.. Caligula and his Sisters, Julia, Drusilla, Agrippina. Sard. This is one of the most .. Apotheosis of Augustus, who is borne up to heaven by Mithras. The "Cameo Greek Cameo found in Cabul. Sardonyx (p. 199) (Rhodes). Cicero; contemporary portrait. Antique paste. Signet of Rufina. .. PAGE 164 164 165 165 176 181 185 A monster with heads of a boar and a bull Gryllus, signet of Titinius. Obsidian. The "motive of this composition Inscribed Etruscan gem. The name is that of the hero, but written in the cus- .. .. Di-drachm of Caulonia, showing the guilloche Etruscan border.. Mæcenas, by Apollonius. Jacinth. This portrait is perhaps superior even to the Julius of Dioscorides, being in a more elegant and softer style (Rhodes). 211 Satyr surprising a sleeping Nymph (Amymone); signet of Aspasius: Roman work. Agate. Extremely minute, half the diameter of the cut, yet most elaborately finished (Rhodes). Faun with Urn: finest Greek style. Sard (Rhodes). Cupid rescuing Psyche; by Pamphilus. Sard (British Museum). Hermes making Lyres (Foreign Collection). Roma holding forth a torques, the usual reward of military valour: a Victory presents an olive-branch; at her side is a singular vizored helmet on a stand. Spotted Sard... Hercules and the Stymphalian Birds (Foreign Collection). .. 5 The description of the hydraulis, invented by Ctesibius of Alexandria, as given by Athenæus (iv. 75), exactly applies to this intaglio. "The bydraulic organ seems to be somewhat after the nature of a water-clock. Perhaps it ought to be termed a wind-instrument, inasmuch as the organ is filled with breath by 228 230 238 242 245 246 255 260 means of water; for the pipes are bent down into water, and the water being 'pounded' by an attendant, whilst tubes pass through the body of the organ itself, the pipes are filled with wind and give forth an agreeable sound, The organ resembles in form a round altar." Juno; by John Pichler. Sard (Rhodes). .. Ship under sail-emblem of mortal life (Foreign Collection). Cupid chained by Psyche to a column. Girasol. The signet of M. Mausius Narcissus and Echo: Roman. Prase. Cupid, emerging from the fountain, is Mask hollowed out behind to contain poison. Onyx (p. 278). The subject apparently chosen by the wearer from the same motive that caused masks to be adopted as the usual decorations of monuments, or else to mark his opinion, "Life is a jest and all things show it.".. Signet and Monogram of Paulus. Sard. .... Serapis: Roman work: Cameo. This Onyx has running through its white layer-in which the bust is cut-the large perforation of the original Indian bead... PAGE 269 276 284 284 289 294 Triple Mask: Roman. Jacinth (now in Lord Braybrooke's Collection). .. Diocletian and Maximian as Janus. Green Jasper, .. Antique gem with forged name of artist (Mycon), an addition of the last century: Calcedony. 301 301 .. 302 311 315 316 319 322 327 328 329 331 332 Signet of Macenas: Etruscan scarab. Sol within the Zodiac (Foreign Collection)... Augustus with his Horoscope Capricorn (Foreign Collection). Mithraic Bull-symbol of the Earth. Green Jasper (Author's Collection). Nicandra. Anubis, surrounded by the seven vowels (p. 345), standing on a serpent. Green Jasper. The stone is broken at each extremity, but the head is evidently that of a jackal, not a hawk's as it appears in the cut. The work of the intaglio is extraordinarily fine, rendering this gem quite unique in its class. 