SOI 
G E M. 
beams. The Moon, the lovely filler of the Sun, with 
milder glory flovvly paces on her car througii the filence 
of the night, and confoles the world for tlie abfence of 
her brother. Neptune reigns in the feas, fiirrounded by 
the Nereids, who dance to the joyous fhells of the Tri¬ 
tons. In the highefii heaven is feated Jupiter, the fatlier 
and fovereign of men and gods ; fubfervient to his will 
rolls the thunder, formed by the Cyclops in the cavern 
of Lemnos; his fmile rejoices nature, while liis nod 
(hakes the foundations of Olympus. Circling the throne 
of their fovereign, or recumbent on purple beds, the 
other divinities qiiatf ambrofia from the golden cup 
prefented by the youtliful Hebe. In the m.idfi; of this 
briglit circle fiiines with diftinguiflied luftre the unri- 
vall'ed beauty of Venus, adorned only by her magic 
ceflus, about which the Graces, the Smiles, and tlie 
Sports, for ever play ; in her hand is a I'miiing boy, 
whofe power all earth, all heaven, confefs and feel.”-^ 
See the elegant difplay of Antique Gems, publilhed by 
Murray, 4to. 1804. 
Of the imitation of ANTIQUE GEMS. 
Since falhion, in all ages, has been found to lead the 
follies and tlie fancies of manlcind ; and fince the prices 
of precious Hones and engraved gems, while thus the 
vogue, were fo enormous that none but the higher ranks 
could accomplifii their purchafe ; it is not furprifing that 
the idea of counterfeiting them in coloured pafle or 
glafs, fliould have been very early fuggefted by the an¬ 
cient lapidaries ; particularly as fuch brilliant baubles, 
from their refplendent colours, and beautiful workman- 
Ihip, have alike excited the admiration and tafle of the 
bulk, of the people in every nation on the earth, wlie- 
tlier favage or civilized. No wonder then that the fa¬ 
mous old glafs manufactories of Egypt, Tyre, and Si- 
don, fiiould have furnifiied fo many of thefe articles as 
objects of commerce. In Egypt they made, even in the 
remoteft antiquity, ricli coloured glafs jewels, emeralds, 
and enamels, which they fold to the Phcenician traders, 
who difperfed them in commerce over dift'erent parts of 
the world,—^jufi: as our Chrillian traders have fince done 
on the coafls of Guinea, Senegal, and Madagafcar, bar¬ 
tering thefe and fuch like baubles for amber, gold, 
flaves, girls, and other commodities. 
In this artifice of imitating tlie antique gems by co¬ 
loured paftes and glafs enamel, both the Greeks and Ro¬ 
mans made fuch wonderful progrefs, that for a long¬ 
time they paifed off thefe counterfeits for real jewels, 
and liighly elevated and enriched the fabricators of 
them. The Romans, from their perfeCt imitation of the 
laph ohjidianiis, airEthiopian opaque Hone fimilar to tlie 
black glafl'y lava of Iceland, called it vitrum objidianum.’, 
and the red opaque, like jafper, they called hamatimon-, 
and they had likewife, as Pliny adds. Hilt. Nat. xxxvi. 
26, album, et murrhimim, aid hyacintlios fapphirojque imita- 
tum, el omnibus aliis coloribus.” By vitrum murrhinum, Pliny 
undoubtedly meant a glafs or pafte wliich imitated the 
refplendent colours eft' thofe celebrated vafa inurrhina, 
which were firfl exhibited at Rome in the triumphal en¬ 
try of Pompey, after his victory over Mithridates ; and 
for which afterwards fuch extravagant prices were paid 
by the Romans, that it almofl: furpalles the conception 
or belief of th.e mofi credulous antiquarian. Three hun¬ 
dred talents!—no iefs than 30,000!. fterling—Petronius 
is fiud to liave paid for one lingle bowl of that kind ; 
and which he afterwards broke to pieces to prevent 
Nero from feizing it, who had boalted that he fhould 
enrich liis fideboard with this coflly and precious velfel. 
