;iM5Si«i«®««S55«»«*»S' ■■ <> .JB^ ^iP* I ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■I IIMIIIIMI ■i r. t \<. ■■.*' I " .1 ''\ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Research Library, The Getty Research Institute http://www.archive.org/details/engravedgemstheiOOsomm •^r ,^^/^^^^-US^^iL-.a-^tr^ '^^T-t:-c^'Vi^ c^^^.^^^.i:.*^^^^^^^:^^^^-^^^'^^'^^'^-^^ ^^ =^ ENGRAVED GEMS THEIR HISTORY AN ELABORATE VIEW OF THEIR PLACE IN ART BY MAXWELL SOMMERYILLE miustratrti PHILADELPHIA PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 1889 Copyright, 1889, BY MAXWELL SOMMERVILLE. ELECTROTYPED BY PRESS OF IBrstcott a f bomson. ^bil.iScIpbia. Sbttiiran * tfo., |lbiliit)tl()hra. ENGRAVED GEMS Their History and Place in Art IN WHICH IS EMBODIED THE AUTHOR'S FORMER TREATISE. WITH EXTENSIVE REVISIONS AND ADDITIONS; REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS IN THE PURSUIT AND ACQUISITION OF ENGRAVED GEMS: ALSO INTERESTING rNCIDENTS OF THEIR SUBJECTS; TO WHICH IS ADDED A DESCRIPTIVE LIST UF THE AUTHOK'S CABINET OF GEMS A COMPEND OF GREEK AND KOMAN CLASSICS AND ANTIQUITIES ILLUSTRATED WITH lOO ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR AND WITH OVER SCO FACSIMILES OF HIS GEMS PHILADELPHIA MAXWELL SOMMERVILLE 1889 TO MY CONSTANT COMPANION IN MANY CLIMES, MY DEAR WIFE, THIS TRIBUTE, MY LIFE'S LABOR, IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED. MAXWELL SOMMERVILLE. PREFACE. Little consideration has been bestowed upon Cameos and Intao-lios in tins Western World. With our increased oppor- tunities for intellectual culture and the enjoyment of art, the development of refined tastes and pursuits in this country has been marked bv the formation of many private collections. Impelled by the desire for acquisitions in manuscripts, armor, porcelains, enamels, engravings, etc., we have diligently searched the continent of our ancestors, and in the pursuit ot antique additions to our cabinets have even more earnestly penetrated the realms of Ranieses and Thothmes, Phidias and Praxiteles, Dioscorides and Theodorus of 8amos. These treas- ures, culled by various tastes, have each their devotees — zealous collectors of pottery, iridescent glass, ])orcelain, enamels, etc.; gleaners of etchings; enthusiasts in bronze, storing up relics of the altar, vessels, and vases, lunisehold gods, and even fragments of fragrant censers; collectors of inscriptions, auto- graphs, medals, and coins ; helping women, amateurs of lace, treasuring remnants of Doges' nicfhUa and chancel webs of Venetian handiwork, — each engrossed in their particular branch. I too have found a pleasant jiath leading to where are gathered stones — engraved stones, art-links in a carved chain reaching beyond that \\onderful stone book, the temple of Edfoo. 8 PREFACE. ]\Iv treasures are now placed on view at the Meti'opolitan ]\hiseiira of Art, Central Park, New York. Many will cast only a passing glance. Pray, some of you come with me and see there is reason and pleasure in my pursuit. \\ c Avill walk n])()n the t'rundded ruins of hyg'one centuries; our retrospective view shall l)e where changing elements, rust, and age have S])ared hut traces t.i'i palaces and temples : we \\ ill stroll Ijcside a ra2)id stream until we reach a grove where I have oft tmnied in and found a ri(di re})ast : no shrines, no obelisks, no statues, naught Ijut these jirecious little stepping-stones, hy which we Avill cross the stream, and in the vale of antiquity, with these miniature luomuuents, study and enjoy the indelilde \)ov- traiture of ages. After Years of personal effort, and the opinions of savants in France, Germany, Italy, and Greece, I returned to this countrv sujiposing that my fund of information in regard to a numl)er of inscribed gems -was suiiiciently complete. How- ever, with the valuable aid of Dr. Isaac H. Hall, Gurator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, errors ha\ e been corrected and several very interesting inscriptions have been deciphered b\- him, revealing alike messages inun ancient time and pinxing his \\urnt-sienna tone, while the shrul)bery behind is of a reddish-brown ; in the Oriental chalcedony cameo of Pluflms guiding the chariot of the sun, No. 2, Case A, PIkcIius is of a flesh color which has paled imder the jiatina of age: the horses are marked as those in Guide's Aurora; wdiile the foiul^ or base of the cameo, held to the thiy, gives the golden glow of the sunlight; on the cameo set in a ring. No. 1()S2, Case P P P, the Pluvnix rises from brilliant l)laziiig ' One in iiiv collection, Xo. 1U73, Case V P P, lias eight strata. SOURCE AND HISTORY. 17 flames, also acquired by skilfully utiliziu-' the natural macula- tiou of the stone, wliich (.-vidcntly was selected tor the design. Again, the eanieo No. 698, Case Q Q, the I'allas of Troy, the owl with its feathery suit forming the head-tbess : observe its white beak, dark eyes, the phuuage of its head, deeper in color than that on its body and win-s. The laureation of emperors and of bacchanalian heads; the rose tint of health upon fair cheeks,— all these charming eflects are the result of artistic arrangement and utilization ..f the varied beauties presented bv nature in the agates and onyxes. Uur subject is engraved stones, not gold ornamentation; but as gems could not well be carried without some metallic setting, I will make this passing reference to rings, the principal means of displaying and wearing them. We meet with seal- i-ino-s amonff the relics of ancient Greece, and we know that six hundred rears b. c. rings in bronze, silver, and gold were almost in universal use. The fashion was first adopted by the Roman rulers as a con- venient means of preserving and employing their intaglios. At first their use was restricted to the emperors, who assumed the rio-ht of o-rautino' the distinction to others, for it was actually esteemed and given as a badge of nobility. The privilege was onlv oranted to men in authorit\-: ambassadors wore gold rings; it was part of their official regalia, as w ith cardinals in the pres- ent da\-. Senators, chief magistrates, and military officials next received the right: but in time it was extended to all the armv of the empire and to citizens, many of whom wore iron rin<'s and even to men who had been bondsmen: an interesting instance is that of the liberated slave Philogenis, whose seal will l)e found in my collection, Xo. 915, Case F F F. (See article Rome in "Interesting Incidents of Subjects," page 396). 2 18 ENGRAVED GEMS. TliiYvuiili the valued friendship of ^[. E(hiiond Le Bhmt, late president of rAcadeniie des Inserijjtion.s de Flnstitut de ?\ance, I have been led to look with much interest on all the Clu-istian yenis, either such as 1 have found in a few of the national museums, in private cabinets, or such as I have myself actpiired. There are quite a number in the little museum of Ravenna, so seldom visited and Aet meriting observation and studv, especially for their imdonbtable Christian character. True, some of these gems are ornamented with I'ather ill-drawn and grotesque subjects — figured in a position of adoration or with the hands held together as in prayer, generally accom- panied bv two or more Greek crosses — the Holy Spirit ex- emplified bv the gentle dove ; palm branches, pastoral groups, or the significant lamb alone ; the good pastor tenderly bearing the lamb ttpon his shoulders or in his bosom, followed or surrounded bv others; figiu-es pressing a book to the bosom or heart, the sentiment being love for the manuscriiit Testament of life; a series of scenes from the incident in the life of Jonah — the banpie Avhence he was thrown, the great fish, Jonah expelled from the whale's mouth ; the monogram of Christ (see No. 583, Case II, obverse and reverse); the dove carrying the olive liranch (see Xo. 5S2, Case II); annilet — obverse anchor and fishes, reverse palm branches ; the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham (see Xo. 7, Case A). One feature strongly marks this series of Christian gem- tokens: tlKHigh following so closely on the era of mythology, the emblems have not the slightest tinge of those superstitions : they may be very simple, but they are orthodox, and are im- bued with love of the newly-known ]\Iediator, our Saviour; there are also of this period many fine chalcedonies, amethysts, sards, etc., which have onlv for embellishment inscriptions of SOURCE AXD HISTORY. 19 mottoes, as " (tu;ii(1 against iutcinpevaiice," "Be viji'ilant, rurb tli\' will :" also -with sentiinciits nt' kiml wishes for the New Year: other iiiscrilKMl stones i^iveii in troth, as " To thee with iiiv soul," or " M\' licaiitit'nl soiil," ami the t'l'ccjueiit iiKd/i hi Jcfic, afHanced liands. These wirh iniiinnerahle other syniliols of Christianity compose the suite known as Christian g-eins. The general suhjects of engraved stones set m rings will he given in their place. The character of the designs on rings worn hv the earK' ( 'hristians was peculiar to their lives and in conformity with the purity ami simplicity of their faith. In my collection are sufficient examples — fishes, doves, pahn-branclies, anchors, crosses, etc. etc. Among their designs was found nctthing savoring of glut- tony or the inebriating cui) : they were free from mythological fio-m'es; in a wortl. they were end)lems fitting the followers of tlie Immble Nazarene. From the eai-liest historic times we find evidences of a dis- position to adorn the human form, displayed in the most primi- tive apparel and donnciles of man. Though the decorative ornaments preserved to us from Assp'ia, Babylon, and Persia possess little beauty of design or finish, their value is en- hanced by their durability and the historic tidings they bring us. With the reign of Alexander our admiration is enlisted by the interesthig miniatures of regal and princely })ersonages; and under his successors by the more beautiful qualities in gem-subjects, representing senators, orators, and poets, mitil we meet with tbe earliest cameos, presenting portraits that can certainly be recognized; the Vienna cameo of Philadelphus and Arsinoe, and, b. c. loo, the heads of Demetrius Soter, king of Syria, and Laodice, his wife. 20 ENGRAVED GEMS. Experience, ;unl the indestructible objects accumulatino- throu^li art-sources around tlieni, tauf>-ht men that the o-reater monuments — temples, tbrums, statues, inscriljed arches and colunnis — intended to record and ])eri)etuate tlie tbrms, fea- tures, and costumes of the races, were all subject to corrosion and the annilnlating force of vandalism. The fact that under these very ruins they unearthed the legacies of earlier genera- tions convinced them of this better means of ti-ansmitting to posterity their records. Anon came to light graven stones, lesser yet more endiuing monuments, luipretending gems long buried from view, veiled from admiration. Some were found with germs of corn guarded within the nuunmv's wra])])ing — to live again ! Among others, a stone with legilde inscription, which had for aa-es silentlv awaited the fulfilment of its mission, was raised from its l)ed of scoria, and as a vane i)ointed by prevail- in o- ^^•illd it led to yonder hill in Talaura of Pontus, -vA-here in rocky crevice lav the graven treasures of ^lithridates. There were hundreds of onyx vases, amulets, caskets; chalice and tankard: trappings for man and beast, for royal breasts; boots and stirrups, — all garnished with engraved gems. These rewards of diligent seekers passed into the possession of progressive rulers, who displayed them as models, cultiva- ting the tastes of the ])eople, giving special ]iatronage to gem- engravers; even beginners and inexperienced practitioners were encouraged. Tims a love for the art was fostered. Many be- came enamored with the jjursuit, and as the quality of execu- tion improved the demand increased; enmlation made some masters. Augustus reigned. The glyptic and all the finer arts rose to their sublimest apex. The Romans attracted and transported by concjuest the SOURCE AXD HISTORY. 21 gi'eatest and purest works of art from Greece, Asia Elinor, and Egvj)t, ('Xi)ending- enormous sums to adorn the magnificent editices of the capital of their vast empire. For the skilled artists of the despoiled pro^'inces there was no alternative but to follow their works to the great art-centre of the world. They knew also that the galleries, libraries, and saloii.^ of tliese structures were to be sumptuously decorated with the classic achievements of excellent masters in pictures and sculptures in marble and bronze; and wherever they could be applied the meritorious works of gem-engravers Avere most in demand. Thus artisans from many nationalities worked harmoniously under the brilliant panoplv of art founded in the Eternal ("ity, around wliich all the world assemlded to stTidy. admire, and to create. Writers on this theme in tlie English language have con- tributed and indorsed the opinions of Eurojjcan glyptogi'aphers on the ancient engraved gems, with the accepted theories on their execution. The\' have inferred nnicli nnsterA- in regard to the means eniploved to ])ert'ect designs on materials so hard. It seems to me the superior residts achieved b\- the earlv gem- sculptors can be explained by simplv according the merit due to them. They laljored with infinite patience, and with ttntir- ing practice acquired the skill — not oidv that wliicli is di.s- plaved in form and featnre, but with eagle vision and svmpa- thetic ]iower thev infused sentiment into their sitbjects. It is under the privilege of sm-mise that I venture to print mv opinion : tlie human race has to some extent degenerated phj-sicallv in eighteen or twentv centuries. I claim to know Dioscorides, Pyrgoteles, and other great 22 ENGRAVED GEMS. g'em-engravers of tlicir eva l)v reason of years of contact with their art-works: no one will doulit tli;it I was not there and never saw Dioscorith^s at his bench oi- lathe, as has l)een niv ])leasure with eminent iiirisori^ of this centnry ; yet I modestly make the conjecture that he and his contein])oraries had far greater power of vision than is enjoyed Ijy any mortal eyes of the nineteenth centnry. I do not think thev j)Ossessed any secret of mechnnicnl art now lost. It is }nv impression tlicA' hnd iu;\cliiHer\', and that more effective than has been accredited to them. It is known that the potters wheel was nsed bv the ('hinese seven cen- turies 1!. ('., whence it passed into Egypt, thence into Greece, and later into all Southern Europe. The Etruscans availed themselves of this power by carrving the bidt directly from the perpendicular wheel to a horizontal sj)indle, in which they adjusted their drills Avitli which they made the cavities so distinctly visible in their unfinished scarabei and intaglios. The invention of the lathe is ascribed to Tlieodorus of Samos, B. c. rocess than reducing the stone b\' rubbing it on a j>late of iron coated w'ith connidiiiii-(hist and oil, -which was also employed. The first di'aw ini;- was e\identl\' made with impleiiicnts similar to those ' Years uf delijrhtt'ul intercoms^ witli tivt- of tlie Laiizi Fratelli at Kunie. SOURCE AXD HISTORY. 23 still known In' the Romans as the Jxtttini'i and the jmllino or drill. I have frequently seen them among the antique bronze tools occasionally excavated in the Campagna and brouglit into Rome l)v the toi/f/i/Hiu, and said to he surgical instrinnents/ This was onlv hewing the block into shape: when the truh" artistic power was brouglit into requisition, the tine engi-aving of the features, hair, and other details, was exe- cuted witli iron or bronze gra\ers with points or blades made of corundum. Oriental ametlivst, and other hard minerals; thev were boMK done, as ]tv a wood-engraver of the present day.'- These fragments were ol)tained by breaking the minei'als to splinters with a hamnu^r. In regard to the fine polish so often referred to as evidence of antiquity, there are men to-day in Rome who can produce the same eftects, with lustre e([ualling those done in the bright- est days of the art, with this ditference : the modern polish is made on the completion of the work, while even unfinished anti(pu' intaglios possess that quality. From painters in oil coloi's, with binishes and canvas, we expect and receive greater results, but only in proportion to the facilities possessed Ijy them, and certainlv not so endur- ing. How few of them reach the staiulard of true art ! In this field the perfect man in art is he on whose mind stu(U- has impressed every feature of the sea, the sky, the land, and the lineaments of the dwellers thereon. He knows the sea, its restless briny water; the color, shape, and motion of the cloud, mist, spray, siirf, and waves; the storm-washed rock: the bark placidly and jovouslv borne on the tran([uil deep: tlie ship ' E.tamine cameo, umloubtedly in first stale of execution. Xo. 182. Case L, t'lamliiis, in my collection. 'Observe the emerald of Maximinus Pius, Xo. 9(J5, Case III, in my collection. 