 
 Roman work on red jasper. The setting is inscribed 
 Branchidae, March, 1882. 
 
 107. Scene in the Circus Maximus of Rome ; four bigae are 
 
 racing round the spina of the Circus, which is decorated 
 with a tall obelisk in the centre and some small aedi- 
 culae. Minutely cut on carnelian. 
 
 108. Nude standing figure of a bearded man who holds in 
 
 one hand a curved knife ; at his feet is a ram. Well 
 executed work on emerald. This fine gem appears to be 
 antique in spite of the somewhat unusual use of the 
 emerald as a signet stone. 
 
 109. Female personification of the city of Antioch, seated 
 
 on a rock with her feet on the figure of a youth swim- 
 
 * The celebrated Montigny collection of Gnostic and other gems was sold by 
 auction in Paris in June, 1887. Mr Lewis purchased several other gems from this 
 cabinet; see note on CLASS C, no. 13.
 
 7<D CLASS B. 
 
 ming who represents the river Orontes. Very deeply 
 cut on red jasper. 
 
 110. Similar representation of Antioch and the river Orontes 
 
 to that on No. 109. On the dexter side is a standing figure 
 of a Roman Emperor or General in full armour, wearing 
 a wreath ; in one hand he holds his sword, and with the 
 other he extends a wreath towards the figure of Antioch. 
 On the sinister side is a standing figure of Fortuna hold- 
 ing a rudder and a cornucopiae. Good Roman work on 
 \Q^ jasper. The setting is inscribed SMYRNA 1889. 
 
 111. Silenus seated on a rock, holding a thyrsus ; in front of 
 
 him is a tree growing on a rock. On sard. 
 
 112. Sacrificial scene ; two nude Fauns holding the body of 
 
 a small pig so that its blood drips upon the flame of an 
 altar. Very fine work on carnelian ; unset. 
 
 113. A Satyr, horned, with goat's legs, dancing, holding in one 
 
 hand a caduceus and in the other a wine cup. At his 
 feet is a ram's head. Minutely cut on a sardonyx Q{ four 
 layers. 
 
 114. A dancing Faun holding a pedum, with the nebris hung 
 
 over his right arm ; on carnelian ; unset. 
 
 115. A Satyr holding in one hand a pedum and in the other a 
 
 syrinx or Pan-pipes ; on red jasper ; unset. 
 
 116. A nude Faun seated on a rock is holding a pig by its 
 
 hind legs ; in front of him is a statue on a tall pedestal. 
 Minutely cut on carnelian ; unset. 
 
 117. Cupid gathering fruit from a tree ; below is a figure of 
 
 Capricorn, and on the other side of the tree a large 
 crater, out of which is springing a goat and an ear of 
 bearded wheat On carnelian. 
 
 118. Cupid seated on a circular cippus ; by him Psyche with 
 
 butterfly wings, draped below the waist, is standing. On 
 carnelian, foiled. 
 
 119. Rudely cut standing figure of Cupid on carbuncle, hol- 
 
 lowed behind. 
 
 120. Cupid with a long stick is beating down the fruit from an 
 
 olive-tree, on the upper branches of which a bird is 
 sitting. On red jasper. 
 
 121. Cupid catching a fish with a rod and line, on red jasper.
 
 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 7 I 
 
 122. Standing figure of a Roman Emperor in full armour, 
 
 holding a statuette of Victory on his outstretched hand. 
 At his feet is a captive in a mournful attitude. Minutely 
 cut on bloodstone or green jasfler streaked with crimson. 
 
 123. Nude standing figure of a youth holding in one hand a 
 
 helmet, and in the other a spear and shield ; in front of 
 him on the ground is a cuirass. On carnelian. 
 
 124. Seated figure of Hebe pouring from an aenochoe into a 
 
 patera from which Jupiter's eagle is drinking. Well cut 
 on brown jasper. 
 
 125. Daedalus seated, making a wing, on dark plasma. 
 
 126. Female figure seated holding a spear ; in front of her 
 
 is a tripod set on a rock. 
 
 127. Silenus seated on a rock, with one hand raised to hold 
 
 a tragic mask on a small column. On carnelian, unset. 
 
 128. Very rude figure of a worshipper in front of a statue 
 
 of a deity on a tall pedestal ; on carnelian. 
 
 129. Prostrate figure of a nude warrior wounded by a spear 
 
 in his side ; on nicolo. 
 
 130. 131 and 132 are set in the same ring. 
 
 130. Rude laureated head of a youth, probably Apollo. 
 
 Behind the head the owner's name PAMP1LVS is cut in 
 characters of the second or first century B.C. On brown 
 carnelian. This is an interesting gem of the Republican 
 period. 
 
 131. An anchor, poor modern work on brown carnelian. 
 
 132. A standing figure of Cupid with a bird at his feet, on 
 
 carnelian. 
 
 133. 134 and 135 are set in the same ring. 
 
 No. 133; one and I L^oL \f f]| I half times full size. 
 
 133. A nude figure of a Greek warrior, wearing only a crested 
 helmet, and armed with a spear ; he holds an oenochoe
 
 72 CLASS B. 
 
 to be filled at a stream which issues out of a rock. 
 Good work of Greek style on burnt chalcedony. 
 
 134. A crane standing on a poppy plant, on banded agate. 
 
 135. A winged Victory holding in one hand a wreath and in 
 
 the other a palm-branch, on agate of three layers. 
 
 136. Two draped male figures stooping to look at a human 
 
 head which issues from the ground. A necromancer 
 wearing a toga touches the head with his magical wand. 
 On carnelian. Good Roman work of the late Republican 
 period. This curious gem appears to represent a Magi- 
 cian raising the spirit of a dead man, as the witch of 
 Endor is said to have raised the spirit of Samuel at the 
 request of Saul ; I. Sam. xxviii. 7 20. 
 
 137. A Roman shepherd clad in a tunic leans on his ragged 
 
 staff in front of a tree, at the foot of which are two goats. 
 Coarse Roman work on carnelian. 
 
