September, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XI 



M. C. M. : The pale buff colored paste 

 of the pound of the plate you describe 

 and the richness and purity of its glaze 

 immediately suggests that it is a genuine 

 example of the majolica of Castel Dur- 

 ante. Subject pieces do not appear to 

 have been so abundantly painted at 

 Castel Durante as at the neighboring 

 fabriques, and such pieces to which the 

 lustre enrichment has been added are 

 still less frequent. Therefore your tazza, 

 if genuine would appear to be of decided 

 value. If you care to forward it for ex- 

 amination the Editor will be pleased to 

 submit a further opinion. 



D. M. O. : The coin about which you ask 

 is the testone d'Argento of Galcas Marie 

 Sforza, Milan. 1468-1476, ascribed to 

 Leonardo da Yinci as its artist. It is 

 fully described by Christian Jurgensen 

 Thomson in his "Description Des 

 Monnaies du Moyen-Age," published in 

 18T3. An unusually fine gold zecchino of 

 Peter Gradenigo Doge of Venice (1289 

 A. D.) recently sold for $4.90, at the Will- 

 iam Appleton sale, in New York. A half 

 zecchino (gold) brought $3.00 at the 

 same sale, while $10.00 was paid for a 

 gold doppetta of 1814 (Ferdinand III, 

 Xaples and Sicily) such as you enquire 

 about. 



X. P. R. : The portrait of the Prince 

 Consort never appeared upon the postage 

 stamps of Great Britain. In the early 

 days of postage, shortly after their in- 

 vention and introduction (England, 1840) 

 an "essay," as a proof of a projected pos- 

 tal issue is called was prepared and a 

 die engraved with a portrait of the Prince 

 Consort. The Editor has a fine copy of 

 this in his collection but he doubts if 

 ever the Prince Consort essay was seri- 

 ously considered for issue and believes 

 this was engraved out of compliment to 

 Prince Albert. 



G. T. W.: In regard to the Reynold's 

 portrait, we would say if you will let us 

 know the exact size of the painting, its 

 condition and whether a full-length or 

 bust portrait, we will be able to tell you 

 more definitely regarding its value as 

 that would depend upon the print and its 

 quality. 



J. G. C. : The ancient Roman glass pen- 

 dant you submit is interesting. Possibly 

 the representation of an animal in dis- 

 cernible relief is not that of a lion but of 

 a dog, which hypothesis is suggested by 

 the proximity of the star above the dog's 

 head. The great heat of the month of 

 July led to a superstition among the 

 Romans ; they conceived that this pre- 

 eminent warmth was connected in some 

 way with the rising and setting of the 

 star Canicula — the Little Dog — in co- 

 incidence with the sun. They accord- 

 ingly conferred the name of "Dog-Days" 

 upon the period between the third of July 

 and the eleventh of August. (Horace 

 makes allusion to this in his address to 

 the Blandusian Fountain.) The utter 

 ba-.elessness of the Roman superstition has 

 well been shown by the ordinary process 

 of nature for Canicula does not now rise 

 in coincidence with the sun until the end 

 of August while, of course, the days be- 

 tween the 3d of July and the 11th of 

 August are what they have ever been. 

 The force of the Roman superstition is 

 thus brought home to us by such a stray 

 object as the little antique Roman bead 

 you submit. 





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