Antiquarians have been extremely puzzled to find.out 
what thefe vafa murrhina could pollibly have been made 
of. Variegated agate, fardonyx, china, and even glafs 
externally ornamented with cameo-work, have been 
tried and fitte-l to the occafional delcriptions wliich the 
ancients have left us of thefe vafes; but in a manner 
which is far from proving fatisfaCIory. For neither do 
VoL. VIII, No. 504. 
tlie materials of china or glafs correfpond with the ex¬ 
traordinary prices for v.h.ich they fold; nor agree in 
their fabric with Pliny’s defeription, who fays that 
“ they were held in the highefi: eftimation on account of 
the fingularity and refulgence of their colours, their 
fpots winding round into purple and milk-wliite, and a 
third bright, burning, reddifli, or flame-colour, ariling 
alternately from the different fiiades of this .inimitable 
admixture. All the accounts too, of the country from 
which the myrra, murtha, or myrrhine vafes, were brought, 
appear equally vague and uncertain; it feems however 
agreed, that they were the product of the eajl, or India. 
If indeed thefe vafes were formed of variegated agate, 
or fardonyx, with firata or ftripes of milk-white onyx, 
or chalcedons, and faturated with aniethyff, or purple, 
bright red, and the varying fiiades thence arifing, and 
cut into the (Ize and thinnefs which Pliny mentions, the 
lubffance being very little thicker than that of a goblet, 
then they inuft have been wonders in nature and 
art, which the rich and luxuriant might fancy and buy 
at exorbitant prices. Even in thefe, or in any other 
days, they would be looked upon defervedly and juftly 
as great curiofities ; for extenfive as our knowledge is 
in the produiStions of the mineral kingdom, where fiiall 
we find agates and fardonyxes of tlie fize which Pliny 
and other writers deferibe, as neceff'ary to give th.e di- 
menfions or content of the myrrhine vafes, without flaw 
or fradhire ? 
But although the origin of the real murrhine vafes 
Hill remains in a flate of doubt and uncertainty, yet the 
ingenious imitation of them in glafs and porcelain, of 
which w'e were fpeaking, has been clearly and fatisfac- 
torily afeertained. Of this fpecies is the juftly prized 
Barbarini vafe, which was brought to England by fir'Wil¬ 
liam Hamilton, and now in the pofl'eflion of his grace 
the duke of Portland. It is perhaps one of the mofi: 
interefting examples of the powers of the imitative art 
now exifting, in the improvement or enhancement of the 
value of cheap materials. But ftill further to fliew the 
ingenuity of our anceftors in this imitative fcience, thou- 
fands of antique impreflions of gems of coloured glafs 
or pafte, have been dug up amongft the ruins of Alex¬ 
andria, Rome, Naples, Puzzolo, and other feats of an¬ 
cient magnificence. Many of the moll admired engrav¬ 
ings in the real antique gems, are now only to be found 
in imitative pafte impreflions ; but which having been 
formed from the laft originals, are in confequence be¬ 
come of a fimilar value. Inftances of this fatt are veri¬ 
fied in the Florentine Mufeum; in Stofeh’s elaborate 
work on Ancient Gems; in Winckelman’s Defeription 
of Stol'ch’s Cabinet; and, above all, in Mr. Townley’s 
noble collection, which has long done honour to the 
Britifii metropolis. 
Heraclius, in the ninth century, was a diftinguiflied 
fabricator of antique gems, which were frequently tiled 
as jewels in royal and ducal crowns, in ornaments about 
the altar, and in ftate equipage and furniture. In that 
age of I'tipe'rficial enquiry, coloured glafs or pafte was 
often fold for fine emerald, fapphire, and ruby. The fa¬ 
mous emerald of the abbey of Reiclienavv near Con- 
ftance, though a choice prefent from the emperor Charle¬ 
magne, has of late been dilcovered to be nothing more 
than a lump of fine green-coloured glals.—The equally 
celebrated emerald vafe in the cathedral at Genoa, came 
into the polfeflion of tlie Genoele as an equivalent for 
a large fum of money, in iioi, at the taking of CaTarea 
in Paleftine ; nor was any impolition ever fo much as 
fufpedted ; for in 1319 they pawned, and afterwards re¬ 
deemed it, for 1200 marcs of gold, which is nearly 
30,0001. fterling : and yet this jewel turns'out to be no¬ 
thing but a lump of coloured glafs I 
This imitative art of f.ibricating the atUique gems in 
pafte and glafs, though of fo much importance to the 
jeweller’s trade, was at firft a lecret in the hands only 
of I’oine particular individuals, and it dfed with tlicm 5 
4 a iii 