 138. A Greek warrior, hel meted and bearing a large round 
 
 shield, fallen prostrate. Between his legs a serpent is 
 raising its head. This probably represents Philoctetes 
 in Lemnos wounded by a snake in the foot. Early 
 Roman work on carnelian. 
 
 139. Rude figure of a nude man bearing in each hand a tall 
 
 conical object, on carnelian. On the setting is inscribed 
 SOKIA DECEMBER 2J1H l88l. 
 
 140. The Vestal Virgin Claudia Quinta drawing by her 
 
 girdle the ship which is bringing to Rome a sacred 
 statue of the Oriental goddess Cybele. On amethyst. 
 Of doubtful antiquity. On the setting is inscribed 
 HERTZ-MAYER. 1 6. 3. 1 888. This subject occurs on the 
 reverse of a fine bronze medallion of Faustina the elder. 
 
 141. A draped male figure leading a horse behind which is a 
 
 palm branch as symbol of Victory. Deeply and coarsely 
 cut on carnelian. On the setting is cut CHERCHELL 
 XMAS 1888. 
 
 142. Two rudely cut figures, half women and half fishes, 
 
 facing each other : above is a star. Barbaric Oriental 
 work on orange sard ; unset. 
 
 143. Two Greeks, each armed with a sword, advancing 
 
 stealthily, looking behind in a nervous manner. One
 
 ANIMALS. 73 
 
 figure is bearded and wears a chlamys, the other more 
 youthful conspirator is nude. On red jasper. This 
 probably represents Harmodius and Aristogeiton about 
 to attempt the assassination of the Peisistratidae. 
 
 IV. ANIMALS. 
 
 144. A lion walking; on brilliant citrine. On the setting is 
 
 cut SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 145. A lion holding a bull's head ; above is a small figure of 
 
 winged Victory holding a wreath. In the exergue are 
 the letters C-FI- Rudely cut on yo[\ovj jasper. 
 
 146. An eagle with outspread wings bearing off Ganymede. 
 
 Fine work on carnelian. 
 
 147. An eagle holding in its beak a wreath, between two 
 
 standards; on red jasper. 
 
 148. An eagle devouring a hare. Minute work on pink 
 
 carbuncle. 
 
 149. A cock holding in its beak an ear of wheat ; in front 
 
 is a rabbit. On orange sard. 
 
 150. A cock crowing, on greenish-blue jasper. 
 
 151. An ibis holding in its beak a serpent ; rudely cut on 
 
 carnelian. In the field are the letters A V. 
 
 152. A rudely cut eagle on carnelian : unset. 
 
 153. A bird standing on a stringed instrument. Very 
 
 coarse work on chalcedony. On the setting is cut 
 DELPHI, i. i. 1888. 
 
 154. A crow or raven standing on a branch, on sardonyx. 
 
 155. A bird flying over a running dog or wolf ; rudely cut 
 
 on the curved surface of a striated agate. 
 
 156. A dog and a dolphin ; in the field above is cut IAGO ; 
 
 coarse work on red jasper. The letters stand for one of 
 the mystic Gnostic names of the Supreme Deity. 
 
 157. The wolf with the twins, Romulus and Remus ; 
 
 minutely cut on fine red jasper. 
 
 158. A running panther on green chalcedony. 
 
 159. The winged horse Pegasus at full speed ; well cut work 
 
 on a fine plasma.
 
 74 CLASS B. 
 
 160. Very rude figure of a horse, mostly executed with the 
 
 blunt drill (rctunsum). Coarse work of the third or 
 second century B.C. on carnelian. This gem resembles 
 in style the latest Etruscan scarabs ; see pages 32, 33. 
 
 161, 162 and 163 are set in one ring. 
 
 161. Head of Serapis with the modius on his head, on blood- 
 
 stone jasper. 
 
 162. A butterfly hovering over a rat ; in the field is cut the 
 
 owner's name BASSI, meaning [the signet] of Bassus ; 
 good work on black jasper. 
 
 163. A man galloping on horseback, minutely cut on red 
 
 jasper. 
 
 164. A man kneeling and feeding a horse from a basket, on 
 
 burnt chalcedony. 
 
 165. A horse grazing, on carnelian. 
 
 166. A wild boar running; in the field is the owner's name 
 
 Certus, thus TVg ; on carnelian. 
 
 167. A bull galloping over a serpent; very good work on 
 
 carnelian ; unset. This was possibly the signet of some 
 member of the Gens Thoria, who used the bull (taurus) 
 as a sort of heraldic "canting" badge. A similar run- 
 ning bull occurs frequently on denarii struck by monetarii 
 of the Thoria family. 
 
 168. A ram's head finely cut on sardonyx. 
 
 169. A fly and a trefoil leaf, finely cut on onyx of three 
 
 layers ; unset. 
 
 V. EGYPTO-ROMAN GEMS. 
 
 170. The sacred bull Apis wearing the sun-disc or orb 
 
 between his horns; minutely cut on onyx. In an 
 ancient gold ring setting. 
 
 The bull Apis was regarded as an earthly incarnation 
 of Osiris, and in later times was revered as a form of the 
 Sun-god Ra. 
 
 171. Busts of Isis and Serapis, set facing ; between them is a 
 
 caduceus. Good work on carnelian. 
 
 172. Bust of Serapis, coarsely cut on citrine.
 
 EGYPTO-ROMAN GEMS. 75 
 
 173. Bust of Serapis or Jupiter Ammon, radiated, with 
 
 rams' horns, and the modius on the top of his head. In 
 front, in the field, is a serpent wound round a trident. 
 Good bold work on carnelian. On the setting is cut 
 SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 Serapis or Sarapis was a late form of the early 
 Egyptian god Osiris, whose conception was amal- 
 gamated in Ptolemaic and Roman times with that of 
 the Greek Zeus and the Latin Jupiter, and also with 
 that of the sun-god Ammon-Ra. The modius or wheat- 
 measure on his head records the original character of 
 Osiris, who was primarily a god of the crops. This im- 
 portant fact was first pointed out by Mr J. G. Frazer, in 
 his valuable work The Golden Bough, 1890, Vol. i., page 
 301 seq. 
 