342 Abraxas. Green Jasper. Also of unusually good and finished work, and belonging to the very dawn of Gnosticism; certainly not later than Hadrian's reign. Chneph: Alexandrian. Sard. The legend, if written in the usual letter, is Χνουβις Ανοχ Σεμες Ειλαμ, followed by the trifid emblem so common in these formulæ Martyrdom of a female Saint. Red Jasper. This was probably executed about 342 344 352 the ibis, jackal, and hawk, attributes of Isis, Anubis, and Phre or Sol, whose triple godhead he symbolizes. The legend on the reverse ends with the word Zovuapta, a title constantly occurring in these invocations, but as yet unexplained. .. Mithraic Symbol. The two Principles, altar with the sacred wafers, lustral water, raven, &c.; above are seen the busts of Sol and Luna. Plasma. The work of the rudest description. .. Isiac Vase. Red Jasper. This is an extremely elegant composition. Asps form the handles, under which are Satyric masks. The (afterwards) Christian symbols upon its surface are worthy of attention. Oculist's Stamp. Sard (British Museum). Jupiter, Sol, Luna. Opal (p. 66). .. .. .. Cassandra mourning the doom of Troy. Sard. Gerhard, however, explains this .. .... .. Death of Eschylus. An eagle drops a tortoise upon his bald pate, mistaking it "O Plato, Plato, How all thy wisdom lies in looking grave; Like as the snail [protrudes his eye-tipped horns]." Psyche mourning the flight of Cupid (Foreign Collection). PAGE 358 359 363 366 374 376 378 378 380 380 383 384 388 389 418 433 Phenician Sphinx. Spotted Onyx. The object in the background is probably a mummy-formed divinity (Rhodes)." Silenus placing a crater on its stand àɣyonên, or incitega): Roman. Sard Parthian King between two crowned Asps. Sard. On the reverse of this most .. Here the legend commences with the usual AP, or title of the king, but the other letters are so rudely cut as to be undecipherable; perhaps the three last stand for Bagi, "the Divine." Favourite Racehorse, Syodus (Speedaway). Jacinth. Greek work of uncommon spirit, commemorating, there can be little doubt, some victor in the Stadium (Rhodes). .. ..... Somnus, on his rounds, holding a wreathed horn in each hand, and from one pouring out his balm upon the earth. The god here is depicted with butterfly-wings like Psyche, of which I have seen no other example, since his figure upon monuments can only be distinguished from Cupid's by the diversity of their attributes. Lessing has admirably treated this subject in his dissertation, "Wie die Alten den Tod gebildet." The work of this intaglio belongs to the best period of Roman art, and is cut on a Sard of the finest quality .. Death, within an opened monument; beneath is the pig, the funeral sacrifice: "Et Nox, et cornu fugiebat Somnus inani."-Theb. vi. 27. PAGE 438 442 448 454 466 470 471 476 488 Dagon: Phenician scarab. Green Jasper; or perhaps a green terra-cotta. Babylonian Cylinder. Loadstone. Remarkable for the neatness of the cutting of the cuneiform inscription filling one half its surface. Fauns playing: Nicolo. Described by Caylus (II. pl. lxxxiii) as having been recently discovered at Xaintes, set in a massy gold ring weighing 1 oz. The antique setting has disappeared, by reason doubtless of its large intrinsic value, but the correspondence of the scale and material prove the identity of the gem itself. 489 Canopic Vase: Greco-Egyptian date. ring (p. 285). On the belly of the vase is the sun's disk, and below, the royal vulture with spread wings. The iron ring itself is elegantly formed. (Author's Collection). .. ANCIENT GEMS. SECTION I.MATERIALS. Livia, Red Jasper. SOURCES WHENCE GEMS WERE OBTAINED BY THE ANCIENTS. BEFORE we enter upon the consideration of the intagli and camei themselves, and of the various styles of art which they present, it will be more appropriate to give a brief description of the different sorts of gems upon which they usually are found, to point out their respective characters, and at the same time to identify, as far as can be done, the species of stones principally employed by the ancients for these works; and to distinguish them from those only known to modern engravers, or at least more generally used by the latter than by the artists of antiquity. The sources whence they were obtained will be separately noticed under each head, but a most suitable introduction to this section will be the elegant description given by Dionysius Periegetes of the trade in precious stones carried on by the Orientals early in our era; for, although the date of his poem is disputed, yet his allu B |