Ch. 16: Gemstone Definitions, Values, Imports, ... Collections of Gems

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	324	GEMS AND PRECIOUS STONES IN THE

	A full description of them was prepared by the Rev. C. W. King, of Trinity College, England, the greatest of all writers on engraved gems; this has never been published, but Mr. King's numerous writings mark an epoch in the study of this branch of archaeology. His collection of antique gems, numbering 331 pieces is the summary of Mr. King's vast knowledge, and none has ever been more thoroughly studied.¹ It was sent to the United States for sale in 1881, and in October, through the friendly mediation of Gaston L. Feuardent, it was purchased and presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by John Taylor Johnston, then president of the Museum. Near it is deposited the Sommerville Collection. Maxville Sommerville, during thirty-two years passed in Europe, Asia, and Africa, collected cameos, intaglios, seals, and other historical gems, and as a result of his liberal expenditure of time and money is to-day the owner of one of the most unique and valuable collections of engraved gems in the world. It numbers over 1,500 objects, including specimens of Egyptian, Persian, Babylonian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Aztec, and Mexican glyptic or jewel-carving art of singular excellence, affording a panoramic view of the achievements of civilized man in this direction. Descriptive of his remarkable collection, Mr. Sommerville has just published an illustrated catalogue^.2It is hoped that the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, will become the permanent owner of the collection. Of greater antiquity, and of great archaeological value, because representing a period before gems were cut in the form of intaglios, is the collection of the Rev. W. Hayes Ward, consisting of 300 Babylonian, Persian, and other cylinders. Two hundred, collected by himself in Babylon and its vicinity, during the Catharine Wolfe Exploration, were sold to the Museum at a nominal figure. Since that time, he has collected 100 more cylinders, many of which date from 2500 B. C. to 300 B. C, and are made of lapis lazuli (the sapphire of the ancients), agate, carnelian, hematite, and chalcedony.

	¹ See Antique Gems and Rings, by C. W. King, 2 vols. (London, 1872.) ^s Engraved Gems : Their History and an Elaborate View of Their Place in Art. 4to, pp. 777, plates 104. (Philadelphia, 1889.) Printed by the Author.

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