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162
PRECIOUS STONES.
essonite, including a Julius Cassar, by Dioscorides, and the
Apollo Citharidus, both in the Blacas collection ; the head of a
king of Pergamos, in the Florence cabinet ; and a Maecenas,
by Apollonius, formerly belonging to the Herz collection. The
antiquity of a Sirius, on Indian garnet, belonging to the Marlborough gems, has been questioned. Antique carnei and
intagli cut in garnet are often called jacinths, a variety of
zircon ; but it is claimed there are no antique engraved gems
of this species, an evidence that it was not known to the
ancients.
Lapis-lazidi. — This gem, supposed to be the sapphire of
antiquity, was seldom engraved by the Greeks, but frequently
by the Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, and Romans, as well as
by the Cinque-cento artists.
Turquoise. — Nearly all the engraved gems of this species
called antiques belong to the Renaissance ; a few are genuine,
including some of the Persian stones belonging to the Sassanian period. The green turquoise was preferred to the blue,
though instances of the latter occur in the Marlborough collection. There is a bust of Tiberius on this gem in Florence,
and the mask of an Indian Bacchus in the Blacas cabinet.
The topaz of the ancients has no genuine engraved specimens ; and the chrysolite was seldom used for this purpose,
though frequently employed by modern artists. An example
of an antique is found among the Townshend gems, at South
Kensington.
Pearl. — The ancients rarely engraved this beautiful gem.
Two examples are mentioned by antiquaries, — one, representing the heads of Sol, Jupiter, and Luna, supposed to date from
the later Roman Empire, and another belonging to the thirteenth century.
Rock-Crystal. — Though this mineral was extensively used