 174. Bust of Jupiter Serapis; in the field are the letters 
 
 AP or PA in a monogram followed by A-Y-N. 
 
 175. Small bust of Serapis above an eagle with outspread 
 
 wings ; at the sides of the bust are a star and a crescent 
 moon. Rude work on carnelian, 
 
 176. Figure of Isis holding the sistrum, in front of the Pharos 
 
 at Alexandria. Coarse work on carnelian. On the 
 setting is cut SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 177. Standing figure of a male deity wearing only a chlamys 
 
 over his shoulder ; in one hand he holds an orb, in the 
 other a branch of a tree, towards which an infant at his 
 feet is reaching his hand. On the head of the deity is 
 the triple crown of asps. This curious figure probably 
 represents the sun-god. It is well cut on black jasper. 
 
 178. Rudely cut male bust between a star and a crescent 
 
 moon. Coarse work of the third or fourth century A.D. 
 on orange sard. On the setting is cut BAGHDAD 1881. 
 
 179. Bust of Horus (the Greek Harpocrates) with finger 
 
 pointing at his mouth as the emblem of silence, well cut 
 on sardonyx. 
 
 180. Rudely cut bust of Isis crowned by three lotus blossoms, 
 
 on sardonyx. 
 
 181. Symbolical bust of Egypt wearing the skin of an 
 
 elephant's head ; finely cut on sardonyx.
 
 76 CLASS c. 
 
 CLASS C. 
 GNOSTIC GEMS AND TALISMANS. 
 
 1. Oval tablet of lapis lazuli in ancient bronze setting with 
 
 ring for suspension. On one side is a figure of Horus 
 (the Greek Harpocrates) holding a flail, seated on a 
 lotus blossom. Below is the mystic word ABPACAH and 
 the letter 00. On the other side is rudely cut AAOONAI 
 MIXAHA the common Gnostic (Hebrew) formulae for the 
 Supreme Being and Michael, one of the Angels of the 
 Aeons*. 
 
 The letters of ABPAZAI or ABPAIAH (as Greek nume- 
 rals) make up the number 365. According to the 
 Gnostic creed there were 365 orders of angels, each of 
 which occupied a separate heaven ; each heaven being 
 superior to the one below and inferior to the one above 
 it. It was especially the followers of the Gnostic 
 Basilides who used this mystic word, denoting the 
 whole Hierarchy of Heaven, and also the supreme 
 Ruler of the universe. The Abraxas deity is frequently 
 symbolised by a human figure with a cock's head and 
 serpent legs ; this type is intimately connected with the 
 sun-god Mithras. The name and symbol of Abraxas 
 were supposed to have great talismanic powers, pro- 
 tecting the wearer from disease, accident and misfortune 
 generally. Its medical virtues, when cut on the right 
 stone, were very highly valued and believed in for 
 many centuries ; to a great extent even throughout the 
 mediaeval period. Though it was contrary to canonical 
 rules many Bishops and Archbishops, especially in the 
 eleventh to the thirteenth century, were in the habit of 
 wearing an ancient Gnostic gem with the Abraxas deity 
 or the sun-god Chnoubis in their episcopal ring. Such 
 gems were also frequently set round the knop of epis- 
 copal croziers. 
 
 2. Horus (Harpocrates) seated on a lotus blossom with his 
 
 * For further information about the Abraxas and other Gnostic deities, see 
 C. W. King, The Gnostics and their Remains, London, 1887; and Dieterich, Abraxas, 
 Sludien zur Religionsgeschichte, Leipzig, 1891.
 
 GNOSTIC GEMS. 77 
 
 finger on his lips holding a flail ; in front is the letter K. 
 Some obscure Gnostic symbols are cut on the reverse. 
 On bloodstone. 
 
 3. Rudely cut figure of Horus, with his finger on his lips, 
 
 seated in a throne ; in front, in the field, is inscribed 
 MICMOC. On the reverse are some coarsely cut Gnostic 
 letters. On black jasper. 
 
 4. Horus (Harpocrates) seated on a lotus blossom issuing 
 
 from a boat ; he holds a cornucopiae in one hand and 
 lays his finger on his lips. On fine black haematite, 
 with a hole drilled through the top for suspension. 
 
 5. The Sun-god Chnoubis as a serpent with lion's head, 
 
 radiated ; on fine green plasma. On the reverse is the 
 hieroglyph ^| above the name XNOYBIC. 
 
 The whole is a common type of Egyptian gem during 
 the Roman Gnostic period, 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. 
 The name of this deity is written variously as XNOY4>IZ, 
 XNOYMIZ and KNH<J>: he appears to be a late develop- 
 ment of the early Egyptian deity Chnemu, the World- 
 Creator or Moulder. He is called " Maker of all things 
 that exist, Creator of things that are, the origin of 
 evolutions, the father of fathers and mother of mothers." 
 He is also " Father of the gods, moulder of men, 
 begotten of the gods, maker of Heaven and Earth and 
 Hell, of water and mountains." 
 
 In later times Chnemu became associated or identified 
 with the sun-god Ra and with Osiris. With the Gnostics 
 he was a form of Hor-Apollo the Demiurgos or Spirit 
 which " pervades the universe." 
 
 6. The Sun-god Chnoubis as on No. 5 ; in front is cut 101- 
 
 101. On the reverse is the symbol ^ an d round the 
 edge a long Gnostic inscription with mystic names. On 
 green plasma. 
 
 7. The Sun-god Chnoubis as on Nos. 5 and 6. On the 
 
 reverse is the symbol ^, round which there is an in- 
 scription with mystic names. On cJialcedony. 
 
 8. The Sun-god Chnoubis as a lion-headed serpent. On 
 
 the reverse is the symbol > > and the mystic name 
 ABPACAE. On chalcedony.
 
