gems, glyptic, engraved gems, agate, cameo, intaglio, shell, ancient gems, Rome, Greece, ancient jewelry, rings

Sinkankas: See also Vinet (1641). Adolf Furtwängler, in Die antiken Gemmen, vol. 3, p. 419, characterized the work as a “horribly bad dilettante bungling work” with poor illustrations, most copied from earlier publications. He noted that each of the 88 plates contains numerous crude reproductions, despite the book’s fine paper and luxurious binding. Ancient and modern gems are indiscriminately mixed, inscriptions are ignored, and essential information such as the material, size, and ownership of the gems is omitted. In addition, the work includes many representations of coins, further diminishing its value as a serious scholarly catalog of engraved gems.