24 ENGRAVED GEMS. tossed (in hillows 1)V a force he keeiil\' cini depict, lie jiictuvcs tlic vcrx wind: knows tlie cdldi-s neutralized by haze or sprav or deep salt wave ; here catches and depicts a strngglino' sun- heam; there feels and throws the ])idl of gray cloud and hlack- ening blue upon the waves that matlly shake a crnft : he shows the struggle: the mists arise, the spray beats down: men on deck, men aloft; frenzy everywhere; the scpiall goes ([uickh- bv : sunbeams striving to console: birds in fright and flight; dauchig masts, fluttering snils, ;nid (piivei-ing rojies, stretching out to the line of hope m the horizon. He notes all these full well, and, turning his thoughts inland, portrays a forest, great mountains, deep dells, a verdant meadow, blue sky, yellow blossoms, red cows,^ — nil seeming to live. He bids you hear the falling leaf, smell the rich pasture, hear the cattle low, the liirds sing ; enlists yom- interest in the boy who guards the herd; makes }'OU feel the effort of the hand that fells mi oak to cross the stream : heli)S you to see and admire nature. With the same pigments he grouits ])lebeinus, courtiers, and kings, maidens, mati'ons, and queens, husbandmen and war- riors; plodding tillers of the helil, enriching the clod with toil; men-at-arms clashing and crushing and wounding, staining the soil with gore; and in the quiet of his home doth he create these great cartoons, this master-ixiet, this true genius, this artist. We acknowledge his proficiency, yet he has many colors at his command and choice, and pencils to spread them where he will ujion his panel or his canvas. When we consider the difificidties with which the gem- sculptors had to contend, we should accoi-d to them a position foremost in the art of delineation, 'i'heir limited palette of colors was locked in the hard endirace of the stones, the strata SOURCE AND HISTORY. 25 (if wliicli tlipv had to utilize in creating their pictures; and yet they knew and well portrayed the varied features of their fellow-men with all their emotional types and characters, — Eves that seem to see, g-lowing- with benevolence, genial witli mirth, twinkling Avith cunning, wavering with corruption, tiriu with tvranny; Cheeks cushioned with A'outli, dimpled with beauty, sunken with age or asceticism ; Brows with the breadth of dignity, sealed with the signet of intellect, roval with kingly ])Ower, frowning with brutality, gentle with womanly loveliness ; Lips smiling, almost speaking, uttering contempt, rigidly closed, taciturn ; Heads laureated with imperiid bands, Ijald with niuch philosophy, worn with deep thought, glowing with the inspi- ration of poetry ; Faces emotional with anger, scorn, joy, sorrow, mirth, divinity ; Forms living, moving,' thinking; Satyrs and forms grotesque with hilarity ; faces, only masks; dread Medusas, full of terror; Bacchanals, merrily lighted, with the juice of the grapes twined in their tresses; Symbols of wisdom, power, vigilance, subtlety, truth, eternity ; — All imwittingly bequeathed to us Ijy those patient minia- turists of physiognomy, \\1h( have given better models than ever Lavater has pencilled tor us. The Greek and Roman artists soixght the honor, not only by commissions, but volinitarily, of portraying their emperors, ' Observe No. 253, Case O, in my cnllection, a cameo by Santarelli, 1797 A. D. Lean- der's head seems rising, actually moving, wiili the swell of Ibe wave or sea. 26 ENGRAVED GEMS. covmcillors, and men of letters : suoli was their innate appre- ciation of poetr\' and ])]nlosop]iy, the\" emnlated one another in engraving caiiicos and intaghos of ^'irg•il, Plato, Aristides, Socrates, Arist<)tle, and others celebrated in the professions. Alexander the Great allowed onh* TAi-o-oteles to eno-rave his portrait on gems. It is wortliN' of I'cmark, the artists were so engrossed with their pleasure-giving work they finished every jiortinii of it with the care of masters liefore allowing it to pass from their hands. Through the glyptic art we are in ])ossession of the best illustrati(tns accompanying and handing down to us the tradi- tions of heath(Mi mythut a fragment mounted on wire shows the sui)erl) coloi- of the original gem. See also Xos. 1217, Case WWW: 12:):., Case YYY: 12(ili, Case Z Z Z, imitating respectively in color, 1217 hyacinth, 12:)r) pale ml )y, 1209 sapphire. They were originally niailc in imitation ot the .stones niostlv in demand li\- the incisori, also stones in two and tlii-ee strata, variegated like the rarest onyxes or agates, and manv rubies, sapphires, chalcedonies, etc. etc. Tliis iridescence, though so beatitiful on the specimens of that uein-e. is onlv owing to chemical action on the paste gems durino- the centuries tliev have been buried in the earth, ilany interesting intaglios and cameos in enamel have with.stood the wear of ages, and are in better condition ; the imitations of red jasper are wonderful. Though the antique paste cameos and intaglios are largely reproductions of subjects also found engraved on ]netradura, we are indebtcil to this class of gems for many examples ot ancient cameos and intaglios which we would otherwise never have seen: in fact, from the rare beauty of some specimens in paste, I believe they never exi.sted in any other material : see 28 ENGRAVED GEMS. cameo No. 1219, Case X X X, n figure of Victory with banner, trophies, prisoners, nnisical instruments, etc. etc.; and Xo. 1182, Case V V V, a superb cameo, Hebe presented by ^Mercury to Jupiter — the eagk', and behind tlie chair Juno and young Hercules: five figures are visible; also several groups in cameo \\itli liacchiis, Silenus, and their suites; and the intaglio Xo. 1 1 :)2, Case V V V, The Fall of Phaethon. Exact pnuhictidiis of these subjects are not to be met w\x]\ m anv collection of gems on hard stones 1 liave ever seen. Many of niv most authentic aiiti(pu^ ])ast(' gems 1 have found set in bronze rings or frag- ments of them and in laro'e metallic settino-s with ornamental designs, Avliich nnist have served as l)rooclies or other orna- ments of costuiue. Manv intaglios in antique paste are representations in de- sign of ancient bronzes, of which we have no other ti'ace except their mention liv early historians. The most precious antique example in jiaste is the Portland Vase. It was discovered in the sixteenth century in a sar- cophagus within the monument of tlie Emperor Alexander Severns and his mother, Julia Manuva, on tlie Frascati road, about two miles and a half from Rome. It was long known as tlu^ Barberini Vase, having Itelonged to that family in Rome for two hundred years; thence it came to England in the last century, and after twice changing ownership, at the death of the Duchess of Portland, from wliom it takes its name, it was sold to the Duke of Marlborough, and is now in the Ih-itish Museum. It has been In-oken and mended. It is about ten inches high, and at the broadest part six iiu'lies in diameter. It was formed of paste, and afterward engraved. The paste is in imitation of onyx, in two strata, v^hite upon blue, of an amethyst tinge ; the figures are cut in relief PORTLAND VASE. PORTLAND VASE. (REVERSE.) SOURCE AND HISTORY. 33 on tlie liu'liter colur, tlic liliic t'oriniuL;- the second jilane or backoTouml. 'o' We know little ot' the Assyrian divinities thronu'li ancient niannscripts, yet we have volumes about their deities written on the cylinders of IJalix Ion and Nineveh. They were seldom in metallic inonntin,i;s, liut, heinn' [liercetl with lioles, were strung- on cords and worn on the wrist and neck. There is a host of occupants of the Assyrian lu^aven, witli Asshur, the supreme "od, Beltis ]\Iylitta, the m-eat mother, etc. etc., and on the seals, in sard and chalcedony, we have sacreil doves, lions, horses, etc., and a wiiiucd ladl, Xin, the i^'od of hunting-, etc.^ These intaL;ho seals were often used as locks ; the doors of Avine-cellars were secured h\- placing- a seal upon them. (Cylin- ders have also l)een made by several races of .South American Indians, and are still to be seen in Brazil. We have a, most interesting- and instructive illustration of the yalue of modern research among the relics of anticpiity in the fact that in l.So4, Sir Henry Kawlinson, in deciphering the inscriptions on sonu' cylinders found in the ruins of Um-Kir (the ancient Ur of the ( 'haldees), made historical discoveries in reo-ard to the last kiii"- of P)ab\ Ion that confirmed the truth of the book of Daniel, and harmonized discrepancies between Holy Scripture and profane history which up to that time bad been hopelessly irreconcilable.^ Among the bequests from Persia many gems are engraved on the hardest and most jjrecious stones: they present ns with portraits of their nionarchs, deities, legends, religious creeds, > See No. 50.3, Case D D. ' See Athmaum, Xo. 1377. 34 ENGRAVED OEMS. and seals of office. Though rude, the}- are exceedingly mter- esting from then- antiquity and as being the achievements of a people so remote from the European centre of civilization. The red sands of the home of the Pharaohs have been un- tiring custodians of the history and theologx' on the temple-walls and colnnms of ant-lent Egypt. We have upon tlie scarabei, hi smaller and more condensed characters, biography and her- aldry more legible than many of the time-worn papyri. And the portraits of their deities are here more distinctly traced. Prominent among them is the god Anubis, of whom a myth relates: "Anubis Avas the son of Osiris and Nephthys, born after the death of his father." He is always represented with a dog's head. Isis l:)rought him u}) and made him her guard and companion, who thus performed to her the same service that dogs render to men. These ruder glyptic examples come to us Avith tidings from an age of idolatry, from people of peculiar civilization, earth's first architects, pioneers in art : they aid us essentially in forming the suliject of our historical picture. Though less attractive to the casual observer, they are very interesting and valuable. The l^truscaus were fond of decoration, and esjiecially of ornamental stones. They engraved many intaglios, among which Ave find every grade of Avorkmanship. The rude figures made bA" drilling a series of holes close to one another form a large proportion of the designs on scarabei; tliese are generally surrounded with a border re- sembling the impression of a twisted cord. .Many ot them SOURrE AND HTSTORY. 35 are of a low ilegvee of merit. Tlie Etruscans, however, have ti-arismitted to us gxMiis of the hi^liest (.r(k'r. Tlieir representations of the anatouuoal development of human and animal forms are very bold. Their figures are muscular, and, to my feeling, are often posed in mmatural attitudes, the limbs assuming painfully angular positions. Wonderful action is at tunes portrayed: Diana exerting her nmseular arm and sinewy hand to di-aw the arrow into place, while the bow presents a corresponding resistance; it has power, and seems awaiting the moment when Diana shall let the messenger speed its way. Among their subjects may he noted charioteers driA-ing several horses abreast, gladiators and other combatants, muses, deities, and heroim-s, produced with the greatest fineness and delicacy of touch. The art of design descended from Asia Minor to the Greeks, and man\- of the most admiralde gems emanated from artists ot that natioiialitx- — not only tVoni Atlu-ns. but also from the prov- inces in the islands of the Archipelago and Sicdy. These are principallv intaglios, less deeply cut, but executed with unrivalled fineness. Their subjects, single figures and groups, with fabu- lous and ni\ thologioal themes, are exquisite conceptions and delicatelv traced. Their figures are represented with little or no draperv; in fact, for costume we must look to the work ol the Romans. These did not originally excel in the arts, but when the Greeks settled among them they proved apt scholars, anil were soon inspired by the mantle which thus fell upon them. Their gems partook of some of the Grecian character and qualities, though they always differed in manner of execution. 36 EXfiEAVED GEMS. It is a siv the treasuries of sacristies in tlie churches. Having glanced at the general history of my suljject, we will now make a systematic reAnew of wliat has been accom- plished in tlie glyptic art, following, step by step, the progres- 38 EXdRA VED GEMS. sioii from tlie most ancient times tlironi:li varions nationalities and eras to tlie dawn of onr eentnry. Tluis far, we liave taken a cnrsory view of tlie source oi" the earlier engraved gems and gem-engi'avers known to glyj)- tologists. We will now regard tliem as closely as possible in their chronological order, commencing with those })eople whom we believe to have first carved decorative work on stones, either for ornamentation or for use as tokens, or who tirst contriliutinl to oiir iiilieritaiice objects wortli\' of being called gems. At times we shall inevitablv notice some nationalities before others who ^\•ere their contemporaneous workers, biit generally the ai-rangement will Ije found to form the ]irogression already alluded to, and Avhicli shall be known as classified epochs. EGYPTIAN. The work of the Egyptians was in keeping- witli tlie sim- plicitv of tlieii- lives and their peeuhar rehgion. Its st3'le is unquestionably marked: all engra\-ing from Egyptian hands is characteristic of that people, and not for a moment to be mistaken; every cartouch, e^•ery seal, every scarabeus, bears its distinctive character. It does not require a connoisseur to recognize or define it. Often engraved seals or gems appear in one form or another which one hesitates to distinctly classify as Sassaninn or Persian or Plux'nieian ; but all hieroglyphic amulets emanating from the land of Miriam bear tlie peculiar style and manner of execution of the denizens of the Nile. In the tombs of their kings and in many subterranean chambers and \aults we see l)eautiful i-urious historic;;! and biographical frescos and other mural |)aintings. Their pro- ficienc^' in drawing is to me a question : the most of their color pictures are Ijuried with their dead. To notice the Egyptians particularly as they are connected with glyptology we must view their scarabei. These are known in English as sacred beetles. The Zodiac is represented in three of their temples at Deiiderah, Esneh, and ET)ayr, and the sign of ("ancer on these Zodiacs is represented by the scaraljeus, which takes the place of the crab usually employed by other nationalities. In proportion to the raidv or wealth of tlieir possessors, they were carved on sard, amethyst, dialcedony, and' serpentine ; also on tenderer materials — steatite, schist, green, blue, and maculated stones ; the greater prt>portiou in vitrified terra-cotta 41 42 ENGRAVED GEMS. — many very beautiful in ivory, bound or mounted in silver rings and bracelets. (See No. 458, Case A A, in my collection.) There were artisans who engraved the larger funereal sca- rabei and kept them ready made on sale, so that in the event of a man dving unexpectedly in youtli or tin- prime of life ■who had licit tliiuii^lit to ]n"epare for his sojourn in the tomli, his famih' I'cpaircd to these sho])s, and, clionsing a scarabeus to their taste or liking, purchased it; the engraver tlien added the name of tlie deceased, and tliey placed it under the wrappings of the nunumv. These traffickers also did a tliriving trade witli the living: many provided themselves in ad\ance. There was always a variety froui whicli to choose; the engraver had them for every taste. Tliey Avere inscribed with just such vo\\-s or wishes for tlie future and the repose or the enjoyment of the soul, or the commending of the soul to the })atronage and ])ro- teetion of some special god or deess, as tlie case miglit demand for a man or a woman. Often selections were given from tlie poetic devotional writings of their mentors, and frequently we meet with selections from the Book of the Dead. (See exam- ple. No. 1479, Case E E E E E, in my collection, where a tptota- tion from the thirtieth chapter is given.) It is remarkable how much in these inscriptions eoncerned the heart, wliicli thev believed indispensa1)le for tlie resurrec- tion. The inscription above referred to is full of pathos. The deceased — for so it is written — holds converse with his heart: "My heart, tliou that comest to me from mv motlier, rise not in judgment against me," etc. etc. On others we find fervid exhortations to the heart to lie firm, coupled with expressions of hope for great pleasures in the life about to be entered upon. Attached to tJie strange hieroglyphs forming these funereal EGYPTIAN. 