 78 CLASS c. 
 
 9. The Sun-god as a serpent with the head of a bearded man ; 
 round it are five stars and a crescent moon. Well cut 
 on carnclian. On the setting is engraved MONTIGNY. 
 
 10. Two lions at the foot of a palm tree j above each lion is 
 
 a star. On the back is cut a long list of the mystic 
 Gnostic names for God, together with a small eagle and 
 a figure of the solar deity holding a flail. Rudely cut 
 for a talisman on a large oval piece of chalcedony, with 
 both sides convex. 
 
 11. The Gnostic Anubis as a man with jackal's head 
 
 stands, holding a sistrum and a situla. A jackal stands 
 by him on its hind legs with one paw on his shoulder. 
 On red jasper. 
 
 12. Minute figure of Horus (Harpocrates) as on No. 5, seated 
 
 on a lotus blossom which issues from the sacred boat of 
 the sun, below which are three crocodiles. Above Horus 
 are three scarabaei beetles, and on the dexter side three 
 goats and on the sinister side three eagles. On the 
 reverse is a Gnostic inscription. Very minute work on 
 dark green jasper. 
 
 13. Oval talisman of mottled chalcedony : on one side is the 
 
 Abraxas deity as a man with a cock's head and serpent 
 legs, holding in one hand a shield on which is inscribed 
 the Divine Name IAOO, and in the other hand a flail. 
 
 No. 1 3 ; real size. 
 
 On the back is a list of mystic Gnostic names MlXAHA 
 - TABPIHA OYPI HA PA<t>AHA ANANAHA fTPO- 
 COPAIHA YABCAH, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, 
 Ananael, Prosoraiel, Uabsae (Absael), the Angels in 
 charge of the seven aeons.
 
 GNOSTIC GEMS. 79 
 
 This talisman, together with Class B, no. 42 and 
 Class C, nos. 9 and 18 were purchased by Mr Lewis at 
 the sale of the Montigny collection of gems in Paris, 
 June, 1887. An interesting paper on these four gems 
 was published by Mr C. W. King in the Cam. Ant. Soc. 
 Comm., Vol. VI., 1887 8, pp. 347 354; but owing to 
 the author's failing eyesight his descriptions are in some 
 respects not correct. 
 
 14. Circular talisman of black jasper. On one side is the Evil 
 
 Principle of Nature or Typhon as a man with serpent 
 legs and lizard's feet for hands. On the dexter side 
 is the inscription NTZ, on the sinister side a scorpion 
 and below, a phallus. On the reverse is a skeleton 
 holding a staff seated under a tree, on the ground is 
 a butterfly ; the whole is enclosed by a serpent. The 
 devices cut on this stone made it an amulet with great 
 magical powers of prolonging life and bringing good 
 fortune. 
 
 15. The Abraxas deity as a man with ass's head, and forked 
 
 serpent legs, holding a dagger and a shield ; round it 
 are the letters AQI4>TTA. Good work on green jasfier. 
 
 16. Large oval talisman of black jasper. On the face is cut a 
 
 standing figure of a man closely swaddled in mummy- 
 like drapery. On his head is a serpent. All round are 
 cut numerous mystic Gnostic words. On the back is 
 cut HAIH A good example of late Gnostic work, 
 
 AB...lAl dating probably not earlier than the fifth 
 
 A^ I/I century A.D. 
 IAN 
 
 17. Large oval talisman of red jasper, convex on one side and 
 
 flat on the other. On the convex side, the Abraxas 
 deity with cock's head and serpent legs as on No. 13, 
 holding a shield and a flail. Round it are a number of 
 mystic Gnostic words. On the reverse is the sun-god 
 Chnoubis as on No. 5, surrounded by three scarabaei, 
 three eagles, three serpents, three crocodiles, three goats 
 and a star. This is an exceptionally fine specimen of a 
 Gnostic magical talisman. It was bought by Mr Lewis 
 from M. Feuardent, who obtained it from Bombay. A 
 L. G. 6
 
 8o 
 
 CLASS C. 
 
 paper on it by Mr C. W. King is published in the Cam. 
 Ant. Soc. Comm., Vol. V., 1880 4, p. 8 seq. 
 
 ECIA 
 AMY 
 
 No. 1 7 ; real size. 
 
 18. Small oval slab of dark grey jasper. Within a border 
 
 formed by a serpent with its tail in its mouth the oval 
 space is divided by a cross into four quarters containing 
 Horus on the lotus, a lion, a cock and a scarabaeus 
 beetle. On the reverse are the letters CEM , of 
 doubtful meaning ; and on the bevelled edge 
 of the amulet is inscribed AHHNAPIN which, 
 like the main inscription, appears to be un- 
 intelligible. 
 
 19. Minutely cut figure of Jupiter Serapis enthroned, with 
 
 a lion or Cerberus at his feet. In front of him stands 
 Isis holding a long torch and some ears of wheat. On 
 the reverse are some Gnostic symbols. On red jasper. 
 
 20. Male bearded, laureated head; above is a serpent 
 
 issuing from the cista mystica. In front are some 
 Gnostic names of God, reversed on the gem, so as to 
 
 read right on the impression, 
 be read in various directions 
 O 'flv the Being, Lord of 
 Sabaoth, God. On carnelian. 
 
 This is meant to 
 
 I 
 
 CAB 
 
 OOON 
 
 0H 
 
 Y 
 
 As Gnostic gems were usually talismans rather than 
 signets, the inscriptions on them most frequently read
 
 GNOSTIC GEMS AND GRYLLI. 8 1 
 
 right on the stone itself ; on other gems the inscriptions 
 are usually reversed so as to be read on the impression. 
 
 21. A silver signet, unset, engraved with a bust of Jupiter 
 
 Serapis, radiated ; in front is a serpent wound round a 
 trident, and over it a crescent. On the reverse is cut a 
 number of mystic Gnostic words. IABAIAOP 
 This is a very fine example of 00NATHCAAI 
 a metal signet, with a nobly AIBA0I 
 
 designed head, of the first or A A M 
 
 second century A.D. ; it is of A GO 
 
 Graeco-Egyptian style. 
 
