50 5 i : mT ot 
and are designated as “ filled with wisdom of 
of work with the graver, as well as 
jusion, 
not in its infancy. Mention is also often made in the 
sacred writings, at a time much anterior to this, of the 
existence of signets, rings, and bracelets, which it is 
le to suppose, however rudely executed, were 
ved or carved. 
‘with certeintyaelithienn, A ehiort 
view, therefore, of the relics of antiquity now extant, 
will convey a more precise idea of ancient engraving. 
VOL. IX. PART 1. 
VLE 4 
@e 
ENGRAVING 
The hieroglyphic figures of the Egyptians are per- 4 
the most Leiant remains of engraving on ectdd ; ee 
they have been frequently met with, chiefly in the cof- Ancient 
fins of mummies, where they had been deposited as a syptian 
sort of talismans. There are in the British Museum se- ®8"*V"s- 
veral fine specimens See ie One of these, 
which bears every mark of high antiquity, has been 
minutely described by Mr Strutt. (See Dictionary of 
Engravers.) “ It represents Isis, and is carved in al- 
to-relievo ; the goddess appears standing on two cro= 
codiles, holding in each hand two serpents, a creature 
like a scorpion, and a four-footed animal; from the tails 
g of the crocodiles arise two ornaments ; upon the top of 
one is a bird, but the ion on the top of the 
other is so much obliterated by time, that it cannot be 
ascertained. The flat part of the relief, together with 
the bottom een ae of it, are ornamented 
with figures and symbolical representations, executed 
entirely with the , without any other assistance ; 
the backs of the crocodiles, and the of the four- 
footed animals, ‘are also finished with the same instru- 
ment, in a very careful manner. It is four inches high, 
and three inches four-tenths at the bottom, from which 
it gradually decreases to the breadth of three inches at 
the 
na the Etruscan antiquities at the British Mu- Etruscan. 
seum, by Sir William Hamilton, are two spe- 
cimens of the art of engraving at a very remote pe- 
riod ; a tation of which forms the ispi 
to one of the volumes of Strutt’s Dictionary. ‘ One of 
them,” as he describes it, “is a sheath to a parazonis 
um or . It is more than three inches and three- 
quarters wide at the top, and decreases gradually to an 
inch and a quarter at the bottom ; its present length is 
eight inches and a half: eh BE upon it 
ya etre nae Tg rh he trophy at 
bottom is symbolical of war ; above the trophy, 
two warriors are delineated, with a woman, who seems 
to accompany them with great reluctance, which I con- 
ceive may represent Paris and his ice conduct- 
ing Helen to the ship, in order to e her 
to Troy ; and at the top, the messenger, the servant of 
Menelaus, is relating to his lord the ungrateful beha~ 
viour of his Trojan guest. The figures are exceeding« 
ly rude, and seem to indicate the very infancy of the 
et be ey ee ee a= 
ver only, upon a flat surface, and need only to be filled 
with ink, and run through the press, (provided the 
plate could endure the operation), to produce a fair and 
impression. 
He likewise gives the representation of “ a_i va- 
luable i of ancient ving, atly superior 
in cae aren to the Socutaredh S pp or in- 
strunient used by the priests in their sacrifices ; and it 
is TP reason, to have belonged to an 
altar icated to Hercules, who is represented com- 
bating, as it a to me, Hippolite, the Queen of 
the Amazons, w irdle he was enjoined by Erys- 
theus to unloose and from her.” 
But M. D’Ankerville, who bas drawn up a deol’ 
tive catalogue of the antiquities collected by Sir Wil 
liam Hamilton, conceives it to represent Minerva lean« 
3 F 