43 inscriptions was generally the name of the person for whom the scarabeiis was engraved, and sometimes his fatlu^r's name; that is, he was often inscribed as " son of .'" When a man ordered a scarabens, he nsnally carried it with liim to his sepnlchre, yet he no donbt sometimes lost it or had a finer one made: wliicli will. 1 think, account for tlic fact that often on a miimmv of the jilcbcian class we find a number of scarabei entirely dissimilar, and evidently not fitted to the social position of the subject. Quantities of them bearing in- sci-iptions of other dynasties than their own, the names of mon- archs, mottoes ; and invocations, were buried with the dead to use on their arrival at the portal of the new life, that desired and mys- terious haven at which they expected eventually to arrive. All Egyptian scarabei, in whatever material, bearing the hieroglyph of the hawk with a human lu-ad, have the same beautiful significaiu-e, the resurrection of the soul ; the wings also represent the spirit's power of rising to the tin-one of God: they are the members indicating that function, and sym- bolize that final flight, though they are generally closed upon the back. I have seen a more poetical form whereon the wings Avere represented as partially clipi)ed. This scarabens was evidently ordered by the man's family, and presented to him in token of love and that they woidd delay his departure for the realms of Osiris. It reminds us of the grand idea exjiressed by the ancient Greeks, who thus indicated that they kept Victory in their possession by clipping her ])lumes of flight. ( )ur ai)petites are capricious, they are not always under our control, vet thev certainly can be cultivated. So also with our taste for art. A true appreciation of Egyptian art can only be acquired by earnest application, by long acquaintance with 44 ENGRAVED GEMS. their subjects as delineated not only on their mural paintings, but especially in their engraved bequests as found on these scarabei and tlie larger, bolder cartouches of the great temples wliich remain to-day chiselled monuments of the tiding-s the-s' haye inscril)ed for posterity. After long inspection and close acquaintance I find a large proportion of their figures maryellously drawn, though yery peculiar, and awkward-looking perhaps, to those who know them not. Among the figures the most perfectly designed we can admire their birds — the vulture, signifying mother, maternity ; the goose, on the seal of a prince, signifying the son of a king ; the owl, in some positions signifying the preposition /// ,- the liawk, the name of llorus; a graceful heron with a ])ouch on its breast, also the soul: tlie beautifully-formed il)is on a support represents the god Thotli. 'flirir animals — the cow, Athor ; the jackal, Anubis ; the lioness, consecrated to Sek- het; and Nephthys, the sister of Isis and aid to that deessin her guardianship over the mummies, has a human face and is represented as weeping ^vith her liand to her brow. Royal personages and divinities artisticidly delineated and posed in many positions — especially the sitting figures with the knees drawn up, with various objects and inqdements in their hands — are most exquisitely done. There are beautiful sentiment and poetry in their adapta- tion of the sun as a figure, either at its rising or setting; tlieir references to its effulgence and to its diurnal resurrection are, again, unquestionable evidences of their belief in the final resurrection of the mortal frame ami of tlie reliabitation of the soul in its original tenement. Many hieroglyphs, though they are not very clear, at least EGYPTIAN. 45 prove their belief in retriliuticni liereafter or in an intermediate state. The recompense that thev looked for ^^as that they should be spared from " the second death :"' they prayed and hoped to live apiin and to enjoy life. The peaaltv they feared was *' the second death." We find inscriptions expressing" love for and trust in their ilivinities ; also the hope that Horus would protect and comfort them in the ^"ovag•e of transition. Through their glyptic productions we have added to our possessions . a more complete knowledge of their mythology and their theologv. We find shreds and examples of the costumes of the occupants of graves of other ancient nations: these garments were made, as now, that the l)ody might l)e decorously placed at rest. This we also tind in Egypt, the mummy-wrappings concealing and protecting the scarabei presenting this beautiful sentiment, indeed imique — a symbol that was worn in life, emblematic of its ephemeral tenure and of the ultimate resur- rection from death and the gi'ave ; a svmbol that accompanied its owner to the narrow home, not to ornament it, but, as a token of that tenant's belief that tliis would be only a brief occupancy ; a s}nibol ready to l)e \\(m-\\ when that tenant should enter on his resurrection into an eternal lease of joy in a world be^s'ond. CHALDEAN, ASSYRIAN, AND BABYLO- NIAN CYLINDERS. Cylinders are e\idently the oldest fonu of seals, tliougli it is believed that tlie art oriiiinated on sections of wooden reeds. We iind Chaldean c^•linders now more tlian thive thousand five hundred vears old. Two exanijjles — one described by M. de Clercq of France, and one l)y Mr. Phiches of the British Mu- seum — are of abotit ."iSOd r,. c. Others exist and are known whicli are believed to be e\en more ancient. The sifrnets of kings in the cvlindric form were incised in tlie linrder and nmre precious materials, such as chalcedony in several hues, tlie fairest those tinged with a sa])phire thit (though nut the most ancient), sards, carnelians. and occasionally beaiiti- ful reil jasper; hematite in abundance; serpentine and many softer stones, alabaster, steatite, etc. etc. It remains a question on what materials the impressions were made, though scientists have learned that the figures in relief on patties of pii)eclay fiiund so plentifully in Babylonia are the imprints of these cylinders. Yet collectors are at a loss to-day to make good results with wax, plaster of Paris, ov foil. Thouoli man\-, even a large ]iroporti(in of, cylinders are rudch- desio-ned and more coarseh executed, they are gener- all\ freelv, vigorouslx', and well drawn, evincing a high degree of talent. In m\ opinion, the anatomical drawings ot man and beast are unsurpassed in any age, es})ecially the contest between men and lions, where naturally the muscles are strongly developed and sliow pronnnently. i6 BAKVLU.NIAN CVLINDEKS, THE ^uLKLi. oi UljIURV. CHALDEAN, ASSYPxIAX, AND BABYLOXTAN CYLINDERS. 49 As bearers of messages from tliat remote period tlicy come more welcome to me than the fairest Greek or Roman inta- o-lios. With an iiiterestino- inctured and lettered cylinder in O O J. t mv liand I feel I have before me one of the keys to tlie most ancient fonntain-head of history ; in fact, my taste has grown and perhaps been intinenced ))y long association with such "•enrs, until I now often find more i)leasure in regarding a rude fragment of Ass^•rian work tlian I (Ud t\vent\' years ago when I sought only the beautiful. Mv fondness for tlie Bab\loHian cylinders is not only to be accounted for bv the fact that they are indelible manuscripts, lint there is a eharm to \\w in the sentiment of confidence expressed in their use of the impressions applied from tliem to juddic documents, doors, chests, etc. — the confidence tliat when those seals were attached no honorable nuni would enter or \n-\ within. The same idea is expi-essed in No. 1262, Case 7j7iZ, the Ilippogriff, which \vhen sealed upon a letter was considered the custodian of a secret. In a word, this impression was tlie lock, and the seal, the key, with wliich they closed their treas- iires. In fact, as lati- as the second century is. ('. we only begin to find anx'tliing like a lock and kev, and these rude and frail. I possess a collection of these ancient keys which came fronr the Strozzi familv, to which collj.H-tion dm-ing many years I have adde(l ;t nnmbt'V of specimens, tlu'ongh Avhich I have considered the measures for surety adopted by the ancients. The place of these Balivlonian cylinders in the history of art cannot be classed as decorative, for as they were originally used ordv as seals, and mostly business or official signets, they were not at that time worn to decorate the per.son, tliough they were worn on necklaces and bracelets by the ancient Greeks. I have seen and admired fifteen or twent}' cylinders strung 50 EXGRA VED GEMS. together, in the possession of mv ffiend Dr. Wilham Hayes AVard, the Assyriologist, of New York, when one day he came and showed them to nic; I tlionght, How hcautiful a neck- lace ! They were exceptionally charming examples, in car- nclian, jasper, white and pale blue chalcedony, amethyst, lapis lazuli, etc. It is with pleasiu-e I record the fact that we in America are rapidly acquiring- representative collections of these treasiu'es, and liojie tlie enterprise of the Babylonian Exploration Fund may be crowned a\ ith the success due to the energy of the learned men who have projected and organized the under- taking. The fact that Dr. A\'illiam Pepper, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, has been untiring in his efforts for tliis cause, gives much promise of the early prosecution of the work, the intended accpiisition of many more interesting messages from ancient Assyria and Babylonia. ^■« £i^ FEKSIAN AND SASSAXIAN SEAL?. ASSYRIAN, PERSIAIT, AND SASSANIAN SEALS. These seals ai-e recognizable hj their peculiar forms — gen- eralh' coiiical or splK-rical — ami by tlie distinctive character of their designs and ini-ision. The spherical seals are flattened on one side for the intaglio : all are pierced, so that they may l)e strung on a ribbon or leather cord; they were worn hanging on the breast. Those bearing the effigies of their proprietors are in a large proportion rudely cut i yet the portraits of mon- archs are usually tine intaglios, with oval-shaped heads and vis- ages, often with wavy hair and l)eards. There is inund a large series of subjects adopted In' their owners on account of their superstitious belief in their talisinanic \irtues — reiiresentations of animals considered sacred, siudi as the mouffion, resembling a large horned ram ; the gervoise, resembling a kangaroo ; and quite a seines of rudelv-drawn animals emblematic of vigilance, fidelity, courage, strength, etc. etc. Sometimes on seals as well as on cylinders a full-length figure is given in ^^hose costume there is a marked peculiarity of di-apery, the folds crossing the form. Thev are on a great variety of chalcedonies, sards, jas- pers, and otliev bemitiful stones of color, and make a very attractive display when clioice examples are formed into necklaces, as they frequently have been. The seals of these epochs, which seem to have superseded the cylinders, are found in several forms. Those of the Assyrians, dating- as far back as 1110 B.C., resemble in form the bells herdsmen hang upon their grazing cattle, that they may hear them when they have strayed ; they 53 54 ENGRAVED GEMS. are pierced and seldom have inscriptions; as, No. 1427, Plate 39, and Nos. U41 to 1449, Case C C C C C. The Persian are of two forms — a cone whose sides are flat- tened and pierced, the engraved part presenting an oval flat face, as No. 1381, Plate 38; and again spherical, pierced; the side of the globe on which is the engraving has a flat round face, as No. 506, Plate 37. Those of the Sassanian or later Persian period are like unto the former in shape : they are, however, often ornamented on the convex surface, as No. 511, Plate 37, and No. 1383, Plate 38, and contain inscriptions in the Pehlevi character or lan- guage. Naturally, they were employed on commercial and other documents, hut a single example will show how they were applied and the service they rendered at an earlier date. Imag- ine Theloparnos, an agriculturist, guarding his fruits and their juices, the wines of that day, in mounds covering a sub-cellar and shading it from tlie vivid rays of an Oriental sini ; the door closed with wax upon Avhich his seal had set an impress, that muler the jjrimitive code of his epoch rendered it seciu-e : no one in the community would break that seal ; as he would guard his honor and the respect of his fellows, so he would not tamper with that simple seal. Is this not a lesson to us to-day — the day of bolts and bars, and honorless men who Ijreak them with force ? I cannot better convey an idea of the use of these seals tlian l)v (pwting the following incident given by C. W. King, A. il., whose letters to me on tliis subject are treastu-ed: "Even after locks of some kind had come into general use (for Roman keys are plentiful enough), the good housekeeper made assurance doubly sure by putting his seal on the storeroom duor e\erv time he closed it. Tliis was the ■ ASSYRIAN, PERSIAX, AND SASSAXIAN SEALS. 57 duty of the mistress of tlic lioiise, for Vopisciis qiiotes, in illustriition of Aurelian's simjjle mode of life, tlmt he made his wife contimie to carrv tlie 'anmdus signetorius' ns when they were hoth in a private station. l)ioj>'enes Laertius, to put in the stronp-est huht the sim])h(it\' of Lae\'des the ])liilosopher, tells a storv that whenever he liad dccasidu to hrinii- anythinj^- out of his pnntrv, ;ifter sealinii' it \\\^ he used to throw tlie ring into it thrnUL;li a hole in tlic door, for fear liis servants sliould take it off his huiicr when asleep and tlierewith reseal tlie place after they had helpe(l themselves to the comestibles. But his servants, observing his sapient precaution, imitated his mode of procedure, invaded the ])antl•^" in all secnrit\", scaled the door again, and rei)laced the ring in the way shown them by their sagacious master." Is it not interesting to ha\'e these seals, real heii'looms of antiquitv — to understand their designs and to comprehend to a certain extent their inscriptions? The Sassanian intaglios were executed by a later ])eople of the sanu' Persian race. They seem to have been made less fre- quentlv with a view to securitv or as professional seals; they Avere more endjleniatic of religious belief, and were used as talismans — mystic guardians against evils, dangers, and acci- dents. Was it not a blessed condition of superstition t The bliss of their ignorance made them walk fearlessly through a world otlierwise a held of snares. It is easy to arrive at this conclusion, for we hud them in the form of anndets with h(des by which they could l)e attached either to a garment or suspended aroimd the neck. Though mv subject conci'rns engraved stones, I shall men- tion in this connection curious oval, delta-shaped, and round Per- sian anndets of this ])eriod in mv ])ossession, carefully cut in ca- 58 ENGRAVED GEMS. boclion, not enyraved, often mounted in silver, bronze, and otlier metal.s, which were can'ied on the person as defenders against the inheritance of all men since Eve's hnsband made lis his heirs. Tlie Sassanian intaglios of the seventh century have gen- erallv inscriptions expressing religious sentiments, and often liierogh'phies : it is here we find the characters in the Pehlevi language, and, as in the Abraxas, an occasional Greek letter. The materials on wliich thev are engraved are in many cases beautiful and rai-e Oriental stones, though those in my collec- tion are in different colored jaspers, sards, carnelian, brown alabaster, and striated chalcedony. CO H ETEUSCAN. The Cdiintrv of the ancient Etruscans was north from the Tiber to the C'iininian Forest and the Tolfa Mountains. They have bequeatheil us a mass of yem.s, a hirg-e iirojior- tion in tlu- i'nrm of scarabei, and many really tine intaglios, ^\hi(•ll were not onl\' used as seals, but served as decorations, both in finger-rings and as brooches for women. The Etrus- can tondis liave vielded many scarabei in mountings of virgin gold, sometimes the i)recious metal twisted, again corrugated; also some ornamental gold-work as brooches. The sard and chalcedony beetles usually have an engraved beaded margin, and were revolvalde, being set on a pi\(tt which was attached to a frame generalh' oval in form. I have one such lirooch in ancient In-onze with delicate ornamental gold-wire rigures inset, producing an effect rarely ec^uallcil in my opinion by tlie jewel- lers of an^■ modern nation. The Etruscan gl\ptic-work is i)eculiar, and muth ot it rude: for example, a warrior beside a horse, botli man and beast produced by a, series of cavities deeply drilled and connected by less deeply cut grooves. Many tine examples are exfpiisite in execution, but all are evidently irom the same i)eculiar schuul ; so much so that almost any intelligent observer of sucli objects, if given a hun(h-ed specimens of intaglios of various nationalities, would readily recognize and correctly select all the Etruscan intaglios therefrom. They are fouiul on sard, carnelian, chalcedony, amethyst, etc. etc. There are specimens of Etruscan intaglios known to have 61 62 ENGRAVED GEMS. been cut seven hundred years b. c. wliidi crive evidence of an art-civilization liifildy advanced. Their subjects seldom coii- tniii more than two figures, as the field on whicli they are engraved is rather circuniscril)ed : Hercules in many attitudes, with club or bow or struggling with a lion ; his various labors; armorers, always forging ; Achilles and I'lysses in many posi- tions (see No. 530, Case F F) ; animals with their legs and horns distorted, so limited was the space on which to repre- sent a design with action. We find in their inscriptions some unique characters purely Etruscan, several ^^■lli(•h seem to luive been the source of Latin letters, and others resembling the Greek. e X "* , \i|it;"iiii,ifi !