 22. A finely cut scorpion; on the reverse is in- OOIBMENX 
 
 scribed this form of magical words EINIAMB 
 On yellow jasper. GON 
 
 23. A scorpion round which are some rudely cut letters or 
 
 symbols ; on carnelian. 
 
 II. GRYLLI. 
 
 Pliny, Hist. Nat. XXXV. 114, uses the word gryllus for 
 a class of grotesque figures first used in painting by 
 Antiphilus of Alexandria. The word also means a 
 cricket, but is commonly used to denote any grotesque 
 monster which is made up of several masks or portions 
 of different animals. 
 
 Under the later Roman Empire and even as early 
 as the first century A.D. these ingenious combinations of 
 various birds and beasts were commonly used for signets 
 of an inferior class. 
 
 24. Gryllus head very ingeniously made, up of three faces and 
 
 an eagle's head; fine bold work on red jasper. 
 
 25. Gryllus head made up of a cock standing on a serpent, a 
 
 male bearded mask and another bird ; coarse work on 
 red jasper. 
 
 26. Gryllus head made of a crow standing on a serpent, a 
 
 bearded mask, a goose, and minute heads of a ram and 
 a lion, all combined in a most ingenious way to form 
 
 6-2
 
 82 CLASS D. 
 
 one bust. In front is 6Y. Good work on carnelian. 
 On the setting is cut CAESAREA CAPP 1841. 
 
 27. A monster made up of an ostrich and a bearded mask. 
 
 Round it is inscribed A TT T E 4>. Rudely cut on a 
 convex piece of chalcedony. 
 
 28. Gryllus, made up of a mask and the fore part of a horse ; 
 
 behind is a helmeted male head, a dolphin and a ram's 
 head. On fine red jasper. 
 
 29. Gryllus monster, made up of a bearded mask, a ram's head 
 
 and a horse's head. Coarse work on carnelian. 
 
 30. Gryllus made of a bearded mask, a horse's head, the hind 
 
 parts of a griffin and the legs of an ostrich ; on red 
 jasper. 
 
 CLASS D. 
 ORIENTAL GEMS. 
 
 1. Babylonian cylinder cut in haematite with a fine metallic 
 
 lustre. On it is engraved the solar deity seated in a 
 throne holding in one hand a small cup ; above is a star 
 and crescent. In front of the deity are two standing 
 figures of worshippers, and close by his knees there is a 
 small grotesque figure. This signet probably dates from 
 about the twelfth to the tenth century B.C. ; it is much 
 worn with long use. The cylinder is pierced longi- 
 tudinally to receive a cord by which it was fastened 
 round the wrist or hung from the neck. 
 
 2. An Assyrian king strangling a lion, as symbol of royal 
 
 power. Good work of about the eighth century B.C. on 
 green jasper. 
 
 3. Persian scarabaeoid rudely engraved with a winged lion, 
 
 above which is a human head and two symbols, within 
 a plain line border. On chalcedony, pierced ; unset. 
 Probably of the second or third century B.C. 
 
 4 to 7 are large annular signets in chalcedony of Sasanian 
 workmanship, all rudely cut, and dating from the third 
 to the fifth century A.D. Unset. 
 
 4. Doubtful symbols.
 
 ORIENTAL GEMS. 83 
 
 5. A winged griffin. 
 
 6. An eagle displayed. 
 
 7. A rudely cut human head. 
 
 8 to 13 are rudely cut hemi-spherical Sasanian signets, 
 pierced for suspension : the first four are in bloodstone, 
 the last two in brown haematite ; unset. 
 
 8. Two rude standing figures. 
 
 9. A horse. 
 
 10. A winged horse. 
 
 11. A lion springing upon an ibex. 
 
 12. An animal of doubtful form, very rudely cut. 
 
 13. Two rude figures of birds. 
 
 14. The humped Oriental ox, rudely cut on a pale sard ; 
 
 Sasanian ; unset. 
 
 15. Bust of a Sasanian king inscribed with a Pehlevi in- 
 
 scription on cornelian ; unset. 
 
 16. Large oval signet with a bust of the Sasanian king 
 
 Sapor the Great, the conqueror of the Romans in the 
 
 No. 1 6 ; real size. 
 
 fifth century A.D. He wears the royal head-dress, neck- 
 lace and ear-rings, and has long curled hair. In front is 
 a Pehlevi inscription giving his titles as "King of 
 Kings, Lord of the Kings of Irun." Good characteristic 
 Sasanian work on carnelian. 
 
 17. An eagle sitting on a camel, late Sasanian work on 
 
 white jasper. In front is an inscription. 
 
 18. Phoenician scarab with a rudely cut seated figure of a 
 
 Sphinx, in carnelian. Probably from Tharros in Sar- 
 dinia ; of the third century B.C. This is a very charac- 
 teristic example of a Phoenician scarab of the later 
 type during the period of decadence.
 
 84 CLASS E. 
 
 19. Cultus statue of Apollo in the great temple at Bran- 
 chidae in Ionia ; on carnclian. Apollo is represented 
 nude, standing, holding in one hand a bow, and in the 
 other a stag, by its fore legs. The original of this very 
 famous statue was by Kanachos of Sicyon, in bronze, of 
 about 500 B.C. It is described by Pliny, Hist. Nat. 
 XXXIV. 75. See Proceed. Soc. Ant. Vol. XL, p. 253 seq. 
 and Middleton, Ancient Gems, p. 42. 
 
 CLASS E. 
 CHRISTIAN GEMS*. 
 
 1. Very rude representation of the Crucifixion, with two 
 figures standing by ; one is Longinus with the spear 
 that pierced Christ's side. The figure of Christ is 
 draped in a long tunic and the head is nimbed. Coarse 
 work on green jasper, possibly as early as the fifth 
 century A.D. 
 
 Real size. 
 
