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Ancient Gems and Finger Rings catalogues the J. Paul Getty Museum's comprehensive and important collection of Greek, Roman, Etruscan, and Near Eastern gems. Most of these objects have never before been published, making this catalogue essential for the scholar. The volume is fully and richly illustrated—each entry includes photographs of the gem and its impression as well as a profile drawing. Where pertinent, bibliographic references and comparative material are cited.
In addition to his medical practice, lecturing and teaching at the London Hospital, and his publishing of several medical works, the Irish physician Archibald Billing (1791-1881) was also an amateur artist and antiquarian. Beginning with the works of ancient Greece, for him the highest pinnacle of civilization, Billing discusses the use of engraved gems, putting cameos and intaglios in the context of contemporary monumental sculpture, and tracing the history of carving in miniature back to the seal-stones of the Egyptians and Assyrians. He also considers the types and qualities of mineral used in making jewellery, from semi-precious pebbles through to diamonds, and he describes the techniques of cutting precious stones. The work concludes with a translation of the autobiography of the Italian engraver Benedetto Pistrucci (1784-1855), who became chief medallist at the Royal Mint.
"This catalogue is the first comprehensive study of the 328 objects that make up this little-known area of the Royal Collection. The ancient gems and intaglios have been catalogued by John Boardman, and although they are few in number, they include the magnificent Claudius cameo that was once in the collection of Charles I. The later, post-Renaissance pieces have been studied by Kirsten Aschengreen Piacenti, and these include the great Tudor portrait cameos, a superb series of Italian sixteenth-century portrait cameos of North Italian 'Beauties', the group of exquisite eighteenth-century Italian carnelians bought by George III from Consul Smith in 1762 and a fine selection of Garter badges, ...
Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.