< { PHCENIOIAN. Herodotus sjieaks of the PhcEiiicians as a branch of tlie Semitic (ir Araiiucau nations; tlicy originally dwelt on the shores of the P^rvthrean Sea. They also occupied islands in the Persian Gidf, amony- others Aradus and Tvlns, where temples in Pluvnician architecture Avere found; and it is known that the Pli(enicians left these islands and colonized in the ^Egean and Mediterranean seas before the time of Joshua, 1444 B. c. Of the liomans and the Grecians we have their history through the writings of their own liistorians; and of the Egyp- tians, Ijv their monuments teeming with hierog-lyphics, history, and theology. Of the Phoenicians little is extant in writinsrs from their own people; we are dependent on what other nations have recorded — in fact, wliat we know of them may be termed tradition. The Pha-nicians were termed "the merchants of many isles." We can hardly say they cultivated the arts at home, for wherever the}- went, there the}' made their home ; on every island inhabited by them are found evidences of their industry as gem-cutter.s — intaglios, scarabei, and seals. I re- member how I was impressed on going ashore at Svra and "walking through its beautiful amphitheatral city of to-day, whose site had once known those very Phcenicians, examples of whose gems may be seen in Case G G of my collection. They emigrated as far west as Sardinia. Sardinia was originally called Sandaleotis, from its form, Avhich resembles a human foot or its imprint, where during centui-ies a mod- 65 66 ENGRAVED GEMS. erate liarvest has been reaped of gems emanating from tlieir handiwork. I'o a practised eye their work is distingnishable from that of other nations ; the touch, drawing, execution, and the dis- tinctive character of their subjects render them readily recog- nizable. Yet the symbolic characters are not entirely dis- tinctive, for they often clearly indicate imitation of Assyrian and P]gyptian work and design. For that reason it is often difficult to decide or classify gem-objects found in many of the islands colonized by them, from the very fact tliat in design they at times lack originality. Many of their subjects were emblematic of their religion — the source of light and heat, Baal the sun, altars and temples (see ring from Tharros in Sardinia, No. 559, Case G G). In regard to the great variety of emblems of deities found on their engraved gems, it has lieen remarked that every com- munity or city had its own gods, which became famous and recei\ed general adoration in that section by ha\ing liccn adopted and worshipped by some one or other of their dis- tinguished and honored men, and their families and followers becoming adherents of this worship, its renown quickly spread, was accepted, and registered on the stones forming their seals, talismans, and gems. '^riieir great variety may also be accounted foi- from the tiU't that the migratory Phoenicians, wherever they went, in what- ever island they settled, each separate colony imbued w'uh its sjiecial legends, set up monuments and altars to their peculiar shade of creed, and the character of their religious inscriptions was influenced bv the education they had received from tlieir leaders or teachers. After all, the principles of their idolatry were analogous with those of the nations of their epoch. PH CRN I CI AN. 67 They also engraved intaglios on iron and bronze ; tlieir scarabei are interesting, though less numerous than those ot nations coeval \\ itli tlit-iu. Their gems therefore hold an inter- estino- place, though thev have contriljuted little that is beauti- ful in the history of decorative art. The islands of the .Egeau Sea, and of the Mediterranean, were as pillars or piers to the vast bridge of civilization across which the Phtenicians emigrated, moving on favorable occasions in their frail crafts from island to island until at last rhey passed the strait now known as Gibraltar and created colonies on the shores of the great ocean, where they left types of their art-work and traces of their race which we to this day recog- nize in the brows and other features of their remote descend- ants. GRECIAlSr. Greece was the source of the finest and richest glyptic art- treasures in a decorative sense. Grecian intaghos are of superl) execution, of exquisite fineness and finisli. Tliis superiority can in a measure be accounted for by the encouragement the profession received from the nation, both from rulers and from the people. In proportion to the extended culti^■ati(ln of taste and the increased demand, tlie ranks of the iiicisori were repleted. Among so many contestants rivalry and emulation had a very happy effect in forming and creating artists Avho were indeed eminent, and whose works even to-day sparkle as jewel-gems in the diadem which crowns the history of their place in art. My impression is that no engravers of intaglios ever attained the same high point of excellence in execution throughout all the earlier centuries in which the art flourished ; yet I believe, as I have elsewhere remarked, that much of the work of Bene- detto Pistrucci, Calandrelli, Amastini, G. Pickler, Girometti, and others, in tlie close of the eighteenth nml the earlier years of the nineteenth century, compares favorably even with that of Satvralus, Dioscorides, or Pyrgoteles of ancient Greek renown. The fjem-euffravers of Greece were mostlv natives, though some came from Asiatic countries and worked profitably in the land of their choice, the then Paradise of sculpture. Evi- dence is seen of this emigration in certain Greek intaglios, 68 GRECIAN. 71 whose peculiar designs and execution indicate that the artist was reared where cyhnder- and seal-work had influenced the formation of his manner or style. The general character of their sixbjects is a galaxy of mythological figures and groups and heads or miniatures on stone of deities, princes, and sovereigns. Many <^f the finer and most precious of their intaglios were wonderful in the deptli of their incision, while in their more minute cameos the figures were produced in very slight relief Their larger subjects in cameo are in conception and execution masterly, and command the sincere admiration they have universally received and well merited. The perfect finish, polish, and detail of tlieir choicest examples render them superior to the gems of any other people, eveii to nianv that come from Roman sources. It is often almost impossible intelligently to explain the difterence between the gems of the Greeks and the Romans ; such power of distinguishing one from the other is only to be gained by long observation and close study of the subject. The Greeks also used seals to close vaults, closets, caskets, etc. witli hard wax impressions as security against the designs of the prying and curious to meddle with their possessions; and it is an historical fact that unprincipled women, in whom the power of inciuisitiveness v,-as strongly developed, found artists to imitate these seals, and thus peered into what should have been unseen liy them. Yet some Grecian seals which I have seen were so cunningly devised and engraved with a complication of geometrical lines, which added to their artistic value, the fact that this means of fraud was rendered almost impossible. (For examples of Greek cameos see occasional specimens 72 ENGRAVED GEMS. in cases throughout the first alphabet ; and for Greek in- tagUos, see hkewise Case AAA, ami on to H H H. They ai-e distributed through eight cases. The finest is my intaglio by Dioscorides, No. 901, Case E E E.) Many objects have recently been discovered at IMyceui^e, among -which ai-e engraved gems bearing effigies of animals curiously and artistically drawn, and which by their Oriental style prove that the ancient Greeks, who bequeathed so much 'to their successor-^, also inherited art-models from a people lOUO years b. c. GR^CO-EOMAN. During a long period of wars before the reign of Augustus, Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt had been despoiled of their most sublime art-decorations. The classic artists of Greece, seeing their occupation at home in a measure gone, and long- insr to be affain suri-ounded bv the great works of their ancient masters, turned their thoughts to the Roman Empire and its art-encoiiraging rulers, with the hope of there renewing their fortunes by aiding in the embellishment of the capital of the world, so nuu-h was to l)e done ; and they left their native land to partake in the great work of the Western capital. They came from Greece to Rome expert in their profession, merely seeking the market of the world. There is nmch in the adage that a pi-ophet is better received in countries foreign to the land of his birth, yet we nmst confess there was a fine- ness in the execution of their engraved gems, especially their intaglios, which connnanded the admiration of the Romans, by whom thev were received as master-workmen. They were assiduous, painstaking, and adept. As regards their subjects, they came to their new field of labor iuid of art with the religious sentiments and mythological subjects of tlu-ir Grecian culture. They came, therefore, not as strangers, but liighly appreciated by all. There were skilled painters, sculptors, chisellers in l)ronze, and architects. They decorated the magnificent buildings, sumptuous palaces, majestic temples, forums, theatres, amj^hi- theatres, arches of triumph, thernue, and imposing sepulchres. 7a 76 ENGRAVED GEMS. All these structures needed, and thus received, the adornment of works by classic artists. These Greek emigrants were welcomed in their new home, and this day I hclicve we have profited hy this commingling of the artistic conceptions of these two races. With these men came the gem-engravers, and to their o-enius and the excellence of their productions and their co- operation Avith the Romans do we owe the beautiful examples that are to be seen to-day in the museums of the civilized world. iaiMA.v. ROMAN. All Romans born AA-ere Roman at heart: they had inherited knowledge, and even some style as incisori, from the Etruscans, yet they advocated Roman rules and practised art in the Roman manner. Especially, gem-engraving had its distinctive character until the exodus t'rom Greece brought them not diily cdinjianions, but art-masters, whom they intelligently appreciated, and recog- nized quickly the points in wliicli the new-comers excelled. They received with friendly sjjirit the talented Greeks who colonized among them ; they regarded with studious attention their woi'k ; they emulated them and strove to excel them in the grandeur of their subjects and fineness of execution ; and, diligently pursuing their course, Ave find them monopolizing the trade early in the first century. The general supply of engraved gems throughout the next two hundred and iifty years was from Roman sources purely, or from Greeks Avho had so thoi-onghly identified themselves with Roman interests and Roman citizenship that it is now difficult to draw the line of distinction. It is just to credit Rome with having made the greatest contribution of fair pictured gem-stones to the ancient gar- lands which decorate the history of art. 79 ABRAXAS. The veil which covers all history concerning' the mystical Gnostics, who began soon after the promnlgation of the religion of Christ and existed two or three centnries, renders the task of explaining many of their representations a difficult one. The legends engraved on their abundant amulets are almost inexplicable. Their gem-work, these talismans, are known as Abraxas. The fonnula of their secret worship, which mysteri- ously hid their meaning from even the followers of their own sect, was based on the two words — Mithras, MEI0PA2, and Abraxas, ABPAXA2. In the diagram below the kno^^'n values of Greek enumera- tion are given to each letter, and it is found that their sum gives the number of the days of the solar year : M— 40 E— 5 I— 10 e— 9 P— 100 A— 1 2—200 365 liiiys. 365 days. They engraved on many of their gems the name of God, lACU, and represented him a ]ian-theus made up of the sym- bols of the four elements — the serpent, eagle, the human trunk, and a scourge — combining also many attributes of solar divinit}^ They were Pagans, Jews, and Christians, and we find in 80 A- - 1 B- •> P- -100 A- - 1 X- - 60 A- - 1 2- -200 ABRAXAS. 83 their inexliaiistible inscriptions a series of emblems, Hebrew and Svriae, a\ hieli dimly show forth Christ the Son and Sun of Rio-hteousness witli AAONAI, and the seven Greek vowels svrabolic of the seven heavens. These Greek vowels have often amused me when I have shown an Abraxas talisman with loni;- inscription to some Greek scholar not acquainted with their o-ems, who would stumble when he reached the other characters. These engraved stones of tliis peculiar people are in basalt, hematite, red and gi-een jaspers, sard, and even beautiful chal- cedony-onyx. (See 561, Case H H, with a figure of Sabaon and raised inscription.) Thev were worn bv them as amulets or talismans; the persons wearing or carrying them did not understand the marks or inscriptions upon them; they were sacred tjijes of the mysteries of theii- religion or superstitious creed, and were only understood by their inventors and tlie Gnostic priests. Unlike the white stone refeiTed to in Revelation ii : 17, on Avhicli was engi-aved a name knoAMi only to the giver and the receiver, these Abraxas gems wert- unintelligible to the receiver; the owner wore them in blind l)elief. BYZANTINE. In the fourth century Constantine established the seat of the emph-e in Byzantium. He sAstematically despoiled Rome of what was easily transportable to embellish his favorite resi- dence, Constantinople. He established art-schools, and again artisans followed the prevailing tide. Tliis transient revival of the arts added Ijrilliance to his court, l)ut the arrest of the decline was only temporary. During the succeeding Byzantinian rule the whole empire, and especially Italy, was overrun and domiciled by hordes from barbarous nations, who, if we attriljute no worse motives, in their ignorance encouraged the incendiary and the despoiler, rejoicing in the destruction of the palatial edifices and historic monuments ; and thus the smaller objects of value were carried oif and scattered, and we now find them dispersed o\-er the continent of Europe. The decline in gem-engraving gradually became entire extinction in the fifth century in those countries where the cameos of the then known A\orld had been executed. The Byzantines seem to have profited by what proved to be a monopoly for them, and under Imperial patronage must have been industrious, judging from the scrijitural or religious cameos we find in such quantities bearing uncpiestionably the character of their work. I certainly admire and cherish what is beautiful and that which is representative of the greatest skill and the finest art- culture, yet there is to me an indescribable attraction in the Si BYZANTINE. BYZANTINE. 87 strange drinvin<4' and often gi'otesque designs of the Byzantines — tliose long mnscnlar arms witli awkward hands, yet so nat- ural ; meagre, graceless forms, questionahle in their anatom}-; sinewy legs with cJumsy joints ; feet distorted as by excessive jdodding; snd faces really full of grief; appealing counten- ances saying they sufter; figures of saintly women whose holiness depicts no courage ; trembling, shivering, spiritless madonnas, weird-featured and coarse-handed, grouped beneath a divinely-laden cross, and that L)i^•init^' a being grotesquely unlike our concejjtion, with lines upon his face that should have been labeled " beard." Side by side with this qiiaint array there are many engraved stones bearing unquestionably the Byzantine type whidi are in every sense beautiful gems — portraits of C'ln-ist whii-li, even with their peculiar rendering, have more divinit}- in them than many fairer cameos of earlier or of any other period (see No. 575, Case 1 1). In that Oriental jasper Christ is portrayed as a loving, gentle, forgiving Redeemer : no droj) is there, and yet there are tears in tliose eyes. It is what the law of Moses had forbidden — a likeness of something in heaven, a portraiture of Divinity. Innumerable scenes and groups — the anniinciation of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary ; the scene in the manger, the adoration, the crowning with thorns, Christ bearing his cross and showing to Thomas the wound in his side; in fact, every phase in the remarkable event which purchased eternal salvation for man. CHINESE. The g'lyptic work of the Cliinese is pi-incipally what is designated hasso-rUieco ; it is on nacre, bronze, jade, ame- th}-8t, and agahiiatoHte. What i)atience it must have required to cut those ornaments in jade for sceptres and oflicial swords ! Many pieces which we see only in museums have cost years of hxborious engraving. Jade has therefore been liehl by the Chinese as emblematic of all vii-tues. We have i-epresentations of change of costume on their porcelains and faience, but ver}- few specimens liave been preserved intact, and those insufficient to give us data farther back than the fourteenth century. They are said to be good copyists : all designs given to them for reproduction are copied very closeh', but in what we find on engraved stones there is the cachet of their nationality: it resendjles nothing else. Their work is mostlv in very low relief, save a few specimens in Cases L L, M M, and Y Y in my collection. Their pictured stones generallv represent hideous animals, birds, fruits, and views of Paradise, Avith figures of grotesque divinities. Their inscriptions are not incised, but are usually letters or characters in relief (see No. G4(l, Case L L). The exquisitelv IxMUtiful detiiils often exhibited bv them are surprising-, especially A\lien we consider the hardness of jade, the material principally employed by them. (8ee tine specimens in my cabinet of emerald, green, and black jade.) 88 AZTEC OE MEXICAN. Amoxg tlie existing relics of nations we find no examples of execution in stone-engraving more peculiar than in what is preserved of the work of the Aztecs or the ancient Mexicans, especially that done before the Conquest. Its character is so ci-ude and distinct that no close observer can for a moment be mistaken. I have met with Aztec engraved stones amono- Oriental gems also rude, yet there was that style which speaks to me as a silent l)ut sure indication of a class of ornamentation doubtless worn by that people whom Prescott and Kobertson have represented as decorated principally by gold, silver, and feather-Avork (see No. G59, Case N N). Large pieces, cameos of two and a half to tlu-ee inches in dimension, were Avorn by the Incas ns breast-ornaments, and are always pierced, showing that they were suspended (see Nos. 657 and 659, Case N N). 