gems, glyptic, antique gems, engraved gems, rings, agate, shell, cameo, intaglio

Sinkankas: Describes engraved gems ornamenting the reliquary of Countess Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231), saint, in the church named after her in Marburg, Germany. Creuzer also describes the reliquary itself, which is additionally ornamented with pearls and gems, the church building, and the casts made from the gems, shown on the engraved plates at the end of the text, 35 in all. Plate 2 shows a side view of the sarcophagus. The major text is devoted to descriptions of the gems in much detail, with notes and comments, and references to other works that treat the sarcophagus and reliquary. The lengthy foreword discusses the etymology of the word “cameo,” followed by a review of the antiquity of the gem-engraving art, falsifications and the unreliability of signatures on gems as evidence of authenticity, and other topics, including quotations from other writers on engraved gems in general. The collection is mentioned by Furtwängler, Die antiken Gemmen, 3, pp. 429–430, “mostly stolen and preserved only as casts;” King, Antique Gems and Rings, 1, p. 463, “replete with acute observations, and valuable elucidations of many gem-types.”