striking effect, so that this cameo arrests the eye before any of the other more important gems mounted in this ornament.

No. 30. A seated figure of Clotho with her distaff; a cameo in high relief, and the body, completely nude, most exquisitely modelled in the white stratum upon the dark ground of an Onyx; this is evidently an antique of the Grecian period.

No. 31. A large Sard intaglio, Ganymede feeding the Eagle, is good Roman work, on a splendid stone remarkable for its size and richness of colour.

The Necklace is composed of twenty-one gems, set in separate collets, and suspended from a plaited gold-chain, in such a manner that a pair of intagli of a red colour (Sards or Garnets) hang between each cameo, so as to afford the required contrast of tints. Amongst these intagli I noticed some apparently of exquisite work, and fine Greek gems. The camei, more easily examined than these, of which the delicate mounting renders the taking impressions impossible, present the following interesting gems.

No. 36. A portrait of Queen Elizabeth, white on a dark ground; the hair, edges of the ruff, and ornaments on the dress, are rendered in a brown layer. This is ascribed, with justice, to Coldoré, and is quite in the style of the latest Cinque-Cento camei, the bust being in high relief, and the projections very much rounded off and polished.

No. 39. A Venus and Satyr, of the Cinque-Cento, a very beautiful Onyx, the pinky layers of which have been used with great effect for the flesh of the figures.

No. 41. A Venus Victrix; a beautiful antique.

No. 42. Portrait of Tiberius, forming the centre of the necklace. A fine Roman gem: the head is white on a dark ground; the laurel wreath, and the border surrounding the cameo, are brown; outside the border is an Arabic inscription,

with the name of Alnaser Abu Saadal Mahammed, a Mamluk prince of Cairo about 1496.

No. 48, a most interesting cameo, is a portrait of Edward VI., full face, in flat relief, white on a dark ground, the cap and dress brown. The work is very delicate, and the Sardonyx one of the finest quality. The reverse has the same portrait in intaglio.

No. 51, another excellent Cinque-Cento work, is Mutius Scævola brought before Porsenna. The group consists of the king, Scævola, and two warriors, and is cleverly executed in white on a dark ground.

Of the Diadem, also set with twenty-one stones, intagli and camei, the most attractive are,—

No. 57. A cameo bust, white on a dark ground, of Queen Elizabeth, still set in the original enamelled locket, and containing, at the back, two much faded miniatures, by Hilliard, of the queen and of the Earl of Leicester. There is little doubt that this ornament was worn by the queen herself. The cameo is as usual ascribed to Valerio Belli, Il Vicentino; who, by the way, died in 1546, or twelve years before Elizabeth's accession, and who besides never was in England. It is very likely to be a work of Coldoré, who is known to have executed portraits of Elizabeth for his master Henry IV.; for its treatment is altogether in the style of his period, not in the early and stiff manner of Il Vicentino's

age.

No. 63, the principal or centre-piece of the diadem, may rank as one of the most beautiful antique camei in existence. The subject is a Victory in her car, and rarely has an Onyx of so fine a quality had all its capabilities brought into employment with such exquisite skill. Victory herself is formed in the blue stratum, her drapery in the brown; one of the horses is of a bluish tinge, the other brown and white

with the mane blue. The work is in very flat relief, so as to take advantage of the extreme tenuity of the coloured strata of the stone; and is, besides, of so smooth and polished a surface, as to produce the effect of enamels fused upon a dark ground, rather than that of a design worked out of so obdurate a substance. On the back of the Onyx a CinqueCento artist has engraved a River god, the Arno; a clever performance, and affording a useful comparison, as regards its treatment and mechanical execution, with the matchless Greek work on the other face of the stone. This gem also retains its enamelled Florentine setting.

No. 66, admirable for its historic interest, rarity, and workmanship, represents busts of Henry VIII. and his three children; worked out in the flat and minute manner of the early portrait camei already treated of. The king is represented in full face, a most characteristic likeness; his children in profile. The figures are in white on a dark ground, the ornaments of the caps and dresses in brown, according to the usual practice of this early school. It would be highly interesting to ascertain if any Italian artist, capable of executing so excellent a performance, ever visited England in this reign; or if these portraits were done after miniatures transmitted by Henry to Paris or to Florence.3

Of the intagli set in the diadem, three are heads of Socrates, one of Greek the others of Roman work, showing how plentiful were the portraits of this philosopher in every age of the ancient world.

The Coronet is made up of smaller gems, principally intagli. The camei introduced are all Heads, generally finely finished and antique performances, of which the best is the bust of

3 At present the Roman cameocutters, Saolini for example, produce very faithful portrait-camei in shell

for brooches, bracelets, &c., after photographic likenesses sent to them as models from distant countries.

Clytie, No. 74. One intaglio deserves particular notice, a Head of Hercules on Lapis-lazuli, No. 79, a gem of the best Roman style, but which, at a later period, has been converted into an amulet, by engraving on the reverse a scarabeus and the sacred name ABPAEAE, as was common in the fifth century. The front of the Bracelet is set with three red stones. Of these the centre one is a Carbuncle of extraordinary size, and of the richest colour, but engraved, in the usual rude Roman manner of the work in this material, with a Muse tuning her lyre. At each side are Cinque-Cento busts in half relief on smaller stones, one a Carbuncle the other a Sard, selected for their beauty of colour, and which harmonise admirably with the magnificent centre gem.

FRENCH COLLECTION. (CLARAC.)

Many of the finest gems of the Cabinet des Antiques have been in France from time immemorial; or at least the dates at which they were brought, and the names of the persons

to whom they are due, are still subjects of dispute. The greatest portion of them proceed from the munificence of the various kings of France, and from the travels undertaken at their command; others were presents made to themselves, and given by them to the public: many also are the fruits of conquest. St. Louis, as well as others of the Crusader princes, brought back some of them from the East. The covers of their Missals, and of their choice MSS., were adorned with them, a few of which are still preserved. Charles V., and his brother the Duc de Berri, were passionately fond of jewels, and their treasuries were extremely rich both in engraved gems and in precious stones, as may be seen from the curious inventory of the jewels of Charles V., existing in the Bibliothèque Royale. Francis I., to whom France owes so many masterpieces of antique sculpture (procured by his orders in Italy through his agents Primaticcio and Cellini), and who, as Vasari phrases it, had made another Rome of Fontainebleau, drew also out of Italy and other countries an immense number of engraved gems, for which he paid vast prices. Thus the taste for them was diffused amongst his courtiers: they adorned the arms, the chains, the caps, the doublets of the warriors, and served for the embellishment of the dresses of the ladies of the court and of the nobility. Henri II. and Catherine dei Medici followed the example of Francis I.; and the latter queen had brought with her from Florence a quantity of fine engraved stones. It was Charles IX. who first united them in one collection in the Louvre, and formed there the Cabinet of Antiquities, which, having been plundered and dispersed shortly after, was no longer in existence at the accession of Henri IV. This great prince re-established it; he summoned from Provence a learned antiquary, M. de Bigarris, with the intention of purchasing the large collection of medals and