89 I^IGHT OF AET. The eras of art in tlic liistory of nations have been marked l)y the same rhanging- characteristics: hght has invariably been sncceeth'd Ijy darkness ; tliere are shadows ever following the bright rays of tlie sun. This day of imagery and sculpture, feeble at its dawn, radiant in its morning, powerful in the glory and effulgence of its meridian, faded as evening ad- vanced, di-ooped in the twilight, was at last veiled in the long period of decadence — the Middle Ages, the Night of Art. Throughout tliis period there was no regard for the artistic merit of the anticpie cameos, and yet they were highly valued from the fact that they ministered to the comfort of the superstitious. These same people, so credulous and so trusting in these t(dven-stones, by degrees formed themselves into groui^s, at first of two or three with ties of pious friendship; subse- quently these associations gradually increased in the numbers of their adherents until the "Towino- fanatic idea of closino- one's eyes on the sinful world was the incentive wliicli formed at first asylums, and so(tn after monasteries : and the monastic life became popular: wavering men, feeling themselves too weak to face the temptations of the world, resorted to these holy retreats and there sought God. Few reasonable men can be truly hajipy without occupation, and, hapjiilv for us, these recluses saw the importance and the historic interest of engraved gems: many of them were thus spared from loss and destruction. 90 NIGHT OF ART. 93 The numerous orders of monks during this barbarous epoch collected all that possibly could be saved from the destroying avalanche, and with great diligence transcribed on parchment types of the existing literature. These bequests are interest- ing, and in many instances very curious records of antique lore. We are, however, best enabled to vie^v and conn)are the gems of the Republic and the Empire in tlie precious stores opened up to us by the excavation of sepulchres, vases, urns, etc. of those periods. The laborers in the limited field of nrt in tlie ^Middle Ages were the dwellers in monasteries. To them we are indebted for some rude fibres in the fabric with which this period of darkness is canopied ; they walked under it in tlie simplicity of monastic life ; and to us at least it conveys the lesson that man has forgotten so nuu-li, knows so little, and has so much to learn. Their legacies are the innumerable church pictures, and among other gifts the stiff, crudely-drawn illustrations which are said to illuminate (?) the margins of their manuscripts. In carving, their subjects were generally of a spiritual and devotional character, though some of them relieved the tedium of cloister-life by creating in hasso-rUievo on bone and ivory the most ludicrous and mirth-provoking designs. The subjects of the engraved gems of the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries are to a great extent unmeaning figures and heads — portraits of unknown personages, now and then reproductions of ancient Roman emperors and military heroes of historic renown, yet poorly rendered and bad in execution. There are also manj^ inexplicable subjects, portraying groups of three, four, tive, and six figures, evidently intended 94 ENGRAVED GEMS. to commemorate events in history ; also, mythological proces- sions, both in rude intaglios and equally mediocre cameos, giv- ing triumphs of Silenus and Bacchus, portraying these heroes in forms the drawing of which would raise blushes on their cheeks could thev return to earth and be allowed to criticise their effigies. Silenus, even full of wine, Avould growl and remonstrate, pronouncing some of them absmxl misrepresenta- tions. Many of those connnemorating or representing incidents of the period coarsely delineated are riddles seldom to be under- stood or solved. This fact, to a true lover or admirer of sub- ject gems, is a cause of dissatisfaction, wliich, added to their miserable execution, detracts from their art value. I must, however, confess they have for me a great interest, if only on account of their contrast with the examples of Greek aud Roman glyptic art. There certainly were some meaning and intelligible repre- sentations of mythical or even actital events ; some love-scenes, betrothals, or refusals, and driving away of the wooing hero; but as these incidents or compositions have no connection with well-known historical facts or legends, and quantities of them not even of niylliological personages, they remain enigmas, and under that category, coupled with their poor execution, lack the interest of those wonderful historical gems of the earlier and purer ghptic school — three centuries b. v. nnd three cen- turies A. D. In this epoch, again, we find instances of the sensitiveness of the numismatic branch of the art of gem-engra-vnng, for the models of all pieces of money are intaglios, and thus far they are related to the glyptic art; and it has always been the first industry giving evidence of a decline. Reference to a few NIGHT OF ABT. 95 examples in the money of these centuries will sustain my assertion. See the gold coins of King Sigibertus II., struck at ancient Marseilles — a sol d'or of the seventh centm-y ; The srold coins of Childericus II., sti'uck also at ancient 3Iarseilles — a sol d'or of the seventh century ; The gold coins of Justinian II., Avith the portrait of the emperor standing, holding a cross, and on the reverse his bust, holding a globe surmounted by a cross — a sol d'or of the eighth century ; The gold (alloyed) coins known as friois, struck at the ancient city of Banuasac in tlie centre of France, ^\hh por- ti'ait of a sovereign, and on the reverse a chalice of the eighth centm-y ; The gold coins of Louis le Deboxnaire, son of Charle- magne, with the legend mvnvs divinvm — a sol d'or of the ninth century ; The srold coins of Grimoald de Bexevext, with the name of Charlemagne and doms car r"" — a sol d'or of the ninth century ; See the coin known as the foUis, of Constaktine X. PoR- phyrogJ:xJ;te, in bronze, of the tenth century ; The deniers, in silver, of Pope John IX., Avith the effigy of St. Peter, S. Petrus — tenth century; The gold coins, concave, of Alexis I. Comxexe, with ef- fio-ies of Christ seated, and reverse bust — a sol d'or of the eleventh century ; And the barbarously-designed coin (in base metal) struck at Laon, France, of Philippe Auguste, king of France, with his poi-ti-ait and that of the archbishop of Laon — eleventh cen- turA' : 96 ENGRAVED GEMS. All these and many others are fair examples of the engraA^- ing of the epoch. We are amused and mstructed in viewing the pictorial records of these centm-ies : we nuist censure the self-aggran- dizement and jealous care which in those days hung as a veil between man and the free pursuit of learning and the know- ledge of the beautiful. The rest of the i)opulation were occu- pied in the cultivation of the ground or in the profes.sion of arms, giving to such occupations more attention than to edu- cation, literature, art, or science. The foregoing view of these art-bequests is given prin- cipally in connection with the qualities, exemplified by the gem-engraving of the epoch. The major portion of the col- ored illuminated manuscripts of the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries is referred to as corresponding most exactly wath the rude glyptic productions of the same pei-iod ; and it is to be imderstood that what is crude I attribute to the monastic pencils. Italy was the cradle of the art of illumination on missals and manuscripts, but its force and perfection were developed later in France and Flanders. Spain has produced the most mediocre examples ; those of Germany do not concern us at this moment. In the missals from the eighth to the eleventh century, inclusive (see examples in the museum at Laon, France, and ill the Bibliotheque Rationale, Paris), we find the rude, crudely drawn colored illuminations alluded to. The more prominent subjects are Adam and Eve in the garden of Para- dise, and, for variety, in difterent scenes in the garden, smelling and culling the flowers: walking with their Divine Creator; the NIGHT OF ART. 97 Serpent in the tree. Eve oflfers tlie apple to Adam ; Adam accepts and partakes of the forbidden fruit ; an angel banishes them from the garden ; and so on throughont the whole gene- alogy as recited in Holy Writ, these characters having as ad- juncts in ornamentation ([ueer fishes, chimeras, and other strange animals, butterflies, serpents, lions, birds, insects, and flowers unknoAvn to botanists of our day. These stift", crudely-drawn colored illuminations, executed in monasteries, I have represented in my picture and employed as a cloud, my object being that they may serve as a foil, a contrasting mass of shadow, on Avhicli should shine out more brilliantly the early Greek and Roman glyptic art, and again as a background before which should sparkle the succeeding and greater refinement of those productions pencilled, painted, or engraved for us by our more immediate ancestors of the Renaissance School. These rude illuminations on the margins of the manuscripts of these monastic contributors Avere in keeping with the gem- engraving of that i)eriod, the eighth to the eleventh centuries, which I have denoted as the Night of Art. It cannot be denied that there were bright intervals in that era of comparative art-darkness, and in the U\o or three suc- ceeding centuries, when men, mi trammelled b}' the bonds of monasticism, produced superior work. At eventide of many days of labor the under sides of the cloud had golden linings and silver edges. The pencils that produced these finer eff'ects, those jewels of the twilight, were guided by freemen, who, though living among the sleeping, were so imbued with religioiis art that their works pictured a glow of light whose genial rays are to-day still reflected on truly appreciative minds. 7 98 ENGRAVED GEMS. I recognize the greater illuminators of monastic manuscripts as the exceptional lights of that period, who wove some bright threads into the art-web that has been preserved for us, and which to-day illumines in a measure the history of an epoch that was so cold and mediocre in gem-engraving. So much were some of the cloistered illuminators infatu- ated with their art-occupation that it was enthroned in their thoughts even during their limited hours of re})Ose, when visions furnished them with the hajipiest types wliicli adorned the work of the succeeding day. They knew nt»t Eve, nor did they hold converse with her daughters; they had no living models for Mar}^, Sarah, Hagar, or Rebecca. Although they were the predecessors of Fra Angelica, they, like him, had "manifestations" of what they knew not in their monastic life — di'eams of angelic faces and of forms endowed with holy countenances — which on their awakening they so marvellously depicted on panel or on jiarchment. As a rule, a\ hen an illuminated mamiscript presents itself possessing suj)erior art-cpialitie.s, connoisseurs easily recognize that it is of a later period, and tluit it was made by an artist unshackled, living at large in the busy worhl, having models everywhere around him ; not by an anchorite or a monk: these latter seldom signed their works, and are therefore not indi- vidually known to us. Of the later and more truly artistic illuminated MSS. we have bright exann)les in the Avorks of ]\Iemling of Bruges, who in 1490 painted a missal for Pope Alexander \\. which is exquisitely drawn and colored, and in whicli is to be found the Pentecost, with eleven lovely-faced figures in varied cos- tumes ; the Crucitixion, seven or eight figui'es ; Saint Veronica, holding the cloth bearing the imprint of our Saviour's face ; NIGHT OF ART. 99 and the breviary of Cardinal Griniani, a marvellons production now at Venice. The vieAv of these relics of cloister art convinces iis that they of the Dark Ages did not contribute the truly beautiful. Yet shadows pass with " time and the hour." — Nig-lit is passing — comes the g-rav — comes the dawn — comes the morning- lio-ht. Creatures that at evening ceased their song, tune now their pipes and sing again ; thev chant anon the requiem of the Xight of Art : and A'et anon tliev sing the coming of the light. They celebrate at last, with hope, the renewing of all things beautiful in art. ********* * * * * The orb of day gilds the horizon ; man be- holds the aurora of the approaching day. THE RENAISSANCE. As a child becomes restless with the consciousness of com- ing day before it full}' awakes from sleep, man, Aveary of this nio-ht of io-norance and the atmosphere of barbarism, fretful on his couch under the yoke of tyranny, striving to shake it otf while yet enveloped by the shades of error, rose up to seek an element he knew not, a light he di-eamed would come. He burst tlie cords that bound his strength; he pierced the clouds Avhich dulled his vision, and, leaving his prison- house, reached forth his fearless arm, and, })ushing aside the sombre folds of the long inten-ening veil, peered into the outer world of progress, and in the gray gloom he descried a distant terrace. With rapid strides, through fuiTOws of popular prejudice and cinders of past magnificence, over crumbled arch and fallen pillar, frieze, and pediment, he sped his wav, nor flag-o-ed nor halted till, the summit reached, he stood and gazed with earnest look out into the coming time ; he beheld in the vista before him many streams flowing into the sea of the future. In the horizon gleamed again the omen of coming day; it was the harbinger of a new birtli. The light of tnitli flasheil upon his mind, discovering to him his freed intellect : unlike the denizens of the earlier age of luxury and repletion, he stood a thinking man, refreshed, invigorated, and ready for work ; and quickly he applied him- self; called forth his kinsmen; his voice was heard throughout the land ; men awoke everywhere and wrought in the ateliers 100 JJ.VN.