 This curious gem is of exceptional interest from its 
 affording one of the earliest known representations of 
 the Crucifixion. As is mentioned above in the note on 
 CLASS A, No. 48, representations of Christ's death and 
 sufferings very rarely occur till after the time of Jus- 
 tinian, the sixth century A.D. 
 
 The finest Christian gem is catalogued above in CLASS A, No. 48.
 
 CHRISTIAN GEMS. 85 
 
 2. A ship with one mast and a large sail in which are three 
 men fishing with rod and line and one drawing in a net. 
 
 Real size. 
 
 Below are the letters IHX for IHIOYZ XPIITOI. Rude 
 work on chalcedony*. 
 
 3. Two draped standing figures holding palm-branches; 
 
 one of them holds also the lab arum, Constantine's 
 standard, on which is the sacred monogram ^. Minutely 
 cut on red jasper. 
 
 4. Male figure dressed in a tunic, holding the sacred mono- 
 
 gram %, and trampling on a human-headed serpent 
 with forked tail, symbolising the triumph of Christianity 
 over the Principle of Evil. Good work on lapis lazuli, 
 probably executed in Egypt during the fourth century 
 A.D. 
 
 5. Very rude nude figure armed with spear and sword on 
 
 carnelian, chipped. Set in a mediaeval silver ring; 
 round the bezel is cut an inscription in rude letters, 
 perhaps the owner's name MANOAITZANETHTft (Mano- 
 litza Netetou ?). The back of the bezel and the shoulders 
 of the hoop are decorated with niello inlay. 
 
 6. Standing figure of the Good Shepherd bearing a sheep 
 
 on His shoulders. He wears a tunic and high boots. 
 To the back is cemented another gem with three stand- 
 ing figures. Both are cut in carnelian and are modern 
 copies of two ancient gems. With it is an electrotype 
 impression. 
 
 * A paper on this curious gem and the preceding one was published by 
 Mr C. W. King, Camb. Ant. Soc. Comm., Vol. v, 1880 4, pp. i to 4.
 
 86 CLASS F, PASTE GEMS. 
 
 6 A. Electrotype copy of a gem with a figure of the Good 
 Shepherd bearing a sheep. On each side is the 
 symbol %. 
 
 7. Rectangular bezel of a bronze ring on which is incised a 
 
 dove and the monogram %, of the fifth or sixth cen- 
 tury A.D. 
 
 8. Fragment of blue glass, probably from a ring, on which is 
 
 impressed in relief the monogram %. This probably 
 came from one of the Roman Catacombs. 
 
 CLASS F. 
 PASTE GEMS. 
 
 1. Atlas kneeling on one knee supporting a globe, on fine blue 
 
 paste. 
 
 2. Dancing girl dressed in a short tunic, with both hands to 
 
 her breast; on black paste with a white stripe. 
 
 3. Apollo standing by a tree holding his lyre ; at his feet is a 
 
 figure of Cupid ; fine Graeco-Roman work on yellow 
 paste. 
 
 4. Barbaric profile bust of a king with radiated crown, on 
 
 pale green paste ; modern. 
 
 5. Pull faced head of Hercules in " black jasper " paste ; 
 
 made in the eighteenth century by Wedgwood as a fob- 
 seal. 
 
 6. Standing figure of Aesculapius with a serpent and hold- 
 
 ing a patera; on pale blue paste. 
 
 No. 7 ; one and a half times full size. 
 
 7. Fine profile portrait of the Empress Domitia on yellow 
 
 paste; fine Graeco-Roman work of the best style. 
 
 8. A winged griffin holding a branch in its paw; on blue paste. 
 
 Probably Phoenician work of the fifth or fourth cen- 
 tury B.C. Pastes of this type have been found in
 
 CLASS G, CAMEOS. 87 
 
 Rhodes and in Cyprus, and also in other places where 
 there was commercial intercourse with Phoenicia or its 
 colonies. 
 
 9. Nude figure of a warrior, holding a shield, standing in 
 front of a column, on which is an owl ; a serpent is 
 twined round the column. Probably Greek work of the 
 fifth or fourth century B.C., on yelloiv and white paste. 
 
 10. A Siren, as a bird with human female head, helmeted. 
 
 Behind are two spears and a shield on which is a head 
 of Medusa. On pale blue paste. 
 
 11. Standing figure of a Siren, as a bird with a woman's 
 
 head, playing on the double pipes. In the field are the 
 letters LIHI. On purple paste. 
 
 12. Jason working with an adze on the prow of the ship 
 
 Argo, on pale yellow paste ; this is a favourite subject in 
 Graeco-Roman art. 
 
 13. Nude standing figure of a Faun pouring wine from one 
 
 amphora into another. Minute work on pale yellow paste, 
 of good Graeco-Roman style. 
 
 14. Profile conjugated heads of a Roman Emperor with 
 
 laureated head and a lady. Fine modern work on 
 pale yelloiv paste, of very minute execution. 
 
 CLASS G. 
 CAMEOS. 
 
 1. Thick disc of chalcedony, two inches in diameter, with a 
 
 Cupid's head in high relief, with four holes for attach- 
 ment. This is a fine example of the phalerae, large 
 boss-like gems, which were inserted in the bronze 
 cuirasses of Roman Emperors, and were granted as 
 special distinctions to victorious generals ; date pro- 
 bably the first century A.D. Unset. 
 
 2. Large oval cameo in an onyx of two strata, with a grotesque 
 
 mask of a Satyr, combined with two dolphins, an 
 eagle's head and a lion's head. Good Renaissance 
 work ; probably Italian of the sixteenth century. Set 
 in a twisted gold frame.
 
 88 CLASS G, CAMEOS. 
 
 3. Oval cameo in onyx of three strata with the infant Hercules 
 strangling the serpents which attacked him in his cradle. 
 Good Italian work of the sixteenth century. Bought 
 by Mr Lewis from Captain Peel's collection for .13, 
 Feb. 21, 1882. Set in a gold ring. 
 
