corundum, History.1, gems, Indian lapidary, engrave gems, glyptic, Greek, Roman

This is a comprehensive, lavishly illustrated catalogue of the magnificent collection of over a thousand engraved gems in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. It also provides a history of engraved gems from c. 1000 BC to the nineteenth century AD. Gems cut in intaglio were used mainly as signets for sealing documents, and were valued from remote antiquity for their artistry. The Fitzwilliam Museum contains work by the greatest of the Classical Greek engravers, Dexamenos, and by the master signet-cutter of the Augustan age, Dioskourides, who provided Augustus's own seal. The collection as a whole is very wide ranging, with a large holding of Sassanian gems and others from north-west India. Catalogues one of the widest-ranging and most important gem collections in existence. Includes valuable coverage of the history of engraved gems. Lavishly illustrated in both black and white and colour

corundum, color.4, treatments.6, gems

corundum, color.4, gems

corundum, geology.11, Australia.12, gems

corundum, quality.10, gems

corundum, treatments.6, gems

corundum, Burma.12, gems, Burmese politics, Kayah State

MAWCHI: Mining, War and Insurgency in Burma.. By L. A. Crozier. Brisbane: Centre for The Study of Australia-Asia Relations, Griffith University, 1994 (Australians in Asia series No. 11) pp. 113. $12.00. This is the second of Laurie Crozier’s memoires to be. published in this valuable series, under the general editorship of Hugh Dunn. Apart from the stories they tell, as a series these reminiscences serve to remind us that long before our politicians “turned to Asia” quite a number of adventurous Australians had discovered the fascination of the region. In The Golden kind, Crozier related his experiences in Vietnam and Cambodia: In this second installment he recounts his earlier experiences in Burma in the 1950s. Mawchi under the British was a profitable underground mine producing wolfram and tin concentrates, situated just within the borders of what is now Kayah state in eastern Burma. Crozier first went to Mawchi as a young mining engineer in 1940, when in spite of the war, life “was very pleasant”. What was not so pleasant was the evacuation and retreat in the face of the invading Japanese. After the war and various other mining jobs, Crozier returned to Mawchi in May 1955. this time as general manager of the mine. It was not an easy time to be in Burma and keeping the mine going became increasingly difficult over the next three years until mounting levels of insurgency forced its closure. Crozier tells the story of these three years with some wit and humour. Enough background is provided to place events at Mawchi and Crozier’s attempts to negotiate a degree of immunity for mining operations from various opposing forces in sonic perspective, though more on internal Burmese politics would have helped. In the mitl-l950s, before the Burmese military seized power, Mawchi fell within three intersecting spheres of influence -of the Burmese government represented by an ill-disciplined regiment of the Burmese army, of the Kayah state government, members of which would have preferred to secede from Burma and join Thailand, and of the Karen insurgents fighting for their own independent homeland. Further complicating an already complex situation were murky cross alliances and the activities of freelance “insurgents” -little better than bandits -who took advantage of the general lack of security to pursue their own nefarious interests. Through these turbulent waters Crozier navigated his way by means of judicious “gifts” and contacts, not all of which would have been approved by either his employers or the Burmese authorities. Me had no option, however. if the mine was to continue producing. As the situation deteriorated, Crozier found himself negotiating with leaders on both sides of the Karen-Burman divide in a hopeless attempt to broker peace. Crozier’s account of his activities indirectly confirms the intransigent attitude of the Burmese military towards any compromise with the minority insurgents which might have granted them a degree of autonomy. As early as 1958, Karen elders were convinced that their insurgency could not defeat the Burmese army (p. 99). The relatively moderate leadership was ready for talks. The government of prime minister IJ Nu was also prepared to compromise. It is unfortunate that Crozier’s contacts seem only to have been with the Burmese military. Whether he informed Burmese political leaders of his contacts with the Karen is unclear. Perhaps not, as Crozier seems to have perceived the problem as essentially one of security. Crozier, not without some reluctance, left the country, his exit visa ironically facilitated by General Ne Win himself, for which Crozier was grateful. But then the general must have been glad to be rid of him. After all, it had been Ne Win who refused to follow up any of Crozier’s contacts with the Karen -both because he objected to foreigners interfering in Burma’s internal affairs, and because he feared criticism of the army -or so Crozier believes (p. 108). It is likely that Crozier overstates his involvement as a political broker. After all, Burmese and Karen must have had any number of means of contact. What was lacking was trust and goodwill. All we can be sure of is that any opportunity for peace was lost, with disastrous consequences for Burma over the next thirty.. MARTIN STUART-FOX Department of History University of Queensland

corundum, Australia.12, gems

corundum, synthetic corundum.7, gems

corundum, Burma.12, Mong Hsu, gems