-*^'^^ THE KENAISSANCE. THE BENAISSANCE. lOH of tlie new life. Through tlie air eanie strains as of niusir from creaking of timber, cracking of stone, the carol of the painter, hammer and anvil, — plashing oar, Avheel and shaft, mallet and chisel — the ordtorlo of the Renaissance. With this aAvakening came another influx of skilled artisans intii Itah', not to compete, as before, in the great established art-market of the world : now they came in response to appeals for master-workmen — came to instruct, to encourage the new Ijirth, to lead the drowsy ones out into the full light of day — the day of a rising constellation in which once more shone brilliantly a meritorious school of gem-engravers. Though Germany, France, and other nations shared in the work, Italy guarded the cradle of the Renaissance, and as a faitliful, loving parent watched the developing features of the youth, which grew apace, reading there the promise of a groov- ing power that was destined to lead future generations to excel- lence and prosperity. She reared the budding plants, sai)lings of the grove whose branches were to yield refreshing fruits to all who asked, whose timber was to give keel, hull, sjjars, and masts to commerce: thence came the little crafts that crossed the unknown deep and spied our Western shores. Italy accomplished the first great work of this period l)y furnishino- models for l)Oth industrial and fine arts, infusing vitality into other nations. The influential families of the Medici and Farnese, Popes Leo X. and Paul III., many car- dinals and nobles, were instrumental in the revival of gem- encravino- ; especially Lorenzo d']\Iedici contributed to its re- development and growth by inducing artists to devote them- 104 ENGRAVED GEMS. selves to its practice and bestowing on them his Hberal patronage. The vigorons manner of artists of this period is so marked that even in the repro(hicti()U of anticpTe (k-signs a connoisseur can recognize their pecuhar style. Their original wf this interesting subject. How can I be repaid ? Can there be found some thinking ones who will read carefully this treatise ? Then may I hope that an interest will be awakened in my subject, and many ma)' enjoy years of pleasant research. Bacchus and Ariadne. (Iteduced.) See gem, Plate 99. REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS PURSUIT AND THE ACQUISITION ENGRAVED GEMS. REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS IN THE PURSUIT AND THE ACQUISITION OF ENGRAVED GEMS. These stones have not been found at or near my American home, nor many of them in the great cities of Europe, but have been gathered in lands foreign to that in which I spent my yoiith and in places remote from the beaten track of ordinarv travel. ]\Iany of them have amusing histories, and there are curious incidents connected Avith the search for and acquisition of them. Having been an earnest, enthusiastic collector, interesting memories are mine concerning a large proportion of my collection. The zeal with which I have sought and followed up certain engraved gems which eventually came into my possession can perhaps be more clearlv expressed by noting the desire I long had to look upon a constellation which can only be seen when one reaches the country adjoining Abyssinia. When travelling 125 126 REMIXISCEXCES OF TRAVELS. in a southerly direction, week after week at night, I asked my dragoman (in many respects my tutor) if it was yet visible. "Patience!" was his oft-repeated reply. At last, one silent evening in Ethiopia he led me forward on my boat, my home for the time ; he then guided my eye to a starry cross low witliiu the southern horizon ; it was the long-sought constel- lation of the "Southern Cross," and with gratification I invol- untarily exclaimed, "I have seen it! at last I have seen it!" Precisely so have I felt after seeking some special gem which, having seen or heard of for a moment, before I could be- come its possessor had changed ownership, domicile, and even country. When, in after years, I again heard of it, found and secured it, almost invariably I would return to my lodging to enjoy doubly its beauty and the thought that it was mine ! When living in ^lorocco I used to go to the Soho, a great market-place without the city of Tangier, Avhere multitudes of trades-people congregated on tw(i days in the week, com- ing from the city and from a distance, both to buy and to sell their merchandise. I would announce through my dragoman that on the next market-day I woidd be there and ready to buA- fine and antifpie jewels and gems. Thus have I added to iny store. THE STOEY-TELLER. I REME5IBER well Oil (1116 occasion wandering from the city of Tangier to the ontskirts of the desert ; it was evening. I soon found vdiat I sought, a caravan of Arabs with their camels laden with Oriental merchandise; it was the hour of repose and diversion. Tlie caravan was at rest : it was a picturesque assemblv, the faithful humpbacked creatures of burden deployed in oToups and in ranks, each with his saddle-racks stacked behind him as the arms of a regiment in Invouac, with necks and heads outstretched upon the sand, now and again turning their stupid faces and eyes as if looking for some one sure to come; and when at last a picturesque grizzly-bearded liadji in a waAworn turban began to stir in a great wooden basket the husk porridge of prickly shrubs, refuse vegetables, and savor)' fragments from the shrivelled stems of the date-bearing palms, the nostrils of the camels, so carefully closed in the hot sand-blasts of the desert, Avere now distended, conscious through their keen sense of smell that nourishment was being prepared for them. Another aged camp-follower with melon- seeds and lentils slipped quietly about selling small measures to the assembled Arabs, and from a terra-cotta amphora or jug a beverage of sweetened watei- weakly flavored with sinrituous mastique. Though alcoholic drinks are contrary to the pre- cepts of the Koran, I have seen many Arabs indulge in this cold grog. The amphora-bearer served his clients noiselessly, for Abdallah, who was not to be disturbed, was already standing 129 130 REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS. in his place and the i'antasia of the eveninji;- was al)ont to com- mence with a ne\y story. During a h;)no- jom-ney across the desert there is a i)osition lield Ijy one man, the story-teller ; it is a post of honor, for of all that multitude lie only who has proved that he has the power to gain his comrades' ears and hearts can attain the office of story-teller. On that lovely African evening stood the professional story- teller, Abdallah am Bahi, almost surrounded by the reclining Arabs. The ]dacid features of his remarkable countenance, not yet aroused In- his professional emotions, were already warmed from the reddened glimmer of the sunken sun; his earnest eyes spoke in concert with his voice as he commenced his romance ; he was soon himself absorbed in his discourse ; it was wonder- ful to see how he held his audience spellbound, while he re- lated to them how the liero Aclimet el Zoria with shrill-toned voice was crying " Allalm akbar, ashadu, an la ilalia ill allah," thus calling to evening- prayers from the minaret of the village mosque — how his intoning was suddenlv interrupted when he discovered that his darling inamorata, Fatima, had been carried off by Eeiss Ali Sheriffe, a Bedouin captain. Our story-teller Abdallah at this point gesticulated Avildly, beating the air, striking his body with vehemence, tearing away the kufiyeh which formed his turban, and pulling franticall}' at the lock of hair which shoidd have been left for the Prophet of God; so vividly he impersonated the jealous rage of the hero Achmet el Zoria that tire seemed to flash from myriads of e}-es. The Arabs now sat cross-legged as in an am- phitheatre around him, fingering the thirty-three beads of their lavmen rosaries, yet giving him their rapt attention. Abdallah's stirring recital now aroused them, and nunn- who were in the act of lighting ant)ther chibouque cast tlie tire to the ground, ACH-MET EL ZOBIA CALLIXU TO PRAYERS. THE STORYTELLER. 133 so wronoht up mcvc tliey in tlie romance ; tliey ton ruthlessly niiturhaniMl or threw oft' their tarbooshes from their Mussulman heads, and exclaimed with one another, " Bismillah er raliimir rahmani" ("In the name of" God the Merciful"), and in another breath they cried, " Down with Reiss AH Sherifte !" With outstretched arms Abdallah Ijade them be still and attend the sequence of his story. There was now a greater proof of the j)ower witli wliicli he held them : as a summer wind be- comes a breeze, and then a calm, so that multitude, swayed li\- tlic story-teller's mandate, resumed in a moment their riveted attention to his narrative. — Achmet el Zoria lost no time : he had seen the abductor already leaving the town and taking to the desert ; he knew it also from his cousin Mahomet Sadouin, who hastily mounted to the minaret to warn him, having just returned from a distant oasis AA'hence he hail drawn great skins of sweet water ; after a moment's counsel a substi- tute was installed to finish the call to prayers; Achmet and Mahomet hastened their descent, and, tpiickly unloading the water-skins Avliere they were before the mosque-door, Achmet Avas soon seated on his cousin's steed, and, qiiitting the town, peered out into tlie desert t(t discover the course tlie enemy had taken. It is now an hour since Ali left ; the horse seems to know his errand, and with a faithful interest in liis rider's cause speeds his way, i)huiging and flying- as did 3Iazeppa. He comes in view of two figures, one of whom seems to be the peace-breaker, the brigand lover. lie gains upon his track, though now tlirougli depths of sand he can but plod; he draws near, ;nid, to his chagrin, discovers tlie |)artv he has pursued to be a trader and his aged mother on tlieir wa}' to Tetuan. Achmet and his horse took breath and courage, although tliis had been the liour of the evening mirage on the heated sands; at this 134 REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS. moment the mist lifted, and, in the direction of Arxillo, Achmet descried clearly the Pluto who had crossed the path of his love. The faithful steed seemed also to see them and to understand the error : ^\•ith renewed energy he ceased to plod, for now some miles of a\ ild camel's sage served them well ; its roots ffivinff a firmer foothold, steed and man soon overtook the real abductor. Before Achmet reached him Ali Sheriffe was dismounted, and, having placed Fatima in the rear and his beast of burden tin his haunches, used him as a breastwork of defence ; the contest without firearms was of short duration. Achmet, with the loaded baton with which anon he beat the bells upon the minaret, proceeded to serve a series of heavy blows, which brouglit otlier peals of music from panting Ali's head, who with Fatima had all this time been wending his way upon an ungainly camel.' Soon Achmet felled him on the sand : leaving him there as he would have left a jackal, he returned to the village. As our stor\-teller described the flight of the abductor, and Achmet in pursuit, the Arabs' eyes also Avere peering out into the dim evening haze on the desert : they were following the flight of romance, as 'twere a living steed and earnest chase ; and when Achmet, thanks to the faitliful beast, overtook the runaway, again in their excitement they renewed their cries with arms in air and voices shrill ; they showed how they enjoved the bringing to the dust of liatfled Ali. The narrative brought hapitily back Achmet with Fatima, who vowed, the rescue o'er, she loved him fondly, and would always more and more. Joyous denouement ! Abdallah ceased to .speak, his story told, yet still lie held ' Camels are the usual means of transport ; holies are a luxury in Morocco. THE STORY-TELLER. 135 them as in a magnetic spell, t'or lie luul a\ niuglit himself into a state of ecstasy, in whicli condition lie preached the morti- fying of the ilesh, his sincerity proved by his actions, he per- forming the most astonishing contortions of his sinewy frame as he sprang- in air and jumped about the space of sand cov- ered by his carpet, before which stood the copper brazier which the camel-dri\ers nsed for lighting their pi])es. A group of Arabs from a neigliboring village now added nnxsic to the scene by strumming on rude stringed citterns and the beating of tam- bourines or tum-tnms ; these strains were evidentlv for the audience; they soothed not Abdallah, who approached with fury the brazier, and, taking bright embers of liurning char- coal ^^•ith his tingers, ])laced them bravely in his mouth, fear- lessly crushed tliem between his teeth, and swallowed them ; again and again he returned to the tire and took coal after coal of niby hue : one could see sjiarks, and even flames, issuing from his mouth as his breath gave a current of air to his burning aliment. lie then produced a coarse gauze bag, from A\hich he drew two or three screeching insects in form like a humble-bee, opened tl)em with his long finger-nails, dropped their entrails into a hollowed gourd cuj) of water, and set it on a stake driven in the sand, and for half an hour proceeded with other antics. He then displayed the gourd, when lo ! it was tilled with little wriggling white serpents three or more indies in length, which raised their forms out of the '\^•ater and seemed to be regarding the new world. He next unfolded a rudelv-woven camers-hair haick or blanket, which he took from a basket, and aroused three larger serpent companions, who evidentlv were of age and well acquainted with their master, for at the sonnd of his 136 REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS. voice and the siglit of a banil)on wand tliey stO(i(| erect in air, only restina' on the last sections of tlieir tails, and at his commands, '■'■ ShcnKildl," or " Yciiiiutil" they turned their heads full to the right or to the left, Ixtwed one at a time, then altogether, and in the same order opened Avide their months, and afterward performed many antics, resting on his shoulders or even hanffinsf by their tails from his band)oo \\ and. One could not say, "How cruel!" for the snakes appeared to be as nmch pleased as the Bedouins who assisted with their applause. There was to me no doubt they were enjoying the weird music, for whenever the motley orchestra ceased playing for a moment these reptiles seemed to cast a look of reproach that wav, and drooped their enamelled heads. After thus entertaining his auditors, Abdallah sank exhausted on the earth ; he had succeeded, he liad gained their atten- tion ; they had listened, looked, and appreciated ; Abdallah was satisfied. Give me A'our hearing, listen and look with me a while, aid nie to raise this lantern of art before you. These engraved gems are bright as pearls, and reflect interesting light on the history of art. They come to us from almost all historic time. Some of them existed thousands of years before Christ's advent; some were worn l)y damsels and others by emancipated slaves centuries before the Ivonian Empire ; many were buried in the tombs of the Pharaohs ; and precious seals which gave legal value to documents during the ancient reigns of the Assyrian kings. These tangible relics are now presented to }-our consid- eration. We have no ancient garments, nor furniture, nor habitable structures of those epochs ; our interest is in these minute monuments uf those ancient peoples, and tidings THE STORY-TELLER. 137 from tliem in the loriu of inscriptions are in our posses- sion t()-(lav. Tlie camels sleep ; we must leave Abdallah ; the hour warns me that I must retrace mv steps if I would re-enter the Medinah Ijefurt- tlie cldsinii" oi the gates for tlie night. THE BAZAAES OF TAXGIER. Within the (•it\' of Tangier the bazaars are more Oriental in their t-spe than tliose of cities farther East ; the shambles opening- on tlie pnbHc square are more airy, and locomotion is more practicable. The ensemble was to me a pleasing picture: piles and hang-ing- masses of carpet : rugs of Moorish and of Persian make, rich in their blended colors and harmonious in their designs ; glittering copper wares, artistic in form and decoration : pungent spices, whose aromatic fragrance pervades the air ; Arabescpie wooden wares, embellished with yellow, red, and green designs, set with lacquer ; articles of luxury and necessity for nourishment and for ornamentation ; jewelry for ears, noses, necks, arms, and lingers ; eatable birds, alive in nets and cages. In the Medinah some of the stalls in the bazaars are the smallest I have ever seen — only a few feet square, just large enough for their sombre ])roprietors as they sit cross-leffo'ed to rcacli anv and everv thino' on the shelves, with onlv the trouljle of turnins: round without risins' from their indolent position. Dates are the commodity of whicli, after all, tlie most are sold. In the narrow, tortuous passages where there is nuu'li traffic it is difficult to thread one's way and push through the throng of motley dealers, camels, asses, and donkeys. The right of way seems to belou"- to these mounted tradesmen ; one is startled b\- tlieir cries to "Make wav !" the shouting of itin- erant peddlers, and tlie moaning of camels. The tobacco-merchants are tlie most picturesque-looking 138 CONTENTMENT— THE -MERCHANT OF PISTACHIO-NCTS, TANGIER. THE BAZAARS OF TANGIER. 