 4 Modern cameo on onyx of three strata, engraved on one side 
 with a nude seated figure of a sleeping Nymph, and 
 on the other side with Pan seated on a rock. Unset. 
 
 5. Two nude Nymphs worshipping a statue of Priapus ; 
 
 good modern work on onyx of three strata. The figures 
 are cut in a stratum of red jasper on a ground of 
 yellow jasper. Unset ; good eighteenth century work. 
 
 6. Cameo with a similar design to that on no. 5, cut on onyx Q{ 
 
 two strata, white on a blue ground. Good modern work, 
 set in a gold ring. 
 
 7. Oval cameo on onyx, with a white layer on a ground of 
 
 transparent chalcedony. A nude figure of a god 
 seated on a rock; by him is Cupid. In front of him 
 is a seated figure of an old man, behind whom a female 
 is standing. Modern work, unset. Broken and mended. 
 
 8. Long oval cameo on onyx, with cream-white layer on a 
 
 transparent ground. Amphitrite and Triton with 
 attendant sea-gods floating on the sea. Modern work, 
 unset. Broken and mended. 
 
 9. Grotesque profile head of a Faun, cut in mottled agate ; 
 
 modern. Set in a gold ring. 
 
 10. Turretted head of the Tyche or personification of a city , 
 
 modern work on onyx ; set in a gold ring. 
 
 11. Oval cameo in green jasper with a half length figure of 
 
 Christ in Majesty, of Byzantine style, nimbed and 
 holding in one hand an orb ; the other hand is raised in 
 blessing, with three fingers extended after the fashion of 
 the Greek Church. The cross on the nimbus is in- 
 scribed GO H for 'O 'Up, The Being. At the sides are 
 the letters 1C XC (IHIOYI XPIZTOZ). Greek work of 
 about the fifteenth century, well executed. In a twisted 
 gold frame.
 
 CLASS H, MODERN GEMS. 89 
 
 CLASS H. 
 MODERN GEMS . 
 
 1. Heads of Diana and Apollo Helios, facing, on red jasper. 
 
 2. Bust of Athene on onyx, copied from an ancient gem. 
 
 3. Head of Medusa, full face, on red jasper. 
 
 4. Head of Medusa, full face, on dark brown paste. 
 
 5. Head of Medusa, full face, on bloodstone jasper. 
 
 6. Profile head of Medusa on carnelian. 
 
 These four heads of Medusa are all copied from 
 ancient gems. 
 
 7. Profile head of a youth ; in front is a vine leaf, and behind, 
 
 the letters HMVIS; on red jasper. 
 
 8. Profile bust of Apollo Helios, on green jasper. 
 
 9. Fine profile head of a Roman Emperor on yellow paste ; 
 
 unset. 
 
 10. Profile bust of a bald, bearded man, probably meant 
 
 for a Greek philosopher, inscribed CE1/1 TA. On pink 
 paste. 
 
 11. Profile head of a bearded Philosopher on orange sard. 
 
 12. Nude standing figure of Heracles with club and bow, 
 
 within a hatched border; on green jasper; unset. 
 
 13. Three Greek warriors in full armour; one of them 
 
 stoops to draw a lot out of an amphora ; behind is a 
 column ; on carnelian. This is a copy of a not un- 
 common design on Graeco-Roman gems ; the subject is 
 supposed to be the Herakleidae drawing lots for the 
 division of the Peloponnese. 
 
 14. Graceful seated figure of a Greek lady, draped below 
 
 the waist. Very beautiful work on citrine, set in silver 
 as a seal. 
 
 15. Minute standing figures of Aesculapius and Hygieia 
 
 on carnelian ; on the reverse is a female head. 
 
 16. Nude standing figure of a Greek warrior to whom a 
 
 fully draped female offers three poppy blossoms; behind 
 
 * Only those gems which are clearly and obviously modern are placed in this 
 class. A good many which are possibly modern are included in the previous classes.
 
 90 CLASS II, MODERN GEMS. 
 
 arc three male figures bending in attitude of suppli- 
 cation. Very minute work on sapphirine chalcedony. 
 
 17. Nude figure of Meleager holding two spears, standing in 
 
 front of a statuette placed upon a rock ; at his feet are 
 two hounds ; on sappJiirine clialcedony. This is a copy of 
 a fine Graeco-Roman design, of the same class as the 
 Vatican statue of Meleager. 
 
 18. Standing figure of Bellerophon watering his horse 
 
 Pegasus on the Acro-Corinthus : good copy on yellow 
 paste of a large Graeco-Roman relief in marble which is 
 now in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. 
 
 19. Aeneas escaping from Troy with his father Anchises on 
 
 his shoulder, and leading the boy Ascanius, rudely cut 
 on red jasper. The setting is inscribed SMYRNA 1890. 
 
 20. The same subject as the last on nicolo. 
 
 21. Faustulus discovering the twins Romulus and Remus 
 
 suckled by the she-wolf under the Ficus Ruminalis, 
 deeply cut on carbuncle. This is a copy of an ancient 
 Roman gem. 
 
 22. Enthroned figure of Cybele holding the statue of Diana 
 
 of Ephesus ; at her feet is a lion, and, behind her throne, 
 a peacock, on carnelian. 
 
 23. Seated figure of a pseudo-Egyptian deity, a very clumsy 
 
 forgery on banded agate. 
 
 24. Nude figure of Apollo holding a fawn, and two female 
 
 deities standing side by side, on red jasper. 
 
 25. Heraldic monster formed of two birds with one human 
 
 head, on green jasper. 
 
 26. A large crater on which is a man driving a biga, on 
 
 orange sard. 
 
 27. Standing figure of Omphale with the club and lion's skin 
 
 of Hercules ; signed in Greek letters TTIXAEP. This is 
 the usual signature of JoJin Pichler, one of the best gem- 
 engravers of the eighteenth century. On carnelian ; set 
 in gold as a seal. 
 
 28. Pseudo-Egyptian figure of a man in a boat, on brown 
 
 jasper. 
 
