CARLISLE GEMS, ETC. 79 



been suggested by Millin that this cameo is Byzantine, but 

 the treatment of the figures forbids such an origin, and it is 

 probably the work of one of the Italian artists of the quatro- 

 cento period, possibly Domenico de' Camei. Mr. King sug- 

 gests Pollaiuolo, but there is much to remind one of the 

 earlier Niccola Pisano. The cameo measures 2^ in. by 1| in., 

 and is in an old and solid mounting of gold. There are 

 also two pretty cameos of the 16th century with marine 

 subjects, somewhat in the antique style (Nos. 204, 206), and 

 five large intaglios of the school of Valerio il Vicentino, with 

 the usual flat treatment of that school, compositions crowded 

 with figures in violent action. These are No. 242, Rape of 

 Helen, on transparent chalcedony ; Nos 240, 241, Horse- 

 men surrounding wild beasts ; one in plasma, the other on 

 bloodstone ; a composition that has been ascribed by Mariette to 

 Matteo del Nazaro ; No. 239, a sard with a battle scene (Tassie, 

 7,626) also considered to be by del Nazaro. This stone has been 

 broken, and the fractures have been ingeniously strengthened 

 and concealed on the back by an elegant monogram in 

 enamelled gold, of K. B. ; possibly Katherine, Duchess of 

 Buckingham, daughter of James II. Of deeper execution is 

 No. 243, two figures, supposed to represent Neptune and 

 Amymone, engraved in a translucent chalcedony, with an 

 enamelled frame. 



Of the second class, that of portraits, the most important 

 is one in cameo. No. 177, representing Rene of Anjou, who 

 died in 1480, and evidently of the time. The edges seem to 

 have been somewhat curtailed, but the execution is very 

 masterly. No. 188, a fine male head of quattro-cento style, 

 probably a portrait. No. 180, Anne of Hungary, wife to the 

 Emperor Ferdinand L, in an enamelled frame. No. 178, 

 Francis I., king of France, in a sardonyx of three layers ; the 

 king's head, full-faced, in the brown layer, and at the back his 

 wife, Eleanor of Austria, in the white layer, also full-faced. 

 No. 179, another portrait of Francis I. in armour. 182, 

 Cosmo de' Medici, as a young man, bare-headed and in 

 armour. 183, bust of Philip II. of Spain, in profile ; executed 

 in onyx of two layers, grey and black. No. 184, a companion 

 bust of his queen, Isabella of France, possibly engraved to 

 match at a later date. No. 187, a variegated jasper with a 

 bust of Charles V. (Tassie 13,922). 



In the third class, imitations of the antique, are some fine 

 examples, but of much less archaeological interest. They 

 approach in many instances so closely to the antique originals 

 that it is difiicult to determine absolutely their age ; especially 

 as in some cases antique stones have been touched up or altered 

 to increase their commercial value. 



4. Jewellery. 



Some of the specimens in the collection are more interesting 

 for their settings than as engraved gems, and it has been 

 therefore thought better to treat them as jewellery. Among 



0.81. these 