143 men — all in white, cleanly, and neat in costume; their sales of tobacco by the tierce and ham|)er are important, and they form a striking- contrast to the many retailers of fruits, l^eans, melon- seeds, nuts, and the like. Just at the corner, near the ste})s of a white mosque, 1 noticed an old Moor sitting with all the dignity of an im})ortant merchant smoking his chibouque, yet all his apparent stock in trade was about two quarts of pis- tachio-nuts, which he sold from a metallic measure holdina: not more than two ounces ; he was an exemplitication of contentment. ^yfe^-^l^w THE THEEE AMPHORA. The strangest feature of all was to he seen in a sequestered alcove, where, on a space made tenantable by the construc- tion of a booth somewhat in the nomadic architecture of the Bedouins — a rude skeleton frame of light portable scantling, the ends or joints lashed together witli thick cords of red leather, the roof and sides covered \\ith coarse porous blan- kets, dark Ijrown in hue, liand-woven, with yellow and green borders as in Arabia, of goat's hair, jungle-grasses, and refuse wool; a dozen or more low lounges or stretchers of wooden frame covered with matting of plaited rushes; the iiiterior concealed horn the gaze of the curious by a portiere or curtain of equally primitive loom-work; the front or outer apartment the office and dispensary of the seer-fakir of the desert. The entire establishment or booth is approached through a narrow nassao-e leading between two stalls on the main corridor of the bazaar. The seer-fakir, like any other charlatan, spoke iininternqit- edh', plying his ]n-ofession with varying success; he cried witli every Itreath, '' Sciiki ! scnio ! wlio wants .sciiia ."" ("Heaven! wlio wants heaven?") "Here are consolations for tliis life, forgetfulness of the past, enjoyment of the present, ;ind dreams of the future ! Behold them in these three amphorae decocted from blessed herbs from the hidden grottoes of the Bou S'lilia River ! Wilt thou forget the trials of the past ? drink of the first, Embareh.^ Wilt thou revel in tlie possible pleasures of ' Yesterduy, in Arabic. 144 S s THE THREE AMPHORAE. 147 the present? drink of tlie second, Eu-nnliar-deli/ Wilt tlioii ill thy dreams pierce the veil that closes futurity to thy view ? drink of the third, Bukra."'" These potions are all draughts iiiducinji' sleej), hut innocuous, not dani;erous in moderate doses. It was surprising to me how mauv jiaid their pias- tres and ^vent in to enjoy, to sleep, to forget, and to dream. For each recruit an attendant prepares lights and serves a nargileh, carefully removing- it as the man falls asleep. I know something of the ecstasy enjoyed by the use of the third potion, for I had a friend who tried it and described his sensations to me. It is well to have lieen pleased with the past, to be delighted with the jiresent, to hope for the future, and to take no potions. Punctually at 11 a. m. I was at the rendezvous in the bazaar to atteml to and receive whatever might be oftered in response to my ajipeal of the other dav. My success is a matter of satisfacti(,)n to me even at this remote day, and among others I treasure \n\ Lucius, and finding the incident of its subject so entertaining, it will be given under the head of " Interesting- Incidents of Subjects." With the gem 1 had acquired, my Lucius, safe in an inner pocket, I left the mosques and the white houses and the golden sun of ^lorocco that so gener- ously unveils its visage there, and looking to the sea I sought other lands, other people, and other gems. ' To-dav. ' Tu-mono\v. Tliis latter contains some hasheesh. PORTUGAL. For nearly tliirty years I liave enjo^-ed the friendship of an old Franciscan monk, Frater Arsacius, in the monastery of that order in ]\Iiunch, who during twelve years was a mis- sionary in the West of the United States, where we had nuitual friends in Cincinnati. At liis instigation I added to my search for gems that of souvenirs for his monastery ; naturally, these objects were alwavs of a religious character — small ancient artistic altar-pieces or relics of shrines scattered over many countries whilom denizened l:)y the Latin race. When in Lisbon searching for gems in the Rua Aurea, "the street of gold," a friendly antiquary told me I might tind some- thing of interest at a dealer's close to the church and monastery of St. Jeronimos, founded a. d. 1500, at Belem on the Tagus. We drove out there, and after a courteous reception and agree- able visit came away with an old chiselled cross which long since has been domiciled in the Bavarian monasterv. I re- tained for myself a gold and 1)ronze tigure of our Saviour crucitied, of the sixteentli century, wdth grccu patina of bronze on many parts of the gold. I learned from an nndoubted source that this was taken fmni tlu- 'i'ibcr at R(inK', and came to its possessor through an antiquary who followed closely the works on the banks of the Tiber. . I also ol^tained many thino-s from the laborers (see No. 123, Case 11). To those interested in sculpture note the sarcoi)hagi of Dom ^lanuel and his Queen Catherine, and rilievo of the architect Potassi. 148 THE ANTIQUARY— ST. JEEOXIJIOS, BELEM, PORTUGAL. > so 1-3 is O PS O B S c» O B3 O ^ H EASTWARD HO! The sentimental crv of liread-winnevs lias been "Westward ho!" since Coluinlms proved tliere was a continent there rich in spices, gokl, hard woods, etc.; g-enerations of fortune-seekers turned to the New World, and we are their descendants : but for art and evidences of the greater civilizations that have made the Avorld's artdiistorv we nuist return to the East; and now, with that motive, we eml)ark upon the l)eautiful vet treacherous Mediterranean. Recollections of our adieu at Lisbon are still in our hearts as w^e stroll through the streets of Cadiz : another dav brings us to Algeciras and Gibraltar. Little in the ()rder of gems there except a few heirlooms in private families, as such too highly appraised to be reasonaljly accpiired. On with like results to ]\Ialaga, where we indulge in grapes and their juices : ^"alencia, we remember thy oranges ; Tar- ragona, treasuring on its old altars rejiousse in silver and in gold; Barcelona, a city of to-day: and Marseilles, with its docks and commerce; Cannes, on the (inlf de la Xapoule, with the islands of Lerins, St. Marguerite, and St. Honorat ; Xice, l)iiou cradle of sunshine, fragrant Howers, and fashion, has frcMpuoitlv addeil to my cabinet good specimens ; Sardinia, from wliose Tharos (see No. 559, Case G G) onward, east, touching at ])oints of interest on shore and on islands. At one ])ort not far from Messina, which for evident reasons shall not be more clearlv indicated, for years I dealt with one who cer- 153 154 REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS. tainly proved that success in almost any pursuit ilepeuds on energy and enterprise ; it is well understood, wiih a share of intellectiial capacity. This man was terribly deformed: all his limbs and even his features were t\\isted and shrivelled; yet he managed to travel and to Ijring- tog'ether many inter- esting antiquities, and from his treasures I have made frequent acquisitions. -^^^^■-^*-;-%^ _^feS-fe. -^sf «r i "7" NAPLES. Naples ! thou ;irt in tliysolf a great cameo, in liig-li relief, on many strata, marulated from Fontana Medina to Castle Sant' Elmo, thine eyes looking to the islands of the sea, thine ears charmed l)v the myriad voices of thv people, thy nostrils breathing the perfume of flowers, tin' li[is welcoming the strangers that gaze u})<)n thy Ijeauties, tin' brow crowned bv Sante ^lartino, thy shoulders and anns stretching out from Posilipo to Portici, thv face, bv dav radi;nit under thv Xea- politan sun, at niglit anon reflecting the gorgeous volcanic light of thy \'esuvius, anon ablaze with thv carnival-beacons. Naples has Ijeen generous to me, and Pompeii has vielded ancient gems, though it has been ordained that thev shall not go forth from thence. Athens! ever the proud seat of the Acrf>polis, cradle and shrine of Grecian art, dismantled as thou art, I greet thee in passing — will iiutc .ill th\' beauties in their place. Stromb(di's toi'clilight is mirrored in the heavens; God- given Pharos! thou markcst well our course, (-)ur automaton craft speeds on my errand, seeking another light. 157 EGYPT. Before the break of day, under a starless, dark niglit-sk}^, in November, ISliD, I saw from Bab-el-Arab the welcome flash of the beacon-light, and the bright morning found me gem-prospecting at the gates of the golden sands of Cleo- patra's realm, the seaport city of Dinocrates and xllexander, now Alexandria; from thence the iron way brought me to Cairo, where, having completed my arrangements and engaged my jmsoiiiiel witli the aid of my dragoman, Eimice Ali, I was soon floating in my own temporary home, a citizen of the Nile. The question whether Egyptians have a natural love of art was soon answered in some measure by the following incident, at least as regards mv retinue of servants and sailors : Having spent some time at Boulak making a choice, I rented a dahabeah and furnished it to my taste : it Avas all white, with- out any ornamentation ; so for some days I amused m^'self b}' decorating it with ornamental painting, principally the facade of the dwi'lUng-part of the boat facing the front, where I painted a series of desert scenes with temples, pyramids, and fertile palm-groves. It is reasonable to suppose that these pictures would have been somewhat better executed could I have prevailed upon those good fellows to keep their heads from between me and my work ; there are times when one can see almost through a stone ; hoAvever, I finished them sufficiently well, as it proved, for, like a travelling panorama, they were visited and admired dm-ing our three or four months' 158 EGYPT. 159 journey in as many coinitries 1)v the kindred and friends of my captain and drag'omaii, \\lK)m it was my agreeable duty to entertain at various points on the voyage. There is no intention of relating the history of the Nile voyage ; only such details will lie given as will enable the reader to follow me to those points lia\dng some connection Avitli my subject, or such incidents as are not of the order usiially found in such books. Having a prosperous wind, our lateen sail drawing us -well toward the south, I acquiesced in the request of my captain, wlio did not wish to sto]) that I might shoot some of the myriad ducks. " Let us use the breeze when Allah gives it," said he. However, the wind falling as we neared the port from which is the route to Memphis, Ave went ashore at that point for the tirst time. DESERTED HALLS. In the remains of sul)terranean structures and passages ^\liieli I have seen and explored near Memphis I have learned something of the ancient rites \\liit'li were there exemphtied and practised. The candidate, after due and very long and strict prepara- tion, started with his guide through a long tunnelled corridor, or, to bring the scene of his initiation more vividly before von, it may be remarked that 1 ]ia\e in these countries more than once investigated these subterranean passages. Like the candidate of ancient times, I entered and passed with my guides into one of these very subterranean galleries, and after pi'o- srressinff what seemed to me to 1)e aljout an eiii'hth of a mile we reached a chasm or great well seemingly of profound depth. Here the candidate's courage was tested : he was instructed to descend; if he was sufticiently courageous, all went well with him, otherwise he was compelled to return to whence he came and foi'ego the completion of his nnudi-desired initia- tion. ( >f course 1 met with no greater di.scomfort than tlie too frequent enc(Uinter with tlie mnnerous vampires and largi bats that were continuouslv scooping between the torches and iu\' head; at the bottom of this chasm \\ t- t'utercd another corridor, and after a while mv guides gave me to understand that I nmst be carried on a seat formed by tlieir united shonlders. When well thus seated we soon arrived at one of the most interesting points the candidate had to encounter in the ceremony : it was here that he arrived at a pool or e 160 DESERTED HALLS. IRl stream of water which in ohl tiuies he liad to swim, but my cicerones, mv men-horses, waded bravely into the water. I sav "bravelv," but u}M)n reflection think they AA'ere not valor- ous, l)ut cnnnin;^- t'ellinvs with designino- heads. I acknowledge feeling unpleasantly, tor when we arrived at about the middle of the pool tlie\' stopped and demanded tlie purchase of some articles of auticjuiTv — scarabei or something of that sort; then the torches looked at me, and I looked at the torches, and the ghostlv lonelv chamber and the running cold water, perched on their shoulders with ni}- legs in air, I felt that these guides were \qv\ nearly masters of the situation. I, however, did not accede to their propositions, and all went well. Here the candidate was forced to swim witli the hope of entering an enticing portal on the other side, but the rings which had the appearance of oifering him the means of landing at the beautiful door \\ere illusi\e. It is said that he was almost sure to fall again into the water, Init that if he courageously kept his holil, that door would soon open to him, and after mounting the stairway beyond, he would Ije in the presence of the master and his wardens and priests, and would be found wortln- to receive the coveted degree. The door is no longer there, but I sa^^- the entrance and beyond into the great chamber. This part of the series of apartments which were excavated and constracted for the mystic rites is said to have been very imposing, and when peopled with the great officers and brethren of the rites an-ayed in their official robes and insig- nia, it must have been indeed splendid; yet it was to me a scene in all its associations painfully sad ; I coidd not longer stay. Thev who in their day had ruled with power here, the 11 162 REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS. plebeians too wlio lived ujioii tlieir smiles, liad joinefl the grand cortege, upon the river of lime lind silently floated awav from tlicsc chambers of mystery; all departed now, gone bevond the great water to rest with Amnion l\a, the king of the gods, to gaze for ever on Osiris, the prince of eternity. K\en the hoh' ])riests, -who anon, as they adminis- tered and conferred the rites in these sacred precincts, seemed to l)e parts of the massive structure — they too had gone down the causeAvav to the imuKirtalitv bevond. 'I'heir hres Iiad ceased to Imni, their liglits Jiad jialed and fled, their pomp and rites shone no more here : 1 ^^•as indeed iilone. The loathsome tenants, bats and vampires, warned me 'twas not my temple ; I, the intruder in unfltting })lace, retraced my steps through these weird passages, and, emerging from the oiiter tunnel, stood ii])0u the site of old Memphis. Memphis, the ancient palatial city of the white wall, the very stones of whose edifices have centuries since been carried away to build other mansions, where now one walks on mil- lions of fragments of ])otterv, morsels of terra-cotta almost shapeless now, once cunningly-formed vases and household utensils pictured and glazed and enamelled, now the dusty mementoes of that city through whose streets one could have walked from noon until simset ere the Nile was reached, accompanied on every side by the art-monuments which guarded and emiched the wav. It is interesting to remark all that remains of the grandeur of this once popidous plain now sleeps in the tombs of the Acrop- olis of Sakkara, and Ibr ^\•ell-])reserved and abounding inscrip- tions the tombs of some thousands of A})is bulls are especially to be studied and admired. DESERTED HALLS. 163 On retuniini;- to the daliabeah we found all tliin;^s elianged — the sails furled and eight of the sailors seated with great heavy oars ready to row ; we then understood why Iveiss Ali wanted to jn'oiit l»v yesterday's breeze. 1 notieed that as the sailors rowed they sang " E-li-sa !" Tlie tradition is that Xoah when l)uildiiig the ark warned the people, who all mocked him, except one pious woman nameil -Elisa, who believed and asked Noah to notify her when the ark would be ready and she would go with him. Noah, however, with a press of business forgot her, Ijut the next morning, rememljering her, he returned with the ark and found her alone on the dry sunnnit of a hill near her house. Seeing that Allah had kept her dr}-, Noah always respected her as one of God's chosen handmaids. So the Egyptian sailors to this day sing "E-li-sa!" believhig that Allah will help them as lie did this woman. Near Roda again went ashore with my gun, accompanied by two servants, Slieemy and Mahmood, both hunters and knowing the ground ; I shot some becasse, pigeons, and gim- reah. li\ attention was called to a species of bird until then miknown to me, the hoopoe (Uptqm Epnps), a Ijird of North- ern Africa; has a tuft on the head which can be raised or depressed at will, the subject of many tales and legends; utters the sound of "Oop! oop!" called by the natives "IL:>op! h(.