 29. A helmet with two plumes and cheek -pieces, on carbuncle. 
 
 30. Draped female figure holding a ball and a spear, pro-
 
 CLASS J, RINGS. 9 1 
 
 bably meant for Atalanta ; at her feet is a small Cupid, 
 on bloodstone jasper. 
 
 31. Male head above a bell, a balance and two ears of bearded 
 
 wheat on orange sard. 
 
 32. Standing warrior, fully armed, in front of a pedestal on 
 
 which a bird is sitting ; on pale red jasper : a coarse 
 copy of an ancient gem. 
 
 33. Two Cupids in a ship in the form of two dolphins, with 
 
 mast and sail ; minutely cut on black jasper. 
 
 34. Copy in pink paste of a fragment of a gem with a figure 
 
 of the Good Shepherd, bearing a sheep on His 
 shoulders. On each side was a tree, and at His feet 
 some sheep, partly broken away. 
 
 35. Copy of Greek scarab in hard opaque brown paste ; on it 
 
 is Herakles strangling the Earth-born Giant Antaeus. 
 
 36. Silenus with a thyrsus kneeling by the side of a Centaur 
 
 who is in a recumbent position and is dipping one arm 
 into a large wine-jar or crater. Good work on green 
 plasma. This appears to be a fine work of the Renais- 
 sance period, possibly copied from a Graeco-Roman 
 original. 
 
 CLASS J. 
 ANTIQUE RINGS. 
 
 1. Ring wholly of pure gold ; on the bezel is cut a draped 
 
 female figure holding a wreath. Much injured by 
 wear. This fine ring appears to date from the Early 
 Empire, but it may possibly be of Greek workmanship. 
 
 2. Profile head of a Roman lady, well and minutely cut on 
 
 carbuncle, dating from the first century A.D. It is set 
 in a gold ring with open shoulders ; the aperture is 
 decorated with a gold twist. The ring setting is several 
 centuries later than the gem. 
 
 3. Ajax, as a nude helmeted warrior, is dragging away 
 
 Cassandra from her refuge in the Trojan temple of 
 Athene. Rude Roman work on red jasper in its 
 original setting, a bronze ring plated with gold. The 
 date of this ring is probably the second century A.D.
 
 92 CLASS J. 
 
 4. Rudely cut head of Apollo on carnelian in its original 
 
 setting, a hollow gold ring, of late Roman date. 
 
 5. Standing figure of a Tragic actor holding a long 
 
 sceptre ; in front is the inscription 6PMH ; on carnelian 
 in a massive gold ring setting, which appears to be of 
 the fourth or fifth century A.D. The gem is earlier in 
 style than the ring. 
 
 6. Bust of Jupiter Serapis on sardonyx in its original bronze 
 
 ring setting, probably of the second century A.D. 
 
 7. Minute head of a helmeted warrior, possibly Mars, 
 
 on green jasper, in its original setting, a plain hollow 
 gold ring of the second or third century A.D. 
 
 8. Very rude figure of Cupid standing, on carnelian, in its 
 
 original setting, a plain hollow gold ring, intended for a 
 lady, as the opening is very small. Late Roman work. 
 
 9. Two minute figures of Cupids playing, on carnelian, in 
 
 its original setting, a small, plain gold ring, made hollow. 
 Late Roman work. 
 
 10. Two birds above a ship with one bank of oars, rudely 
 
 executed in dark paste with a blue layer. Set in a silver 
 ring of the fourth or fifth century A.D. The shoulders 
 of the ring are flattened and enlarged into two oval 
 discs. 
 
 11. Seated figure of a Nymph or Muse holding on her knee 
 
 a Tragic mask ; on carnelian, set in a plain bronze ring, 
 the hoop of which is lost. Probably of the second 
 century A.D. 
 
 12. Small and rudely cut head of Apollo Helios, with radiated 
 
 head, on carnelian, set in the original hollow gold ring, 
 of the second or third century A.D. 
 
 13. Bust of the youthful Hercules with a club on his 
 
 shoulder ; coarsely cut in red jasper, in its original solid 
 gold ring setting, of the second century A.D. 
 
 14. Small and very rude standing figure, on onyx of three 
 
 layers, set in a massive gold ring with fluted shoulders ; 
 of late Roman date. 
 
 15. Ring wholly of silver ; of doubtful date ; on the bezel is 
 
 engraved a winged griffin ; the shoulders of the ring are 
 decorated with a sort of diaper pattern.
 
 ANTIQUE RINGS. 93 
 
 16. Hoop-ring of massive gold, slightly polygonal in form ; on 
 
 it is cut in large letters TTArAO(jO AeiK(jUN, "For a 
 blessing, Eleikon [dedicates this.]" This interesting 
 ring was probably a votive offering, dedicated in the 
 temple of some pagan deity, in the third or fourth 
 century A.D. 
 
 17. Gold ring formed by bending round a wide plate of gold. 
 
 On the widest part of the bent plate is incised an anchor 
 
 and the word luniA > unity ; this is probably a betrothal 
 
 or wedding ring. 
 
 18. Bronze ring, on the bezel of which is engraved a very rude 
 
 figure with radiated head and some letters or symbols 
 of doubtful meaning. 
 
 19. Bronze Christian ring, with a large rectangular bezel on 
 
 which is incised This is reversed on the 
 
 IN DEO 
 
 ring itself. 
 
 20. Large bronze Christian ring with a rectangular bezel, on 
 
 which is inscribed of. The letters are in relief, 
 not incised as on No. 19; they are reversed so as to be 
 read on the impression SPES IN DEO. Part of the hoop 
 is missing. 
 
 21 and 22. Two gold rings from tombs in Egypt of the 
 Ptolemaic period ; they are formed in the shape of ser- 
 pents wound spirally round the finger. This is a very 
 frequently occurring design for rings of the Greek period 
 both in Egypt and elsewhere. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AND SONS, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 Box 951388 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed.
 
 to 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGION^ UBRARY FACILITY