Engraving. 
—_—— 
42 ENGRAVING. 
ing upon the head of that herd, and préssing him for- 
ward in the arduous path of glory; his bow and qui- 
ver are behind him. It is precisely seven inches 
in diameter, and about half an inch thick, apparently/, 
made of brass, but the ornaments and border are inlaid 
with silver. The figures and ornaments are carved in 
bas-relief, but the hair of the woman, and.the smaller 
inscription must be read from right to left,—another 
strong proof of its great antiquity. : 
An application of the art of the engraver, which 
seems to have been practised from the most remote an- 
tiquity, was the making of seals or signets, which 
were used as instruments of ratification. . Mention of 
them is made in the sacred books as far back. as the 
times of the i as well as in the other early 
writings of the ancients. It is probable they were en- 
on metal, and the impressions taken from them 
on wax, or some such soft ductile substance. In Hin- 
dostan, the art of engraving must have been known 
at a very remote period, as would appear from the spe- 
cimens, which we have in, this co , of the state of 
the art with them, described by M. seer. As the 
date of one of them is i and as the execu- 
eras ay considerable.advancement, it shews. that 
it must have been practised long before. ‘ They are 
both deeds of transfer. of land, engraven.on.tablets of 
coppers with seals appended to them. of the same me- 
» which seem to have been struck. like coins from an 
intaglio matrix. They are both in the Sanscrit lan- 
One of them; which: is now: in the; ion 
of the Earl of Mansfield, has been copied.in imile, 
and inserted, with:anEnglish translation -by Mr Wil- 
kins, into the first-volume of the Asiatic: Researches, 
It is dated 20ryears before Christ >and it-is further re« 
markable, that the date is ex in. Hindoo nume-~ 
vals, very much resembling’ the numerals. now in use. 
na am is likewise engraved in the me 
manner, pendant seal impressed on a pon 
rous lump of pk andsattached to itself 
by a massive ring of the same metal. .. The matrix must 
have been an-engraving of no mean workmanship, and 
it exhibits/a style of art similar, and not inferior, to the 
best of the present productions of the art of Hindostan ; 
it is in-alto-relievo, and being bedded inthe metal, is in 
high preservation. Itssubject is mythological; its form 
aci =o me nA Naso Ta 
weight metal on which it is not 
 rerreke ner cp It was ot on to Mr 
Neave by Mirza hy a Shah ene ign 
present Emperor of Hin 4 was found in dig- 
a ome within the scite of the ancient fort 
of , on the Banks of the Ganges.” 
The art of die-sinking for stamping coins, though 
by no means of so early a date as the engraving of 9 
or at @very early period. . It. iss uncertain 
wh the coining ofmoney »was invented by the 
Greeks or Lydians, though some suppose that the art 
was brought from Hindostan. The Greek money 
is su to have been struck by Phidon, haeet 
the Argives, whose reign is fixed. ithe Arundeli 
marbles at about eight centuries before the Christian 
era, or soon after the age of Homer. Many of the 
early Greek and Sicilian coins are beautiful, and. in 
highenliel -exehie, oworen the coins of Athens form 
aremarkable exception, being in a very inferior style 
. 
of execution, . -The art seems. to. Pt a 
cated to the Romans in the reign of Servius Tullius, Engraving. 
about 460 years before the commencement of our era, “Y= 
by the Lydian colony settled in Etruria, The best of 
the Roman medals are the work of Greek artists, exe- 
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grams. ak hag vical pings ~ollecti wt ad 
one in intag’ ved on stone, with which a } 
tal, in. cameo, onstaining the name of the | 
ieee rg aaa sis MAVRIL. y | 
more specimens. found in the antiquities ‘a= 
ther Montfaucon, Franciscus Gori, and others, who have 
treated on this subj 
With regard to, ate of the ATG Bri- State of the 
tish and Saxon ancestors, little is known. Like other a 
savage nations, they possessed the art of making rude ere - 
incisions on their warlike instruments, as, the remains jy cossors, 
Foci in their parr aya aubcien ly testify ; and 
eir coins are evidently impressions, from engrayings 
cut on iron,or steel. Under Alfred the Great, the art 
seems to have met with great eee and, ac- 
cordingly, it.attained to, very. considerable perfection 
in the making. shrines. and. caskets for the.reliques of 
saints. and pious. uses, which are said to have 
been wrought in gold, silver, and other metals, adorned 
with engravings and precious stones, and to have been 
the admiration of all saw them. There is still pre- 
served in the. museum at Oxford a valuable jewel, 
richly adorned with a kind of work bling fili- 
gree, in the middle. of which .is, seen. the half-figure of 
aman, supposed to.be St Cuthbert. _The back of this 
curious remnant of antiquity is. ornamented with foli- 
age, very skilfully engrav 
Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, is said to have . 
practised both COrigRNG-ADH $F raving, as well as the 
working of images and other things, in gold, silver, 
and. brass,. However, from the Pe anigs remains 
of his skill in drawing, preserved in an ancient manu- 
script. in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, we must be 
allowed to doubt of the great talent in this way ascribed - ' 
to him by his monkish biographers. , of themt 
Some time after the conquest, a new. species of en- on brass 
ving was introduced into England, in every respect plates for 
Tifferent from the work of the chaser or carver, namely, tombs., 