(.p!"' Eunice, learned in the Koran, related that these birds were res])ected by the Arabs because Solomon, sitting on his regal carpet of green silk or marching under the burning rays of the sun, was protected by an army of these birds flying over him and his immediate attendants, thus forming a canopy and grateful shade. After visiting the bazaars of Sioot or Assioot and making several purchases, we crossed to El Worta, where we anchored, VU REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS. the head wind being- too strong for us to advance. Profiting' by the occasion, I went ashore to luuit, and noticing- a great ant-liill, Eunice, tnie Mahometan, always ready with incidents from the Koran, related to me the following- legend : Solomon not only knew all animals and birds, but understood their speech. A lion who passed a certain ])oint every night on his way to drink water in the Nile disturbed a large colony of ants, breaking their hills : they decided to do nothing until they had consulted Solomon, who told them he would warn the lion to desist or abide the consequences. The lion laughed and scorned the little ants; then Solomon gave tlie ants per- mission to revenge themselves: they made three deep pits close to their hills ; at night the lion came and fell in head foremost and tail uj) : in this predicament the ants fell upon him in full force, and, entering his intestines, .soon destroyed him. Solomon had already had an interview with the ants when en route for Mecca. " And his armies were gathered together unto Solomon, consisting of g-enii and men and birds, and they were led in distinct bands, until they came unto the valley of ants. And an ant, seeing the hosts approaching, said, ' O ants, enter ye into your habitations, lest Solomon and his army tread you under foot ;iiid jierceive it not.' And Solomon smiled, laughing at her words, and said, ' O Lord, excite me that 1 mav be thankful for thy favor wherewith thou hast favored me and my parents, and that 1 may do that which is right and well-pleasing unto thee ; and introduce me, tln'ough thy mercy, into Paradise, among thy servants the righteous.'" Solomon was supposed to possess and wear a seal on mIucIi was engraved the name of God, ^^•hicll gave him also power over demons. Looking to either shore, much game tempted me to order o D O g O 3 THE OLD POTTER. Ifi9 mv captain to lav-to, tliat I niie classed a rock- waterscape, for the journey is accomplished l)v a force of Nubian natives (in our case one hmidred and ninet\'-eight in nundier, for Sindbad the Sailor was harder to move than Alad- din ever was), who enact a scene that might l)e denominated Bedlam as they pass the great cords from rock to rock, some obeying, and all giving orders at the top of theii- voices; they dive into the water and swim from one boulder to a.nother like the sea-lions in the Jardin d'Acclimatation at Paris, and grapple and tug and pull manfully at tiie ropes like fishermen in tlie unstable sands of Scheveningen ; nor were mv ()wn Arab sailors idle the while: they aided in ])ropelling the dahabcah in a theoretic way, taking their turns, two or three at a time, to retire, and, kneeling upon their straw mats, to m'ge by earnest prayer tlieir great Prophet to give us good speed. Some things are said to go better with nuisic : the noise these throngs of Nubians make to incite one another to aid in the ascent of our craft is of a school of nuisic which, tlumgh haj)])y in its effects on savage breasts, is as Wagner's symplu)- nies are to those wlio cannot appreciate them; yet it makes them g"0. A parrot is ])roud of tlu' chatter he makes, aiul surely these amphil)ious fellows are vain, for as thev rise to the surface of the water and scream, the\- al\\a\s turn their THE CATARACT. 181 eyes to patrons on the boat they are drawing, seeming to say, " "Was not that tyeeli-kateer — very good f Tliev have one ver\' bml liahit, known in these times also in America: invariablv when thev get the vessel into very tin-l)ulent, ra})i(l water abont two-thirds of the way np, they feel that x\\e\ are needed, and they strike, not as hard perhaps as a coal-miner; l)nt the l)low comes, and we or our dragoman have to capitulate, and wlien they have conquered us by break- ing their contract, they attack the swift waters with a will, and soon the upper stream is reached. Do thev stop to dry themselves often f No, not that day until thev have gained the quiet water above and are paid ; then their towel, the sun ever in the heavens, chases the water from their bronzed forms, and they lie down to smoke and have their mastique and dates and lentils. We came to still water and to new fields of interest. AI^ EXIGMA. From time to tiiiu% viewing temples iuid other ruins in Egvpt, I noticed small scraps of paper here and tliere with wliat seemed to me ahnost mysterious letters: they certainly were Roman capitals; sometimes there would be only two together, ER-RT ; again, several of two letters, as EW-IC- ES-CA-N(^, with a lonely H and a T. Once, standing on wliat pro^•ed to be modern egg-shells, I saw among their debris the following more formidable arra}- : E — PR-RAL- AMF.- W Y() : they seemed to have some association with mv life. I resorted to the expedient practised in the Academ^- of Inscriptions at Paris, and, having no blackboard, marked u[) all these letters or syllables of dismembered words on a large card, and, essaying an interpretation of the proli- lem, only succeeded in making the miintelligible words, NEWICESORE PRUBLBYYOTA, with which result T was dissatisfied, and correctly so, as the sequel ^\ill show. (,)n 1 went, the mvster^' boiling, till on this day of the Cataract, when we had pist anchored otl" the island of Phila% I hurried ashore alone and sped mv ■^^•a^", anxious to see the remains of Ptolemv's temple of Isis : when, nearing several large frag- ments of a stone pediment jutting out before me, evidently concealing something living, I knew it, for beyond and above the ed"'es of the stone fragments T plainlv sa^^' human white hands, and above those hands more of these Roman letters ; still, no complete word was visible: YO-ES and ER again; but as 1 advanced and my vision took in \\hat was be}'ond 1S2 AX EXIGMA. 187 the stone, the .mystery wa,s unravelled : the hands were those of a jiarty of Americans, some of wlioni were friends from New Yi irk and Philadelphia. The enigma Avas solved : the black letters, the only ones I had been able to see, were parts of the titles of journals read bv the denizens on the Hudson, the Delaware, the ^lississippi, and the Nile ; in fact, by all the world : they were The New York Herald, The New York World, TIic North Atiirrirdii, The Press, and Ilic I'ldjlic Lcd/jer of Phil- adel])hia. Fnuu that moment these scraps of paper with their disconnected characters were gems to be cherished in my heart as welcome talismans from home. After adieus to American friends and friend Phihe, we were soon sailing in view of groves of date-bearhig palms, Um- bareka, Gertassie, and Kalabshee. Moored this night on the eastern shore, and slept, or woke, to the barking all night of a pack of jackals. Steadv sailing for several days. Coming on deck one morning, I found the cook seated on the deck, between his knees a deep heavy wooden bowl containing the roasted coti'ee, which he ground by turning rapidly in every du-ection a heavy wooden beam rounded at the l()\'\-er end and suspended by a rope from the yard-arm — a "^ery jn'actical coffee-mill. This night we made fast on the right bank of the Nile at the station of two government watchmen, and about 3 a. jr. these men tell asleep, and their dog jumped aboard our Ijoat, and before he was discovereil b\- the sailor on guard had entered the pantry and drank up all our milk. 188 REMINISCENCES OF TRAVELS It is almost a misfortune for a traveller in Xubia or Etlii- o\n\\ to be known to be a physician : my father was one, and in young manhood I studied anatomy and something of therapeutics. Pearly in this voyage one of m}' servants had intiamed eyes: he becaiu(' better after some simple treatment from me. The result of this was that whenever we laid-to at a town or village on tlie 1)anks of the Nile, my crew would announce the advent of the already-lovi-d plivsician, and swarms of sipialid Arabs of every age and sex were led to me with every condition of diseased eyes. I treated them all tenderly, niv principal methoil being to prcscril)e cleanliness. In that country women Ijear children, too many children — so manv that when thcA', the mothers, are obliged to work in the lentil-fields or are making mud bricks and walls, their children lie sleeping in the sun, seemingly under the protection of the flies ; and while the flies perform their dut\' tliev roost on the children's eyes. I certainh^ have seen hundreds of these little sufferers with at least thirty or forty of these insects on tlu-ir eyes. Thus \\wx passively and patientlv suffer in infancy. Among the great number thus inocidated witli disease a small propor- tion "'o throutih life without lieholdino' its beauties. A reason- able mission-work would be to visit these people, kindly guard these g'ems of vision, and the record of such benevolence would adorn a Christian cal)inet Avith memories of services rendered to the great Master. How incomprehensible is contentment ! Experience and facts prove that often those in palaces and luxurious homes know it not: fortune cannot al\va\'s command it : the wealthy at times feel they would ])refer a [jlainer lot did it promise them that prize, conti'utment. It is tbund in those primitive communes; it rests upon meagre, l)ronzed, labor-worn brows; it is known and enjoyed in those realms CONTENTMENT. 189 of sqiinlor. The myriads of lionses or hovels are all of hard- c'liuil iiiud ; cooking is doiiu by suusliine flavored with a taste of fire. To-ilay's porridge is enjoyed with a toiler's appetite, and little thouglit is given to to-morrow's lentils. In the Chunli nt' England these people are ineluded in the category of heathen ; 1 have lived witli them, studied them, have spoken with them, and believe they have not been foi-gotten bv onr heavenlv Father, and that tlie\- will evcntuallv sit down i-an- somed in his kinii'doni. THE OSTRICH-FEATHER DEALERS. Passing Kalabshee and Dencloor, Dakkt-li and Kortee, we proceeded on tlie eastern shore of the Nile to ]\Iaharraker. At this point in Ethiopia, Eunice, knowing mv pursiut, urged me several times to make an excursion to a small settlement on an oasis in the desert, where he thought I would be likelv to tind somethiui!' of interest for mv cabinet. Haviuo- acceded to his suggestion, a messenger was sent a day in advance announcing- our intended visit. The necessarv arrangements made, I need hardlv state that we started on a glorious morning, for every day is sure to be beautiful at tliat .season. Kunice liad an micle near where wt' had made fast our dahabeah, \\ho oftered me a dromedary, but, having given my body a trial of that sort of going, my stomach now spake to me in warning words of counsel: and there we went upon gentle donkeys, which seemed to close their nostrils, leaving barelv breathing-room, as we left the narrow belt of fertile and irrigated land which skirts the Nile and strode across the golden sand of the desert. (I bottled some of this sand, and have it now beside me, long years aft<'r the event.) One does not expect much of interest on a desert where there is almost nothing to see save sand and scattered Ijranches of sage clinging to barrenness, peering with their dull gray eves into the azure ^\here silentlv fiv the denizens of sjxace. A scientist might give you a chapter on the atmosphere, its rarity, piirity, elasticity, softness, the inspiration one feels as the lungs are soothed and refreshed bv its limpid breezes. I say " limpid," for water is seldom so pure; one is impressed 190 THE OSTRICH-FEATHER DEALERS. 191 with tlie greater scope of vision ; all seems to be at rest ; there is peace ; the very migratory birds look down with a friendly passing salutation, as though they'd give you tidings of the watered grove, our destination. The iirst lialt was t(ir a few iiiiiuitcs onlv at the ruins of an ancient town •• whost' n;nne has perished from the eartli." and of which little remains abuve its foundations: we made some supei-hcial excavations with my iron-j)ointed staff, onlv to find a few old coins whose inscriptions were obliterated, and one small metallic ring, so much consumed that although still in my possession it is kept only as a souvenir, not included in mv cabinet. Again in saddle and descending the slope from which this town had once commanded a xiew of the vallev of the Nile, we espied in the distance a herd of gazelles (Aritilope dorcas) passing across the direction of our route, and we noticed that as each one arrived at what seemed to be a momid he would very gracefully leap over it until all had passed: when we reached the spot we found the skeleton of a camel and of a man near by. The teeth of the man were so beautifully white and complete I felt tempted to carry them awav with me, but on touching them with mv staff they crumbled to du.^^t : their beauty is remend)ered to this day. At noon we halted, having found a spot fitting for the enjoyment of a slight repast — how delicious there! Dinner at home mav l)e a very good dinner; to me it is never more: that hnu-h in the shadow of a few rudelv-grouped boulders on the sand was a feast ; onlv such an appetite can be enjo\ed vmder similar cirrumstances. Our approach in another hour to the oasis was announced by the snorting of our animals, who, perceiving the odor of vegeta- tion, hastened their pace : and great was our surprise on ap- proaching our destination to find it surrounded by water, so 192 REMIXISCEXCES OF TRAVELS. tluit we were compelled to raise our legs in air for a iiionient while oiu' sure-looted bearers oarrieil us across, liuT imt until tliev liad stopped midway and copiously partaken of the water. FinalK- arrived, the settlement proved to be very clean and ( )ricntal-lo(dviny — snowy-white buildings relieved by yellow and L;r(^(*n lines of ornamentation glittering under a tro})ical sun. The dwellings and shops had some pretension to ^lor- esque arc]iitreater tlie fall of water in dew : we had always to see before dusk that all books, garments, cushions, etc, etc. were housed, else thev would have been soaked. Under the tender skies of this coHntrx I often .seemed to .see, as on a ' See tlie elosiug words of M. KdiiioiKl Le LSIant's speecli bel'oie I'liistitut de France, page C65. ■' .See Xo. 1349, Case 11 M M M. I c z s c ii>i''sc-. * i' ABOO-SUIBEL. 201 cameo, the marked forms of the camels in relief upon the bright stratum given hy the evening horizon. After Sabooa, " tlie mountain of the seven stories," we had to contend for several miles with a strong current. Malkeh, Korosko, Amada, and made fast for some days at Derr. "We were presented to the governor of Xuhia by his nephew, whom I knew already ; the governor was very attentive. He enter- tained us several times, and seemed pleased Avith his visits to US on board ; before our departure he presented me with two rings and one to my wife, now in my collection. (See Abys- sinian case.) (^m- journev continued to Ijeyond the second cataract ; re- turning, we stopped at Wadee Halfeh. It being the year after Sir Samuel Baker's last expedition, I saw one of his small steamers in the cataract. In the desert beyond Wadee Halfeh we were approached by dealers in pebbles of sard and carnelian, such as are em- ployed bv incisori for making intaglios. On our descent of the river we visited the rock-temple of Aboo-Simbel : one might almost describe it as decorated with great cameos. Voyaging in lands the most remote from home, at the most unexpected moments I have often encountered some traveller who to mv surprise A\ould prove to be a friend of mutual friends or a conn-ade of tlie Grand Army of the Republic. Immediately, as }-ou may well imagine, there existed a bond of friendship, a tie. On the Desert of Sahara I had this pleas- ant experience, and there I was not alone, but was almost 202 REMIXISCEXCES OF TRAVELS. at home. Here our point of attraction and our temple was tlie rock-liewii shrine of Aboo-Simbel. We stood in reverence in the gohlen sands, many of whose particles had with time worn awav from thosi- old potentates in stone, and we were impressed with the sentiment that we were meetin*;- in the realm where sleeps Thothmes. The monolith hewn into his effio'v seemed to be scrutinizing us, and seemed to demand, " Whv this intrusion?" We modestly assured him that it was onlv the jovous meeting of comrades from America : he seemed to know aliout as much of that place as the average living Egyptian. It is not every day one meets a comrade of the G. A. li. in Xubia ; so we put a colon to gazing: — and withdrew to refreshment. I had my own boat near by on the Nile — mv house, with many of the comforts, and some more than I have in my American home. We had no electricity except in the atmosphere, though I often had lizards in my bed at night : thev were beautiful creatures, yet I concluded to dispense ■with them. Kgypt — that is, those pro^nnces of it floating on the dahabeahs of winter visitors — is a land of hos- pitality, so that when we came aboard there was no necessity of o-ivintj' anv special connnands ; mv dragoman and the ser- vants knew that this comrade was to be entertained; and he ?rrt.s. As we neared the close of the repast, after we had partaken of several beverages (as is the custom on these floating ])rovinces), Ave drank some toasts, and I'm not sure if we didn't get the regiments mixed somehoA^' ; A\"e were so glad to be t\\o ot us that we doubled things up a little. There were game birds of two or three varieties on the table, of my own .shooting, and Barl>arv dates. Nobody was forgotten, beginning with George G. Meade Post, No. 1, G. A. R., Philadelphia. My comrade was a passenger on a steamboat l}ing near, and at ELEPHANTINE ISLAND. 207 evenin